An Airplane, New York, and God's Power

(I wrote this blog over 4 days because I was too tired each night to finish! It's about Saturday and Sunday.)

Guys, this trip has already been amazing and we haven't even started our mission work. I'm going to start with the fun, touristy stuff and end with the amazing, awe-inspiring way God has already used us. 

Saturday night, we went into Manhattan to get dinner and dessert at Serendipity. Our food was amazing and the atmosphere was fun. 

What I enjoyed the most, though, was this...

Yeah, it was even better than it looks. After dinner, we were spent. We came back to the hotel and got a great nights sleep. 

This morning (Sunday), we headed to the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum. 

It was beautiful, sad, and moving. 

The spot where one of the Twin Towers used to stand. There was an identical memorial for the other tower. 

Inside the exhibits prior to entering the museum, we heard voices describing experiences, saw before and after photos of the skyline, and saw debris from the wreckage. 

A stairwell that lead several people to safety. 

Once inside the museum, we took it in at our own pace. Katie and I took the longest and were still processing it all hours later. We were paged around 2:00 to "hurry it up already--we're hungry." (They were actually much nicer than that, but it's more fun to exaggerate). 

Footage of planes hitting the towers. Evacuations. Buildings collapsing. People covered in dust. 

But the most heartbreaking part was knowing that many of those people died without Jesus. Some people who survived that day have given up their faith in a God that, in their opinion, wouldn't let tragedies happen if He were actually a loving God. Recordings of their stories were included in the "After 9/11" section. 

After that, we got some New York pizza and visited the Bethesda fountain in Central Park. We then went to church and had dinner with Ryan and Leslie Sims in their new apartment. 

It was great to meet my fellow Meridian, MS transplant, Leslie. We got to love on this sweet couple (and adorable kids) and hopefully give them a little piece of home. 

Now to the best part. 

My seats were separate from the other four. On the flight from Birmingham to Atlanta, I sat with two boys from Huntsville who were going to visit their Mom. I prayed before and during the flight that God would give me the opportunity to share the gospel with someone on the plane. I tried to broach the topic of God with the boys, but nothing landed.

Meanwhile, Heather is entertaining the other girls while doped up on Dramamine... Which is impressive since she was actually asleep most of the flight. 

Since she was planning to sleep on the way to NY, I asked if she would swap seats so I could talk to the others. Since she's awesome, she agreed. 

I believe this was God's plan, not mine. 

Christy and I end up sitting next to a man named Brent. Once in the air, I ask Brent where he's headed. He tells us that he's an airplane mechanic flying to Africa for 4 months. When he asks our plans, I tell him we're on a mission trip to work with the Nepali and Tibetans in Queens. He assumes we'll be helping with relief efforts for displaced earthquake victims. 

When I tell him our goal is actually to share the gospel with these people groups, he says, "Huh, that's interesting."

He pulls a shopping bag from the seat pocket and takes out a KJV Bible with his name engraved and tells us his grandkids just gave it to him. He tries to read it when he can and says that he's a Christian. In the next breath, Brent admits he doesn't know what he believes about God's existence. He believes that we were created by something, but he doesn't know what.

Christy hears this part of the conversation and jumps in to help me out. We talk about our beliefs and give rationales for those beliefs. He agrees with some (we were created by something) but not others (God created Adam and Eve from dust and a rib). 

Brent is 99% sure that Earth was colonized by our ancestors from another planet because they were running out of room. What else explains how the pyramids were created? 

Christy did a great job of asking questions in a way that his answers would make him think:

Where did those people come from? Who created them? I don't know. That's why I may believe in God. I definitely don't believe we came from apes. 

If it's true that we came from another planet, why doesn't anyone know this as fact? If they were intelligent enough to colonize another planet, they should have been able to find a way to ensure we know where we came from.  Well, maybe that's where the Bible came from. Maybe the story of Jesus returning is actually the commander or whoever coming back for us. 

Brent only has positive thoughts, so the idea of hell doesn't mesh with his beliefs. We asked where he thinks we go when we die.

He doesn't know.

Well, we believe that if you trust in Jesus and live your life for Him, you go to heaven. Anything else takes to you hell. Why would you want to think about that? I only want to think about positives.

There are really only two choices in the life. Choosing God, or choosing Satan. There is no third option. I can see that, but I only like to think about positives. There's no need for negative energy. 

That's a one sided view. Nothing in this world is only positive or only negative. I just try to be a good person and help other people. That's great, but how do you know what's good? I know it in my heart.

