Go and make disciples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9fvlEFRT8o

I watched this video yesterday and it has been on my mind ever since. I don't think that I can totally agree with this guy.

One summer night at Prairie Camp, I got called into missions. I will never forget that day. I was only 12 years old. I could tell the whole week that God was working in my life. He wanted to do something extraordinary with me and His voice confirmed it.

But as i grew up and moved into high school, the idea of going over seas to serve seemed unnecessary. I didn't want to go. I could live in America and be a teacher and that would kind of be like missions right? Or one even crazy thought... I could be a police officer... yea right ;)

So I had made up my mind last summer that I was going to finish high school then enroll in the Police Academy and become an officer. People were like WHAT? Haha yea right. and way deep down  I knew this wasn't what  I wanted to do.

Fast forward three months to the end of July when I got on a plane. The destination would be life changing. I went to Honduras. It was the best 7 days of my life. I danced like i had never danced, I sang like i had never sung and I learned to love in a way that i had never loved before.

Everyday when I was down there I would wake up and wonder if it would be the day for my "God Moment" I knew He was working... I mean I cried like every hour of every day ;) But i wanted the real deal! The defining moment. And it came in the form of the old Honduran woman Elsa.

Elsa is the mother of a missionary named Rigo Galvez. We visited their home on a Thursday evening for dinner. Truthfully I didnt want to be there. I had a hurt back and I was tired. I just wanted to go to bed. After dinner though, Elsa and her daughter, Gabby, asked if they could pray over us. And of course we agreed. Not even knowing that most of our worlds were going to be shaken up by the Big Man upstairs. 


I was about the 4th person in the row. I was fine one moment and the next my head was bowed and I was weeping. My dad, being the wonderful father that he is, came over and talked me through my feelings. What was i feeling? I didn't understand how i could be one happy joyful, confident person in Honduras, but someone completely different in Elkhart. Why was i willing to open up and "let my hair down" with people that I barely knew. Had I been asked to get up in front of any amount of children, or high school students and sing children's songs while doing goofy motions, I would have laughed. I felt so free in Honduras. Nothing was holding me back! 


Elsa, Gabby and another pastor who worked with Rigo, all came up to me and my dad. Many on my team surrounded me. If I wanted to tell you what was happening during that prayer, I couldn't even try. They prayed for the spirit of fear, they prayed for my pain and immediately both of those left me. Elsa kept touching my heart and praying over me. Because she spoke Spanish, I couldn't understand anything she was saying.


When the prayer time was over, I grabbed one of the translators and asked her to ask Gabby’s mother what she had been praying for. “Your calling,” she said. “God calls everyone to do something, but your calling is so much greater. You have such a love for God and it is very evident in your life. You know what he has called you to do. You will do great things for Him, you just needed conformation. You will help people and you will have a peace about what you are to do. Jesus will lead you, but right now you just need to be patient and worship Him, worship Him, worship Him. He loves you so much and you love him. Don’t stray from your calling.” WOW. If I was crying before, I was bawling now.  I had been called into ministry at the age of 11 or 12. This was the second time that someone had told me that I needed to be patient and to trust God and follow the calling he had put in my life. I had been afraid.  I didn’t want to do it. I tell you what, that night a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I could not stop crying or smiling. I was so loved by God and I knew it. The whole time in Honduras I had a joy that could not be destroyed. I was so happy, so confident and so comfortable with who God created me to be! Guess what… I think that I am going to follow the calling that God has placed on my life. 

Searching.

How long will I wander?
        I am restless.
I search for the person who is right behind me.
        My eyes look, but that can't see.
I am blinded by my own ways. 
        Stuck in an endless circle of searching.
"Turn around" I hear a soft, ever present whisper say.
        I continue to search. Never turning around.
"Turn around" the voice says louder.
        I turn to see.
Before me is the most glorious picture.
        He holds out His arms.
"Come here my daughter"
        I run to His open arms and jump up to reach Him.
I am His child.
         I am His beautiful masterpiece. 
I close my eyes as His strong arms hold me.
         knowing I never want to leave this place.

I'm not normal.

I'm not normal. 
I'm loud. I'm crazy and sometimes my clothes don't match.
My teeth are kinda crooked, my hair can be frizzy and sometimes my nails aren't painted.
I wear a super girl cape around and nerd classes and call myself nerd girl and sometimes I laugh so hard that I fall on the floor. 
But I love Jesus and I know that God has called me to do something wonderful. 
I am chosen and I am loved.
I am a peculiar people. 
I am God's chosen helper.
I am  God's princess. 
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have a purpose and God made me super special. He thinks I'm perfect.


I don't have to be normal.