A few months ago I was felling extremely discouraged. I had gotten a gut-wrenching rejection for a job I was passionate about at my own alma mater. I was hosting a pity party.
In the midst of my tears, God whispered, "Remember, Brazil."
Last fall, I applied for a mission trip to Brazil. I researched the city, borrowed a Portuguese Bible, began fund raising, and prayed for our trip.
All of the sudden, our team's planning came to a screeching hault.
Airline tickets and a Brazilian Visa put a stop to our trip. It might be an understatement to say our team was extremely discouraged. Truth be told, I cried at the team meeting when we decided Brazil would not come to fruition.
Several team members jumped ship and pursued other mission opportunities. No one blamed them. Those of us who remained spent some time not knowing if we were going to even have a trip. Never did the thought of changing trips cross my mind. Never did the thought of not having a trip sink in.
God opened up another opportunity, and on short notice we began to prepare for different destination: Nicaragua.
One student who had not expressed interest in Brazil, applied to go to Nicaragua. She wanted to practice her Spanish. I have no doubt she was supposed to be on our trip.
Of all of us, she came home the most changed. Even others noticed something different about her. If we had gone to Brazil, this change would not have happened. Today, her re-birth through baptism, would not have happened. We went to Nicaragua for her.
We went to Nicaragua for Stephanie, our Nicaraguan interpreter. After only a few days of traveling with us, Stephanie noticed something was different. She recognized the Holy Spirit in us and wanted to be filled in the same way. Right then and there she began a relationship with our Lord and Savior. If we had been in Brazil, God would not have used us to reach Stephanie.
God rearranged our entire trip for those two daughters. He changed the plans of thirty plus people in order to change the lives of two.
It's not every day that God rearranges plans for His glory.
Or is it?
A spilled cup of coffee gets you out of the house late to avoid a major traffic jam.
A rejection letter keeps you from a company going bankrupt.
A malfunctioning alarm clock kept you from being in the Twin Towers when they were hit.
God changes our plans for His glory.
Anytime I start to forget: I remember Brazil.
<>< Katie
PS: Everyone has a 9-11-01 story. Mine is of a selfish seventh grader who just didn't want to be in class. For a heart-piercing story, check out the blog of Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries. My heart and prayers are with those affected by the tragedy. We will never forget.
Showing posts with label new plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new plan. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
God Could Vanish the Storm
As I'm sure you've seen on the news, Baptist Country has been pelted with storms over the last few weeks.
It seems every other day I see a facebook update from my sister (ten hours from here) that they're in the bathroom for another tornado warning.
Last week we were supposed to get really bad storms during the wee morning hours. Unlike at my sister's college, my school doesn't have a good tornado plan. That made me nervous.
I was checking the doppler to see what we should be expecting over night. The storm covered the whole map. It was more colorful than a sunset. Yellow, red, green...
When I hit "play" to watch the storms roll over the bed where I wanted to be catching some zzzzz, something went wrong. The entire storm vanished, leaving just the map. The map was perfectly clear.
"I could do that, you know," God whispered in my ear.
I thought about it for about and realized how cool it would be if God did make the storm disappear. He's done it before.
Later in the evening, I went out on the porch for some quiet time with God before I went to bed. It was beautiful! The pre-storm weather where the sky's getting dark and the wind is picking up, but there's no real storm yet.
When I came back later, Allyson and Nikki had two videos for me to watch.
Nikki's video was a terrifying video of one of the 150 tornadoes from the same storm.
Allyson's video was an updated doppler. The green band of storms headed for our town had stopped moving. The bands following it broke apart and dodged our town. The first band disintegrated. Nothing was going to hit us.
God had vanished our storm!
We got the beautiful pre-storm weather but no actual storm. Sometimes I wish life were like that. I'd be willing to take this beautiful pre-storm weather that is no real post-graduation plans as long as I knew that the actual storm of planlessness would vanish and a plan would appear.
He could do that, you know.
And maybe He will. But still I'm fretting.
I've seen God's faithfulness in the midst of storms. Literal weather storms and figurative life storms. Why am I having such a hard time trusting Him amidst this pre-storm chaos of a plan-less post graduation?
<>< Katie
PS: For some reason I do not understand, God decided against vanishing the storms elsewhere in the country. Friends, our brothers and sisters are hurting. Their worlds have, quite literally, been turned upside down. There are organizations such as Samaritan's Purse on the ground helping to pick up the pieces; if you are able, please offer your help as well. If you are not able, definitely be in prayer!
