Learning...

A piece of truth for thought:

God has not asked me to be self-sufficient.

Let that sink in.


God created us for relationship. Healthy relationships are both giving and receiving, which sometimes means being vulnerable with others about our needs. 

Which, for me, is actually pretty difficult.

For some reason, I have been under the impression that in order to receive, I must give. Over the past few days, I have been learning through so many not-so-fun circumstances that this just isn't the case. 

When I see other people struggling, I want to help. Not because I want something from them, but because I see their need and something in me wants to do what I can to make it better. 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)

And I feel super joyful and encouraged to be able to help other people do what they could not do themselves. 

But when I ask other people for help, I usually think that I am inconveniencing them and being a burden. 

What a binding lie!

We were never expected to be self-sufficient people, and if I don't allow others to help me I am putting myself on a pedestal, waiting to fall. 

It is okay that I can't do everything. It's okay that I don't know everything. And it is completely okay to ask other people to help me in situations like that. 

I don't need to earn it. I don't need to do something in return.
I can simply receive with gratitude and pay it forward.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12)

Jesus loves me/helps me/stands by me so that I can love/help/stand by others. He is the beginning of paying it forward. 
He helps us out of our junk and out of our selfishness by being selfless, which catches us offguard. It's hard to comprehend because it's so beyond our way of thinking.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:9)

My natural inclination is that I have to earn love/trust/favor/acceptance/grace. But when I come to God with that reasoning, I'm saying that what was done on the cross wasn't sufficient for me. That I don't need Jesus; I'm going to prove myself. 

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6)

If I'm trying to come to God by way of my own righteousness, I'm not going to make it. I won't even come close. Jesus is the only way.

Praise God, because I am pretty awful sometimes. :)


So today, as my car is being towed, I am realizing that I have a lot of really awesome people around me who are more than happy to help me and wanting to get past my stone wall of self-reliance. 
I have been offered rides into town, use of vehicles, help with fixing problems, and it's really been humbling. But...

"...We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28)

I am so thankful for the lessons that I'm learning. It's proof to me that God hasn't forgotten me and that he is so involved in every detail of my life. :)

People Blessings

I have some thoughts. 


I went to see the movie Battleship the other day, and it was really good! Of course, I would recommend The Avengers first any day, but Battleship was right up there. It was filled with intensity, action, just the right amount of drama...


It really stirred up a fighting spirit in me. I wanted to go out and join the Navy.


But seriously. This is what hit me the hardest. The main character is this self-absorbed dude that hasn't learned to be a mature leader and hasn't learned the value of other people. Near the beginning, he knocks the older techniques and battleships, saying they're like dinosaurs...
So there's a point in the movie where leadership of the group defaults to him. All of their ships are done for, and they're out of options. He has a change of perspective and realizes that their only chance is to go with the old-school way... bringing out the classic battleship and very humbly asking the veterans to honor them by fighting alongside and manning the ship with them. 
In that moment, the two previously-distanced generations join together, locking shields, united under a common goal. There is no judgment or in-fighting; they are joined together, fighting to save the world. 
And they succeed! 
And at that point (through my tears) I realized: This is the heart of God! 
We have such a wealth of wisdom and knowledge, greying and growing slower just within our reach. Our motto should never be "Out with the old, in with the new." These are people who know about life and have a rich history with God, full of His faithfulness and salted with His character. What a privilege it is to move from that foundation, to glean from the stories. 
We might be more tech-saavy, stronger, more in-tune with culture. But we've only just begun. They're closing in on the finish line. 


Lately, I've been so moved with gratefulness that God would give me such wonderful grandparents. They've paved the way for the generations to come with their walk with God and their obedience and love for Him. 


It stirred in me a desire to pray for them, as their precious lives are nearing to a close. That God would continue to draw near to them and bless them. That His face would continue to shine on them. That He would always be their source of life. That he would ease their ailments, physical and otherwise. 


And that as they look at their posterity, their gift from God, they would be pleased. That they would be overwhelmed by God's goodness and the way he fulfills His promises.


Pray for your grandparents! If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be here! :)


Love y'all!


Stine

Ah, the power of baking soda...

So I've recently been using baking soda. For just about everything. :)

Maybe that's weird... but it's natural. 

Like, in place of shampoo. My hair feels so much more... clean! And healthy. like, naturally healthy. And it doesn't get greasy nearly as fast. 

And in place of face wash. My face feels clean, it's a naturally abrasive, and it doesn't super dry out my skin. I haven't really even been needing to use face lotion that much.

