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Remembered.

Posted on 7, Nov

Blog…remembered

Something happened today, something I was never ever expecting. It was one of those times when something minor happens and you just can’t stop thinking about it.

I was getting my morning routine started with a simple walk to the 7-11 in search of something to eat for breakfast that wouldn’t make my stomach turn when I was interrupted by a guy walking out of a building calling out my name. I knew this man from when I was here 2 years ago, but never ever expected him to remember me, there are hundreds of teams that flow through that building every year after all…but of everyone, after 2 years, this guy called out my name. He remembered my name.

When I was a teacher at a middle school, I would have classroom after classroom full of students, all staring at me on the first day as I read down the names on my roster, the entire time wondering how I’d ever remember their names…and sadly I was never the best at that, I can remember a face for years, but names don’t stick with me unless I have some reason for it to stick with me. A memory, a victory, something has to happen for me to remember each of the names. This man remembered my name.

It wasn’t until after a sweet Thai hug that I realized just what that meant to me. By this man that I remembered for all the things he did for my and my squad 2 years ago, I was remembered.

I have a horrid fear in life of being forgotten about, and at that moment I was experiencing a friend. A friend who expected nothing from me. A friend who was so excited to see me that he left his agenda that moment to simply say hi to me. I hadn’t talked to him in nearly 2 years, and walking down the street, he noticed me, and came running to me, all in a moment where nothing else seemed to matter to him. He remembered me.

It wasn’t until I was on a bus later that day thinking about those few moments that it had really sunk in just what that meant to me. I was remembered.

It was at that moment I felt like none of my worries mattered, I felt a loving embrace of someone that really I have never done anything for, I felt the excitement someone had just to see me again. Of all the people, he remembered me.

He remembered me.
In the crowd, he called out my name.
In the sea, He looked for me.
When admittedly, I wasn’t looking for Him, He found me.
When I was walking down the street, He found me.
I’d done nothing for Him, He still remembered me.

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They’re just my people

Posted on 4, Nov

I’m currently…get this…lost in Seoul, South Korea, and freezing cold, so I stopped into a coffee shop to…get this…try their coffee…I don’t like coffee here either…but I tried. I wrote this blog on the plane on the way here….

I am currently somewhere over Russia on a plane to the opposite side of the world, with a struggle I always seem to battle with loneliness. Who do I know on this plane? Nobody. The guy next to me doesn’t understand any English…and I know no Korean…great combination. The entire journey to get to Bangkok is going to take me somewhere around 34 hours…34 hours of not talking to anyone I know. 34 hours of dare I say introvert time? I don’t actually know how to operate in that way anymore!

I’m not so keen on saying goodbye to people. Something about it just doesn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the extreme extrovert that screams from deep within me realizing it will be a loooong time before I have that place of relational security again. It could be the battle I have with loneliness. It’s possible that I’m simply going to miss people, all over again in life. I had breakfast with my parents, and dinner with two great friends just before 4 other great friends took me to the airport. I would have it no other way, but in all honesty I’m not sure that was the best option. Smiles from me weren’t easy as I said bye to those few people, instead thoughts of all I’d be missing out on overwhelmed me.

That’s just what I do though. I struggle to balance this portion of life. On one hand, I love the people I’ve been doing life with. I love the consistency of it all. I promise this Thursday when I’m not playing cards or watching a movie with Erin and her family, I’ll have a void deep within. When I hear that Matt is leading worship somewhere and I’m not there, something will be missing in me. When Caroline is eating sprinkles and I’m not there, another void will form. When I hear of … Ok, you get the point … Every single thing my friends and family do without me, something within me will cry out. Yet there’s the other side of all of this. What if I stayed? What if I never did leave for Thailand? Well, the opposite would be true. Every time I heard about some children not having a home, something within me cries out. Every time I hear about another village needing love, something is missing. Every time another child is trafficked, something inside screams. It’s a balance that wears me out. One that I never find peace in, but I know I’m doing the thing I need to be doing, even when it is coming at a cost.