It seems every other day I see a facebook update from my sister (ten hours from here) that they're in the bathroom for another tornado warning.
Last week we were supposed to get really bad storms during the wee morning hours. Unlike at my sister's college, my school doesn't have a good tornado plan. That made me nervous.
I was checking the doppler to see what we should be expecting over night. The storm covered the whole map. It was more colorful than a sunset. Yellow, red, green...
When I hit "play" to watch the storms roll over the bed where I wanted to be catching some zzzzz, something went wrong. The entire storm vanished, leaving just the map. The map was perfectly clear.
"I could do that, you know," God whispered in my ear.
I thought about it for about and realized how cool it would be if God did make the storm disappear. He's done it before.
Later in the evening, I went out on the porch for some quiet time with God before I went to bed. It was beautiful! The pre-storm weather where the sky's getting dark and the wind is picking up, but there's no real storm yet.
When I came back later, Allyson and Nikki had two videos for me to watch.
Nikki's video was a terrifying video of one of the 150 tornadoes from the same storm.
Allyson's video was an updated doppler. The green band of storms headed for our town had stopped moving. The bands following it broke apart and dodged our town. The first band disintegrated. Nothing was going to hit us.
God had vanished our storm!
We got the beautiful pre-storm weather but no actual storm. Sometimes I wish life were like that. I'd be willing to take this beautiful pre-storm weather that is no real post-graduation plans as long as I knew that the actual storm of planlessness would vanish and a plan would appear.
He could do that, you know.
And maybe He will. But still I'm fretting.
I've seen God's faithfulness in the midst of storms. Literal weather storms and figurative life storms. Why am I having such a hard time trusting Him amidst this pre-storm chaos of a plan-less post graduation?
<>< Katie
PS: For some reason I do not understand, God decided against vanishing the storms elsewhere in the country. Friends, our brothers and sisters are hurting. Their worlds have, quite literally, been turned upside down. There are organizations such as Samaritan's Purse on the ground helping to pick up the pieces; if you are able, please offer your help as well. If you are not able, definitely be in prayer!
Friday, March 4, 2011
China-Bound
Secretly, I've always dreamed of going to China. In my dreams I've always envisioned my future husband and me going and bringing home a child. As always, God had a different vision. (But I haven't given up mine).
An opportunity has been made available for Amber and me to go to China for three weeks this summer. We will be teaching English but--more importantly--we will be witnesses for Christ.
"Being called" to do something was not part of my church lingo growing up, and I've really wrestled with what it means to "be called" to China. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I am perusing this opportunity with the intention of doing God's will rather than not doing it because I'm unsure if it's His will or not. (My friend Ron gave me that advice years ago and it was pretty much the best advice ever).
Even though there is still a lot of unknown, I officially submitted my application today. Now I need your help, friends.
1. Pray. Pray. Pray. Right now. Pray for me as I venture on this journey. Pray for Amber and all of the other volunteers we'll be working with. Pray for the people already in China. Pray for safety and health. Pray for us as we prepare to answer tough, blunt questions about our faith. Daily. Pray. Pray. Pray. Please.
2. I have no idea where on a college student's budget I'm going to come up with $3,000 to pay for the program. I firmly believe that God provides. Support letters, bake sales, begging on my hands and knees... If you have ideas or can support us financially, leave a comment or shoot me an email (katieaxelson [at] gmail [dot] com). Even just a dollar or two helps because God can use anything!
3. If you have any materials, teaching advice, donations, etc. We'd love to hear it. Haven't really thought that far ahead, but it's never too early to start planning.
My calendar officially doesn't end until August now! I'm really excited to see what God does with this trip! This is my first trip to a foreign country where I don't speak the language. I'll let you know how well Chinese people speak Spanish and ASL... I don't promise to blog every other day while I'm in China, but I will try to update you all periodically.
Thanks!
For His glory,
<>< Katie
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"
Isaiah 6:8
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
An opportunity has been made available for Amber and me to go to China for three weeks this summer. We will be teaching English but--more importantly--we will be witnesses for Christ.
"Being called" to do something was not part of my church lingo growing up, and I've really wrestled with what it means to "be called" to China. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I am perusing this opportunity with the intention of doing God's will rather than not doing it because I'm unsure if it's His will or not. (My friend Ron gave me that advice years ago and it was pretty much the best advice ever).
Even though there is still a lot of unknown, I officially submitted my application today. Now I need your help, friends.
