The Beauty of...

...hearing with my eyes open.

At the start of 2011, I was asked, "What's your goal this year? What do you want?"

"I want to hear from God...hear His voice, hear Him speak."

In the last two months, He's been faithful to do just that.

Here's a couple stories...evidence that God still speaks.

Every week we have Upper Elementary Chapel. This year, our focus is on the names of God. I was in charge of the teaching the first week back from break about God being The Word and how He sent His Son to communicate and connect with us. The night before, I was trying to plan what to talk about and couldn't get the illustration out of my head that I used in Central Java to share the Truth with the students I met there. After attempting to ignore His prompting, I finally listened and it was clear that He was telling me to use that illustration in my talk the next morning. I've been at BAIS for almost four years learning what it means to teach Bible and just how inadequate I am. With that has come a fear to be bold and give the students who don't yet know Him the chance to accept Him. I chose to listen to His voice, go against that fear and trust that He had a plan. I ended up sharing the Bridge illustration the next day and sure enough, He spoke...He stirred and four of my boys accepted/rededicated their lives to Him. It was incredible. I did nothing but obey. Since then, He's been working in their hearts and I get the privilege of watching these boys grow into men of God. It's incredible.

One of the best parts about this job is getting to not only love on the little ones, but also on the high schoolers. Along with my roommate, I lead a girls Bible study. Almost every week, we don't really know what we're going to talk about until moments beforehand. About a month ago it was just me leading. I had had a rough week dealing with some relational drama and learning not to seek total satisfaction in human relationships. I felt like I was in no place to lead a Bible Study, but asked Him to be there and to speak. He ended up giving me the boldness to share my story and struggle with the girls and it turned out to be an incredible discussion and a time of healing for my heart as He would bring random Scripture to my mind as well as speak words of truth through the girls. Turns out we all struggle with that:)

I got to go back to Central Java at the end of January with the same guys I went with over Christmas Break. We got to meet and chat with a large group of high school and college students again. This time, God put some really incredible girls in my group...kindred spirits for sure! Although we came from different backgrounds and religions, it was beautiful to see Him weave our stories together. One of the guys that I came with shared some Scripture about sowing seeds and how we sow seeds with every word we speak...good and bad...and that those seeds reap good and bad just the same. This sparked an amazing conversation about the consequences of our actions and what happens when we reap the harvest of bad seeds. We talked about redemption, which is a word I've been chewing on since December, and then got to talk about hope and where it comes from and that there's a source of hope that never runs out. Our time came to a close, but we could have continued talking for days. It was really hard to leave, but I pray that God allows the seeds that were planted that day to grow into "oaks of righteousness planted for His glory!"

It's refreshing to share these stories with you because it occurred to me as I was writing this post how quickly I lose sight of Him. It's been a rough week in the fifth grade as the hormones are raging and Spring Break is next week. Weary would be a good word to describe my current state. It will be by His grace alone that we all make it to Spring Break alive. I've been consumed with the busyness of the month and the craziness in my classroom that it has turned my focus inward in an attempt to manage the chaos. Reflecting and putting these stories into words has cleared up my vision a bit and reminded me of the power that I can tap into if I choose to...the peace that surpasses all understanding...the thoughts and ways that are higher than mine...that's the beauty of hearing with my eyes open.

Next week is Spring Break...my first Indonesian Spring Break that I am not going to the islands. It's hard to not be going with the team, but I see now part of the reason for that decision. God's provided me with some time to sit alone with Him. With two and a half months left here in Indonesia, there is much to process. I need to spend some intentional time thinking through what the end of this season is going to look like and what I need to do to finish well. My prayer is that this next week provides concentrated time of hearing His voice and resting in His truth.

Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises, he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3