a refreshing weekend...

This weekend I went to Ruston and was blessed with some sweet time with some wonderful people. I had no idea though that I was going to come away so refreshed. It's amazing what just a little time with friends can do for a weary girl. God also had some little nuggets of truth to reveal to me this weekend as well through unexpected people. So here's a brief overview of the weekend.

- Started out looking like it would be a long weekend: 1) Thursday night I had a typical kitchen experience in the world of Morgan when I was attempting to cook dinner for my Bible study group. In the process, I cooked the handle of the spoon I was using when I left it a little to close to the burner (OK I left it on the burner:/) Then the next morning I struggled with my driving abilities because I could not back my mom's car out of the garage. So far things were not starting out smoothly.

- Then things began to look up. I got to spend some wonderful time celebrating Amanda's end of her internship and got to chat and get excited about all the upcoming wedding festivities.

- Saturday was day full of laughter, which is my favorite medicine. And I must say I am so thankful to have friends that will entertain my need to play sand volleyball in the 80 degree sun. It was great and I did get better as the games went on (started out pretty terribly:)

- The unexpected lessons the Lord taught me came on Sunday. I went to a church that I don't normally go to so that I could see my lovely friend Stephanie Dugard one last time before heading home. Well thankfully that was God's plan all along. The speaker that day was a man from East to West ministries and 2 things he said really stuck out to me. He said many but I will stick with the 2.

1) God will never allow something or do something in your life that is not for your best. (Or that is what I took away from it, paraphrased of course). I love that no matter what season of life we are going through and what the circumstances are in our lives that God is doing it first and foremost for His glory and 2nd that He has our best interest in mind and He is allowing whatever it is because He knows it is for our good not for our harm. To strengthen us and make us more like Him.

2) He said that when the Lord is leading you to something, there will be gaps in the path to getting there. Maybe it's a dream and a passion He has given you and as you look at the path that leads to that dream, you see many gaps or missing puzzle pieces. Those gaps, if not seen through the lense of God, could be discouraging, but if it is truly the Lord's leading for Your life, then those gaps are from Him. They are not really gaps but areas that the Lord is calling you to have faith and trust in Him. Trust and believe that He will provide and He will equip you for His work, for the dream that He has instilled in your heart.

- Lastly, my weekend wrapped up with a very encouraging lunch with my sweet friend Rachel (another God thing that I was at the church I was at or we wouldn't have run into each other). I love hearing what God is doing in her life and was so encouraged to hear all that she is learning!

And I am the world's worst picture taker, so just close your eyes and imagine what a weekend in Ruston filled with random events might look like:)

For such a time as this...

So just when I thought I was doing great with this whole waiting thing, we start a Bible study on none other than waiting. I was even to the point where I no longer saw it as a terrible 4 letter word and was instead embracing it. I was actually excited about what this beautiful chapter of life had to hold. But then as we began the study, all my past hurts and hang ups are brought back to the surface nice and strong! But the beauty of a struggle is the strength that comes from God alone and the lessons He teaches with each step of the weary journey.

A while back I taught my 2nd graders the story of Esther. Such a wonderful story of God placing you right where He wants you, so that He can work in incredible ways in and through you! I am very thankful that this story came when it did because in this journey of waiting, God has constantly been reminding me of the verse Esther 4:14 "... Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Now I am very aware as I sit in my sweats on my not so neat bed that I am not a queen who has the ability to save an entire nation of people, but I do believe that God has placed many of us if not all of us in our places in life for such a time as this. Now who knows what our "this" is. Only God can truly know that, but I absolutely believe that I am not by fault or failure in the place that I am. It is so easy to fall into that trap. I believe that God has a divine plan for my life, even when it seems a little dull and drudging. Even if it means I am just in a place of waiting. James 1:4 "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing."