1. Pray. Pray. Pray. Right now. Pray for me as I venture on this journey. Pray for Amber and all of the other volunteers we'll be working with. Pray for the people already in China. Pray for safety and health. Pray for us as we prepare to answer tough, blunt questions about our faith. Daily. Pray. Pray. Pray. Please.
2. I have no idea where on a college student's budget I'm going to come up with $3,000 to pay for the program. I firmly believe that God provides. Support letters, bake sales, begging on my hands and knees... If you have ideas or can support us financially, leave a comment or shoot me an email (katieaxelson [at] gmail [dot] com). Even just a dollar or two helps because God can use anything!
3. If you have any materials, teaching advice, donations, etc. We'd love to hear it. Haven't really thought that far ahead, but it's never too early to start planning.
My calendar officially doesn't end until August now! I'm really excited to see what God does with this trip! This is my first trip to a foreign country where I don't speak the language. I'll let you know how well Chinese people speak Spanish and ASL... I don't promise to blog every other day while I'm in China, but I will try to update you all periodically.
Thanks!
For His glory,
<>< Katie
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"
Isaiah 6:8
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Deep thoughts from Bejeweled Blitz
I am officially addicted to Bejeweled Blitz again. It's a facebook game my mom introduced me to over Christmas break. I intentionally never downloaded it onto my page because I knew I'd get addicted. Instead, I was forced to play on hers meaning I needed her to log me in. Yes, my mother was my enabler. Over spring break, I discovered her password and no longer needed her assistance to Blitz. However, I still had some self-control since it wasn't on my page. As soon as the semester was over, I downloaded the stupid game to my page and have been playing daily since.
If you're not familiar with this addicting game, an 8 by 8 box fills with jewels. You've got a minute to flip them around one at a time to make lines of three jewels that are the same color. Once three of the same color are together, they disappear. If you get four, three disappear and the fourth turns into a flaming jewel. Line the flaming jewel up with two more and all of the surrounding jewels explode. There are other features, too, but I want to focus on the flaming jewel.
Since you've only got a minute, I'm always planning a few moves ahead of where I'm flipping. Sometimes that means a flaming jewel appears and my moves disappear before I get there. Of course, you get points for this in the game, but sometimes it's annoying. Sometimes there are so many explosions you kind of sit there staring at the screen like, "When is it my turn to play?"
As I'm wasting hours one minute at a time I'm thinking about life. A year from now I'll graduate college and I have no idea what I'm doing next. That terrifies me. Three years of college down and I still don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. Ok, well, I want to write, but what's the career path for that? I haven't figured that out yet. Right now I don't even know if I'm going to grad school (where? to study what?) or going right into the workforce (in this economy? doing what?). I'm not tied to any part of the country but there are two states I call home. I don't have any idea what I'm doing after I graduate, but as this year progresses I'll make plans for my future. I'm a planner; this is what I do.
Maybe, like the jewels, my plans will explode and something else will replace them. A lot of times, when the jewels change, better moves appear. As my plans explode and change, maybe better opportunities will surface.
I hate all of these unknowns and unexpected changes. However, I realize I am not alone. There's a whole facebook support group for those of us facing Blitz addictions. And there's countless college students pensive about their futures.
I think Nikki said it best a few weeks ago when she said, "I'd just love for God to send me my MASH in the mail and be done with it." Unfortunately, that letter hasn't come yet, so here I am still pondering and wondering as I flip jewels around and waste my life one minute at a time.
More so than normal, this post was written for my own mulling more than it was for anyone else. If you were able to follow it and learned something, wonderful! If not, I'm sorry you wasted your time. Oh, and please don't tell me I have a year to figure out what I'm doing with the rest of my life. I might smack you. Fair warning.
<>< Katie
If you're not familiar with this addicting game, an 8 by 8 box fills with jewels. You've got a minute to flip them around one at a time to make lines of three jewels that are the same color. Once three of the same color are together, they disappear. If you get four, three disappear and the fourth turns into a flaming jewel. Line the flaming jewel up with two more and all of the surrounding jewels explode. There are other features, too, but I want to focus on the flaming jewel.
Since you've only got a minute, I'm always planning a few moves ahead of where I'm flipping. Sometimes that means a flaming jewel appears and my moves disappear before I get there. Of course, you get points for this in the game, but sometimes it's annoying. Sometimes there are so many explosions you kind of sit there staring at the screen like, "When is it my turn to play?"
