Over the past few weeks, my eyes have really been opened to the body of Christ. G has graciously been showing me the power in the unity of believers, and I’ve really started to view believers as part of a family for the first time in my life. Y’all- it has been SO cool! He really opened my eyes to it for the first time at work. I felt so alone and isolated from the body of Christ while I was working because I’m the only Christian there. But God has been so merciful in the short amount of time that I’ve been working at Aroma’s! Not a week has gone by that I have not had a religious conversation at work and been able to minister to my co-workers in some way. He has just blown me away with His generosity. I love that He is blessing me with the opportunity to participate in His plan for these people’s lives! But it can still be discouraging to be the only one consciously representing Christ. I think God knows that I am very easily discouraged, and He’s totally got my back. I have been able to meet so many Christians at work who are just people who are coming in to grab a quick cup of coffee. A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with my manager about King David (I LOVE David!), and a customer walked up. Turns out, he was a chaplain for the military and ended up having a 15 minute conversation with my manager about religion!! There have also been two Christian retreats at the Marriot across the street from Aroma’s over the past few weeks, and a lot of the people will come in for lunch. My conversations with them have definitely been encouraging. On top of that, we’ve had a lot of discipleship meetings and Bible studies at Aroma’s recently. On Monday we had 4 different Bible studies meeting in the morning. 4! It was so encouraging to me! Each time I meet a Christian at work, I just can’t help but think, “We get to spend eternity together, worshipping the one true God.” How cool is that?! Doesn’t that just blow you away? I forget that so many times when I’m at church or interacting with other Christians. You guys- we get to be friends for eternity. Not only that, but in Christ, we are family! And we get so worship Christ together forever. You’ve got to admit- that’s pretty cool.
In addition to that, not only do we get to worship together for eternity, but we get to further the kingdom together right now! A lot of the Christians coming in to Aroma’s have no idea that I am trying to minister to my co-workers. They are just there to have a cup of coffee, or in some cases have a Bible study. But they get to help me minister to my co-workers! My co-workers have heard the conversations I have with these people, and it often leads to a discussion later. God is so cool in the way He works!
I’ve also seen this outside of Aroma’s. I have been trying really hard to become more intentional about praying for other people, especially for their ministries and missions. A lot of times I feel really bummed because I can’t go on a particular mission trip, and I feel like I am not contributing at all. But, that’s the great thing about prayer- its portable. ☺ I have been praying for brothers and sisters I know that have been blessed with the opportunities to go on mission trips this summer, and you guys- it has been such a blessing! We so often underestimate the power of prayers. That is such a tragedy! God has blessed us with so many ways to participate in His plan, yet we take that for granted! Do we even realize what a blessing it is to be able to be able to participate in God leading someone to salvation?! That’s HUGE! Obviously it’s not us, but Christ working through us- but you guys- we get to have Christ work through us! That’s freakin cool.
In praying for others while they travel on different missions trips this summer, I have learned a lot of different things. One thing is how cool it is to be in communication with God. I hadn’t been talking to G as much over the past few weeks. I didn’t realize how much I missed Him! I used to be praying for Ryan constantly, and I have seriously been slacking recently, which I hate. I still pray for him every day, but not nearly as much as I used to. I’ve been trying to pray without ceasing more over the past few weeks, but it’s still a work in progress. I confess, I get so easily caught up in work and other things, but I am trying hard to be in more constant communication with G. Fortunately, God has been merciful in reminding me to chat with Him throughout the day and to lift up my friends in prayer. In praying for friends on mission trips, it definitely holds me accountable in praying throughout the day. If I have made the commitment to someone that I will be praying for them, I take that seriously. If I tell you that I will be praying for you, please know that I mean it. I will actually be praying for you. I used to be one of those Christians who would throw around the phrase, “I’ll pray for you” or “You’ll be in my prayers.” But one day I came across the Scripture 1 Samuel 12:23: “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” To be honest, I’m not quite 100% sure how this would specifically apply to the church today, but it had never even occurred to me that it could be sinful to not pray for someone! That verse really opened my eyes to how serious God views prayer. [If you have any insight to the best way to interpret the verse, please let me know!! I would love to learn more about it and how it is appropriately applied today!] I mean, we get the privilege of talking to God, the Creator of the universe. The King of Kings, the Holy of Holies. Whoa. Take a second to let that sink in. Anytime we want to, anywhere we want to. Yet I pass up that opportunity so often!
But recently, since I’ve been taking advantage of this awesome privilege, not only have I seen God work mightily, but I’ve also grown closer to my brothers and sisters in Christ and really started to experience the body of Christ. We are truly one in Christ! I am able to help friends minister all over the world, even though I’m here in Newport News all summer. Right now I am partnering (through prayer) for people in Africa, South East Asia, up and down the East Coast, Canada, Mexico, South America- practically all over the world! That’s awesome. All right here from my dorm room in Newport News. Not too bad, eh? And its so cool being able to hear about their trips when they get back! I genuinely rejoice with them over each soul saved, each person they were able to talk to. It has been such a cool learning experience you guys. I really encourage you to try it out if you aren’t already. You will be amazed how much God can teach you if you simply start to really take prayer seriously. I’ve learned so much about God’s character and about the body of Christ.

