I have always loved to sing! I can remember singing with my mom when I was younger and her love for music as well. My grandma can be found at any moment to be humming a tune! I don’t think she goes an hour without singing. Needless to say, I think this passion for singing has been passed down. Recently through this internship, it has been brought to my attention that God MADE me to worship. WHOA-- I just thought it was something I loved, but it is actually how God formed me (and ALL of us!). No wonder I feel so “at home” when I am singing and worshiping God, it’s because this is when I am closest to Him. I love that this is a time to sit at His throne and experience Him. Not only do I love this, but He delights in me singing to Him. What a special reality that God adores when His children praise His name, lift Him up and exalt Him above everything else… distractions, entertainment, any cares of this world that can take our attention from Him. A relationship with God is not just a one-way street where we ask things from God and He gives them to us, and neither is worship, but it is one of the greatest pleasures! I love praising Him, He loves when I worship Him, He then showers me with praises and promises as well which I in turn love! The back and forth exchange makes my heart happy and brings true JOY to my soul!
I know some people say, “I can’t sing” but this is so not true, God is HAPPY when we take time out of our busy schedules to devote to praise Him. To hear the voice of His children speaking to Him brings pleasure!! Worship is not only singing, but there are other things He considers worship to Him-basically making sacrifices (of time, engagements/meetings, money, desires, etc.) and giving them to Him in return and saying, “Lord, what do you want me to do with this?!”
Music is something that almost everyone enjoys! My friend Monica and I were discussing this and she pointed out that fact that we never ask people, “Do you like music?” We ask, “What kind of music do you like?” I believe music will be one of the GREATEST ways that God touches people in this generation as well as use them to usher in His return!! I have had moments where it was like God was speaking straight to me through music. On my birthday, I was in the prayer room where there is always music going on (12hr/day) when one of the musicians was singing a song that said, “God gives His children good gifts”, and I felt God whisper, “This song is for you!” This was one of my favorite GIFTS that day! My pastor once said that five minutes of worshiping God can sometimes do more than five years spent working through depression. Music has power and I believe that music with a focus on God can bring healing to the lost, hopeless, and hurting! One day, we will be in His kingdom and get to spend eternity with the King of Kings, praising His name forever, but right now… on earth… we have the ability experience His kingdom by worshiping Him-- after all, we were made to WORSHIP!!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Here We GO!
This ADVENTURE is off to a Great start!! There are 5 of us interns (3 girls-2 guys). I found out that the number 5 means “grace” in Hebrew. God has definitely shown us (interns and leaders) a lot of grace thus far! The 3 of us girls (Kirsten, Monica and I) live in an apartment together where we sleep in the same room furnished with bunk beds-which has been quite the change of pace, but I love it! I couldn’t have asked for better roommates and we have quickly become a close-knit family and I feel right at home here!
It has been a wonderful learning experience so far. Each day begins with a lesson/teaching-we grab a cup of coffee, our bibles and a notebook and soak up all of the goodness for those two glorious hours! The biggest part of the week is spent in the prayer room where we pray for different nations, etc. as well as spend time in the word and sit at the throne for some sweet praise and worship! We’ve also had mentorship time with Dick Eastman whom I adore, gone to chapel and worked with the EHC Staff, done team building exercises (we went on a scavenger hunt where the natives were blindfolded and the interns from out of state led us around downtown Colorado Springs-it was actually a lot of fun). At the end of every day I am exhausted by how much I have been stretched, learned and grown, but each new day starts with a yearning to know more and more!!
We are all very excited about helping with Northern Churches Care which is an outreach here in the community that has a food bank as well as services those with difficult health and living situations. We will serve there once a week, hopefully doing praise and worship/prayer for those that are down in spirit and as well as to minister and listen to their stories. Every day is different, but I walk into each one expecting that God will meet me right where I am and continue to reveal who He is to me! He’s showing me so much, and my prayer is that He would continue to expand my capacity to learn all that is being revealed! It’s so nice to feel at peace as I get to rest in God’s hands in the place where He has called me!
