March 2014

Sweet Girl.  16 Months Old.

 

Nicaragua 2014

(This post is picture heavy.  Too many good ones.)

This trip challenged me in ways I didn’t know I could be challenged.  I knew from the beginning that I had to physically show God that I put my life, Nate’s life, and Mollie’s life in His hands.  It was a HUGE obstacle for me.  It sounds silly, because God is the one that gave us life, but for me handing all my worries and fears over to Him, in this way, was something new… Mostly because we have Mollie now.

I thought I had learned that lesson last year, when Nate went over there without me.  But with Mollie it was a whole new ballgame.  I had every irrational fear you could have…. the one about us dying on a plane and leaving Mollie without parents topped the list.

It was all totally insane, but God showed me how to fully rely on Him.  I knew I needed to go on this trip to teach myself a lesson.  Children are a gift from God and to not fully give them back to Him is selfish.  God even sacrificed His one and only Son for me, so what in the world was I doing?  When my friend Hollie was going to Nicaragua the first time, she was having a hard time leaving her son.  I remember telling her that if God and Jesus were in the same situation as humans here on earth, I thought God would totally leave Jesus with his grandparents so He could go share the good news.  It’s a funny thought, but it helped me to get over myself.

Anyways, back to our trip.

 

 We had a great group.  It was too much fun traveling and working with these wonderful peeps.

Nate preached at the first church we went to.  He always does a great time and makes me oh so proud to be his wife.  We didn’t go a day without face timing with Mollie and Grandma and Papa.  Thank goodness for technology these days.

 

When we went to churches, everyone was always so happy to see us.  The kids wanted to hug us and stare at us and definitely take pictures.  We also got to go into several schools.  It was amazing.  The teachers would happily invite us in and we would tell them all about Jesus.  In this class, at the first school we went to, all of the kids accepted Christ into their hearts.  There is nothing like hearing thirty second and third graders repeat the sinners prayer after you.  It was also a great experience for me to see our group go through something like this for the first time.  I love watching people experience overseas missions for the first time. 

These pictures are from one of our first fiestas.  Again at a school.  We played games and put on a funny skit.  Hollie and I reprised our rolls as the drunks and we were trying to get Lauren, aka Sinbox Sally, out of her sin.  Then we again shared the gospel and I got to take my picture with some of the girls.

 

Hollie, Me, Lauren and Emily….. ……………  ….Nate, Garrett, Zack, David, Kevin and Jerry.

Nate liked holding babies this year.  You could tell he was missing his little girl, but not as much as me.  I was having a super hard time being so far away from her.  If we were out and working, my mind was fixed on that.  But as soon as we were on the bus or back at the team house, I was a wreck inside.  But we all made it, and Nate also had a little too much fun being the Strong Man in the skit.

(Top Left) Nate and I with some kids at another school.  (Top Right)  Us with some of our fabulous translators.  (Bottom Center)  Hollie, Brandi, and I at one of the schools.  This moment was probably my favorite one of the trip.  Leading a whole class to Christ with two of my best friends!

 

We got to visit the ocean again.  So beautiful.  And Javi translated for me when I gave my testimony.  It was a little different this year because I shared about my struggle with fear.

(Above) More face timing with my girl.  And a little girl that held my hand for close to 30 minutes while we were inviting everyone to the fiestas.  She was sweet and would just look at me with the biggest smile.  I told her she was muy bonita and that she was my new amigo.

(Below) On our free day, we went ziplining.  That was super fun… and I saw a monkey!  We also ate some steak and went to the market (where there is a dormant volcano that looks like a huge lake).

    

March 16-21, 2014

February 2014

A Sacrifice of Praise

(I’m cracking up at myself right now.  It has been over a year since I have touched this blog and in my last post I was talking about not being too attached to Mollie at first.  Well fast forward fourteen beautiful months and I am writing this….)

A sacrifice of praise.  This little phrase has been in my mind for a while now.  Back in October, Nate and I started to really plan for our mission trip to Nicaragua.  Since then I have been doubting myself, my reasons for going, and seriously weather I could leave my Mollie girl for a whole week and go to a different country.

Sure, I went on the youth mission trip last summer when she was little and that was bad enough…. but out of the country?!?  Ummm, that was a HUGE question in my mind!  Since then I have literally been a roller coaster when it comes to Nicaragua.  I just want to do what God wants me to do, but my heart already aches when I think about leaving Mollie.

Nate always says that when you’re faced with a decision, the hard way is probably the best.  With that mantra in mind, and almost all my senior girls signed up to go, I put my name on the list for Nicaragua.  I am a committed person, and I also love to stand next to my husband in ministry so I’m in.  I have to be in, right?

