I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by! In 3 1/2 weeks I will be headed to Switzerland. As my last day of work approaches, I have mixed feelings. One minute I am excited to start something new, and the next I am terrified. What am I thinking? How can I be going to another country without my friends, church and family nearby? What if I don't have enough money to buy groceries and pay all the bills? What in the world will I do without all the comforts I have grown so accustomed to? Things such as: laundry dryer (most of them hang their clothes), different kinds of foods (sliced squishy bread...), air conditioning, etc. These thoughts attack me constantly. So I get still before God and listen. This amazing peace comes over me and covers every area of fear. He reminds me that He is more than enough for me. He will provide for me in EVERY single way I can imagine.
I realize that growing up in America, although I view it as a true blessing, has spoiled me in what I think I NEED to survive. Will it be a pain in the butt to hang my clothes up all the time? Yes. Will it kill me? Nope. Actually, they may even last longer! Am I excited to have to walk up and down 90 steps everyday to get to my apartment? Heck no! My lazy butt wants an elevator! But maybe I will lose some weight and get healthy for a change! Every little thing I think will be an inconvenience, God shows me there is actually a positive side too! He reminds me that He would not have opened the door for me to go to Switzerland, if He did not have a plan for me to be there. "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~John 16:33 NIV. What an amazing promise!
I am so incredibly grateful that I finally have a deeper relationship with God that allows me to hear his voice. What an AMAZING God I serve! There are times (such as right now) when my heart is so full of JOY that I feel like it could literally burst! Has your heart ever felt like that? So completely full? It's pretty amazing. It has come to my attention that people can actually tell when I am super joyful because I tend to speak in song. I laughed when someone shared that with me because I really do randomly sing about nothing in particular quite often without realizing it most of the time! I pray that everyone could experience this kind of joy at least once in their lifetime! Jesus is the only One who can bring happiness like this :) How can one go through life without Him? What a dark and lonely place it must be to not have His peace! This is why it is SO important for us to shine his light as bright as we can!!
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" ~John 1:5 NIV
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Walking by Faith
So there are 50 more days until I take off :) I have really been amazed at how God continues to take me through situation after situation that is preparing me to be at my best in Switzerland. Although I will still be far from perfect, it will be much easier to not have situations holding me back from being the woman of God He has called me to be.
Today I wanted to talk about taking the easy way out and how it always seems to catch up with us. When we try to do things "our way", of course there is always a reason. Trying to save money, time or energy right? Well I know there have been things I have tried to take the easy way out of because God is having me deal with everything now. When you make a choice to go after God and EVERYTHING He has for you, that doesn't mean you get to walk away from past decisions and start over scott free. We are forgiven but God still wants us to deal with things that have been "put to the side". Take my health for example. I decided I wanted to save money so I started not going to the doctors on a regular basis. (and by doctors I mean primary care physician...dentist...eye doctor...all of them) Before I left for Switzerland I wanted to make sure everything was up to date so I have gone to ALL of those doctors in the past week. I was shocked to find out how many things were wrong with me all because I wanted to take the "cheap way out". My eye doctor told me because I kept my contacts for longer than I was supposed to (to save money) that my corneas are swollen, I now have an astigmatism in my left eye and I have blisters on my eyes and eyelids. I then had to buy glasses that same day as he said I could no longer wear contacts (for at least a month). I was so upset with myself because I ended up spending more money in one day than I would had I gone to see him for my check up 3 years ago (yes it had been that long). The funny thing is though, I was so grateful I listened to God to go before I left so this can be corrected now. He is SO faithful!!! I mean...I really didn't even think about how God wants me to take care of things like this. I never viewed it as important which goes to show you God really does care about the little things too!
When we choose to turn it ALL over to God and allow our ears to hear His voice, He will lead us exactly where we need to be. He will help us walk THROUGH these mistakes we may have made in the past. Not avoid them, but deal with them. He stands by our side the whole way through. What a faithful amazing God! I am looking forward to see what else God has for me to walk through because I know He is making me a new creation every step I take.
