just scratching the surface::

Here it is: my very first blog post!  I'm still not entirely convinced when it comes to the whole blogging phenomena.  But, apparently, I have some 'blog worthy' adventures and I've decided to give it a go!

A little about me::  I LOVE Jesus and believe that through Him there is always hope!!  I have been married to my best friend, Derek, for 1 year & 7 months!!  My passion is pretty much any type of adventuring and/or traveling!!

Before Derek and I were married we did our Discipleship Training School [DTS] with Youth With A Mission [YWAM] in Gold Coast, Australia!!  That was an unforgettable four months, and afterwords I traveled throughout Papua New Guinea for two months while Derek went to Indonesia!   Needless to say, we came away from those six months knowing that we wouldn't be able to stay in one place for long... we had been bitten by the travel bug!!  We also knew that we wanted to be 'missionaries', but we had a long way to go in realizing what that meant.  

After getting married and settling into life as married people we started jumping from one idea to the next; one dream to another, constantly searching for our 'purpose', our 'calling'.  We were continually asking God to show us His will for our lives.  Every opportunity that came our way would eventually fall through; doors kept closing.  It was frustrating and discouraging!  We desperately wanted to be used by God!!  

(Okay, I should probably throw in a quick disclaimer::  a lot of the time when I say 'we' I should probably be saying 'I' because Derek is significantly calmer about these things than I am and I have a LOT to learn from that man!  However, lumping him in with me makes me feel a bit less ridiculous about my repeated doubting of God and His perfect timing!)   

Slowly but surely I started realizing how wrong I was!  I had such a small, limited definition of what it meant to be a 'missionary'.  God had to open my eyes to the mission field right outside my front door, in my work place, and in THIS city!  I had such tunnel vision; focusing only on the future and a grand 'purpose' for my life and I was forgetting to live in the moment!!  I was looking past the command I've already been given: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ... Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these." [Mark 12:30-31]  I was so convinced that my 'mission' on this earth was an unknown and once I figured it out THEN I would find purpose!  But Jesus has already laid it out for me, plain and simple; my mission and what I need to accomplish it!  'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'  Matthew 28:18-20  My 'calling' is to LOVE God and all those around me, to journey with people; making disciples and letting the love and light of Jesus Christ shine through me, no matter what I'm doing!  I am simply a vessel, to be filled with and used by the power of the living God!  My desire to GO right now, get involved in a missions organization and travel the world- helping third world countries wasn't wrong, and is, most likely, something that God has put in my heart...BUT I was refusing to let go and accept that God is in charge- not me!  None of this happened over night, it was a journey... and this is only a small piece of it!  I'm learning to be content and trust that God is sovereign and His timing is PERFECT!  And, let me tell you, although terrifying at first, it is incredibly freeing when you truly 'let go and let GOD!'

Life is an incredible journey and God is definitely at work in my life.  I feel like Derek and I have come so far, and I know we've barely even scratched the surface of all that God has for us, and all that we will learn.  He is teaching us, molding us and preparing us for the next part of our journey.... which is a very, very, VERY exciting thing, indeed, annnnnd a post for another day!  

So, until then... be blessed!  & live in the NOW :)

-B