An Authentic Actuality

There is something about going away that just makes me think.

We had the opportunity to travel to Mauritius for about 10 days. We started our trip helping out at a conference for youth and ended with some R&R.

It was wonderful.

I learned far more than I taught during the conference.

The wonderful people that we met during our time there truly touched my heart and made an everlasting memory.

Really, they were such hospitable, kind, generous, and loving people with touching stories behind each of their smiles.

They have hearts that long not only for change within the lives of their friends, but as well for their entire country.

They live with an awareness of the reality of God’s salvation for His people and with that knowledge they love their friends by being unashamed to share the Gospel.

This is courageous for teenagers/young adults to do.

What touched me the most, were their stories. Many had seen deaths of siblings, parents abandoning families, violence, etc. but they lived with a deep and convicting joy and thankfulness.

From my time with these young people, I feel as if they are in the process of mastering the following verses in James:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

What is important to notice is, it does not say if you meet trials, it says when.

We will all meet trials in our lives, therefore it is a given.

These trials will be challenging, difficult and just flat out hard.

But the outcome of these trials will be a reflection of where we are rooted.

Will we count them all as joy? Will we be able to understand that we are gaining endurance or steadfastness? So that we may one day be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing?

When I asked one of the girls to tell me her story, she simply said “Life has not always been easy, my mother left when I was 7 and I have 3 other siblings. It’s been hard at times, but Jesus has been my rock and there are always reasons to be thankful and to have joy.”

When we have thankfulness in our hearts, joy is the byproduct. We can easily look at every/any situation and see the negative side to it. What do we choose to see? What do we decide to make our reality?

Are we able to see joy in the most difficult of times and situations? A parent leaving, a sibling dying, circumstances changing, rejection, failure, do we understand that our Father is good and always means good for us.

I can look at my own life and see how my perspective can so quickly change depending on if I choose to see the glass half empty of half full. Let’s take this small example of a choice I have every morning when I wake up. I can either see my reality as…

I live as a foreigner here, marginalized by the society due to my accent or lack of cultural competence. I cannot use my talents to their full potential and am not good enough.

Or

I get the opportunity to live in a foreign country, learn a new language, and culture. Grow and prosper in patience, gentleness, peace, and love in all areas of life.

So my friends, the choice is ours. Who do we want to be, how do we want to see life and do we want to choose joy in our various trials.

Boundless Bliss

This past week I received a text from my Dad, explaining how he had a dream that I was not happy. Because this dream was so strong and being the amazing dad that he is, he decided to follow up with me. I was so touched with this text, really. But than I began to ponder, am I truly happy, what is happiness in general and why do I feel like my generation chases after such a fleeting feeling?

I realized that I could not honestly answer this question. A cup of coffee or glass of wine makes me

happy. When I sit down and write with a candle lit in my office happiness comes. If I spend time with my husband, family and friends, I become happy. But these temporary things are quickly finished. They do not last. So why is our world raising up a generation, who strives after these temporary pleasures? Why do we not strive after something that is everlasting?

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

Now we often use the words joy and happiness interchangeably.  But I believe there is a difference. According to Merriam Dictionary, happiness is a state of being happy (temporary) and joy is a source or cause of great happiness.  Therefore, if a person does not have joy, he or she cannot be truly happy since joy is the source of happiness. If the Bible says that in God's presence we experience the fullness of joy, than can we truly be happy without God?

And that's where I began to explain to my papa. I am not running after happiness, if happiness comes that is a byproduct of my joy which ultimately comes from the presence of God. Life is often, just simply hard, but the fruit of these hard times is joy. I believe, the longer we follow Jesus the quicker we are to find joy through the difficult times. We strive or put our hope in something that is far beyond us. Joy is alive in my heart, but it is not based upon my worldly circumstances, which is great because if it was than as soon as I lost my job, family, health, culture my joy would be gone with it.

God is good. He is always good. 

Those Swiss Alps...

After a week spent in the mountains, I couldn't help but feel like an ant. Really, I was taking a ski lift with my girlfriend and we looked down at the 100s of snowboarders and skiers, first we were frightened by the greatness of this mountain and the lack of skills that we possessed to get ourselves down on two slates of wood and secondly, we realized how tiny we truly are, we (humans) looked like little specks on the mountain! It was such a powerful moment, we were in one of the prettiest places on this earth and literally shaking in our boots.

It is hard not to feel the power of God in moments like this. His perspective is different from ours and places like Valais, CH, really puts life in perspective. Our mountains in life are never as big as we make them and we are as well not as big as we seem to be. We have a tendency to allow our perspectives to overrule the truth of what it is. We forget that we have a Father, who not only created these mountains, but additionally has an intimate love for us.

Which leads me to my final point, I looked down on each little person on the slopes and felt how much God loves each one of those individuals, regardless of age, nationality, history, future. His love is there for them without boarders.

I found myself later that evening praying a prayer to God, saying, "Lord, your creation is beautiful, thank you for showing me your greatness today. But that beauty I saw today, does not compare to the joy I receive from being in your presence." It's true, the beautiful places, the great friends, amazing family, and simple joys in life are great, but they do not compare of the love God has for us!