Matthew 6:34

I’ve recently discovered that I have a bad habit…well, I have a lot of bad habits, but I’ve become more aware of one in particular:
I’m a planner.
I like to know exactly what is going to happen months in advance. It’s not bad to have a plan, but I often get so caught up in planning and preparing for the future, that I fail to live in the present. A friend of mine kindly reminded me of this a few days ago, and I’m so glad he did! We were talking, and somehow the topic of Canada came up. (For those of you who don’t know, I absolutely LOVE Canada! God has given me such a heart for that country, and I can’t wait to go back in December on the mission trip to Toronto!!) I am a very excitable, enthusiastic person, so I find it very easy to get caught up in my excitement about Canada. But that doesn’t mean that my time in America is insignificant! In my conversation the other day, my friend gently told me, “God put you in the US for a reason.” He is so right! It isn’t a bad thing for me to love Canada and long to share the Gospel with the people there; but that doesn’t mean that my time in America is completely insignificant. One of Satan’s greatest victories is getting us to focus so much on the future that we completely waste the present. Right now, God hasn’t placed me in Canada. He has placed me at CNU. God has a plan for where I live, where I work, where I go to school, what classes I take- He knows every individual that I will interact with. He has a divine plan for it all! No one knows His ways. But it would be such a tragedy for me to neglect the people God wants me to be interacting with here and now simply because I am so busy focusing on the future. God is in control, and He will work all things out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). I have no idea what God has planned for my life in the upcoming years, or even for the next few days…but one thing is certain- He does have a plan. God isn’t a God of accidents and coincidences; He is completely in control. He is omniscient and omnipresent, and He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). He is not caught off guard. He has brought me to where I am today for a certain purpose and certain plan. It reminds me of a verse we went over a few weeks ago at community group: “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, ESV). God hasn’t placed you where you are today on accident. I really encourage you (and challenge myself) to live more intentionally with today, and to be present in the present.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” -Matthew 6:34

Modest is Hottest

I went camping for the first time recently. I had the best time! I was able to go with a huge group of people, and I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience camping. We stayed up late playing games, making s’mores, walking to the river, and discussing what God had been teaching us. I slept up on this platform, in the middle of a field, with only a blanket and a pillow. My friend and I stayed up for a bit discussing God’s creation, and I even saw my first shooting star! God just blew me away on my trip to the woods. I understand why people enjoy camping so much! It makes you feel so alive and so in touch with the Creator. I’m a big fan.

Before we left to go camping, we received a list of things that we should remember to pack; just the basics, like bug spray, a sleeping bag, a Bible, etc. At the end of the message, they informed us that there was a pool at the campground, but there were some swim suit requirements. Boys- no speedos; girls- no two-pieces… and if you only had a two-piece, you were asked to wear a dark t-shirt over it.
I am SO glad that they told us that! I must confess, a few years ago, that would have made me so angry! I used to hate that girls always seem to have such strict wardrobe requirements, while boys can typically wear whatever they want to. But God has really given me a new attitude over the past few years. He has started to show me that dressing modestly is an amazing way to serve my brothers in Christ. It is no secret that lust is a very common struggle among the men of the church. But a lot of times we don’t really take an open, honest approach to it.
I was talking to one of my guy friends in Chicago a couple of years ago about the issue of modesty and lust. He mentioned that he really disliked how the church seemed to push the burden of the “lust issue” on to the women; they really stressed that women dress modestly, and we discussed how men can sometimes use that to avoid having to deal with their own sin issues. But at the same time, as a girl, it is such an amazing blessing to be able to help out my brothers in Christ by wearing modest clothing! I completely understand that men are responsible for their own sin issues… but as their sister in Christ, I am also responsible for not putting a stumbling block in their path. I am called to love them well, to love and serve them as Christ would; I think that includes caring about any sin they may be struggling with, and doing whatever I can to help point them back to the Savior. One way that I can do that is by dressing modestly.
Of course, some guys are still going to struggle with lust. Dressing modestly doesn’t fix the problem. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what a girl is wearing, a guy is just going to lust- even if she were dressed in a giant paper bag! But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to help a brother out. I respect my guy friends too much to put a stumbling block in their path by dressing immodestly. Even if that means that sometimes I have the inconvenience of wearing a dark t-shirt over a cute bathing suit. When I take a more eternal perspective, it’s pretty clear that helping my friends keep their thoughts pure is SO much more important than looking “cute” that day. We can still look cute and dress modestly! Sometimes it might make shopping a little bit more difficult, but it is truly an amazing way to serve the body of Christ. We are called to honor God with our bodies and to build up and encourage fellow believers. This can be as simple as what outfits we choose to wear! This doesn’t mean we have to go around dressing in long pants and turtlenecks year round…it just means that we need to be mindful of what we wear. We also need to be mindful of our intentions behind the outfit we put on each day; do I want to wear these shorts because they make my butt/legs look good, or do I want to wear them because they are comfortable and its hot outside? Am I wearing them more for my glory, or for Gods?