I do life with some great people, I always have. In high school, college, North Carolina, then my World Race squad, the World Race staff, my Georgia people, and now Ray and Candace, an incredible couple I’ll be doing life with in Thailand. I’ve said “goodbye” to my Georgian friends or parents and family for awhile, but when I’m back, I’ll treasure the moments we’re together all the more.

…and while I’m away I’ll be scheming more strategy that will allow me to {actually} dominate in card games…sorry Coop (and s&s), you be goin down…

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A video of The Wards in Thailand and their ministry, I’ll be joining them for long term ministry in Thailand!

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It’s those voices…

Posted on 18, Sep

It’s those voices.

I’m sick of them.

You likely know the voices, the ones that come to you in your weakest times.  The voices that tell you everything that’s wrong with you, your life, your world, they keep you up at night.  They tell you nothing good, in fact, they’re so darn convincing that you start to believe them…or am I the only one?

I started off this week with a lack of sleep caused by these voices.  They attack me constantly as I lay down to sleep, reminding me of so many things wrong…

  • You’re not good enough
  • Thailand doesn’t need you
  • Finances is always going to plague you
  • Your friends don’t really like you
  • Loneliness is you
  • You’re never going to look good
  • Nobody is ever going to love you
  • You cannot do anything successfully
  • Life is never going to go your way
  • You will never have energy
  • You are not healthy
  • Your life is a dead end street

I actually hope I’m off in left field on this and that I’m the only one this ever happens to.  I loose sleep with these things and I’m friggin’ over it.

I hear daily of someone else with health problems, someone else dieing, someone else coming from a broken home, someone else heart-broken, someone else loosing their mind….the list can go on and on and on, but you get the point, we live in a jacked up broken world, and I feel the weight of it a lot, and can’t stop thinking of it in the times I am the weakest.

The voice seems to be never ending, as Kris Vallotton refers to it as lunch dates with the devil.  He has a great series on Spiritual Warfare, at one point talking about how we tend to listen to the negative voice more than God’s words that have been spoken over us. He talks of how we allow the devil to use his only remaining weapon of words, lies and deception against us, and how we need that to stop.

Why is it that we can hear the above phrases so much louder in our head than the truths God’s spoken over us?  I’m convinced I’m not the only one that does this, but I’m also declaring today that I’m not going to allow it.  Instead we need to speak into our own lives and others truths.  The convincing words of the devil need to be the very thing used against him…

  • You ARE good enough, in fact, there’s nobody better for this than you
  • Thailand does need me
  • I’m not a pauper, but my God has finances of a King, and I’m his child
  • My friends don’t know what to do without me (ok, so that’s a little overboard…hah!)
  • Life of fullness is screaming inside of me
  • Damn, I look good (also a little overboard, but you get the point… haha!)
  • People love me, and I am not going to be lonely.
  • Success follows me wherever I go
  • Life isn’t supposed to go ‘my way’ but instead where He goes I’ll go…
  • I cannot wait to take on this day full of energy and life from the ultimate provider
  • I walk in ever increasing health
  • My life is a multi-directional highway without end!

The list needs to go on, but for your sake of already being bored to tears if you’ve made it this long, I’ll stop!

I simply know that I’ve allowed the attacks to seep into my life for too long, and it’s time to regain territory in this!  I’m no longer taking the voice of the enemy to heart, but I’m going to listen to the voice of God instead…as one of my favorite bands, needtobreathe, puts it:

Oh, this is the way I wanna go down
(This is the last time) I’m starting over with you
This is the way I wanna go out

I never second-guesssed the little voice I heard
It’s just a whisper, that sounded like a scream
I aint never felt so free

That whisper that sounded like a scream? that’s the one I want to follow…and I’ve never felt so free!

More Needtobreathe music on iLike
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Seasons Change, We Grow…

Posted on 7, Sep

You’d think I was used to change now…but the truth is, I’m not. The changes of seasons in life has slowly drifted from dreading it to accepting it…someday I hope to embrace it!

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I have some great friends in this world, but to be honest, I may need to weed out some that are cookie-cutter friends…

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