Also I believe waiting has a lot to do with faith. As you continue on in the 1st chapter of James (James 1:1-8), it talks about asking and believing that God is going to answer your prayers. Many times I have said "if I get married or if I have kids or if whatever" and it is as though I am saying maybe God won't answer the desires of my heart. So now I stand believing and not saying "if" but instead saying "when" and looking to see the blessings He has given me here and now in this chapter of my life. Here are just a few:)

A lot of family time, a wonderful job, a free place to stay and eat;), new friends (but oh how I miss some old ones), m-fuge job this summer, too much time to watch too much tv (I don't see that as much of a blessing now, but I am sure one day I will appreciate this slow time in life), an undivided heart to grow in my relationship with my Lord.

So I pray no matter what stage of life you are in, good, bad, or indifferent you will look for God's hand in everything!

Road Trip!

So I spent my Mardi Gras in Oklahoma hanging out with some wonderful youth and meeting some Natives. It was a quick trip, and I am always amazed at how much God can teach you and do through you in such a short amount of time.

Of course on most every mission trip I have been on, nothing went as planned. 1st lesson in any trip is to be flexible and patient and just wait on the Lord. He will make sure that you are doing all that He brought you there to do. But it was so exciting to see the youth and everyone on the trip eager to serve!

Mission trips can be very discouraging at times. We want to feel like we have accomplished something when we leave and to do that we need to see some results. Most of the time we don't just want to see some results, we want to see big results. I am thankful that God has allowed me to see that sometimes we are just looking for the wrong results. We had students come to our block party, and we were able to share the gospel with them and have them begin to think about this man named Jesus, maybe even begin to question their tribe's religion that they believe so strongly in. We were able to set the stage for the next Christian group to come in.

Another great result of this trip was that so many of our sweet little youth were able to see that they can step out of their comfortable box and talk to a complete stranger. And trust me, these were not always the easiest people to get a conversation started with, but they kept trying.

I was also able to see first hand the incredible need for work to be done in Native American cultures. There are a lot of lies that these people are taught from day one that have become so instilled in who they are that it will only be by the power of God that these walls will be broken down for them to see the truth of the gospel. I have always had a desire to work with Native Americans, and I look forward to doing more one day.

There's always so much that can be shared about mission trips but I will keep it short and simple:)

And I also was given some great news right before I went to bed the night I got home from Oklahoma. I am going to be an aunt! Congratulations Nicole and Philip!!

Just my random life!

Just a little of my random, not so exciting life lately...

- I kind of feel like I have been in a tornado at work this week. Bulletin boards, Dr. Seuss, Louisiana week, puppet shows, and of course class. It is all great fun of course, but I must say that my brain has struggled to keep up with it all.

- Sugar. I have not had sweets in four days. This is huge. I have tried to do this for about 1 month now but somedays I would forget until after I had eaten a cookie or a little piece of candy, other days I would say "Tomorrow for sure! No doubt about it, tomorrow is the day." Well finally! It has happened. The next thing is to work on a major carbs cut back, but not a complete elimination of carbs from my life:).

- I tried on my beautiful bridesmaids dress today, and I am oh so very excited for May 28th to come. 1. So I can wear this lovely dress and get all fancied up with some wonderful ladies. 2. But more importantly, so we can celebrate the sweet marriage of my best friend! I know it will be such a beautiful day for her!

- I am slowly recovering from the winter lazies. You see, all winter my main goal is to stay warm. Cold makes me shut down and focus on warming up my cold self. So my winters are spent under blankets. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cold weather if I am dressed for it, but LA isn't a place where you load up on winter clothes. ANYWAYS, I am having to retrain my body and mind to get up and go again. Let's just say my legs felt like elephant legs the first few runs I took last week.

- The kids are learning to square dance this week in P.E.. I must admit I am looking for an empty spot on the dance floor, so I can join in. It has been a while since I have gotten a good dance it:)

- Captivating my thoughts. I am really working on the discipline of taking my thoughts captive. All kinds of thoughts enter our lovely heads, and when we allow some thoughts to stick around and our overactive, imaginations get ahold of them, we can easily get ourselves into a heap of trouble. So I am learning, with the help of my Lord, to take captive every thought and with the wisdom for the Lord decided whether it is worthy of sticking around. Will this thought glorify God? Will it help in my journey to be more like Christ?

- Life is about to get exciting and busy so stay tuned;)