I wanted to say thank you to the whole team, I have never been around such a well oiled machine .From what GOD had provided ( the 2 professions of faith) we got this week to the tiniest minute detail , GOD through his HOLY SPIRIT moved in and and around everything that was done, it was as effective and smooth as we all had prayed for . I believe that we magnified and glorified the name of JESUS in each and everything that was done.
Amy Thompson Lead with great ease and through her direction and guidance , I believe we accomplished what GOD had in mind.
I am proud to have been part of this team and its leadership, one mind , one spirit , and one body being led by the HOLY SPIRIT was the most marvelous thing I have ever experienced.
Thanks guys
Joe B.
And the love continues as we take our 3rd multi-generational family mission trip to Rogersville, TN! We hope you are blessed by following along to see what God is doing not only among our team members, but also in the lives of people we meet along the way. May God be glorified through all we say and do!!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Rogersville Trip
I'm extremely happy that Josh and I had the opportunity to come on the mission trip. The whole experience has been much more than I could have ever imagined. I knew Southside is a wonderful church and getting to know this group more explains why that is true, they are a great family that love God and each other and I'm proud to be a part of the family. I have been convicted, humbled, and inspired during this experience and look forward to pursuing the next step God has in store for all of us. Thanks to all who stepped out in faith to organize this trip and thank God for the experience.
Paul Byram
Paul Byram
post two by Josh
This week has been AMAZING! I was lucky enough to clean two different houses, work in the Shepards center, visit houses, and go to the three Senior homes.I was able to see I really don't need any of the things I want. I had a lot of laughs and enjoyed every second. However, I am ready to go home and go share all the things that happend to me. BE HOME SOON!
55 Final Words
At our share time last night I asked each person for one word to describe our week together - here is what they said: tough, fun (2), meaningful, love, sweaty, hope, humbling (4), priceless, interesting, productive, rewarding, anew, inspirational, joyful, committed, awesome (2), appreciation, unexpected, heartbreaking, blessed, wonderful, excellent, amazing (3), gratitude, encouraging, cohesive, eye-opening, inspiring, honored, grateful, worthwhile, opportunistic, astonishing, hopeful, unified, powerful, beginning, exhilarating, igniting, inspiring, wow, heartwarming, extraordinary, fulfilling, everlasting, blessed, hot, action... a lot can be said in just one word.
Our week may be over, but our mission is not. We are coming home committed to continue to live our verse for this trip "let us stop just saying we love each other, let us show it by our actions" 1 John 3:18.
We have truly had an incredible week...thank you for all your prayers and support in helping us as we were "Loving Tennessee!"
Our week may be over, but our mission is not. We are coming home committed to continue to live our verse for this trip "let us stop just saying we love each other, let us show it by our actions" 1 John 3:18.
We have truly had an incredible week...thank you for all your prayers and support in helping us as we were "Loving Tennessee!"
Thursday???? WHAT?!?!?!
I can't believe it's Thursday night and our week is almost over. Good grief time flies when you're having fun! We have laughed, worked, cried, sweat, cleaned, played, fixed, built, served, and loved for 4 straight days and it has been incredible for all involved! We visited one of our home projects today and we were greeted with tears of joy and hugs as the homeowner told me how she had prayed and prayed for help, and then here we were. All week she said she would just go outside, hold her hands up and say PRAISE THE LORD! For the first time since December she and her family were able to take a shower. They had been boiling water to fill the tub which would take hours each day. They had been walking around the huge holes in the floor so they wouldn't fall in and now they could walk without looking where they were going. Her husband told me how he had come from a previous marriage where they had a nice house and everything they could think of...he said this had been really hard for him and that you don't realize how much you have and how you take things for granted, until you don't have them anymore. Our working with them this week had renewed his faith, and given this family hope that they hadn't had in a long time. If only they could realize it was just as much, if not more of a blessing for us as it was for them.
We had over 100 people come to the block party today in Sneedville and it was a blast! They advertised it over the scanners last night so when we got into town today we had people telling US about the block party :) We had Jennifer, Kipp and the kids sing for us, we painted faces, made balloon animals, played lots of games, served sno cones and popcorn, made salvation bracelets and just had a good time with the people there. We ended with an awesome testimony by Tina, a short message by Daniel, a song and a prayer. For them it was a big deal because they don't have things like that very often - for us it was just another chance to continue loving Tennessee.