It has been a wonderful learning experience so far. Each day begins with a lesson/teaching-we grab a cup of coffee, our bibles and a notebook and soak up all of the goodness for those two glorious hours! The biggest part of the week is spent in the prayer room where we pray for different nations, etc. as well as spend time in the word and sit at the throne for some sweet praise and worship! We’ve also had mentorship time with Dick Eastman whom I adore, gone to chapel and worked with the EHC Staff, done team building exercises (we went on a scavenger hunt where the natives were blindfolded and the interns from out of state led us around downtown Colorado Springs-it was actually a lot of fun). At the end of every day I am exhausted by how much I have been stretched, learned and grown, but each new day starts with a yearning to know more and more!!
We are all very excited about helping with Northern Churches Care which is an outreach here in the community that has a food bank as well as services those with difficult health and living situations. We will serve there once a week, hopefully doing praise and worship/prayer for those that are down in spirit and as well as to minister and listen to their stories. Every day is different, but I walk into each one expecting that God will meet me right where I am and continue to reveal who He is to me! He’s showing me so much, and my prayer is that He would continue to expand my capacity to learn all that is being revealed! It’s so nice to feel at peace as I get to rest in God’s hands in the place where He has called me!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Ready or not...
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Looking back on one of my favorite childhood games of Hide and Seek, I can still recall the feelings of anxiousness and excitement as I would scramble to quickly find a hiding place in hopes that I would not be found by the person searching all of us out. Now as I face a new adventure in starting my internship at theWall, these words popped into my head, and I wonder if we're ever "ready" for things in this life... I mean, do we ever feel "ready" to take a big test, start a new job, make a big move, get married, have a baby, or tackle any of life's challenges?! It seems as if there's always that feeling of more needs to be done before ________.
Well... here I am less than a week before my internship starts and... I'm not "ready"... my house isn't even all packed up, YIKES... but how many times in our lives do we miss the things God has planned for us because we're too busy getting things in line or making sure areas are set to a certain standard before we start something new or make a commitment. Too often we feel we have to get right before God before stepping into the places He wants us. I don't believe that's God's heart at all... He wants us to go after Him, to search Him out, and He meets us EXACTLY where we are, He LOVES when we seek His face and His will. We don't have to have everything in order, all He wants is for us to say "Yes God, here I am, I am yours, your will is my will." Let us not wait until we're "ready"...
Even though I enter this new chapter in life with many uncertainties, I know one thing for sure-I don't want to miss where God has called me to be and what he has called me to do!! I look forward to going deeper with God, to falling more in love with the one who took my place on the cross and died for all of my sins so that I might Know Him and be in relationship with Him for all of eternity...
So here I am, a watchman, right where God has placed me...at theWall
Isaiah 62: 6-7--I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
**www.thewallinternship.com
Looking back on one of my favorite childhood games of Hide and Seek, I can still recall the feelings of anxiousness and excitement as I would scramble to quickly find a hiding place in hopes that I would not be found by the person searching all of us out. Now as I face a new adventure in starting my internship at theWall, these words popped into my head, and I wonder if we're ever "ready" for things in this life... I mean, do we ever feel "ready" to take a big test, start a new job, make a big move, get married, have a baby, or tackle any of life's challenges?! It seems as if there's always that feeling of more needs to be done before ________.
Well... here I am less than a week before my internship starts and... I'm not "ready"... my house isn't even all packed up, YIKES... but how many times in our lives do we miss the things God has planned for us because we're too busy getting things in line or making sure areas are set to a certain standard before we start something new or make a commitment. Too often we feel we have to get right before God before stepping into the places He wants us. I don't believe that's God's heart at all... He wants us to go after Him, to search Him out, and He meets us EXACTLY where we are, He LOVES when we seek His face and His will. We don't have to have everything in order, all He wants is for us to say "Yes God, here I am, I am yours, your will is my will." Let us not wait until we're "ready"...
Even though I enter this new chapter in life with many uncertainties, I know one thing for sure-I don't want to miss where God has called me to be and what he has called me to do!! I look forward to going deeper with God, to falling more in love with the one who took my place on the cross and died for all of my sins so that I might Know Him and be in relationship with Him for all of eternity...
So here I am, a watchman, right where God has placed me...at theWall
Isaiah 62: 6-7--I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
**www.thewallinternship.com
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