How do you know that's good? What if someone knows in their heart it's good to kill people who don't agree with them? Well, that's just wrong. They should know that. I was raised to do the right thing. What if they were raised to think killing is actually good? It's just not right. 

I don't see how a God who loves could let natural disasters and bad things happen. Christy explained that Adam and Eve allowed sin to enter all of creation when they disobeyed God. Not only are we broken, but nature is broken. Since we continue to sin, everything continues to be broken. 

We talked to him for the entirety of our fight. He asked questions, we asked questions. He answered, we answered. 

It was an entirely pleasant discussion with no arguing whatsoever. 

God answered my prayers. I wanted to opportunity to share the truth of Jesus with someone who didn't know Him. Brent is obviously lost and seeking answers. Between his wife's support (she's a believer), reading the Bible, and our conversation, we pray Brent sees the truth soon. Please pray with us that he does! 

It is so humbling seeing God work.

He doesn't need us, but He allows us to help Him. He spoke through sleep, Dramamine, seat arrangements, and two women on a flight to make sure Brent heard truth about Him.

What a powerful, amazing, loving God we serve. 

Matthew 28:18-20

Hey, there. Let me quickly sum up the last year and a half that lead to this point. I attended Church of the Highlands for 4 1/2 of the almost 6 years I've lived in Birmingham. In the fall of 2013, I felt God changing the desires of my heart.  I began feeling God pull me away from Highlands. As always, though, God knew what He was doing.

I began attending Mountaintop Community Church with my best friend, Meredith. I decided I liked it and began getting involved. During a meeting of a missions small group I attended, I learned about Mountaintop's mission focuses in Tanzania, the Philippines, and Colombia. While I would love to quit my job and travel the world, none of these places peaked my interest. I finally realized why when I began having thoughts like "what about Americans" and "there are so many people in our own country who don't know Jesus."

 A few months later, God began making it pretty clear that Mountaintop was not where He wanted me. I tried a few churches and couldn't find one that felt like home. I visited the Church at Brook Hills a year earlier (while I was still happily at Highlands) and didn't love it, so I put it last on my list for church visits. Long story long, when I visited in early December 2014, I was home.

God had been leading me to Brook Hills for over a year. Either I took a detour from His plan by attending another church or He meant for that detour to happen all along. Through a friend who was already attending Brook Hills (shout out to Hanna), I was introduced to an amazing group of people who welcomed me with open arms. I began attending a small group with several beautiful women who I'm blessed to call friends.

Through that group, I heard about a mission trip to New York City (thanks to Melanie, our fearless trip leader). At first, I was thinking what you probably are. Uhhh.. New York? For a mission trip? Within a second or two, God reminded me of my developing desire to reach people in America. I could picture Him looking at me with that patient, eyebrows-raised face that said "get it now?" I began bombarding Melanie with questions (sorry about that) and wanted to know as much as I could about it. I finally made the decision that, yes, I was going to New York in June of 2015.

God has a way of keeping you unsettled until you make the right decision. He's good like that.

You now see why I crossed out "quickly" way back up there at the top. If you're still reading, I'll give you a free ticket to NY. Just kidding...making sure you're paying attention.

This all brings us to today--the day before our pretty awesome team leaves for NY. Can I just say...I'm so excited. I mean, really excited. When I think about the amazing things God is going to do over the next few days, I want to jump up and down like a little girl who hears the ice cream truck. Let me tell you a little about the people we'll be serving so you can get excited, too.

We will be working primarily with the Tibetan and Nepali populations in the Jackson Heights area of Queens. The info below is from the Global Gates website (globalgates.info)--the ministry we are working with in NY, peoplegroups.org, and imb.org:

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Tibetans:

Origin: East Asia
Language: Tibetan
Primary Religion: Buddhism - Lamaism
Population: 10,500
Global Population: 1,098,300
Progress of the Gospel: Unengaged and Unreached

Over 3,000 Tibetans live in Metro New York (community estimate), with the largest concentration in Jackson Heights. New York is host to the largest population of Tibetans outside China, India, and Nepal, and one-third of Tibetans in the US live in Metro New York. The activism on behalf of Tibet and influence of Tibetans based out of NYC also makes engagement with Tibetans in NYC increasingly significant.

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Nepali:

Origin: South Asia

Language: Nepali
Primary Religion: Hinduism
Population: 13,500
Global Population: 4,124,100
Progress of the Gospel: Engaged yet Unreached

The Jackson Heights area is the hub of the estimated 30,000 Nepalis in Metro New York (community estimate). Even those who do not live in the neighborhood come to shop and socialize.

