Caring as Jesus did

Sunday night I gave my first talk at our weekly meeting. I wasn't really nervous, but I was a little intimidated. Never having talked there before I didn't know what to expect as feedback. It was part of project of sorts we're doing with our students called "prayer, care, share." They were challenged to pick three friends and then pray for them, care for them and eventually share with them. It has been exciting to see them respond to it so far. So, this week we were starting "care" and I was speaking on the topic.
I choose to focus on loving others and in turn caring for them. I hit on the Great Commandment to love the Lord your God and to love others as yourselves pointing out that if we don't love God and are an outpouring of His love in return it is hard to love others. Then I proceeded to use examples from the Perfect Example, Jesus. I used the famous passage of feeding the 5,000.
Matthew 14:13-21
I just want to share a few major points that God showed me from this passage.
1) First off, in verse 14 the very first Jesus does for the people is heal them. He had compassion on them (aka love for them) and healed them. Caring for people is fulfilling a need in their lives, Jesus saw their need for physical restoration and he filled it. He loved them because he put their need for physical healing above his need for rest. He didn't even have time to sit down...He got out of the boat and started caring for the people gathered there. Wow...
2) In verse 15 the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so they can get food. They recognized that these people were getting hungry and had a need to eat. However, they assumed that the people needed to fulfill that need themselves. Instead, in the next verse Jesus tells them to feed them! He says, "they don't need to go away. You give them something to eat." Whoa, how many times have I tried to send others away to tend to their own needs? Jesus knows they are hungry, and He knows they are capable of going off and finding food themselves (they have afterall, been eating their whole lives, right?), however, He instead wants His disciples to care for and feed these people. To fulfill their needs. To demonstrate God's love for them by fulfilling a simple need for food.
3) Jesus provided the food but the disciples passed it out. Verse 19, Jesus blessed the food (it multiplied) and He gave it to His disciples for them to give to others. So, Jesus wants us to care for others, but He doesn't leave us high and dry. He provides for us a way to care for others, the means of caring for them. That is a true picture of us being vessels for Him! The people ate and were satisfied.
4) Never once does it talk about Jesus preaching to the people. Verse 22 says "immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat..." Jesus cared for these people but didn't preach. I'm not a Biblical scholar, but I felt God is showing us through this passage that actions speak just as loud as words. What we do effects how people will respond to God and see us as messengers of Him. It's just as important to care for people and show them God's love as it is to tell them of God's love.
As I was sharing this during my talk, I actually didn't prepare for 2 & 3...God brought those to my attention while I was talking. Talk about a revelation from God! As my eyes were opened, I was impacted my what God was using me to tell others. The picture of Christ asking us to care for those in need was so beautiful to me. Just thinking of how many times I've turned people away convicted me. Sometimes the simplest passage, even a popular passage we've heard hundreds of times, can impact you more in one moment than it you ever imagined.
Who have you cared for today?

Surrender

Do you ever think you really give something to God and then come to find out that it never left your hand? The past two weeks have been just like that. A back and forth rollercoaster of emotions and surrender. I keep asking myself the timeless question, "how do I really surrender?" At what point do you really let go and give it to God? Is it in one full swoop, you hand it over and all of sudden it's out of your grasp and in the hands of the Father, or is it a process? A slow turn over of giving the whole situation.
I'm beginning to see that it's daily. Daily surrendering all that I have and need to give to God. There are many things I need to daily surrender to Him. But with every day it gets a little easier, a little less painful. However, just as easily I can take it back and then it starts all over. Hmmm, I have so many thoughts running through my mind right now.
Ok, first off, surrendering to God is a desire. You have to want to give it to Him to really give it to Him. Otherwise, the whole time you're thinking about that thing you "gave to God" and wanting it back (when really you probably never gave it to Him in the first place). Think about a little kid with a toy. Let's say the toy is not a safe toy and his dad asks him to give him the toy. The kid really likes the toy, but he gives it reluctantly to the dad. Even though he gave it to his dad, he's constantly thinking about the toy, trying to figure out how he can get it back from his dad. He's thinking of all the fun he had with the toy and how unfair his father is being in asking for the toy. However, if he understands why the toy is not safe for him and why his father wants him to give it to him then the situation changes a little. Instead, the kid gives it to his dad, is sad for awhile but then continues on playing. His thoughts are no longer consumed by this toy and he has no bitter feelings towards his dad. Then there's the kid that realizes the toy is not safe on his own and he wants to give it away to his dad. This kid then never thinks twice. He's not bitter or even sad, but excited and happy that finally his dad has this toy that he could not use safely. And he understands that one day when he grows up and can maybe better handle the toy, his dad will give it back to him (in his timing, of course). Then, the kid will be able to use the toy and enjoy all it has to offer.
I find myself being the first kid all too often. I surrender things to God, but really I don't give them up fully, instead I hold onto them and think about them constantly. Such has been my life as of late. However, now that I've come to this shocking realization maybe I can ask God to teach me to desire to surrender. To open my eyes so I can see how much better things are in His hands. That His hands keep those "unsafe toys" from harming me until the time is right. And then, when His timing is perfect (which could be never), maybe I'll receive back what I gave to Him and find more joy in it than I could ever have hoped for.
Lord, give me the desire to surrender to You all that is Yours...

Happy!