So remember, every decision you make matters because if you leave it unresolved, God will be bringing that up. Not to hurt you, but to help you better yourself. Make sure you are listening to God and what He wants for you! He wants to be able to use you to shine His light as bright as you can :)
"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" ~Jeremiah 29:11
Today I wanted to talk about taking the easy way out and how it always seems to catch up with us. When we try to do things "our way", of course there is always a reason. Trying to save money, time or energy right? Well I know there have been things I have tried to take the easy way out of because God is having me deal with everything now. When you make a choice to go after God and EVERYTHING He has for you, that doesn't mean you get to walk away from past decisions and start over scott free. We are forgiven but God still wants us to deal with things that have been "put to the side". Take my health for example. I decided I wanted to save money so I started not going to the doctors on a regular basis. (and by doctors I mean primary care physician...dentist...eye doctor...all of them) Before I left for Switzerland I wanted to make sure everything was up to date so I have gone to ALL of those doctors in the past week. I was shocked to find out how many things were wrong with me all because I wanted to take the "cheap way out". My eye doctor told me because I kept my contacts for longer than I was supposed to (to save money) that my corneas are swollen, I now have an astigmatism in my left eye and I have blisters on my eyes and eyelids. I then had to buy glasses that same day as he said I could no longer wear contacts (for at least a month). I was so upset with myself because I ended up spending more money in one day than I would had I gone to see him for my check up 3 years ago (yes it had been that long). The funny thing is though, I was so grateful I listened to God to go before I left so this can be corrected now. He is SO faithful!!! I mean...I really didn't even think about how God wants me to take care of things like this. I never viewed it as important which goes to show you God really does care about the little things too!
When we choose to turn it ALL over to God and allow our ears to hear His voice, He will lead us exactly where we need to be. He will help us walk THROUGH these mistakes we may have made in the past. Not avoid them, but deal with them. He stands by our side the whole way through. What a faithful amazing God! I am looking forward to see what else God has for me to walk through because I know He is making me a new creation every step I take.
So remember, every decision you make matters because if you leave it unresolved, God will be bringing that up. Not to hurt you, but to help you better yourself. Make sure you are listening to God and what He wants for you! He wants to be able to use you to shine His light as bright as you can :)
"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" ~Jeremiah 29:11
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Preparing the Way
You know how reflecting can sometimes lead to a revelation? Today I have had one of those revelations. I was thinking about where I was January 2010 compared to where I am now and how one choice to go all in for God has changed my life completely. It was the starting point of God preparing the way for me to go to Switzerland. I always thought I knew what a relationship with God felt like since I feel like I have been saved my whole life. Growing up in church and being there more than twice a week every week was such a blessing. For some people that much church can really turn them against God...but it didn't seem to have that effect on me. Even when I left church for a year I still felt (at that time) that I was close with God. In reality, 2009 was the darkest year for me as I felt the joy I had, once bubbling over, fade away until I felt isolated and empty.
I still don't remember what made me decide to go back to Cornerstone in January of 2010. I was at a low, emotionally, that I had not experienced before. There was all of a sudden this urgency to be back in church, even though I really didn't want to be there. So I made a decision that I was going to be there every Sunday and that decision led to an UNBELIEVABLE relationship with God. Honestly, God is the only reason I was able to go every Sunday. Even though it wasn't really about church, I knew if I missed one Sunday that it would lead to another and another missed Sunday. Church doesn't make you a Christian, but if you are striving to go after God, you want everything there is to draw you in closer to Him. I guess it was about obedience in the beginning. Even though it took me months to get involved in any kind of ministry, God stood by me the whole time. That drive to get closer to God led me to choir, as worship is my way of...I don't even know how to explain it...breathing? I had no idea how big that void was until I started singing again. I felt complete again. This was the beginning of an amazing journey I have taken since then. God has brought me trust, joy and faith that has come out of struggles I never imagined I would go through. My heart was broken numerous times as he pruned and pruned and pruned me until I thought I could take NO MORE!! Being the faithful God that He is, my heart was mended and filled with joy overflowing. I don't regret any situation I went through to bring to the place I am now. I pray God will continue to work in me and mold me more and more in His image.