We were again reminded today through many of the things we saw and did, of the many needs we have at home. Once again some of our conversation turned to ideas and things we needed to do to "love Florence". I don't think that is going to go away...
As we ended tonight we closed with prayer and there were more children that prayed aloud than the adults. I cannot say enough how well these children have done this week. Truth be told they have handled some of these situations better than the adults - and they have not complained or fussed about ANYTHING all week long. Each one of them has seen and done things this week they would NEVER have done at home and they have each learned in their own way that nothing is impossible with God. I am SO proud of them I can hardly stand it, and they have blessed my heart more than they will ever know.
Tomorrow we will visit our second house project and then make a stop by the house that Jennifer and Tricia have spent all week at. I am looking forward to both of those!! The afternoon will be spent relaxing and enjoying time togther with our fab family of fifty-five before we pack up and head back for Flo-town Saturday morning. I'll have one more post tomorrow night and will try to get some of the other team members to write about their week. We have so much to tell and cannot wait to come home and share the joy with you!
We had over 100 people come to the block party today in Sneedville and it was a blast! They advertised it over the scanners last night so when we got into town today we had people telling US about the block party :) We had Jennifer, Kipp and the kids sing for us, we painted faces, made balloon animals, played lots of games, served sno cones and popcorn, made salvation bracelets and just had a good time with the people there. We ended with an awesome testimony by Tina, a short message by Daniel, a song and a prayer. For them it was a big deal because they don't have things like that very often - for us it was just another chance to continue loving Tennessee.
We were again reminded today through many of the things we saw and did, of the many needs we have at home. Once again some of our conversation turned to ideas and things we needed to do to "love Florence". I don't think that is going to go away...
As we ended tonight we closed with prayer and there were more children that prayed aloud than the adults. I cannot say enough how well these children have done this week. Truth be told they have handled some of these situations better than the adults - and they have not complained or fussed about ANYTHING all week long. Each one of them has seen and done things this week they would NEVER have done at home and they have each learned in their own way that nothing is impossible with God. I am SO proud of them I can hardly stand it, and they have blessed my heart more than they will ever know.
Tomorrow we will visit our second house project and then make a stop by the house that Jennifer and Tricia have spent all week at. I am looking forward to both of those!! The afternoon will be spent relaxing and enjoying time togther with our fab family of fifty-five before we pack up and head back for Flo-town Saturday morning. I'll have one more post tomorrow night and will try to get some of the other team members to write about their week. We have so much to tell and cannot wait to come home and share the joy with you!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
post one by Josh
This week so far has been AWERSOME! I have never worked and helped out with different things and been so happy. Day one was rough however, God helped us get through it. Day two was are first day in the mission field in tennessee.I thought me and my dad were going to work in the thrift store so, I did exactly the opposite of what everybody told me to do, be flexible. So, Iwas told to clean houses I went to help Mrs. Cline withsome cleaning and she was very thankful and kind. I also went to the senior home that aftenoonthat also was alot of fun.
Post One from Maggie Gray
the first day Ihad had alot of fun. I got to do the schoolbus lunchbox and to dliver lunches and i HAD alot . oh i got to go start fixing meals
Blog One from Spencer Gray
Well, on the first day of construction, it was a pretty slow moving day until the lumber got to the site. After that the rest of the day was faster paced, and more work got done. At night we got to go to the pool. Once everyone got there we did cannonball contests.
For breakfast, I've mainly had waffles from this neat waffle machine. At share time, I learned a lot about the different jobs we came here to do, and the people we've shared Christ with. I think its good we have a sharetime because we can see what everyone else is doing, and so we can come closer to one another. All in all, I think this trip will be a good one.
Spencer
For breakfast, I've mainly had waffles from this neat waffle machine. At share time, I learned a lot about the different jobs we came here to do, and the people we've shared Christ with. I think its good we have a sharetime because we can see what everyone else is doing, and so we can come closer to one another. All in all, I think this trip will be a good one.
Spencer
Blog One from Nicholas
Well first off the first day I was a little hesitant on getting started because of the funky smells. But after God helped me get over that smell I started helping in the front putting clothes up and helping with the cash register. Then we went down into the basement and we helped put the food into the plastic bags for the people that come in and get interviewed, we got done so many that they said they ran out of room! So after that we went into the furniture section of the basement and me and Mr. Daniel helped him move around furniture and I got my nickname, Chachi there because the basement guy was reading my nametag and he said cha cha cha chachi.
