Buying In …

I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. John 15:11. This feeling that John is portraying is the same one I get as I write these blogs. I have seen so many works of God that have made me thrive with joy. But, it has only been until I have shared those experiences with you guys that my joy has been complete. John had witnessed all of Jesus’s miracles. He stood by Jesus in His times of loving and teaching. John had experienced the total awesomeness of our Lord and Savior face to face, in flesh and in blood. And yet, he tells us his joy will not be complete until he shares those experiences with us. So that we may be as joyful as he is. I think it is absolutely incredible what the love of God does to a person. Because once you have had that complete “aw” moment with God, their is no keeping it to your self. That is exactly what I am going through as I type this out to you. How can I possibly keep this journey to myself. And believe me I understand that maybe it’s not that “cool” for a 19 year old kid to be yapping about God and deeper things. But, that is exactly what is wrong, it’s wrong that it is hard for me to write this. That it’s hard for me to understand and trust God that these blogs are helping people. Trusting that by me sharing my life and my feelings that God will use that for His glory and Kingdom.  It is truly wrong for me to feel that way and I really do have to remind myself that it does matter and it does need to be shared. The love and gospel of the lord needs to be shared. These times of weakness and venerability are going to be the times that others find strength. That others rise up and find themselves in the Lord. Its never going to be fully comfortable for me to share these things but, I just have to believe it’s the right thing to do. And how can I not share what I have seen and heard. Like for example I did village ministry again today, where we went door to door and prayed with the families in need. And I met an 82 year old widow who lived by herself in a tiny 8X10 shack. She began to tell us how her sight has been fading quite rapidly along with her hearing. Even her simple daily routine has begun to be impossible with the way her body has been slowing down. As you can imagine she just has to put up with these things because she can’t afford any treatment or care. So as she continued to explain her situation to us there is one thing that all of us in the room noticed. She never lost her smile and she never forgot to mention how grateful she was for the life God had given her. Now in that moment I have never had a single better pick me up in my entire life. To see a women faced with a world of problems and difficulties still be shining with the joy of the Lord, put me in that complete “aw” moment. The moment where you sit back and just say ” God you are all powerful, all knowing, all EVERYTHING!! and I Love You”. What is better then to see with your own eyes our Heavenly Father at work. And all I can seriously think about in those situations is ” man I wish my family and friends could witness this” I wish all of you could see the way God moves. The way he moves and works in everyday life. It’s when you begin to look for God in life that he begins to show himself to you. When you let the world take you over you lose those chances to see and truly experience God. But, that’s exactly how the Devil plays a role in our lives also. He puts those things on us because he wants us to get exhausted, frustrated, angry. Because the second we buy into those emotions is the time we lose getting to be with God. It will always be a constant struggle for me I know but, this trip has really aloud me to meditate and be in a constant state of mind where my focus is on God. And sure things come up in a day that I could choose to buy into and get mad about but, by not buying in, I’ve aloud God to really use me this month for ministry. So always choose to buy into the right things and think positive. Sounds simple but a lot harder than you would think. I wish all of you can find your way in Christ and brighten everyones lives around you. Always put God and others before you . He>I

As for me, this last week has been a pretty relaxed one. Got back for Cebu on Sunday, the half marathon went terrific. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful city to run in, the ocean was incredible. Was really great to finally get that monkey off my back. They actually closed down an entire freeway for us, so we got to run through this giant tunnel for 3 plus km and then run along the coast. A really neat experience all around and hope to have the will power to do a another run like that in the future. Sad to leave Cebu so soon but a lot of great things to do in Malaybalay also. This week will just consist of a lot of manual labour I’m assuming. There are like 8 big stadium lights that need to be put up on the soccer field so we are going to be digging the holes for the posts. Oh and I guess Wednesday we are going to be taking a fairy to another island to do some scuba diving so that should be a blast. Other than that I really don’t have a ton to tell you guys. I leave in twelve days to Manila where we will then fly out to Africa on the 1st of February. The crappy thing about not having a laptop is that I can’t post pictures with this iPad so I’ll make sure I post pictures to my blogs when I get to Manila. 

Well that is all for this week. look for to talking with all of you guys this week. I actually just got a phone so if you have Skype minutes you can call it, the number is +639999736050… would love to talk with everyone. Other than that have a stellar week. Love all the fam and friends back home. See you all very soon. 113 more days !!!

Peace Out !!!