I mean, we'll see. Maybe I'll change my mind. But it's going well so far... :)

I'm not who I was...

Hey friends! 


God is so good... did you know? :)


One and a half years ago He brought me here to Texas and started transforming my life, one day at a time. 


And He brought me some really stellar friends. :)


One of which surprised me with a little something to hang on my wall! :) 

Left side(top 2)- DTS pics; Right(top 2)- SOE pics

Bottom Left: Love feast 11/2011

Bottom Right: Meganne's Rehearsal Dinner 3/2012

Tuesday morning...

Hello party people! :)


I have a new/old roommate! :) Once upon a time in DTS, me and Sarah were roommates... and now we're on staff, and we're roommates again! :) So fun! I've really enjoyed having her around again!

Me and Sarah in DTS :)

We also have a special fan in our room... for some reason, it won't ever point where we want it to point. It has an unnatural affinity to the ceiling...

In other news, my office-mate has been partying it up with VBS stuff for the past two days. She's the fun one around here I guess... :) 

Kathryn and the VBS opossum...

And! My good friend Meganne is back today from her honeymoon! I missed that girl!!! :)

Angie, McKenna, Meganne, Kaleigh, Me, and Juni :)

That's all for today I guess... have a good one, and be blessed! :)

Justine

Weddings are beautiful...

Hello Friends!


After getting back from 5 crazy awesome days in Houston, tying up loose ends, and repacking my bag, I drove back down to Houston for the wedding of one of my best friends! It was such a privilege to be part of such a special day :)

(Me, Juni, Angie, Meg)

We did a lot of shopping! Shopping= happy girls :)

(Angie, Juni, and Me)

We ate a lot of delicious food and got to hang out with Meganne's crazy-awesome family... I love them! :)

Meganne's mom even paid for all of us girls to get our nails done... that was a super neat blessing! :)

Angie and me helping Meganne pick out the perfect dress for her rehearsal dinner.. :)

Me with the beautiful bride at the rehearsal dinner :)

My first time wearing makeup in a really long time... :)

And I did Meganne's hair! Thank you Jesus for helping me not mess it up! haha :)

I walked with a nice guy named Joseph.

Me, Juni, McKenna, Angie, and Kaleigh... The bridesmaids :)

Chilling at the reception :)

(Me, Angie, Juni, Kaleigh,and Macarena)

Celebrating a successful week of celebrating, wedding preparation, shopping, rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception, and send off... whew! :)

Our trek home... my car decided not to start after we stopped for lunch (one hour into the 4 hour trip...). I called my wonderful dad and he walked me through fixing the problem. He's the best! :)

Meganne's mom and sister decided to decorate my car before we left! :) I loved it... so sweet!

All in all, it was a really fun time. I got to spend quality time with some of my best friends in the world, from all over the world. :)

And even though we're all totally different (different backgrounds, different personalities, different work styles, different preferences, etc), we all love Jesus and we love Meganne, so we worked together and had fun together. And by the end of it all, Meganne's family members were trying to convince us to come and live with them. :) haha. 

Anyway, I had a blast. I am so thankful that Jesus lets me travel so much and have such awesome friends. 

I am so blessed. :)

Ay! Crazy busy!

Wow! Life is so full these days! :)


First things:

- We just finished a ten day Catholic SST for high school students from the Tyler area, San Antonio, and Canada! It was fantastic! These kids were so hungry to know God in their hearts. They know so much about God, but most of them had never personally experienced God or felt like they had heard his voice. It was so awesome to be a part of them hearing His voice for the first time, and responding by giving him their hearts! The coolest thing was that God did it all! We didn't have to preach at them or manipulate anything... we just let God be God, prayed our guts out, and did what we felt He was asking us to do.
Highlights:
I had the opportunity to lead the school and the outreach with one of my best friends (Seth)!

We got to start and end each class...

I was overwhelmed by the joy of the Lord at the Catholic Healing Mass...

I got to lead worship twice a day, and even at church in the park on outreach :)

I also got to hang out with a bunch of really awesome kids and disciple them... hah. God is so cool. :)

Added to that, we had the most awesome nun and priest with us for the whole ten days... such a blessing! mad props to Father Bill and Sister Maria! :)

I was seriously blessed by God's faithfulness during these ten days... I have never been a part of something this huge before. This is the first Catholic SST we have ever done, and it's major! God is unifying his church, and it's starting with the youth! SO exciting!!