Cute coffee shops make me happy! Kelley and I discovered a very fun, incredible cute coffee shop that serves good coffee and amazing fruit smoothies! I'm excited to go there tomorrow and have an extended QT. I miss American coffee shops, but this one definitely reminds me of a place where all my friends would go and study together (which never really ends up happening, I mean, c'mon...studying together...you never really study...well at least I didn't). So yeah, today we sat there for about a half hour and talked and I drank my berry smoothie, contemplated a mural on the wall of two nuns and dreamed of being in America. I was happy. Very, very happy. In fact, it totally made my day. Ahhh...

Picture time

I wanted to share some pictures with you all involved in my "blogger's paradise." I think allowing you to view the fun I have will help you feel more connected to me...however creepy that may sound I more or less have nothing else to blog about and this seemed like the best alternative.

We had some friends from WSU visit recently. This is me and the infamous Malisa Canto doing some sight seeing and such. It was a blast to have them here with us for a very short week.

Ok, these kids are super cute! Kelley and I witnessed their dance routine early one morning while out prayer walking on campus. They had routines to songs with dance moves and everything! So cute! The girl in the white jacket was our favorite.

This is me with my friend's rabbit, Hawaii. They've actually been through quite a few rabbits naming each one after a state. They started with "A" and have made their way to "H"...hmmm. And yes, that is a David Beckham bobble-head on their TV.

Ah, Kelley and I doing some sight seeing of our own. Which we never really get to do much of living here (weird). I love this picture. It's fast becoming one of my favorites!

The Kissing Disease

Mono. Our unexpected visitor. My roomie, Michelle, got mono and now Kelley and I are just waiting to see where it springs up next. Apparently, she has the "Asian" strain (didn't know there was a difference) and it's highly contagious through the air. Crazy. I could get mono, also known as the kissing disease, and not even have to kiss anyone to get it! I'm not sure how I feel about that. She's had it for about two weeks now and she'll sleep 14 hours a night on average. Crazy kid! Also, with the WSU peeps visiting this past week she's completely worn out. So now, everyone in "the fam" here is pretty much sick except for me. There's been a head cold going around, some sort of flu thing and now mono. I think I'm the only one who hasn't gotten sick yet. I'm hoping I get a choice as to what I catch. I'll take a head cold, please. If anything, it will be amazing if I don't get mono as I share everything with Michelle (drinks, food, etc) and snuggle with her quite frequently. The doctor told her that whoever is going to get it already has it. How comforting, I could be a carrier and not even know it for another 4 to 6 weeks when symptoms arise. Would anybody like a kiss?

WSU Visitors

I said goodbye to some friends today. It was sad to see them go, but I know it won't be long until I see them back at WSU again. For the past week I have been hanging out with my fellow Cougs and showing them around my hometown. It was fun and refreshing (as I thrive on relationships), and I got to catch up with some amazing people I haven't seen all year. I realized how much I miss WSU and all the people there. How much I thrive in that community of believers. I'm beginning to see just how extroverted I really am. Without relationships my life would fall apart. Ha, I'm dependent on conversations and silliness from those around me. So, having them here was amazing, and although I'm exhausted it was all worth it. Thank you Cougs, for coming, visiting and encouraging those of us over here. I hope you were able to get a glimpse of God's goodness and catch a heart for the world.

Draw near

I haven't blogged in awhile and I guess it's because I don't really know what to blog about. I haven't had any insights into life, nothing dramatic happen. It's just been...life. Hmmm, life as I know it. Today I'm fasting. Right now I'm really hungry. This is the first time it's hit me all day, strange I thought I'd be hungrier this afternoon. Anyways, I was prayer walking on campus today and God opened my eyes a little more to Himself. As I looked around and watched all the students I realized how vast the population is and how small I am. How can I reach all these people? What am I really doing here? Can I really accomplish what God has for me? A lot of those thoughts have to do with the fact that I came back from break and none of my six promising students can meet with me any longer (2 no longer want to and 4 of them have "time constraints"). Thinking over that is rather dreadful. So, as I pondered that and looked out over campus I realized how much of it is all about God. Ok, how all of it is about Him. How so much of this year is all about Him working in me and somehow reaching the nations. I'm reminded of a quote from my dear friend Steven from earlier this year. I don't remember it exactly, but it went something like this, "Coming into this year I thought it was going to be about 80% of God using me to reach this campus and 20% of God working in me. But now I've realized that it's about 100% of God working in me and somehow through that, He's going to reach the campus."How true that is. It's all about drawing near to God. How He pulls us into His presence and then uses us when we least expect it. That's why it's an outpouring of His love for us. How can it be an outpouring if we're not being poured into? I guess I've been changing my priorities a lot lately. Making it more about Him and less about me doing things for Him. More about His love and less about how I can love others. I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me. Hmmm, so that means I need Christ's strength, which comes from Him (not myself). Yeah, that's it. It's all about Jesus. How often we get it wrong, how often we forego a relationship with God and get caught up in the performance. He made us for His enjoyment. He enjoys our presence. As a team we're reading "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer, in it he states that God is waiting for us, and waiting and waiting. Incredible that God is waiting for us to draw near to Him, to pursue Him. To reach out and grab onto His hand and just be in His presence. This is all random, and I guess I do have something to blog about. God is incredible and I'll never understand His ways, but maybe that's the beauty of it.