Hello Everyone! Wanted to update you on what has been going on here the past month!
Life has been amazing! God is teaching me so much and stretching me in so many areas. I haven't traveled anywhere since the last post so there may not be some cool pictures but I do want to tell you some of the things God has been showing me!
You all know the job at Waroeng I got when I first arrived! The owners were so great but unfortunately the past five weeks I have not been able to work because business has been slow. At first I panicked. It is not cheap to live here and I started to worry about how I was going to pay rent and my other bills. It was hard not to have my mind be consumed with all this, but one day I read in God's Word to be thankful in ALL circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This hit me really hard. I started to see that I was focusing on my problems way more than focusing on how good God was no matter what situation I was in. So from that day on, I started to change my thinking. Whenever I would start to freak out, I would first thank God for the situation and then thank Him for the good He will bring out of this! Let me tell you, this has been such an amazing transformation for me! It has been a process (and will continue to be a process) but I now have this weight lifted off my shoulders because I know that Jesus will take care of me! He says it in His Word and I know that I can stand firm on that! Here are some key verses that I would (and still) think of when the worries of life start to come in my head.
1 Peter 5:6-10
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's MIGHTY hand, that He may LIFT you up in due time. Cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He CARES for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing FIRM in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself RESTORE you and make you STRONG, FIRM, and STEADFAST.
Lamentations 3:22-26
Because of the Lord's GREAT LOVE we are not consumed, for His compassions NEVER fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will WAIT for Him." The Lord is GOOD to those whose HOPE is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.
There are so many other verses but I just wanted you to see that Jesus is here to help us and that whatever situation we may be in, we can know that it is going to make us stronger, firm, and steadfast! The enemy is so good at putting worries and lies in our head! If we just take the time to start putting the TRUTH of God's Word in there instead, it changes everything. I love the authority Jesus gives us over the devil!
Another thing that God has been teaching me is putting my identity in Him rather than my talent. This has been a fun one :) So the past month and a half my throat has been sore and painful. It has been hard to sing and I could not figure out why. I started to ask God, "why won't you take this away?" This was the same time my job situation was happening. So I decided to start thanking God! It was painful but I knew He was going to heal it and take care of me! So about two weeks ago I started to think, "oh no what if I can't sing when I get back home?!" And right when I was thinking that I felt God tell me that I put my talent over Him. This was huge because I was blinded to where my priorities were. Just a couple days later one of the Pastors here at Hillsong spoke about the danger of putting your identity in your gift or talent rather than Christ. I'm pretty sure God was trying to tell me something :) After hearing that I reflected and started to realize that I cared a lot about how I sounded. "Am I good enough? Do people think I sound good?" I found myself really wanting to change my thought process about where I put my identity. Now, I have come to realize in my heart and mind that I want to be comfortable with the fact that if I had lost my voice and could never sing again, that I would be ok and would keep praising God!
"The gift you have received from heaven says nothing about you but has everything to do with the generosity of the Father"
- Chris Mendez
Some of my identity verses that I am using to help with this process are:
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus. So we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 1:3
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
As you can see, God has been changing my world and I am loving every second of it! Each day I fall more in love with Him and want to serve His kingdom in any way I can.
Prayer Request:
I am thankful for the blessings that have happened recently and I know God will still come through! I am still trying to find a job but have not found one yet. Please pray that Waroeng picks up business or another opportunity opens up!
Thank you so much for your prayers! I'm truly thankful for each and every one of you!