Mr Daniel thought that that was the funniest thing since sliced bread, so he gave me that nickname. Then the next day Mr. Daniel, Grace Anne, Mrs. Betty and me went on the school bus lunches and I got really hot, but i guess that Grace Anne got a little bit hotter than that! She felt like she was going to throw up so she had to go walk around a little bit. Once we got done we had to take the cooler in and there was a cooler for each person. Once everyone got back in the center, Mr. Daniel wasn't there and he was the last one outside so I just had a feeling that I should go and help him take the cooler in because I thought it might have been hard for him or something. So anyway, when I get out there it turns out he bumped his head and he was bleeding pretty bad, so he told me to go get help. I came back where everyone else was and I calmly told them that Mr. Daniel was bleeding and none of them believed me!!! Finally after some tough convincing, they finally went to go help him and then they called an ambulance that was supposed to be for free but turns out that is was going to be 400$! So they just had one of the other volunteers from tennissee and he drove him to the emergency room. It turns out he was fine but now that he did that they put pading on the door.
Quotes about me:
"the girls on the lunch box today were getting food and eye candy"
-Mr Daniel
''cha cha cha chachi''
-randy from the basement
''those girls are checking you out''
-Mrs Dotty
"Chachi saves lives"
-Mr Daniel
"chachi does math"
-Mr Daniel
Mr Daniel thought that that was the funniest thing since sliced bread, so he gave me that nickname. Then the next day Mr. Daniel, Grace Anne, Mrs. Betty and me went on the school bus lunches and I got really hot, but i guess that Grace Anne got a little bit hotter than that! She felt like she was going to throw up so she had to go walk around a little bit. Once we got done we had to take the cooler in and there was a cooler for each person. Once everyone got back in the center, Mr. Daniel wasn't there and he was the last one outside so I just had a feeling that I should go and help him take the cooler in because I thought it might have been hard for him or something. So anyway, when I get out there it turns out he bumped his head and he was bleeding pretty bad, so he told me to go get help. I came back where everyone else was and I calmly told them that Mr. Daniel was bleeding and none of them believed me!!! Finally after some tough convincing, they finally went to go help him and then they called an ambulance that was supposed to be for free but turns out that is was going to be 400$! So they just had one of the other volunteers from tennissee and he drove him to the emergency room. It turns out he was fine but now that he did that they put pading on the door.
Quotes about me:
"the girls on the lunch box today were getting food and eye candy"
-Mr Daniel
''cha cha cha chachi''
-randy from the basement
''those girls are checking you out''
-Mrs Dotty
"Chachi saves lives"
-Mr Daniel
"chachi does math"
-Mr Daniel
Open the eyes of my heart Lord...
Tuesday was incredible. Other than Daniel trying to take the door out with his head (he's okay - not sure about the door though :) our day could not have gone any better! Both house crews had wonderful days along with everyone that was at the center and out cleaning and making visits. 14 kids came to Backyard Bible Club where they not only got to minister to the kids - but also the parents. What a blessing! Our guys also got to see some boys catching catfish with their bare hands - pretty impressive if you ask me! We don't have video, but we've got some pretty interesting pictures - including Mr. Mitch kissing a fish.
For me the absolute best part of the day is when we are all together at night and after we have a meal together we sing, have devotion and we share. I think for a lot of people last night was one of those nights where things started falling into place and God used the events of the last three days, plus our personal testimonies, to show us why He had brought us here to do this work. Needless to say it was a very eye and heart opening for all ages. It is like the song says "open the eyes of my heart Lord I want to see you" and we have. What we have learned here is helping us to see and understand what it is we are to do there - HOME. I will leave you with a few thoughts from last night...
NOTHING is impossible with God - you can do ALL things through Christ - even those you thought you never could, or never would.
We are again thankful for our clean homes, which by the way we might think are nasty, but really until yesterday some of us didn't really know what nasty was.
God is our light and when we are walking with him we are warm - when we are not our lives are cold.
We are thankful for our families who surround us in love.
We are thankful for the security that comes from holding hands with our family, and our Lord.
We know that God brought us here to stir a passion in us that we are to take home and spread throughout our church and our community. We are blessed with so many ways to care for the people at home and we know that we have to take this trip back to Florence and MAKE IT HAPPEN there - not only for the people of Florence, but the people in our church.
