Holiday Travels

Hey again interwebs! Merry Christmas!!!!

So, my family traveled up to Northern Wisconsin this Christmas to spend time with my dad's mom, my  Oma. Well, we're from the south, and it doesn't snow too terribly often. But up in Wisconsin, it snows a lot!! Anyway, we had lots of fun in the snow, and I saw God in the beauty of the Wisconsin scenery. It's amazing all the different types of natural beauty there are in the world. You can see that in people too. But anyway, that's a different conversation.

My next SGM is a little weird to be calling it a "Seeking God Moment." In fact, I wouldn't say I sought God in this instance, but it caused me to seek Him out, so I guess it is. Anyway, on our way home from Wisconsin, our car started freaking out. It wasn't working, so we pulled over. We had to spend the night in Illinois, about halfway home. It's caused a lot of stress, and frustration, and a lot of contention amongst the three children has been hugely increased. I'm actually posting this from our hotel room. It's been incredibly frustrating, but it's made all of us look to God for strength, and reminded us to trust Him, no matter the circumstances.

My last SGM is (I think!) really cool. Last night, I was in a horrible horrible HORRIBLE mood. Like, mean and snarky and negative and just nasty. Anyway, I was going into my parents' room in the hotel, (our rooms are just next door, but not connected) and as I was about to knock, I happened to look down the hall. There was a window at the end of the hall, and just out of the window, I could see a cross. I walked to the window to look at it, and it was the sign of a church. It was so cool. It was a little bit of a slap in the face, like God saying "Becca, I'm in Illinois just like I'm in Wisconsin and down in the South. Everyone's stressed out," but it was also a comfort, like "God's with us, even when our car's broken down and I've spent way too much time with my brother and sister and I don't have the books I want or the clothes I like or my own bed or my teddy bear or my friends or even the comfort of a private cry." I regret to say that despite God's sign to me, my attitude toward my family didn't change immediately, but slowly, I did become at least tolerable.

Anyway, if you would pray that our car would be fixed ultra soon, and that we would get safely home sometime today, I would really appreciate it.

A Fervent and Heartfelt Prayer for Forgiveness

Dear Gracious Heavenly Father,

Please, forgive me. I, the least deserving of your children, am coming to you in my greatest need. I need forgiveness, and a reminder of your love. You are my shield, my Portion, every breath I take. You are how and why I live today. Help me to remember that. Keep my safe within Your arms, and help me love you more and more every day. Please forgive my selfishness, my pride, my ill-founded anger directed toward those who I love, and the consequent foul actions of my anger. Forgive my complaining, and my dwelling upon these same negative things. I’m so sorry. I love you so much, and I want to love you so much more.

In Jesus' holy, precious wonderful name I pray.

Amen

I'm back!!!

Hey again!! Long time, no post!! It's been a REALLY long time, now that I think about it!! But I'm trying to get back in the groove of life, now that my first semester of my last year of high school is over.

So anyway, I have SO MANY Seeking God Moments, but of course I can't share them all because I don't have the time. My main one is a missions thing.

My church goes downtown once a month to play with kids who live in the housing projects. We go the last Sunday of every month. Well, I've been able to go twice, and it's so amazing to get to share God's love with all these crazy, lonely, unruly, wild, wonderful children! It's so humbling to me, and it reminds me every time of all the things I'm blessed with. Having the cops come to my house is so far from a regular occurrence, and shouting, followed by breaking bottles and pulling knives has NEVER happened to me. I'm very very blessed to live where I live, with the parents I have, being the person I am.

I do have one other SGM, and it's that my sister made it home safely for the Christmas holidays. She's in school up north, and I'm a senior in high school down in the South. So that she made it home is really a blessing.

Merry Christmas!!! Don't forget the Reason for the Season this year!!!

Before and after

Numb became passionate,
Alone found a companion,
Self-serving learned to serve others
Afraid of the darkness walked into the light

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Hey guys!! So I have a few seeking God moments, but I don't have time to share them all, so I'll be gradually sharing them here... This first one is from the 18th of March. Just so you know
 Me and some of the high school students went to the nursing home in the community to sing to them and talk to them, and just remind them that they're loved by us and by God. Well, me and Emily met this one woman who had had a really tough life. She had been diagnosed with a debilitating disease at the age of 30, at which point her husband threw her into the nursing home and wouldn't let her see her kids. And her twin sister recently died, which was really rough on her, too. She had just had a rough life. But she kept talking about Great is Thy Faithfulness. She couldn't stop saying it. "Great is Thy faithfulness." She said it so much. That was really cool. Even through all her trials and suffering and sorrows, she couldn't help but talk about God's faithfulness. That was really just amazing.

