It's a brand new year!

This year is a go, this year I am going to say yes to going.

I learned a whole lot of lessons last year, lessons that took me through some valleys for the most part.  I asked the Lord to strengthen me not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. Back in March I signed up for the gym to get more healthy, I started listening to a lot of church podcasts to challenge my knowledge and I started serving again with a bible study on Monday nights for prayer and stood at the door welcoming people to exercise my giftings! And I was asked to sing a few times for a woman's bible study where once again the Lord met me beyond my fears. He was so faithful in meeting me. But each one of those times,  required stretching of muscles, some that i hadn't used in a long time.

Muscles don't grow while working out and lifting those weights, its when you are resting that the process happens. After the workout your body now can repair the torn and damaged fibers. That's why its important to rest during each set of reps and why its very important to rest a day before hitting those certain target areas again. I'm amazed that something I was so intimidated and fearful of doing has actually changed me beyond the physical aspect.

Serving on Monday nights was such a sweet season of meeting new people and eventually going to Mexico a few times, which was something that I was also kinda scared to do. I always wanted to go, but timing was never right in the past. My heart was stretched and aching for the poor, the lost, the hurting, the broken, those sweet kids that always had smiles on their face. And the more we go, and come back, the more I want to keep going and build, build buildings, build relationships, build on what the Lord wants to do in that Canyon!

And than this year I knew that all of that stretching was preparing me to be stronger for the things He has for me. The book of Joshua has always been very monumental in major areas of my life. One of the first times I really had a clear direction from the Lord was back in 2007 as I was praying about going to Creation Fest in England. The Lord had in 3 separate times brought my attention to Joshua 1:9. And just to assure me that I was exactly where He wanted me, the first group meeting we had in England, the pastor had us turn to Joshua 1:9. It was amazing to see that God meets in EVERY step of the way. He guides us and than reminds us that we are on the right path.

This year again the Lord has showed me Joshua 1:9 and I'm excited to see what journey will take place. This year I was told about a missions trip that is going to help build a church. Talk about using my muscles....this is something I have always wanted to do. My Papa on my dad's side built his own house with my Nanny back in Michigan. My dad has added on to his houses and built so many things, my oldest brother has gone to Mexico and help build a house for a family and my other brother has helped my dad in building on to the house. And now I get to go to another country and be apart of something bigger than my own dreams. God has taken me further than I had hoped, further than my dreams, He has taken me through my fears and time after time expanded my confidence in His faithfulness.

What are you placing your confidence in? Your knowledge? Your values? Your view? Your experiences?

I thought that when a lady from the Mexican restaurant who handed me a bag of yellow peppers, was really a bag of Pepperoncinos... but even though that pepper was drenched in ranch, that burn still hit my throat. I, in that instant questioned if yellow peppers was another term for pepperoncinos..and than after the second one, was convinced that I knew nothing about peppers. Don't ask me why I decided to consume another one of those devil peppers, don't ask me why I deliberately ate another one.

Are we being careful in our own confidence or are we daily placing our confidence in Jesus?

Many times I have asked the Lord for bold confidence and many times He has given me just that, and once I had gotten comfortable, I stopped asking. I stopped seeking for His guidance.

Don't stop asking the Lord for your hearts desire, don't stop seeking His goodness, don't stop walking in the land that He has promised you, don't allow your fears or your pride stop you from experiencing the fullness of His joy and the endless promises awaiting for YOU. People will discourage you, people will let you down, people will try to get in the way, but GOD is the one who will get all the glory. "and this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been give to us in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

You are precious, you are valued and you are not forgotten. So if your willing to ask,  Lord what do you have for me, who will I marry, when will you take me there or when will you use my gifts....get ready.  Make yourself presentable, strengthen those muscles, go get your passport, start saving your money, step outside of the thinking that God only works in one way, He works in many ways. He has not said to Trust in Him in all YOUR ways, He said to trust in Him in all HIS ways. That means that we take steps of faith. We trust even when we don't understand. I think that the moment we stop trying to figure God out and stop getting in the way is when He will exceed it all. I signed up for a Haiti missions trip not knowing really anything about the mission or the people, but I did have a heart to serve and to be used.

Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

So here I go, in just 4 days, I will be getting on a plane to go the 4th most dangerous place to visit....why, because His love has no bounds , "LOVE knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen" 1 Corinthians 13:7-10 (J.B. Philipps) and His love and truth is worth it all!


Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Thanks for reading!