More Info On My Mission!

Hi friends!

Today I received the link to my personal fundraising account for my mission trip to Guatemala, which means I can officially start raising financial support!  If you'd like to donate to my fund (and make my WEEK!), you can visit this link: https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund&selected=Ambassador&desc=Rebecca%20McGlothlin&appeal_id=MCGLOTHLINHOPE. 

Also, in an effort to hopefully answer some questions some of you have asked me (or have wondered about in your head!), I wanted to make a little informational post with some FAQs. So here goes! (And if you have any more questions that I didn't answer here, please feel free to ask; I would be happy to talk with you more about this!)

Where will you be going? I will be going to Guatemala! Specifically the town of San Pedro. We might spend some time in surrounding cities and go to Antigua one day, but most of our ministry will take place in San Pedro. It is a small community around Lake Atitlan, which is basically a volcanic crater. The area is absolutely beautiful. (Look up pictures and you'll see what I mean!)

Who will you be going with? I will be going with an organization called Ambassadors, the high school department of Adventures in Missions (which is the same company that runs the World Race, if you know what that is!). AIM does mission trips for people of all ages and to places all around the globe. From what I've learned over the past year of knowing about AIM, I can tell you it's an incredible organization.

When will you be going? I will leave June 30 and arrive back July 14. My first three days will be spent at the Adventures in Missions headquarters in Gainesville, Georgia, where my team will have a small training camp to prepare us physically, emotionally, and spiritually for our mission. After training camp, we will fly to Guatemala, spend about ten days serving there, then come back to Georgia for one more night to debrief, and then I'll be back home with plenty of stories to share!

What will you be doing there? While I don't know a ton of specifics yet, I know that most of our work will be outreach to the community. This will probably look like running Vacation Bible Schools, praying for and with others, and working alongside the local church.
One of the biggest practices AIM uses in ministry is "ATL" or "Ask the Lord." Often times, participants on AIM trips will spend time in listening prayer, simply asking God to show them what to do next. This means that we won't always know exactly what to expect on certain days, but that's a beautiful thing! We get to fully listen to, trust, obey, and rely on Jesus for our ministry opportunities.

Will you ever get a chance to contact home? Yes! Depending on our Internet access/availability, I will have at least a few times to contact family at home and (hopefully!) post pictures and blog posts while I'm there! I will do my best to keep y'all updated, as I would love love love to share this adventure with you!

Why did you decide to go on a mission? Short answer: because I truly feel that God has called me "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14).  Long answer: about eight months ago, after reading a World Race missionary's blog post, I felt I heard God whisper in my heart, "You're going on a mission." I had been reading and learning about AIM for a while by this time, and I had just found out about Ambassadors. I was hesitant to accept this whisper as a calling, afraid it was my own voice. But as I kept praying and researching and learning about missions in general, the Lord grew my desire and kept assuring me that this what He wanted me to do. I felt His guidance in prayer, as verses (Esther 4:14, which I mentioned above, was one of them, in fact!) came to my mind, I felt His nudge on my heart with every photo of mission work I saw from AIM, and eventually I felt His assurance in the depths of my heart that He indeed was calling me. Through the guidance of the Lord and the encouragement of others, I decided that now was the time I was called to pursue this dream.
Amidst calling me to this mission specifically, the Lord has also done some amazing things just stirring my heart for missions and justice in general. He has shown me through through blogs, stories, photos, videos, people, and countless other outlets His call for His followers to participate in missions, whether that is by supporting those on the mission field or going out as oneself. I believe I am beginning to really understand what His heart for the nations looks like, and it's beautiful. While I am still very unsure about my future, I have begun seeing little ways He might be potentially calling me into missions full time someday, and this trip is also an opportunity to discern that dream.
I am so glad the Lord has been so faithful from the very beginning up till now, guiding my every step. I still can't believe He has called me to this, but I am so thankful!

Why Guatemala? When I first started looking at the options for Ambassador trips, there was something about Guatemala that just stuck out to me. I can't quite put my finger on it, and I know it might sound crazy to say you feel you are called to a country just because of a certain feeling, but I have heard plenty of cases of the Lord gently nudging people and moving their hearts to care for a certain nation, and I believe that might be what He's doing with me for Guatemala.
There were also several other factors that pointed me to Guat, like the distance from home, the cost of the trip, and the fact that I'm semi-familiar with the language and culture, which is always a plus! It felt like a good place to take my first step in missions.
Ultimately, I have felt the Lord tugging my heart to this place. I have learned about the deep, deep need and the immense poverty, but I have also learned about the hope Jesus is providing to my Guatemalan brothers and sisters. It will be my joy and honor to walk alongside them in knowing Him and His love better!