Lock In Testimonies

Ok, one thing I failed to mention in my previous post is that I did hear almost everyone in my group's testimonies. That was SO COOL!!! I really love hearing other people's testimonies, especially the first time they share. Also, one person shared for the first time in front of the entire group. That's really scary!!! I mean, insanely scary! I would not have had the guts to share for the first time in front of so many people, even if they were people I loved, who loved me too. I'm so proud of him for sharing like he did, as well as my group members sharing theirs. That's always so cool, to hear how God has changed people's lives. And for God to move someone so much for them to stand up and share for the first time in front of everyone? That is where I see God.

Mission Trips are SOON!

We had our mission trip lock in last night for our annual mission trip to Kentucky. Can I just say, "YAY!" I'm so excited about going to worship God, and do His work, and to share His truth, THE truth, with the people in Kentucky this summer!!!!! Yeah, guess what... only 104 days until we leave!!!!

Last night, we split into groups to do things, and I had a pretty random group. I was with a couple people who had never gone on a week-long mission trip with us before, I was with a guy who doesn't like me, another guy who pretends not to like me, and a girl who barely knows me. It was so cool to get to know them all last night, and see them being authentic about their relationships with God. That's always so amazing and fun!!!! And my testimony, which I have shared in a previous post, I got to share it again. I really love that. A testimony is super personal, and it can be awkward to share. People generally don't want to hear about it. Also, the end, the most important part, the difference Christ makes in your life, that can feel cheesy and cliche, even though it's true. But sharing it can be so freeing too. And I was totally set up to share by Sam sharing, which was cool. I just loved that part of last night, probably the most. Testimonies are the COOLEST and BEST things ever!! I LOVE hearing them!!!!! I really saw God in every single person who was at the lock in last night!

Authenticity? Again? YAY!

OK, so I know I just posted, but I thought of another one. Don't worry, it's quick.

This past Wednesday, which was yesterday, we talked about Authenticity. Just in case you didn't know, I posted about that just a few posts ago. I thought that was SO COOL!!! I mean, I really loved that. We talked about be authentic Christians. And that guy who I was talking about in my last section of my last post? He was amazing in that conversation. I'm so glad I was with him in his small group!

LOOOOOOONG Time

Hey! So I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've had a lot on my plate. That doesn't mean I haven't seen God. In fact, I just wanted to share just how much I HAVE seen God lately! Every week, I go to a Reading the Bible Through (RBT) discussion/small group at church, and it is always an AMAZING time of fellowship with the others in the church. And it's not just youth. In fact, there's only one youth. Yeah, you guessed it: me. But I honestly see God in all of those amazing women, EVERY WEEK!!!

Another one is just in stress. That sounds stupid, and very nonsensical, but hear me out. When I get stressed, especially about something that isn't my fault, I find it easier to go back to God for help. He always has the peace I need, even if my problem isn't solved right away. For example, there's a guy who I liked for a while, who I thought I got over, but now I can't decide if I like him or not. And there was a guy in between this, but I'm pretty sure that was just me trying to get over the other guy. But that. That's just a situation where I fall to my knees, begging for wisdom and comfort and some sort of sense and understanding. Of course, understanding has yet to come, but I'm sure it will. . . some day.

My last one is in MISSION TRIPS!!! YES! I'm so excited about mission trips this summer! They are going to be FANTASTIC!!! I really loved mission trips so much, and I've been stressed, and not very faithful in my relationship with Christ as far as reading my Bible and praying. Well, I watched a video with a bunch of pictures from mission trip, and it brought me to my knees. I knew, that's what I'm working towards. I am SO EXCITED!!!! I can't wait to go tell everyone at school!!!!

OK, so there's actually one more. I've tried to post about this a couple times, but I've never been able to put the words together quite right. There's this guy in my youth group. I really love him. He's different than everyone else. He doesn't pick up on social clues, body language, etc. He also has a low reading level. I think he has autism, or something. I'm not entirely sure about that. Not that it matters. But that boy is so amazing. He asks a lot of questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. He asks about what faith is, and he talks about how he's confused about Christianity versus Islam or whatever. He just makes my day all the time, especially when I get to explain something that always seemed like a no-brainer, like everyone should know it. THAT is a humbling experience. God LOVES to remind me what I know, and explain it to me through the eyes of someone different than me. I love him so much, and I'm so glad he's been coming to youth group!!!

Ok, that's it!