As I'm wasting hours one minute at a time I'm thinking about life. A year from now I'll graduate college and I have no idea what I'm doing next. That terrifies me. Three years of college down and I still don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. Ok, well, I want to write, but what's the career path for that? I haven't figured that out yet. Right now I don't even know if I'm going to grad school (where? to study what?) or going right into the workforce (in this economy? doing what?). I'm not tied to any part of the country but there are two states I call home. I don't have any idea what I'm doing after I graduate, but as this year progresses I'll make plans for my future. I'm a planner; this is what I do.
Maybe, like the jewels, my plans will explode and something else will replace them. A lot of times, when the jewels change, better moves appear. As my plans explode and change, maybe better opportunities will surface.
I hate all of these unknowns and unexpected changes. However, I realize I am not alone. There's a whole facebook support group for those of us facing Blitz addictions. And there's countless college students pensive about their futures.
I think Nikki said it best a few weeks ago when she said, "I'd just love for God to send me my MASH in the mail and be done with it." Unfortunately, that letter hasn't come yet, so here I am still pondering and wondering as I flip jewels around and waste my life one minute at a time.
More so than normal, this post was written for my own mulling more than it was for anyone else. If you were able to follow it and learned something, wonderful! If not, I'm sorry you wasted your time. Oh, and please don't tell me I have a year to figure out what I'm doing with the rest of my life. I might smack you. Fair warning.
<>< Katie
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
New Year, New Plan
When I look back at my blogs for the past year, I realize I've been a pretty bad blogger. The highest number of posts I've had in a single month is nine. That's not a pretty number. I keep saying I'm going to do better and that doesn't happen, so here's my plan:
For the rest of Christmas break I'm going to try and post daily. As I get back into the brouhaha of school I'll return to my poorly-kept every other day rotation. Some of these blogs will be God moments but some will just be funny stories and you'll have to find your own spiritual connection. I'm also going to try to resurrect the Birthday Blog idea (I know, Melissa, you never got yours; I haven't forgotten). I'll also write about whatever else is on my mind: dreams, book reviews, old memories, and maybe--if you're really nice to me--you'll get blips from the story I've been working on for years (but no promises). Even though my psych class is over I'm going to keep working on my project to minimize the complaining, so I'm going to try to avoid "people are basically stupid" blogs. I also don't want you to hear the play-by-play of my day because, frankly, no one cares that I ate peanut butter on my breakfast bagel today instead of my normal extra cream cheese. Oh, and sometimes I think in Spanish and sometimes I think in sign language, so I apologize if you need to learn both of those in order to read this blog. Be multilingual. It's fun. I'll try to keep it mostly in English but sometimes I just can't help myself.
With that said, I need your help. It's really discouraging to look back and my blog and see "0 comments," "0 comments," "0 comments." It makes me wonder if I'm talking to myself or if people actually read this. Do me a favor and if you take the time to read it, take the time to let me know you're read it. I don't care if your comment is a, "I read this post," "Good," "That doesn't make sense," or even "Grammar mistake here" if you must. Please just let me know I am actually writing for an audience and not just for myself. I'd appreciate that a lot. Thanks!
This is me being vulnerable, please be nice.
<>< Katie
For the rest of Christmas break I'm going to try and post daily. As I get back into the brouhaha of school I'll return to my poorly-kept every other day rotation. Some of these blogs will be God moments but some will just be funny stories and you'll have to find your own spiritual connection. I'm also going to try to resurrect the Birthday Blog idea (I know, Melissa, you never got yours; I haven't forgotten). I'll also write about whatever else is on my mind: dreams, book reviews, old memories, and maybe--if you're really nice to me--you'll get blips from the story I've been working on for years (but no promises). Even though my psych class is over I'm going to keep working on my project to minimize the complaining, so I'm going to try to avoid "people are basically stupid" blogs. I also don't want you to hear the play-by-play of my day because, frankly, no one cares that I ate peanut butter on my breakfast bagel today instead of my normal extra cream cheese. Oh, and sometimes I think in Spanish and sometimes I think in sign language, so I apologize if you need to learn both of those in order to read this blog. Be multilingual. It's fun. I'll try to keep it mostly in English but sometimes I just can't help myself.
With that said, I need your help. It's really discouraging to look back and my blog and see "0 comments," "0 comments," "0 comments." It makes me wonder if I'm talking to myself or if people actually read this. Do me a favor and if you take the time to read it, take the time to let me know you're read it. I don't care if your comment is a, "I read this post," "Good," "That doesn't make sense," or even "Grammar mistake here" if you must. Please just let me know I am actually writing for an audience and not just for myself. I'd appreciate that a lot. Thanks!
This is me being vulnerable, please be nice.
<>< Katie
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