How can we help? Any support you can give is SO appreciated! You can give to my mission financially by visiting the link given at the beginning of this post, and I would always, always love your prayers! Please be praying specifically for my team for health, safety, opportunities from the Lord, and that overall His name would be glorified on this mission! And please, please pray for the people of Guatemala. Many of them have been struck by intense poverty, but more importantly, not all of them know about the hope that is found in Jesus. Pray for their hearts and minds to be open to Him and for His blessings to cover all their needs.

If you've read this far, wow, thank you! I seriously cannot tell you how much it means to me even just to have the emotional support and encouragement of friends and family. There's no one else I'd rather do this with, and I hope you know that each of you, even just by caring or reading this post, are joining in on this mission with me.

Lots of love!
Hope

Dad Knows Best, Part Three (and Some Big News!)

  Wow, friends. I honestly did not think I would be writing a part three to this post, but...dad knows best, and my dad in heaven knew better than that! (By the way, if you haven't read Parts One and Two, this would probably make a lot more sense if you did so!) But if you don't want to do that or have already read both posts and just want a quick refresher: here's a long story short...
  Last February, after reading a missionary's blog post, I felt the Lord whisper something crazy and unexpected to me: "You're going a mission." I had always wanted to go on an international mission trip someday, but I didn't expect Him to call me to that until much later in my life, and so I was hesitant to accept this little nudge as something from Him, afraid it might have just been my own voice. I prayed and listened and almost applied for an international mission with the high school Ambassador program of Adventures in Missions, but I ended up deciding to go to a Christian leadership camp instead (this was for multiple reasons, which you can read about in Part One of this post!). I told myself I wouldn't completely throw away the idea of a mission and that if the Lord kept the desire to go even after the camp, I would reconsider going overseas. Honestly, I wasn't expecting Him to guide me back to the mission after the camp, but instead, my desire to go on an international mission only increased. The Lord kept pointing me to signs and whispers from Him that this was what I was meant to do. I told my parents about the calling I felt I was receiving, and they were pretty hesitant to send me to a foreign country. But with the Lord's guidance and provision of peace, they allowed me to apply. And so this brings us to now...About a month ago I began the application process, and on Thursday I received the phone call: I'm officially an Ambassadors participant and will be following Jesus to Guatemala in July of 2017!

  I tell you these things not so much to focus on the event happening here. I tell you all this in hopes of encouraging you, at whatever point you are in your story. Even when the Lord turns your dreams around and takes you on many different journeys just to bring you to one place, He knows what is going to happen in the end. Even if there are tons of plot twists, He knows the end of the story. If your life is looking crazy and going in a thousand different directions, then I might say, "Good!" Because He works mighty things there. He's not finished with you yet, and His plans are bigger and greater than you could ever dream...that goes if He says yes to your dreams, and that goes if He says no and gives you something better (because He always will!). It's just your choice to choose if you're going to say YES to whatever choices He makes for you. The Lord has proven this to me through this wild but amazing little journey He's taken me on, and it is my deepest prayer He makes this truth clear in your own life. 
  I am still in disbelief and shock that I get to do this, that THIS is what God has called me to, and to do it now. It certainly wasn't in the plan--or rather MY plan--after all! But it was in His plan. I see that clearly now; I see how He was working from the very beginning of this dream, and so I am filled with a peace and trust unlike any other I've ever experienced before regarding a decision this big. I have never felt so confident, so assured that this is what I was meant to do, and I know that is a peace that only God can bring. Man, He is so so good!
  I would so appreciate your prayers and support during this time. Please be in prayer for myself, the people of Guatemala, and the other students who will be on my team in July. If you would like to support my mission financially, you can donate via my online fundraising page, which I will post a link to as soon as it's activated.
  I cannot adequately express how incredibly excited I am for this opportunity, and your support means the world to me! The Lord has blessed me abundantly to live out this dream, and I am so, so thankful.
Blessings,
Hope

Guest Posting @ Shell Read Truth!

Hi friends! I am so, so excited to share a little secret I may or may not have been keeping under wraps for the past three weeks...

I have been asked to be one of the contributing writers at my dear friend Ashey's blog, Shell Read Truth! In addition to blogging, Ashley writes encouraging messages on seashells and places them on the beach and in other random locations. So cool, right? I am unspeakably excited for and blessed by this opportunity to write for her and SRT. My first guest post is live today, and you can visit that here. 

