Be Free.

Hey! I hope you enjoyed reading my recent post about our Palau Outreach!

If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to scroll down, read it and then come back to this post!

Things will prolly flow a lot better for ya :)

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Good! You read it!

So, that is what we will be doing in Palau as well as our future goal with Ships!

How much of a blessing has God placed me in?

Seriously?

I wake up every single day, on my top bunk, in my girl snoring filled room, head to my daily porridge breakfast line and literally laugh at where God has me.

I am able to enjoy sunrises with the Lord, have intercession at the Banyan Tree cafe for our students with some of my best friends and enter in to a God breathed, victorious day.

Every single day is a new adventure, filled to the brim with tasks.

I used to wonder why God had me here, how on EARTH did I get placed in a leadership position, discipling young men and women, and where on earth did this knowledge come from to share with them? Last I knew, I was a pot smokin', beer drinking, coke snorting teenager that had no idea what she was doing with her life. Now, 6 years later, I get to walk men and women out of darkness and into marvelous light? HA! I love the forgiveness of our Lord, how His mercies are made new daily, how I get to shower his sons and daughters with Love and free them from what is holding them back, the same crap that held me back for years!

I remember when I used to hear about God, hear the name Jesus, hear about people going to church, and bla, bla, bla. I thought nothing of it. To me, they were just 'nice' people that didn't know how to have fun and were missing out on life! Man, was that the biggest lie the enemy ever told me.

Being a Christ-follower definitely isn't the easiest thing ever, but it's not meant to be.

We are to be set apart. 

1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

We are the one's fighting against the crowd of "normal" that the enemy has so deceived us with. 

I remember one day leaving a gas station with my best friend's Anna and Casandra. We were in Granger, IN and this women pulled out in front of us as we were trying to leave a parking lot. I remember swearing at her and being so angry. She stopped her car, rolled down her window (at this point I'm ready to get out of my car and sock the lady) and she says "Why are such ugly words coming out of such a beautiful mouth?"

I was stumped.

 I was prolly 18 or 19 at the time, and her words have stuck with me to this day. 

I continued cursing at her, showing her no satisfaction that her words cut me deep. 

To this day, I feel bad. 

I wish I knew who this lady was, to thank her. 

She had planted a seed in me, without me even knowing it.

I knew what she was saying was true, but without smoking, cigarettes, drinking, swearing, being the fun crazy little party girl.. Who would I have been? This was who I was. 

I could never make friends, people wouldn't actually like me, I couldn't have fun, be crazy without these things? 

As far as I knew, this was who a young teenage girl was supposed to be.

I fit in, I had heaps of "friends", the boys "liked" me, I could get what I wanted, I knew how to work the system, I was popular, athletic, smart.

Why on earth, would I want to change?

I was invincible.

Sad truth of the matter, my identity was found in this world.

I was rooted in evil.

I bought in to the mentality of what women were supposed to be like, that my body was made for guys to enjoy, alone I would be boring, ugly, a loser.

My heart breaks now, hearing young women's testimonies, because all are rooted in this same fear. A fear of rejection, being used and abused, the mental anguish they have been sucked into, the numerous lies the enemy has fed them their entire lives.

And the men, wow, my life has been so impacted by men stepping up, taking ownership over the way they have viewed and treated women. Hearing their confessions releases not only them, but the women listening.

Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."

The sad truth is, I can smile listening to their painful stories, because I know they want more. I know the way they have acted before, the poor obstruct views they have had on life, the negative self worth they feel - I know they are crying out for help, and that Jesus is standing there ready to respond.

All they have to do is ask.

Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Luke 11:9-10 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

So, why do I jump for joy, waking up on my top bunk every morning? Because I get to experience freedom in my friends' lives. I get to lavish love and joy on lost souls, I get to walk in humility and be Christ like. I live not for myself anymore. 

Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

If you ever have a kind word for somebody, I want to encourage you to speak it out. I firmly believe it changes the course of a persons life, whether you see the fruit of it or not. That woman that day had absolutely no reason to say something kind to me. She doesn't know the impact it had on my life. It was such a simple response, opposite of what a 'normal' person would have done. And today, it is easy for me to talk to strangers because I know first hand that speaking encouraging words to someone is impacting and life changing. I don't get offended if they reject me, I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for them.

Sadly, it's not common for someone to compliment you without looking for something in return or having false motives.

How beautiful and easy is it to bless someone?

Take 10 seconds out of your day, look around your office/grocery store/who you pull up next to in your car, and say something positive to them! 

ALSO, along with positive words, be mindful of how you react to people!

That woman should have reached in my window and slapped the snot out of me. Yet, she remained calm, I can still see the hurt in her eyes; she was sad for me. She knew I was a hurting little girl, putting on a false form of identity. 

I want to encourage you friends, whether you feel like you have an impact or not, you do. People are watching and listening to you. You have choices to make daily. 

What you choose to do affects eternity. 

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

And for my friends who have been in the darkness with me, I pray you one day will experience freedom.

I had to get to a point of not worrying about anybody else, not trying to impress others or fit in. 

I literally stopped smoking, drinking, drugs, everything cold turkey and decided I did not need to live like that anymore; I knew in my heart that there was something more for me.

If you have the little nudge in your heart, if you feel convicted and know you are living a negative lifestyle, just stop.

The sad thing is, most people think they have to stay the way they are, that that is who they are because that's how everyone knows them as.. But it's not true friend.

In all reality, people will embrace and lavish you with love when you ditch what's weighing you down and decide to walk with Christ. The enemy only want you to think you'll be alone, you'll have no friends. What an idiot.

God called you to be princes and princesses, literally.

I used to think this stuff was all bologna, until I was obedient one day, I stopped fighting myself, I knew something was off and if God has been around for thousands of years, how could I deny His existence? 

If the Bible isn't real, why has it carried on generation after generation, events been proven, history proving the words? Why does it stir up peoples spirits to oppose it?

Because we are all fallen. 

The freaking enemy couldn't stand not being the best in Heaven (even tho he was the flipping guardian cherub of God's dwelling presence, but that's another blog) and now he wants his domain! He wants the people of this earth to follow him, every negative thing comes from him. That sly little devil has manipulated mankind, and wants you to believe the Bible couldn't possibly be true.

Isolation is key in his tactic.

Well my friend, I've come to tell you, YOU ARE A SON/DAUGHTER OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER BE ALONE! His children are called to walk in love! When you are around true Christ-followers, there can't help but be love all around.

You can smile, be accepted, have confidence, walk in the fullness of who God created you to be.

You will find your giftings and talents and be able to enjoy them!

This news is great, if it doesn't have you hyped then I don't know what will.

I personally, am so freakin' thankful the Lord revealed Himself to me when I asked, that He guides my life and has so many good plans for me. It isn't always easy, I assure you, but how can anything bog you down when you know you get to spend eternity, in Heaven, with the big guy, lavishing in His presence, in eternal glory?!

Hallelujah.

Romans 8:37-39

"No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

***As you can tell, I did not fulfill my task as stated in the beginning of this blog! My heart veered another direction and I went with it! If you'd like to talk to me about anything I wrote above, please contact me! I would love to discuss anything, process any confusion, help in any way. And please, check out my next post for what I'm doing after Palau :)

XO Love to you all my friends!