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.