I will definitely continue to post here on my personal blog, but now my coming posts will most likely be cross-posted to SRT as well. Through Ashley and SRT, the Lord is continuing to provide more opportunities to share and know His love better, and for that I am so so grateful!

Thank you for sticking with me through this journey with Him, and thank you for reading, whether at Shell Read Truth or Daughter in Faith!

Lots of love,

Hope

P.S. You can follow the SRT movement on social media for more info about posts! @shellreadtruth

And if you're not following my personal blog already, you can visit @daughterinfaith if you're interested!

Three Weeks of Immeasurably More

Wow. Words cannot describe the amazing things God has done in the past month. I have just come off of undoubtedly one of the craziest but also most beautiful adventures of my life. Over the course of three weeks, I attended two camps, crossed through seven different states, and traveled over four thousand miles round trip. Y'all that is absolutely crazy but it is ONLY by the power of God, and I can't wait to get to share with you in this post just a glimpse of some of the awesome things He revealed to me in my time away from home.

I am beyond thankful for these amazing opportunities the Father has placed before me, but I pray that the focus of this post would not be so much about the programs and events themselves but rather the power and love of God shining in them...because oh, has He been present!

My first three weeks of summer started with a bang: I finished school on a Thursday and left the following Sunday afternoon for Kentucky, where I attended a two-week Christian leadership camp called Youth Becoming Leaders (YBL) at Asbury University.

Waiting at the airport for our flight!

God was so present the entire time leading up to camp...even as far back as February, when I first applied for the program. (You can read more about that here and here.) The adventure continued as I faced one of my big(gest) fears: flying. Since my last flying experience (which had severe turbulence and was very traumatizing to me), I had sworn I would avoid travel by air for as long as I could. Clearly, God had different plans! I was very nervous walking into the airport that day, but the Lord was so gracious and calmed my nerves through the sweet smiles and kind words of my friends, and He brought me safely to Lexington by the end of that night.

When I arrived in KY with the three other students from my church, I immediately got to meet some of our counselors, college students/graduates from Asbury, who I grew to love dearly over the next two weeks. Since we had booked our flight for the day before camp officially started, we had to wait for the rest of the YBL students to arrive the next day. I was slightly hesitant about our new community at first, but I quickly became close friends with each of the twenty something students there.

Our WONDERFUL group of YBL students, faculty, and counselors! Words can't describe how much I miss these people.

Our two weeks together were filled with more laughter, tears, growth, games, sunshine, and Jesus than I could ever possibly try to fit into one blog post, but I can safely say that the Holy Spirit was so present and moving. We focused on the story of the Good Samaritan, and I learned more about that scripture and how to truly love others than I ever thought possible. Some of my favorite memories are the many little adventures we had, from hearing/learning from amazing university and seminary faculty to visiting a monastery in Indiana to buying supplies to furnish an entire apartment for a refugee family. Through all of these things, Jesus stretched me and grew more beyond what I could've ever expected or hoped for..and for that and for all the new friendships built at YBL, I am indescribably thankful!

Our little group of four students from my church flew back from YBL late the last night of camp, only to drive twelve hours the next morning for our mission trip to Colorado. It was definitely a whirlwind; I was home for less than eight hours before I had to leave for the next journey...but it was totally worth it. I knew that this was where God had me this summer, and I was just grateful for the opportunity, even if I was sleepily thankful at that!

Going from our group of 30 students at YBL to over 130 on the mission trip was a little overwhelming at first, but I quickly adjusted and the Lord reminded me He was indeed still with me, just as much in Colorado as in Kentucky. Throughout the week, He showed me through the love I received from my adult leaders, other students, and even the people we were serving more of His grace and mercy. Again, He was just sweeping me over with even more of His goodness than I thought existed.

Sunday morning service at Rocky Ford First UMC. The church members told us how excited they were to have all the pews filled!

It was especially cool to get to return to Colorado after having visited there back in March (which you can read about here), and it was awesome to see the hopes He had placed in my heart for this mission even back then be fulfilled over the course of the week. Our student leadership team had felt a real need to bring hope to Rocky Ford, the small town we served in, and the brightened faces of the people there told me we had brought that there, even if just a little bit.

Hugging a local resident at one of our community block parties during the week!

