Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday has been a thing on Instagram for a while. Today I am going to introduce it to my blog and share a lesson I learned from the race. Partially because it is something I think everyone should hear, partially because sometimes I just need the reminder, and because it is part of the reason I desire to go to the Philippines.

Fun fact about me: I love nature, and it is one of the ways I experience God. The mountains are my favorite. To me they reflect the beauty and majesty of God, and I am always overwhelmed that He chose to create all of this beauty for us to admire…and there really is no reason for it. It isn’t absolutely necessary for sunsets to be so colorful, for leaves to change to all hues of red, yellow, and orange in the fall (something I am excited to really experience now that I am living in Georgia!), or for there to be vast fields of wildflowers in the spring.

All of these things are just absolutely breathtaking, right? We look at these things and we are amazed and in awe.

When God created all of these things He said they were good. And they are. But have you ever thought about what God said about us after He created us?

“And God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

We are His favorite part of creation, He put so much thought into creating us each uniquely in His image, and He looks at us with such adoration and truly delights in us.

So if we are worth far more to Him than all the mountains, flowers, and sunsets why do we not recognize that same beauty within each of us.

We often focus on the things we would change about ourselves, compare ourselves to others, and just miss the beauty of how He created us and the inherent worth we have as His creation and His children.

This is one of the biggest lessons the Lord taught me while I was on the race. Now I believe He is calling me to share this revelation of His love to others, specifically those who are told that they have no worth. The reality is that there are millions of women around the world who are forced into the sex trade and told that their only worth comes from what they offer to men.

The truth is that God created each of them, uniquely and beautifully, and He cherishes each of these women so much and wants them to know the truth of who they were created by and are loved by. The Philippines is just one of many places where this injustice takes place but I believe it is where God is leading me to share His love and truth with women.

Three weeks ago I moved to Gainesville, Georgia to attend Adventures in Missions’ Center for Global Action, which is preparing me for life as a long-term missionary. We are spending time talking about what it looks like to be a healthy person living in another country and culture for an extended time, how to successfully handle conflicts within a team, how to be culturally sensitive in different situation, as well as taking time to really understand ourselves, how we are created and what we need to grow and thrive in life in general.

For those of you that have already supported me in this, thank you so much!

I am so thankful for the challenges and growth I am already experiencing and for the growth that is still to come in the next few months.

I still need to raise $247 to meet my next financial deadline on October 11 and remain in this program and about $815 total to be fully funded for my time at the Center for Global Action.

If you would like to help me meet these goals and continue in this training and calling, please consider supporting me with either a monthly or one-time gift. Whether it is $10 or $100 it helps me in reaching my goal! You can give by either using the “support me!” link or by mailing in a check (if you would like to know more about this option, just let me know!).

 

Thanks so much, friends!

And because this is a Throwback Thursday post, here is a picture from last October when we got to experience a little bit of fall weather in Antigua, Guatemala!