Revelations like these bring me comfort because they remind me that everything really does happen for a reason. I mean, what if I decided not to come back to church? Not to pursue a relationship with God? How empty and miserable would I still be? What choices would I have made? I wouldn't be going to Switzerland, that's for sure!! I would probably still be in debt and feeling unusable and hopeless. It's unthinkable that I could ever go back to that kind of life. Don't get me wrong, I make mistakes all the time. It's always been really hard for me to handle change of any kind, but even that is getting easier. However, I am constantly facing issues with surrendering obstacles completely. I find I like to keep at least a fingernail on things I claim to have surrendered. Giving up control is probably my biggest struggle. Days where I feel attacks on my joy remind me of that song "Moving Forward". I will never go back. Moving forward is the only choice there is. If I fall, Guilt will not hold me back. There is only getting back up and moving forward.
For anyone reading this who feels that empty "point of no return" feeling, it's a lie. There is NOTHING you could do that could take away God's love for you. Believe me, I have been there. It's a lie that holds you back. Don't let it anymore. You know what you need to do. Make that choice today because you don't want to waste another second. It's SO worth it!!
Man...I don't know where this blog came from but maybe someone needed to hear it. I don't usually like to put all my business out there like this. Lol ;)
I still don't remember what made me decide to go back to Cornerstone in January of 2010. I was at a low, emotionally, that I had not experienced before. There was all of a sudden this urgency to be back in church, even though I really didn't want to be there. So I made a decision that I was going to be there every Sunday and that decision led to an UNBELIEVABLE relationship with God. Honestly, God is the only reason I was able to go every Sunday. Even though it wasn't really about church, I knew if I missed one Sunday that it would lead to another and another missed Sunday. Church doesn't make you a Christian, but if you are striving to go after God, you want everything there is to draw you in closer to Him. I guess it was about obedience in the beginning. Even though it took me months to get involved in any kind of ministry, God stood by me the whole time. That drive to get closer to God led me to choir, as worship is my way of...I don't even know how to explain it...breathing? I had no idea how big that void was until I started singing again. I felt complete again. This was the beginning of an amazing journey I have taken since then. God has brought me trust, joy and faith that has come out of struggles I never imagined I would go through. My heart was broken numerous times as he pruned and pruned and pruned me until I thought I could take NO MORE!! Being the faithful God that He is, my heart was mended and filled with joy overflowing. I don't regret any situation I went through to bring to the place I am now. I pray God will continue to work in me and mold me more and more in His image.
Revelations like these bring me comfort because they remind me that everything really does happen for a reason. I mean, what if I decided not to come back to church? Not to pursue a relationship with God? How empty and miserable would I still be? What choices would I have made? I wouldn't be going to Switzerland, that's for sure!! I would probably still be in debt and feeling unusable and hopeless. It's unthinkable that I could ever go back to that kind of life. Don't get me wrong, I make mistakes all the time. It's always been really hard for me to handle change of any kind, but even that is getting easier. However, I am constantly facing issues with surrendering obstacles completely. I find I like to keep at least a fingernail on things I claim to have surrendered. Giving up control is probably my biggest struggle. Days where I feel attacks on my joy remind me of that song "Moving Forward". I will never go back. Moving forward is the only choice there is. If I fall, Guilt will not hold me back. There is only getting back up and moving forward.
For anyone reading this who feels that empty "point of no return" feeling, it's a lie. There is NOTHING you could do that could take away God's love for you. Believe me, I have been there. It's a lie that holds you back. Don't let it anymore. You know what you need to do. Make that choice today because you don't want to waste another second. It's SO worth it!!
