Praise Him from whom all blessings flow

A week has gone by since I left training. One week and I will be heading across the world and my stomach is in knots. This past week has been filled with so many amazing surprises both from others and also from me. Two of my close friends came to my hometown to see me and I ended up following them back to Mississippi to speak at my school about my next two years journey. Along the way I was able to make a few stops and surprise a few friends which one slapped me 3 times, kind of hurt a little. 8^) My time in Mississippi was such a blessing and I feel so completely loved in a big way. Sunday night my ch-ch family threw me a surprise party which I was definitely shocked by. At the end we had a time or pr-yer and I can't tell you how good it was to be lifted up like that. My Father has blessed me greatly.

On Monday I went to my school and got to see everyone and share in a classroom about j-man. I spoke for an hour, which was shocking but it happened. That night I had the great opportunity to share with the Campus Link wor-hip about my calling to do this for the next two years and what I will be doing. Another surprise came when a lot of friends came to hear what the Father is doing, it was so so so good to see them. After I spoke I was asked if I could be pr-yed over and it was such an overwhelming feeling (in a good way.) Talk about an emotional night, His love was so heavy that night through everyone there. My heart is filled with so much thankfulness to Him, I am nothing and and my Father is using me for something so big, and all I want is to be obedient to Him. He will make things grow on this journey, not only in me but i those I will come in contact with.

Tuesday I went to Priority Lunch on campus and got to see everyone before I left. As I was eating my chicken sandwich My BSU director asked me to come on stage. My ch-ch leader was there as well and they had a gift they wanted to give me to help me with language learning. He pulled out an Ipad and all the accessories for it and I literally felt like I was going to faint. I was shocked!! They also raised money to purchase one of the top notch dictionaries for my device that will be extremely helpful. Father has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams with such a great family. I have been completely overwhelmed this week by so much and all I can think to do is to praise my Father. Being able to travel around this week has been such an incredible journey of blessings and being able to see close friends before I go.

My heart is feeling so much right now, so many emotions are flowing through me right now and will continue up until the 6th. I need Him right now to be close by and to not let me stray but to keep me going forward, to be so much more hungry for His word.

"O L-rd, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O L-rd. You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." Ps. 139:1-6

Psalm 46

This is a song by Jenny and Tyler called Psalm 46. I was listening to it this morning and wanted to share the lyrics. You guys should look them up, you wont regret it. Love their music!

Psalm 46

Music and Lyrics: Copyright 2010 Tyler Somers (BMI), Jennifer Somers (BMI), One Eyed Cat Music (BMI) 
the LORD is my refuge and strength
therefore i will not be afraid
though the mountains give way
and fall into the sea
He will come and rescue me

the LORD comes to me at break of day
He reaches down to guide me in His ways
though the oceans roar
in this dark and stormy sea
He will come and rescue me

halleluYah, He is with me
halleluYah, we cannot be moved
halleluYah, He is with me
halleluYah, i rest secure

be still and know that He is God
He will be exalted over all
come and behold His strength and majesty
yet He will come and rescue me

halleluYah, He is with me
halleluYah, we cannot be moved
halleluYah, He is with me
halleluYah, i rest secure

His Grace is sufficient enough

I am sorry that it has been a while since I last wrote. We have had a lot going on and have been real busy doing assignments. The Father has been teaching me a lot about His power and standing strong in my faith.  We have had some incredible sessions since the I last wrote on here. Some of my favorites have been on storying and learning creation to Christ (C2C) which I will be using a lot in my people group. We've been using the storying method in our small groups to help us get used to which has been amazing. Another favorite session was on persecution. Never have I been left so speechless in my life from hearing the stories. My perspective of how I view persecution has definitely changed. So many time I have pr@yed for persecution to stop, but praying for persecution to stop is like praying for people t stop coming to the Father. I never thought about it that way. Persecution is a normal thing, "persecution is like the sun coming up in the east, it's normal." Instead of pr@ying for it to stop I now pr@y that they will stay obedient to the Father through their persecution. "What binds us together is not our suffering but our obedience." Wow!! The Father really spoke through our speaker and it really spoke peace into my heart about this topic. I keep pr@ying that my faith would stay strong and that theirs would also. I suggest a book to you guys to read that really relates to this topic and that I read before I went on my first trip to E.A. I cried a lot when reading and we heard a lot of these kind of stories. It is called The Heavenly Man. This book will touch your heart in a way you don't think is possible.

On a totally different note, last week we went through security contingency week. Talk about rough, scary, draining and a whole lot of other emotions. I can't talk about what all we had to go through but I had to really rely on the Fathers strength through it. It was a lot of role playing and so very helpful. I am definitely thankful we were able to have this in our training. My friend shared with me Isaiah 41:9-10 which really helped me get through the last day and a half. "I took you from the ends of the earth, from it's farthest corners I called you. I said, 'you are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Definitely gave me so much peace about everything and I will keep this word close to my heart when I feel fear come across me or just when I need encouragement. I cannot express this love spilling from my heart that comes from my Father. It's such an overwhelming feeling that makes me ready to go.

We had the opportunity to hear from one of my favorite speakers here. I wont mention his name but he's the president of our company and he's the one who gives us the amazing quotes like I mentioned in my previous blog. He was talking about 5 tools to solve every relationship problem. The 5th one was labeled Thirsty and came from Psalm 42:1. the possible writer was probably Hezikiah which the speaker then said, "He can make a tadpole slap a whale." I could not stop laughing which eventually was embarrassing because I continued to laugh when no one else was. Anyone who knows me knows that It's hard for me to stop when I get going. We definitely were able to stay awake for this session. He went on to talk about how the existence for thirst comes from Psalm 42:1-2 and how it is the sign for life. The Father creates thirst and satisfies it at the same time. The only thing that satisfies my life in the Father and this will be a daily reminder for me. Then the power cut off for a second and our speaker said, "there was a great awakening b-4 there was ever a wire." This session added on to one of my favorites by far. Just when I feel like I could possibly not learn anything else I haven't already been told once in my life the Father teaches something new through our speakers. I stand amazed!!

To end this blog I am going to leave you with a song that we began our session with this past week. It is the song sanctuary. I know an oldie but we added on a second verse that I hadn't heard before and being able to sing it with over a 165 others who are about to disperse across the world left me with chills and tears in my eyes. I wish you all could have heard the beautiful sound.

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
pure and holy, tried and true.
With thanksgiving I'll be a living
sanctuary for you

To the nations we follow you Lord
be exalted be adored.
Come Lord Jesus  and lead your people
to the nations to all lands.