As I've been reflecting over the past three weeks, the Lord keeps bringing this certain Bible passage to mind. I was first reminded of this verse one of my last nights in KY, but He didn't fully reveal it to me until I finally got to my home state just a few days ago. The passage is Ephesians 3:20-21, and every time I look at it, He keeps pointing me to even more of how deeply I can connect these verses to my recent experiences.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” {Ephesians‬ ‭3:20-21‬}

At both YBL and the mission, God kept continuously pouring more grace and more goodness over me. In fact, the theme of this whole summer seems to be more...He can do more than I can ever imagine. Just when I think I've reached all He has to offer, when I'm sure I've reached the threshold of His mercy and learned all there is to know about His love, He is showing me more. And it is big and powerful and even sometimes overwhelming but in the most beautiful way. He is showing this not just in my "big" experiences but the little everyday moments with Him as well, and He's reminding me that every step with Him is like a grand adventure, no matter how little it seems. And it is all only through His power, and it only points back to His power. NOTHING that has happened this summer would be possible without the crazy grace He has lavished on me, and I believe He lavishes that same grace on all of us. When we accept that grace and say yes to Him, we are saying yes to a lifestyle of immeasurably more. He delights to love on His kids, and He has awesome plans for you, if you will just say yes. That is something to celebrate.

My prayer for us is that we would be a people who say yes, that we would choose to trust Him wherever He leads us, knowing confidently He WILL do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. I pray He would swipe away the fears and doubts in our lives, just like He did for me before my flight to Kentucky. I pray He would empower us to serve others and pour into their lives with His love, just like He did for me in Rocky Ford. I pray that He would surround us with His peace, as He has surrounded me this summer. And I pray He would give us the courage to say yes...because He is IMMEASURABLY faithful.

One Week Till Kentucky // Stepping Out of Fear and Into Love

  Y'ALL I HAVE EXACTLY ONE WEEK TILL I LEAVE FOR YOUTH BECOMING LEADERS IN WILMORE, KENTUCKY!!! Someone wanna pinch me?!
  I can't tell you how excited I am. Or how nervous. I can't wait for my time in Kentucky, but I also need to be really real here. I am also very, very afraid.
  There are so many unknowns. So many things I don't know yet and can't control (and let me tell you, this girl likes being in control!). And suddenly, that's all starting to hit me. I've already started monitoring the forecast for every city we'll stop in for our flight (anyone else hate turbulence?), and I've began to recognize the reality that I will be in an entirely different state from my family and twin sister for two full weeks. It's kinda a big deal for me. Also, I haven't even begun to pack, and that is task that is daunting all on its own!
  But as I sit here this Sunday morning and think about each of these fears and concerns, I can't help but be drawn into the Lord's peace. It's like He's tapping me on the shoulder gently and drawing me into His arms, inviting me to step out into the storm with Him, with His grace and power.
  I saw this character of God clearly last night as I struggled to sleep through at least six hours straight of thunderstorms in our area. I already hate thunderstorms, and they never fail to wake me up and make me as terrified as a five-year-old. No joke: I seriously still go sleep on the floor of my parents' bedroom because I get so scared! So last night when the thunder and lightning blew in, my instant reaction was fear and dread. I have received lots of helpful and encouraging advice on coping strategies to stop the panicky feelings I get during bad weather, but it often times doesn't help much because I simply can't calm down. However, last night was kind of different. For the first time since I can remember, I actually felt relatively calm during the storms. The occasional loud clap of thunder would still startle me, but my physical reaction to my anxiety wasn't nearly as strong as it normally is, and I can only attribute that to the work of the Holy Spirit.
  I still don't like thunderstorms, and I still don't look forward to having to face any more fears...but I can do so knowing my God goes with me. In fact, I believe He is calling me out of my fears. Last night, He was having me face my fears. Yes, it was a little scary at times, but He was faithful, so faithful. I stand here to say that I safely lived through that storm like it was no big deal.
  Jesus said: "I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." An abundant life meaning full of joy and less full of stress and anxiety. When I think about this, it reminds me that His love came for me to live my life to the full, not to cower at every dangerous possibility. I think that when we accept Jesus's invitation to face our fears, we are truly stepping out of our anxiety and into love. And that is what an abundant life looks like. That is what Jesus is talking about.
  So as I venture into this exciting, somewhat scary season of unknowns and adventures, I pray that I may trust the Lord and accept His invitation into whatever He has for me. And I pray for all of us to continue courageously taking His hand and taking the leap of faith out of fear and into love and abundant life. We have a good God who loves us, cares for us, and will never let us down. Will you choose to trust Him?

Also, if you have any fears that I can be praying for you in facing, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be honored to pray for you as we journey out of fear and into the love of Jesus Christ.