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Unreached: a people group in which less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians.

Unengaged: when there is no church planting strategy (consistent with Evangelical faith and practice) under implementation. In this respect, a people group is not engaged when it has been merely adopted, is the object of focused prayer, or is part of an advocacy strategy.

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Just in case you're not that familiar with the details of the Hinduism and Buddhism...

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Hinduism

Reincarnation and the existence of a supreme being in multiple forms are fundamental ideas within Hinduism. A basic desire for freedom from the evils and pitfalls of life is what guides much of their practices.

Key concepts of Hinduism:

• Dharma means individual ethics, obligations and duties.
• Samsara means reincarnation or rebirth.
• Karma means the cause and effect of actions.
• Moksha means salvation by more than one path.
• A person’s soul will continue to be reborn until it attains salvation.
• The ultimate freedom from reincarnation and material existence by becoming part of or one with the Supreme Being is the goal of all Hindus.
• Actions are considered to determine a person’s progress toward salvation. Actions of virtue will lead one closer to the goal while evil actions add to the separation and prove a lack of understanding.

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Buddhism

Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakya clan, in the year 563 B.C., in the village of today’s Padaria in southern Nepal. As a king’s son (who may have been only chief of a clan), Usually streets were cleared of unpleasant things when Gautama was to venture out, but when he was 29 years old, he encountered the Four Passing Sights:  a sick man, an old man, a corpse, and a recluse. This led to the Great Going Forth:  six years Gautama wandered in search of the answer to human misery.  During this time he tried Raha Yoga and then asceticism (extreme self-denial and fasting).  Gautama decided, at 35, to meditate under a Bo-tree (a type of fig tree) until he either died or found the answer to life’s riddle. After 40 days, he attained enlightenment or perfect knowledge. Through this “Bo-tree Experience” he became the Buddha, or the Enlightened One. 

He decided to share this experience with others and preached all over northern India for 45 years, making converts. Gautama died in 483 B.C. at the age of 80 of food poisoning.

The Four Noble Truths:

Suffering in life is inevitable.
The cause of suffering is desire.
The cure of suffering is the overcoming of desire.
The way to overcome desire is through the
 Eightfold Path:

Right Understanding

Right Thought

Right Speech

Right Actions

Right (mode of) Livelihood

Right Effort

Right Mindfulness

Right Concentration (meditation)

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That might be more than you wanted to know, but it excites me to read about them and know I'll be with them soon. The enemy has been blinding these people groups for thousands of years. God wants His people back. And by God's will, we're going to help Him. 

My plan is to blog each night to fill you all in on what happened that day. We are currently planning to receive training and serve these two people groups on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tomorrow will be mostly travel, Sunday we will attend a church in NY, and Wednesday will be spent sight seeing.

These updates are especially for those of you who supported me through donations or purchasing a t-shirt. I wouldn't be doing this without you!! Know that anything done in God's name is an extension of your generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you have a minute, please pray for our team. We want Jesus to guide our steps and use our mouths to speak His words. Pray that we will encounter people with open hearts and minds. Pray that we will plant so many seeds that the benefits will be immeasurable. 

Most of all, pray that God receives the glory only He deserves and that He uses us to add a few more brothers and sisters to the family. 

What up 2012!

New year.. decided I wanted to try this blogging business again.

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting started yesterday, and it has made me look back on this past year. I have prayed for so long for God to send me godly, dependable, amazing friends. Well, he delivered in 2011. Not only had I met Meredith, one of the best friends a girl could as for, in 2010, we decided to lead a fellowship small group in the Spring of 2011. We prayed that we could meet new friends through Highlands and foster an environment of openness and fellowship with other Christians. We certainly got what we asked for. So many friendships were made that I feel will be long lasting. These people have challenged and helped strengthen my relationship with God, as well as who I want to be. It has allowed me to see myself through the eyes of others, and given me a new perspective on who I am. The two greatest blessings from 2011 are finding an amazing group of friends, and God leading me on a journey to become more confident and proud of who I am.