Man...I don't know where this blog came from but maybe someone needed to hear it. I don't usually like to put all my business out there like this. Lol ;)
Monday, November 7, 2011
Following My Journey
In 10 1/2 weeks or so, I will be moving to Switzerland! I can't believe it's that soon! To those of you who haven't heard the scoop, allow me to explain. Back in May of this year, I went to Switzerland for vacation to visit with my Dad's side of the family. I stayed with my cousin Claudia & Markus for a little less than 3 weeks. I had been to Switzerland several times before but my heart was truly drawn to the country this time. It's funny because I have always been fascinated with my Swiss culture but would never have imagined having the opportunity to live there. Well, I also never imagined I would actually be okay with living that far from my parents considering I never would have thought to move out of Maryland! Anyways, so I found myself thinking "Wow, I could actually live here". It was like this complete separation happened and I remember feeling I would be okay. But of course I thought it was a pipe dream. How could I ever live there when I haven't been able t even live on my own in America! I mentioned my feelings to Claudia and she immediately went into "Operation: Get Christine to Switzerland". We prayed about it together and I asked God to open the door if He wanted me there or slam shut in my face if it's a no. Well, God flung the door WIDE open.
When I came back home I received a call from Claudia that I had an apartment, a job and all my expenses would be covered with this job. I began to get excited but thought surely this was just a coincidence. So I prayed about it and prayed about it and prayed some more until I was certain it was God opening the door, leading me there. Since then I have had confirmation after confirmation that it really is Him calling me there. He has restored dreams I had let die a long time ago. I will be working with children again which I have missed so much. Sometimes it takes time away from something for you to realize how important it is to you, ya know? It's been over 6 years since I worked with children and I am ECSTATIC to get back into it! Claudia has children come to her home and we will be taking care of them all day. One is even a special needs child and that was BIG confirmation for me. To be able to work with a child that most people would disregard or get annoyed by is truly a blessing. When you see that child grown up, having friends and handling life better, to know God allowed you to be a part of that child's life is so special! I have to admit I am still nervous but because I have already experienced working with 2 special needs children before, that makes it easier.
So on January 25th, 2012, I will be moving to Switzerland and trying it out for a year. I have no idea how long God will want me to stay after that year or what else He has in store for me, but I am SO excited to find out! One thing I know for certain, my walk with Him will get stronger. He has provided me with such a strong group of friends here in Maryland and I know in time he will provide me with friends over in Switzerland. But I will be forced to rely on Him in a way I have not experienced yet. This excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I am hoping to shine his light as bright as I can and get up every time the enemy tries to knock me over. Hence, the title of this blog. Please be in prayer for me when you remember. I will be posting new blogs every Monday once I am over there so everyone can follow my journey with me and also pray alongside with me for any prayer requests I post. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
When I came back home I received a call from Claudia that I had an apartment, a job and all my expenses would be covered with this job. I began to get excited but thought surely this was just a coincidence. So I prayed about it and prayed about it and prayed some more until I was certain it was God opening the door, leading me there. Since then I have had confirmation after confirmation that it really is Him calling me there. He has restored dreams I had let die a long time ago. I will be working with children again which I have missed so much. Sometimes it takes time away from something for you to realize how important it is to you, ya know? It's been over 6 years since I worked with children and I am ECSTATIC to get back into it! Claudia has children come to her home and we will be taking care of them all day. One is even a special needs child and that was BIG confirmation for me. To be able to work with a child that most people would disregard or get annoyed by is truly a blessing. When you see that child grown up, having friends and handling life better, to know God allowed you to be a part of that child's life is so special! I have to admit I am still nervous but because I have already experienced working with 2 special needs children before, that makes it easier.
So on January 25th, 2012, I will be moving to Switzerland and trying it out for a year. I have no idea how long God will want me to stay after that year or what else He has in store for me, but I am SO excited to find out! One thing I know for certain, my walk with Him will get stronger. He has provided me with such a strong group of friends here in Maryland and I know in time he will provide me with friends over in Switzerland. But I will be forced to rely on Him in a way I have not experienced yet. This excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I am hoping to shine his light as bright as I can and get up every time the enemy tries to knock me over. Hence, the title of this blog. Please be in prayer for me when you remember. I will be posting new blogs every Monday once I am over there so everyone can follow my journey with me and also pray alongside with me for any prayer requests I post. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
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