Hey y'all,
I'm just so excited about what God is teaching me at John Brown, that I had to share it with you. This morning, when I was spending time with God, I realized that God often uproots us from the familiar in order to teach us something. The familiar for me would be LCS, my family, and the city of Howell, Michigan. The unfamiliar is JBU and Siloam Springs, Arkansas (even though I've been here for about a month and half, the place is still not "familiar" even though I know it much better than I did at first). Before I came here, I was apathetic about my spiritual life; I wasn't really spending time with God. Now, however, God is the only One whom I have (certainly I'm making friends, but it's not the same).
The first few weeks or so that I was here, I didn't spend any time with God. However, through September 16-17, I went on a retreat, and I "got in touch" with God again. I've been spending time with Him regularly each morning, and He is certainly teaching me a lot. One thing that He seems to keep on reiterating is the idea of being wholly surrendered to Him and what He would want for me. For spring break, I am thinking about going on a mission trip to Guatemala. As for the summer, I am thinking about working at one of the camps down here. However, I am not quite sure what I am doing for Christmas break yet. Certainly, it would be totally awesome to come home (and that's what I really desire). However, I'm not quite sure if that's what God wants me to do yet; He hasn't told me what direction to take. It may seem simple enough that I should just come home for Christmas, but it's not. As of now, I strongly believe that God is calling me to be a doctor, targeting mentally and physically disabled people in foreign countries. Certainly, I won't be able to come home and visit my family for Christmas when I'm in that occupation! So, I feel like it would be great preparation for the future for me to stay down here or go "home" with some other family, instead of going to Howell (if that is God's will).
I must admit that for the longest time, I was having doubts about whether I made the right decision to come here. Homesickness greatly contributed to these doubts. However, now I have absolutely no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be. I am seeing some of the fruit of why God brought me here: to awaken me spiritually and to have a closer relationship with Him and to learn to trust Him more. If those were the only reasons that God brought me here, it would be well worth it! Don't you think? I am thoroughly convinced though that God has much more in store for me here!
Some specific things to pray for:
1. That my desire would be to desire God, and God only.
2. That I would be obedient to whatever God calls me to do.
3. That God would reveal to me what He wants me to do for Christmas break (whether come home or stay here)- and that I would be able to discern what He is telling me to do.
Thanks for all of your love, prayers, and support!