Starting 2012, I can already say I've been blessed! I am finally, finally, finally starting a job with children! It only took two years after graduating to find a job where I truly feel like I'm called to be. I will be the Augmentative Communication Consultant for Jefferson County Schools. I will travel to different schools around the county and consult with teachers and Speech Therapists on how to incorporate augmentative devices into the classroom and therapy sessions. I've had several job interviews in pediatrics over the past several months, and God always gave me a peace about them. I truly only wanted what God had for me, and if that meant I needed to stay in my position as an SLP in a nursing home for awhile longer until the job he had for me came along, so be it. I already made a job change in 2010 that, needless to say, was a disaster. I didn't want that to happen again. The only surefire way to make sure it wouldn't was to give it to God. He and only He knows where I need to be and where He can best use me. So, through all of the job interviews and not getting jobs, I was completely at peace with it. I didn't want anything unless it was in God's plan.

That being said, getting this job is completely a God thing. From the very beginning, it felt different. I regularly checked the Teach in Alabama website to see if there were any SLP jobs posted in my area. I had never seen one within a reasonable driving distance until December 5. It was a listing for an SLP in Jefferson County. I happened to look at the closing for the job listing, and it happened to be on December 5. Hm. I didn't think much else about it until I received a phone call that following Thursday. Yes, as in 4 days later. I was asked by the woman who will now be my supervisor which job I had applied for, as there were 2 being offered. I replied that I had no idea, I just saw an opening and applied. She explained that one job was the one I will be starting in a week, and the other was a typical SLP job split between an elementary and a high school. She asked if I had training with augmentative devices, to which I replied some. She said that the person for this job really needed to have a heart for special needs children. Uh, hello? I still think she could read my mind somehow. I'll have to ask her. Later that day, she calls back and asks if I can come in for an interview the next afternoon. I had already planned to leave work early that day, as the LIFE Retreat was that weekend, so I didn't even have to fib about why I needed to leave work early. I showed up, parked at completely the wrong end of the parking lot, ended up hiking around the circumference of the Board of Education building in heels, and finally made it inside out of one of the only cold days we had in December. Hustled to the office, as I was now a little late, and sat in the waiting room. I got called back for the interview and talked a bit with the woman who will be my supervisor. Her boss comes in about ten minutes later and they very kindly trade off asking me questions. To be completely honest, I don't even know what I answered for some of them. All I remember is praying "God, I have absolutely no idea how to answer this question, so if you want me to have this job I'm going to need some help."

After they were questioned out, my soon-to-be-supervisor and her boss went out into the hall to "talk for a minute." I was freaking out a little. The way I saw it was, they were going to put me at the top of their list, or they were going to call the Board of Speech Pathology to have my license revoked on the grounds of having no idea what I'm doing. The whole time they were in the hall, which was probably 5 minutes but felt like 5 hours, I prayed the same words over and over: "God, I don't want this job if you don't want me to have it. Please don't let this continue any further than this room if you don't want me to have it." After an eternity of repeating those words, they walked back in and sat down. Surely, they could hear my heart hammering away, but they politely ignored it. The first thing said was "We would like to offer you the job." Uhh.. say what? I'm sure I looked completely dumbfounded. I think I said something along the lines of "Oh, wow, really?" What a good Speech Therapist I am. They then progressed to tell me about benefits and whatnot. In my frazzled haze, I think I wrote down the specifics. To top off the whole "this was completely a God thing," as if he basically answering my prayer of "I don't want this if you don't," immediately and finding the job listing on the last day it was posted and already planning to leave work early weren't enough, I really think I applied for the other job. I don't remember anything in that job posting about augmentative communication.

So, to sum it all up..... GOD IS GOOD! He has been so faithful to me. He has brought me an amazing group of friends, a job that I can only assume is straight from the Man Himself, all in one year. If that many great things can happen in one year, all I have to say is... what up 2012!!!

Funny? Most Definitely.

So, today was one of those days where funny things surrounded me. I wake up this morning and check my email on my phone. I have a message on Facebook from some guy telling me all about what he wants in a lady friend. Someone who is independent, understand time constraints, etc. etc. I have no idea who this person is.. I have checked this through my email, so I can't even see their picture at this point. I get on Facebook a little while later to see what this guy looks like. He is at least 55, and has no other info on his page. C-r-e-e-p-y.

Next, I am driving to work listening to Rick and Bubba. They go on a break so the normal traffic/news/weather stuff comes on. The news guy starts talking about this guy in Albertsville, AL who thinks he is a vampire. It struck me as hilarious, considering I wasn't really expecting that. To top it off, I am flipping channels and hear another talk show talking about it. A guy has called in and said he's a member of some vampire group here in town that meets every other weekend. They don't dress up (therefore, it's not weird), but they act like their characters throughout the night. This guy's character was a vampire who could shape shift.

Seriously.

