He may increase so I may decrease!

Tonight I was humbled by the Lord! Since I have been here in Africa I have been doing Priscilla Shirer study on the book of Jonah. This last week the Lord has been showing me all about my selfishness. Just been showing me how I am so much like Jonah in that I want things my way and when they do not I get angry with the Lord. I act like a child in which I throw temper tantrums. Tonight I decided to watch a sermon by Louie Giglio and it was all about the Glory of God. How we are all created in the image of God in order that we would be the reflection of God. All things are created by God, for God and through God. He used the example of a telescope. He said that many times in life we have the telescope turned the wrong way in which the end we are supposed to look out of is turned and the other end of the telescope many times is pointing at us. We live life that way in which we want people to see us. We want the bigger end of the telescope on us. We are saying look down here at us. When we need to turn this telescope around and start looking up. We need to get our eyes off of us and start looking at up at God. It is then we become small. We realize how big God truly is. We realize how insignificant we are when compared to God. Yet, the coolest thing is that though we are insignificant when compared to God, He still chooses to love us! This huge God who created the whole being pursues and wants to be a part of our lives. He wants to use us so that we may reflect His glory! Wow! How cool is this! God who doesn’t need us still chooses to use us but it is all for Him! He works everything out for Him! The prayer of my heart is that He may increase so that I may decrease…I pray this for everyone who may be reading this! So I encourage you all tonight to go outside and look up and be humbled and in awe of our creator who adores you and calls you beloved! Who we do not deserve anything from except judgment which is death!

Thanksgiving in Swaziland!

Hello everyone so first off Happy Thanksgiving! No, they do not celebrate thanksgiving in Swaziland but our team is taking the day off to all go and celebrate thanksgiving. I will be having turkey and ham and all the fixings today! I am super excited. I just had a thought that I wanted to share today. This morning as I woke up I began to reflect on the fact that today it is Thanksgiving. Yes, I will miss my family back home and I do miss them terribly. Today, I just began to ponder about how the Lord has provided! How today yes I will not be with my family but I will be with my missionary family! I am so thankful for them and what they mean to me in my life. Today this just got me thinking how many times in life how bad things(at the time) have happened and many times I have felt alone in my struggle but the Lord has always been there! Sometimes in life the Lord may seem distance but yet He is always right there ready to be with us. The Lord wants to be involved in your life. He is something more than this cosmetic bring who created everything and then just sits up in Heaven chilling out. He wants to be a part of our lives. He is our Great Father. This was also displayed to me this pass week I spent in Joburg taking care of some health issues. While we were there we had people calling and trying to assist us and people who invited us over for dinner and just people who would call and let us know they were praying. It was just cool to see that yes I may be in another country dealing with health issues but I am not alone! God has sent people some who I only met while I was there to encourage us to keep pressing on. I just have seen this displayed throughout my life. Just want to encourage everyone this Thanksgiving to look back on their lives and see where the Lord at the time may not have seemed to be there but yet once you got your eyes off the circumstances or off of you that He was there. Those who may be going through a hard Thanksgiving I encourage you to just praise and to look to Him today! Those who do not believe look around and see there is a God and know that He is actively pursuing after you! He wants to be your Father! If you would just allow Him to be! I love you all and Happy thanksgiving!