And! This was the first SST that Seth and I have ever led. We were responsible for 30 students (47 people total) for five days in Houston... God gives so much grace :) There were so many times that God worked out stuff that we didn't know about... 

for example! We planned to do prayer walks around Planned Parenthood twice. We weren't really sure why, but that was how the schedule was working out. 

The first day we went, we found out later, was the day that the Catholics honor St. Girard, the patron saint of expectant mothers... haha!! We planned to come back two days later, which happened to be the day that 39 women would begin a 21 day walk from Houston to Dallas for a prayer movement called The Esther Call... a call to fasting and praying to see the end of abortion and to ask for God's undeserved mercy over our nation for the innocent blood we've shed. 

We had no idea!! We witnessed a press conference, and Lou Engle was there... I'm in the background on the left in this pic of Lou with Wes (the director of SST) and Lori (co-director of YWAM Kerygma TX - Catholic):

This is Lou and some of the women who are walking right now...

ha. wow. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. The 39 women have all had abortions, and have come out with it and are living in the freedom of God's love and mercy. 39 of them are walking to represent the 39 years of abortion in the US since Roe v. Wade. This is an absolutely phenomenal event. I was just weeping realizing the reconciliation and restoration that God wants to bring to our nation through this. It's epic! :)


hah. yes.


So we had an awesome time with these guys. Just wonderful. Even just in ten days, there was dramatic, night-and-day difference in the lives of these kids. 22 of the 29 gave their lives to Jesus!! Victory!!! :) These kids know so much about God, but they didn't know he was personal. Now that they do, they were so on-fire and ready to share His love with everyone. And they're still blowing up facebook about it! 
Some of their recent posts:
"Every time I think about God, I can't stop smiling!"
"I never knew I could be this close to God... it's amazing!"
"Trying so hard not to go to my old life!!!"
"I miss it like crazy already! All the staff and all the students, I consider y'all a part of my family, it was such an honor to spend my spring brake with you guy and I would do it again in a heart beat!"


Students are starting prayer meetings in their schools back home, they're wanting to join the worship teams... serious change! It's so awesome! :)


All because they were willing to let God in...

Anyway. I'm still just amazed that God would use me. Hah. Who am I, to be teaching in Korea or leading a group of 47 people to Houston? 

I've learned that all I need to do is know God, listen to what he says, do it, and make Him known. Lift His name high in everything I do. Not the easiest thing. But! It has gotten so much easier.

Because the more I get to know Him, the more I realize how worthy He is. And how much He abundantly blesses me. :)

Life is so full. God is so good. :)

Best Trip of my Life...

I'm back from South Korea!
It was absolutely fantastic. I did not want to leave!


We were originally going to Korea to teach a discipleship camp, but there was a little bit of miscommunication, so we got to practice being flexible. :) We taught in an English camp, with a heavy discipleship focus, which meant we had to get creative with combining the two. :) I was able to teach on Worship, Spiritual Warfare, and Identity, as well as teaching a worship song in English every morning. It was super stretching, but really rewarding. Most of the material I used in my teachings came from the quiet times I had in the months leading up to the trip. God is so faithful! :)
Some photo highlights of the trip:

Lovely views from the plane :)

Delicious food!

Adorable kids!

New friends! :)

Fun new things...

neat cultural experiences...

Korean Church!

New Friends! :)

Homestay with a super sweet Korean family :)

So. Much. Food. :)

Spicy, fun food :)

Big, warm coats. :)

Teaching!! I love it!! :)

Getting the students involved in my Spiritual Warfare teaching :)

Surveying people on the streets of Seoul :)

Keepin it real with the team ;)

Lots of new friends :)

I even acquired some brothers while I was there... and a Korean name :)

Duck Soup!

The DMZ

Sushi!

Octopus!!

Creative ways to use the elevator... :)

Coffee, and the sweetest baby boy! :)

Good Friends :)

Heated Floors :)

Krispy Kreme with new friends! :)

Not enough sleep... ;)

Korean Style Photo Booth :)

Learning new tricks.. :)

Coffee and cute socks.

Team bonding at a naked spa... haha ;)

strange pizza with potato and fruit cocktail on it... :/

Spending the day with a really sweet kid...

Dinner with new friends :)

So. Much. Food.

reunited with my friend from DTS! :)

Lots of Kimbop!

All in all, a fantastic trip! A huge THANK YOU!!! to everyone who helped me get there! Thank you for investing in the things God is doing in and through my life, and thanks for being interested in my life!

Love ya'll! ;)