The Things I've Learned.

     Over the past five weeks, I’ve been with Never the Same Missions in Costa Rica, Panama, and South Africa. God has revealed so many things to me during this time. This summer has truly been life changing. God showed me so many things that will forever be in my heart. So, here are a few of the things God has taught me in these past weeks.

·      Seeds Are Important:

Our team in Costa Rica didn’t see as many salvations as other teams did, but that’s okay. God’s will is going to be done. We are called to LOVE. When we love with Christ’s love, things will start to stir. God CAN and WILL fight for himself. He decides to use us to spread his “seeds”. If seeds aren’t planted, a plant will never grow.

·      Love Outrageously:

Love should have NO BOUNDS. We should love people unconditionally. We need to love like a child. While in Africa, we could be walking down a street, and children would come from all directions jumping into our arms to love on these strangers they had never met before. I’m not saying we need to go jumping into the arms of strangers, but what we should do is love people. No matter the circumstance.

·      Seek God in EVERYTHING:

We don’t have to figure things out by ourselves. Life is going to get hard. That’s not something we can fix. The only way we are ever going to be able to get through the tough stuff is with God. A friend of mine put it like this, “When we give things to God, we can’t do it with our palms up. When our palms are up, the things in our hands are still in our control. We need to surrender things to God with our palms down so that whatever he wants to stay will, but it’s all in his control.” We need to seek GOD’S will. Not our own. God IS and ALWAYS will be in control.

·      God’s Beauty is Everywhere:

God created this world to glorify himself. No matter where you look, his glory is shown. It is shown in sunsets, oceans, trees, breezes, birds, children, beaches, rain… His beauty is so amazing. The proof of his existence is in everything you see. God handcrafted everything you see.  If you want to see what God can do, just look around.

·      God’s Love is INFINITE:

My favorite story from Costa Rica is that one day, my friend Chelsea wanted to go talk to a man who had been watching our drama. I went with her, and she talked to him for a little bit in Spanish. At some point, she needed a translator, so our friend Janet came over to our group. We found out that the man we were talking to felt like he couldn’t have a relationship with Jesus because he smoked Marijuana. I had just been standing there listening. I’m not the best at talking to people, but I started to talk. I told him about Judas, and how even though Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, he loved him anyway. I told him that there was nothing he could do that would make God love him any less, and that nothing could snatch him out of God’s hand. After I had told him this, I realized that this was something I needed to listen to as well. God loves me so much. There is nothing I can do to change that. I need to look to God when I’m feeling unworthy or useless so that he can show me my worth. I am his beautiful creation, and his love for me is so much greater than I could ever imagine.

·      You Can be a Light Without Knowing:

God can use you in many ways. He can use you in obvious ways, and also is not so obvious ways. When you live your life for God, people will take notice. They will see something different in you. We need to strive to live in a way that honors our Savior.

So here is my challenge to myself and to others:

Live big. Live love. Live real. Live LIFE.