Pursued

Since the day you were born, you have been pursued by a loving, almighty God. He's been chasing after you, trying to win your heart since you took your first breath. Did you ever know that? 
I've recently fallen in love with the word pursuit. Like it makes me ridiculously giddy to think about the idea of being pursued by God, and I don't really know why.
I hear a lot of people say "God's love has been there all along, just waiting for you to open your eyes and come accept it." I generally agree with this statement, but a few years ago, a friend really challenged me on that. Yes, it's most certainly true that His love has always been there...but not just passively sitting around. His love has been chasing us, running after us since He first created us. And when we don't see Him, I don't think it's because He can't catch up to us, it's that we're so focused on whatever else we're running to for whatever reasons (for love, for acceptance, for freedom, for joy...) that we miss that He truly has been there all along. And He uses just the perfect moment to finally catch us aside and open our eyes to the true love that is found in Him.
When I think about the word pursuit, I automatically envision the ideal-Hallmark-movie-style romance. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Hallmark movies; they're my guilty pleasure! They are pretty cheesy, but they're also crazy sweet, and their love stories usually involve some sort of pursuit. Isn't that how the best love stories are, though? The person has this dream for their soulmate or dream guy/girl, meanwhile they have a close friend who actually is that dream person for them and they just don't realize it yet. Then finally, after lots of effort and PURSUING on the undiscovered friend's part, the main character finally sees it.
As humans, we naturally crave love, acceptance, and affection. It explains why so many of us find so much stress surrounding our relations with others--whether romantic or just friendly. But why wait for Prince Charming to fall for you when the King of Kings laid down His life for you?
No matter where you stand in this life, you are known, loved, seen, and PURSUED by God. He doesn't just love you, He wants you. He desires to be in relationship with you. If we really believed this truth, how would it change things? How would it change our lives?
I encourage you to remember this today: you are being (constantly) pursued by a God who loves you and cherishes you as His bride. No inch of your life is hidden from Him, and no ugliness in your life could make Him love you any less. You are wanted and loved by Him. Live your life confidently knowing that. 

My Story

My story begins in a near-empty room with a woman on her knees, desperate for some sign of peace, some sign of hope from the loving God she knew. Three miscarriages had left my sweet mama tired, wounded, and, quite frankly, hopeless....until she went to Jesus.
Because my mother was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, it was incredibly difficult for her to carry a baby full term. Several years before my birth she faced the loss of Caleb, my brother, at 18 weeks, and a year later, my sister, Alayna, at 20 weeks. Her third attempt ended in a first trimester miscarriage. After that third miscarriage, my parents began to worry they would never have a successful pregnancy. Still, they tried once more...but this time was different. Normally, they found they were able to conceive rather quickly after trying, and at this point, fertility was the least of their concerns, but this time around, they had much more trouble. They couldn't get pregnant, and they had no idea why.
So brings us back to where I started off, with my mama on her knees in the bedroom. My mother recalls that at this point she knew something wasn't working and that her only option was to go to God....and so she did. Both my parents spent time praying, hoping to receive some answer or sign from God, and eventually, they received what they were looking for in the craziest of ways. Upon meeting up after praying, my parents both revealed what they thought God had spoken into their hearts. My mother heard, "Try for three more months." My father heard, "Try until June." June was exactly three months later. It was a crazy coincidence, and they knew it was the Lord speaking to them. They waited and tried until June, and only a few short weeks later discovered they were finally pregnant...with TWINS.
My parents were equally surprised and concerned to find out about their new pregnancy because there was still a good chance that with my mother's condition she couldn't carry us full term. In the months to come, our family-to-be was surrounded by prayer and support, and God was faithful. My sister and I were born two months early, but we had no major medical issues or concerns and left the hospital after a month in the neonatal intensive care unit. Not your normal birth story, but for our family, it was nothing short of a miracle.