And that was how I started my day! :)

So Much to be Thankful For!!

Today is definitely a day to be thankful! I was able to spend today with my awesome family. All my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. came to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. We had a blast. We always play games on Thanksgiving. The games always vary except for Tripoley, which my grandfather loves. Its a combination of 3 card games--hearts, poker, and Michigan rummy. We play with pennies, so whoever wins has to make sure not to spend all of their money in one place on Black Friday. We also played Cranium, Taboo, and Outburst. Since we all do/say stupid stuff, it's really easy to make fun of each other.

When we used to have KMart in Meridian, all the girls always went there on Thanksgiving because it was the only place open. Every now and then we'll go to Big Lots, but we didn't venture out this year because it was rainy and messy.

Of course, the rain did not stop my little cousins from playing outside. They were soaked, then thought it would be a good idea to come in and sit on the furniture. Brightness runs in the family. Connor, who is about 3, also thought it would be fun to run around outside with only his pants and socks on-yes socks, no shoes. Kids are the best.

The Saints played Dallas today, and it wouldn't be hard to know which team our family is behind by walking into the house. There was a sea of Saints jerseys and shoutings of WHO DAT!

Love my family! We always have a blast when we get together--definitely thankful for them. I am also very thankful for my amazing friends. It's so great to have people in my life who are good, Christian, hilarious people. To know that I have such great people to have fun with and enjoy life with is something to really be thankful for today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Changes, Changes, and More Changes

Yay for blogging! I've never wanted to blog before, but lately I have found myself laughing at the crazy things that happen to me and figured it's only fair to allow others to laugh at my expense, as well. I have also done a lot of learning lately...

That being said, let me sum up the last 2 months of my life:

Have an accepted offer to buy a house, go on an interview for a new job and get offered said job in the same day, supposed to close on house Monday of the week before I start new job, then supposed to close Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, end up not closing until the Monday I start the new job... but wait! we haven't actually closed because Bank of America wants to do audits on all foreclosed homes (I bought a forclosed house), live with the possibility that the new house I just moved into may not be mine and I may have to vacate premises, have to go back 2 weeks later to "re-close," new job not so great (okay, new job is brutal), miserable at work which makes me miserable outside of work, boss doesn't like me and wants me to find another job (as do I). Whew. Now you're caught up to the present.

I still have a great relationship with the company I just left a month ago (Restore Therapy Services), so I call my former boss at Restore to talk about possible job openings. Turns out, he has a job opening where I could be Rehab Director, which would basically be me managing the other therapists at a nursing facility, making sure all the patients are seen, going to meetings, etc. etc. This is something I would love to do, but the facility it would be at is not the best place to start out being a Rehab Director.

Still, I thought I was up to the challenge. Well, my boss' boss begins to strongly encourage him to offer me another job instead, saying it would be better for me in the long run. This position is for a floater, for which I would go to different facilities depending on need. I may be there for 2 days or 2 months, depending on what the need is. It's less stressful because I'm not responsible for a certain facility's caseload, and I have so many more options if another position opens up that really interests me. 

That being said, I accepted the offer as floater! My last day at the current job is tomorrow, and I'm so ready. I have not felt like myself since working there--which has carried over to outside of work. I'm ready to wash my hands of that place and start fresh.

That being said, I don't regret making that change. God has shown me so much throughout these past few months that I really needed to learn. I've never met someone who just dislikes me the way my current boss does. It's killing me. But I keep hearing God saying "you have got to learn that not everyone is going to like you, and you need to learn how to deal with that, you big baby."

Easier said than done.

It's been sooo frustrating dealing with this, but I'm so glad I went through it. I feel stronger and I have had to really rely on Him to help me through this. There is no way I could have made it through without Him giving me strength and peace.

Now He's blessed me with another job where I already know I'm accepted. From some things I've learned recently about the direction of Restore, I truly think things could not have happened more perfectly (I wonder if Someone had a hand in that...)

Anyway, like I said, my last day of work is tomorrow. I will have 11 whole days off of work to FINALLY get some stuff done around this mess of a house! I could list all of the things I need to do, but that could really be a whole other post. It's massive. 

So my thought of the day is this: changes are hard, whether they are good or bad. But our amazing Father knows exactly why they are happening, and even better, has a hand in each and every one of them. We may not know why things are happening the way they are, but Someone who is much smarter than any of us does... which gives me a big boost of confidence for the future.

*"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine...You will live in joy and peace. The mountains will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!" Isaiah 55:8,12

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1