Encouragement

I hate to admit it but some days are harder than others. There may be days when we might not even know if we are going to make it through the day. Or we are discouraged when we feel like we don't measure up to our own standards. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 says, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." We try to find encouragement in things we do everyday, but none of that can compare to the eternal encouragement from the Lord. So when you are having a bad day, look to him for encouragement and not things of this world.

Caboose

I was in my basement recently, and I was looking at my brother's model train set he was working on. I picked the caboose off the table and put it on the tracks and began to push it back and forth. Then I began to compare the caboose to my life. The caboose is pulled by the steam engines, and it goes where ever the engines go. Many teenagers can be called a caboose. They follow a group and whatever that group does, they do. If someone starts drinking then they are more likely to start drinking too. They are the caboose and they just follow the engine who is the person in charge.

But the caboose can stand on it's own. It can move along the track with the help of an outside force. When I give the caboose a push it travels in the direction I want it to go. If I push it too hard, then it may fall off the tracks, but I can put it right back on. That is how our relationship with God is. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good perfect and pleasing will." When we break apart from the world and let God control our lives, great things can happen. When the caboose is following the rest of the train, there are things it could miss out on. The train may pass a track that God wants the caboose to go on, but since it identifies with the train and not God, the caboose misses out on taking that track. But when the caboose let's God control where it goes, the caboose will be able to take the tracks that God wants him to take. If the train does fall off it's tracks, God will be right there to pick it up and put it back on track. This way God can show the caboose the good, perfect, and pleasing will that God has for the caboos's life.

So which caboose are you. . .
-the one who follows the crowd?
OR
-the one who stands alone and follows God?

Rejoicing Over What's Lost

When Jesus taught he used a lot of parables. One of my favorite parables is the one about the Lost Coin. The parable in Luke 15:8-10 says, "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angles of God over one sinner who repents." When we lose something that's important to us we search for it until we find it. Once we find it we rejoice because we have found what is lost. God is continually seeking after us. He wants you to turn to Him and follow His word. Every time one sinner repents and turns to God, heaven rejoices and throws a big party. It doesn't matter your past or where you came from, the moment you repent and turn to God is the minute heaven throws a party for you.

Sovereign

So I was in church and during worship we sang a song called "Sovereign". I was singing the lyrics of the screen except I had one dilemma. I don't have the biggest vocab in the world, so I sang the song with out really knowing the meaning of it. So I came home and looked up the definition of sovereign.
Sovereign means supreme ruler. When you put that definition in the song makes more sense. "Supreme ruler of the mountain air. Supreme ruler of the ocean floor." With that definition it shows how God is ruler over everything, including my life. Matthew 10:29-31 says "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." If the supreme ruler knows every move of the sparrows he knows everything you do. Out of the 7 billion people the Supreme ruler knows everything about you. That is pretty cool. And I must say, God is sovereign over my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk_HBla7C28

Sources:
True Images Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. Print
"Chris Tomlin - Sovereign - Lyrics [Burning Lights Album]." YouTube. MattStone712, 8 Mar. 2013. Web.

Pics and Stories

Here are some pictures and stories from our trip that aren't big enough to get their own blog, but they are still worth telling.

Patience: The rooster that woke us up at four in the morning, and that everyone on the team wanted to have for dinner. But we let it live.

Wise Decisions: The cookies that you can only get in Panama. Some people on the team got packs of them and ate most of them, then were feeling sick when we got to the hotel. Not a wise decision.

Skill: This kid climbed a tree like a monkey, and knocked down a coconut for us to try. Now that's skill.

 

 Reward: The coconut after we opened it, and ate the meat.

Fun: After the week in Panama, we hit the beach during a layover. It was fun to hang out with them one last time before we head back to Colorado.

 



 

Language

Now in Panama, language was a big part of interacting with the kids. The problem is that they speak Spanish and I speak English. (I take a second language but Japanese didn't come in handy in Panama.) There was a time when we all did speak the same language, but then we turned our eyes off God and to ourselves. So God said that if they can speak the same language then they can do anything. So God scattered the language. So it is hard to go on a missions trip, when you can't speak the language. But God did provide a way to make it easier. He provided us with translators, and kids that can speak Spanish on our team. But there were other ways to talk to these kids. I remember that I would sit with my camera and take pictures of the kids, and every time I showed them the photo they started giggling. They didn't care that we couldn't speak the same language, but they enjoyed our company, and the cameras. This goes to show that you don't always need words to change a life, because sometimes being there is enough.

Trusting God

Most people struggle with trusting God and His plan for us, either if it's with the small things in life, or the big decisions we have to make. Matthew 10:29-31 says "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." If God new what was going to happen to the sparrows, and since you are worth more than sparrows, then God knows everything that will happen to you.

While I was in Panama, God reestablished why I need to trust Him. On the trip, I took my family's camera with me. Since the camera wasn't mine, I couldn't break it or damage it. When I got to the first island, I was taking picture of the kids. The kids were amazed by the camera because they could take pictures of themselves and then see it. By the last day, we had taught the kids how to photo bomb and to how to take selfies.  Then more kids came and soon I was surrounded by kids. Some of them asked for my camera, but I said no. I couldn't bring myself to trust these kids with the camera. Not even five minutes later, when I was watching Christina and Jordan open a coconut, a kid comes up and points at my camera. I said "si" because I thought he wanted to know what it was, and the next thing he has my camera and is taking pictures. Right before we left, I found the guy and I asked for my camera back, and he willingly gave it to me. After words God was telling me, "See, these kids aren't going to drop the camera."

The next day, I was hanging with the kids on the island where we were sleeping, and I gave them the camera. I kept a close eye on it but I let the kids play. Later that night I made the whole experience that I was going through about me and not God, so the kids later that night dropped the camera. Then I heard God saying "I kept your camera safe and you doubted me. Well I let the kids dropped the camera." I felt bad for doubting God. I know I should have learned when I doubted God on other things and that I should have learned by now, but each new experience adds to the levels of trust.

The next day, I gave the kids on the island that we slept on the camera. Then I let them go play. They had the camera down by the ocean all the way to the top of the hill. I didn't freak because I knew that God had it. Then right before devotional that night, a girl came up to me and gave me the camera and left. The camera wasn't broken and it wasn't wet. God had truly protected the camera. And He knows that I need to be reminded often to trust God, so He will keep reminding me.