After all that they'd been through, my parents named me "Hope" because of the indescribable hope my mom says she felt when she prayed for us to be a reality. My parents named my sister "Janae," which means God has answered. Indeed, He did! And I feel just as blessed to have my parents as they feel to have me.
With that foundation, having been "prayed into existence" as my parents say, I grew up in a loving environment with a Christian family, going to church every week and saying prayers before bed. But it wasn't until I was about ten years old that Jesus really stepped into my life and I feel my faith truly became my own.
It was at age ten that my grandfather passed away due to pancreatic cancer. That was the first family death I had ever experienced. I was (and really I still am!) a sensitive little girl, and it hit me hard. I remember coming home from his funeral and crying in the shower. My tears fell and so did my worries, concerns, mourning, and pain. It was the first time I ever really had to cry out to God. It was my only response. My grandfather was in heaven now, and any connection I had to him comforted my heart. And so I believe that's why God chose that specific moment to truly make Himself real to me.
Amidst the mourning and the sadness, I felt this sense of peace. It was like the pain was still there and the tears were still flowing, but they were accompanied by a sense of calmness and even joy beyond my understanding. I began to hear the Lord say, "Child, you are okay. Come and just rest in me." On the night of the funeral, God embraced me in the like the biggest bear hug ever, and it changed my life. I leaned on Him heavily during that time, and each night in the shower I found myself continuing to connect back with Him. I began to know and understand His grace and the power of His Spirit, and I tried to seek Him in every action, just wanting to please this good good God I had come to know.
In that time He provided so much growth, revealed so much of His love, and gave me so much peace, but there were definitely moments of difficulty too. As I began to know and love Him more, Satan tried to step in, and for the next few years, the love that Christ had filled my life with was also combated by overwhelming fear and anxiety. I struggled with fears of robbers, terrorists, ghosts, cancer, natural disasters--you name it--and I worried about my grades, performance, and identity, While His love never changed for me, I began to distort it in my own OCD/anxiety way, and looking back, I can see that I started to mistakenly and unconsciously view the Lord as more of a judging, stern God, not as the loving Father He truly is. I knew He loved me, but I forgot what that meant, and instead I condemned myself for each and every mistake or sin I made and busied my brain trying to think of ways to please Him. I didn't realize it then, but I was burning my little heart out with the heavy expectations I had self-inflicted meanwhile missing out on the love and GRACE of God, the pure, unearned favor He had for me simply because I was His child.
Again, flash forward a couple years, and my anxiety lessens but the hard-on-myself, perfectionistic attitude does not. I'm in sixth grade at this point and had just started middle school and along with that became a part of our church's student ministry. A few months in, I went on my first Winter Retreat, and there the Lord opened my eyes again to the goodness of His love. I don't remember the night super well, but I remember what the speaker said during the worship service. He was going over the Resurrection story but eventually broke into really explaining the power of what that meant for our lives. I just remember Him saying at one point over and over again, "He loves you. He loves you. He loves YOU. He loves you, He loves you, He LOVES you." It sounds super silly on the computer or your phone to read, but I can tell you it impacted me. The presence of God's Holy Spirit was in that sanctuary that night, and I recognized and reconnected with His love, accepting Him officially into my life for the first time, and decided to continue to seek after Him for the rest of my life.
The years since then have been interesting twists and turns of emotion and life that I could tell you in another blog post twice as long as this one, but in every moment, He's teaching me and showing me more of His love. Since that night on the retreat, I've had several run-ins again with anxiety and other troubles in the lives of myself, my friends, and my family. But the Lord, oh how He has been there through it all! Oh, how His love has never changed! And oh, how I love that He teaches me more everyday about Him, shows me more of His goodness and more of His grace. With each struggle has come a greater understanding of Him and growth in my faith. I love that in each part of my life He's shown me this constant story of turning the broken into beautiful, the bad into good, the pain into wonder, the ugly into awesome. And isn't that what He does? Isn't that the heart of who He is? God makes all things beautiful, He makes all things new. That is something I celebrate and long to bring to every person who reads this blog and every person I come into contact with. I am not perfect at doing that. I am by no means a perfect Christian or a perfect person. But I serve a good, good Father, and I love that He does not measure me by my own performance or attempts at perfection. He loves me as His daughter. And He has made my brokenness beautiful.
These are two verses He has really spoken to me as I've been writing this post and reminiscing on this crazy journey of life He's brought me on. I pray they encourage you and speak into your heart more about the love of God.
{Psalm 30:11} "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy."
{Psalm 34:5} "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame."
As I [try to!] wrap up this novel of a post, I am praying for you. Praying that as I have shared my story, you would see Christ and not me. Praying you would know His love better. Praying that you would have courage to share your own story with others, however crazy or wacky or weird it may be. And praying that He continues to show you more just how much He loves you and who you are in His love as a daughter, son, child of faith.
I love each of you reading this so much (even if I don't know you!), but the Lord loves you unbelievably more. If you ever want to talk or have anything I can be praying for you for or encouraging you in specifically, please please reach out to me. I would love to do that for you in the love He has blessed me with. ;)
Love always,
Hope