I went through lots of scenarios in my head where I didn’t have to go… and lots of scenarios where I had to go. ……….I have been before… They don’t need me… They’ve been before without me… What do I really add to the team… Am I enough… Does God really care if I go… But I need to be there for Nate… What if it’s my last trip with some of these people… I want to spend time with my girls… It will be tons of fun… It will be a great trip… It will help my relationship with Christ… I love witnessing to those people… They are so receptive…  If I don’t go, then someone I’m supposed to talk to may not come to a saving knowledge of Christ… Well now Kym’s not going, so I have a reason to drop out right………. WHATEVER.  ENOUGH.  All this says is I think about myself too much.  Mission trips and serving God is not about us.  It is never about me or you, it’s all about Jesus Christ.

 

Galatians 5:6b says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

That’s the answer.  I had/have to get over myself… Surrender my fears… and focus on sharing the love of Christ!  That’s all that matters for my whole life.  I have to make God my #1… and when there are opportunities to serve Him and share Him, I have to do it.  Even if that means a whole week away from my daughter.

It is my sacrifice of praise.  It is a big deal for me to do this.  It takes a lot for me to surrender my fears and leave Mollie.  And it is not going to be easy at all.  I will definitely cry every day, and you probably shouldn’t talk to me all the way to DFW, but I’m going.  That’s right people, you better believe I’m going.

I’m going to share the love of Christ.

I’m going to prove to myself that HE is my peace when my fears are crippling.

I’m going to trust in HIS providential wisdom.

I’m going to put HIM #1.

I’m going to give my sacrifice of praise to HIM.

 

What are you struggling with today?  Is it fear and selfishness, like me?  What do you need to sacrifice to praise God better?  Is HE your #1?

 

-Whitney

 

Other blogs about fear: Lord Increase My Faith Decrease My Fears, Being Fearless, Let Go and Let God, Stand and Fight,

Disciple Now 2014: SURRENDER

This is probably my favorite youth event we do.  It’s a long weekend where we can just get away and grow closer to God and each other.  It’s not a whole week, so you don’t get as tired and I don’t have to leave Mollie as long.

This year, the weather was a little crazy.  We thought we were going to get snowed in at one point…  That didn’t stop us from having so much fun though!  We continued our traditions of adults vs. students dodge ball, hide-n-seek in the dark, ropes course, and having Durgan and David come from Rogers to do the music.

I love being a part of these girls’ lives and pray daily that they will see Christ’s love in me and want to know Him more!  In May, we will be saying goodbye to three special girls and one special guy.  I always hate that time… It’s like I am sending my own kids off to college.

 

Anyways, this year we talked about SURRENDER!

*Surrender my STUFF:

• What makes me absolutely content?
• Do I see that I am totally rich in Jesus!
• Don’t find security in things.
• Is God my first love?
• We can only have one master –> Seek first the kingdom of God
• A desire for money leads to moral meltdown
• Contentment is based on an awareness of God’s presence!

*Surrender my STATUS:

• You really can’t follow God and “fit in”
• Do I try to improve my status?
• How do I treat the outcasts?
• How can I put others above myself to become a servant like Jesus.

*Surrender my SIN:

• Do I have an urgency to stop my sin?
• Sin = Destruction
• Sin hurts our bodies, relationships, and our souls
• Sexual sin is more damaging because it’s mental, emotional, physical, social, and private.
• Love + Holy Spirit = Victory over sin
• Sin grows (example: if you go barefoot a lot, you build up calluses on your feet.  The skin “deadens” so you won’t be sensitive.  In the same way we build up calluses on our souls.  We stop feeling bad about it so it gets easier to sin.)
• Sin finds its own society – be careful whose advise you follow
• Sin has a cycle – sin, feel sorry, ask for forgiveness, sin… Romans 7:18-25
• Jesus rescued us from this cycle
• God’s spirit brings life!
• Sin doesn’t have to define us
• Repeat this:  I am a child of God.  I am His masterpiece.  He created me to do amazingly good things.  I want to surrender my sin and be lifted up by God to a life that is more alive that I’ve ever imagined.

*Lastly, Surrender my SELF:

• Invest myself in what God wants
• Serve!
• Devos and mission trips need to be connected to a life that is connected to God.
• “Take up your cross daily” = Surrendering everything for Him! (freedom, reputation, our very lives)
• Let Jesus define my success!

I was challenged to INVITE HIM TO WORK MIRACLES FROM MY MISERY and BE PATIENT AND GET TO KNOW HIM THROUGH THE PROCESS OF HEALING.  God left us here on the earth to feel through our hurts.  We can’t even understand the good He has in store for us.

January 2014