Our hearts are full after only 3 days together - God has definitely shown up, and showed us! I cannot begin to imagine what the rest of the week holds...please continue to pray for our team and the people here that we have been blessed with the opportunity to love.
*I apologize if you have tried to post comments and cannot, we hopefully have that fixed*
For me the absolute best part of the day is when we are all together at night and after we have a meal together we sing, have devotion and we share. I think for a lot of people last night was one of those nights where things started falling into place and God used the events of the last three days, plus our personal testimonies, to show us why He had brought us here to do this work. Needless to say it was a very eye and heart opening for all ages. It is like the song says "open the eyes of my heart Lord I want to see you" and we have. What we have learned here is helping us to see and understand what it is we are to do there - HOME. I will leave you with a few thoughts from last night...
NOTHING is impossible with God - you can do ALL things through Christ - even those you thought you never could, or never would.
We are again thankful for our clean homes, which by the way we might think are nasty, but really until yesterday some of us didn't really know what nasty was.
God is our light and when we are walking with him we are warm - when we are not our lives are cold.
We are thankful for our families who surround us in love.
We are thankful for the security that comes from holding hands with our family, and our Lord.
We know that God brought us here to stir a passion in us that we are to take home and spread throughout our church and our community. We are blessed with so many ways to care for the people at home and we know that we have to take this trip back to Florence and MAKE IT HAPPEN there - not only for the people of Florence, but the people in our church.
Our hearts are full after only 3 days together - God has definitely shown up, and showed us! I cannot begin to imagine what the rest of the week holds...please continue to pray for our team and the people here that we have been blessed with the opportunity to love.
*I apologize if you have tried to post comments and cannot, we hopefully have that fixed*
In Awe of His goodness..........
What a great week it has been! God has shown up and showed out!:-) We are all in AWE of His goodness. It is so hard to put in words how God is using this team that He hand picked and sent to Tennessee. We came here to help and love on people with the hope that their lives would be changed and to be a blessing to them. I believe that we have been successful with that, but we have experienced the same thing! Our hearts have been changed as well, and I can't even began to tell you all the blessings we have received.
I have been blown away by the children that are on this trip. WOW, is the only word I can come up with, these kids are amazing. The kids have jumped right in and are being the hands and feet of Jesus. They are doing and seeing things that they will never forget. What a blessing it has been to watch them be obedient and do whatever is needed for them to do.
God is definitely doing a work in each of our hearts, from adults to the children! Please continue to pray for our team and each and every person that we come in contact with. May they not see us but see Jesus!
Lori Dulaney
I have been blown away by the children that are on this trip. WOW, is the only word I can come up with, these kids are amazing. The kids have jumped right in and are being the hands and feet of Jesus. They are doing and seeing things that they will never forget. What a blessing it has been to watch them be obedient and do whatever is needed for them to do.
God is definitely doing a work in each of our hearts, from adults to the children! Please continue to pray for our team and each and every person that we come in contact with. May they not see us but see Jesus!
Lori Dulaney
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
WOW!!!
I'm trying to think of one word to describe our first workday and the only one I can think of is WOW. It was crazy, busy, joyful, hectic, enlightening, hard, dirty, fun, long, fulfilling, draining, disappointing, exciting, encouraging, eye-opening, and just plain good all rolled into one. When you take into consideration the size group we have and the amount of work we dove into today, that list can't begin to describe all the feelings we had!
Both house projects were started and found to be considerably worse than we originally anticipated - however, they took off with a bang and had very productive and successful days. The crews worked hard and they had the sweat, dirt, tar and stink to prove it when they got home!
The house cleaning crews had their hands full - and will for the next couple of days. Tricia summed it up well tonight when she said with tears in her eyes, "today I am thankful for my clean house." I knew when this one particular house was chosen it was going to be a doozy. So much so that I opted to not show them the pictures, but let them find out for themselves. Well they did, and they are going back to clean for most likely the next two days - and just to give you an idea, that won't be enough. The one thing you need to keep in mind is the house cleaning is not the most important thing they are doing - it's the relationship that they are forming with these people that will matter most. They are doing "heart cleaning" through the house cleaning and most certainly filling that particular house, and all the others with the love of God.
Lunches were fixed for elderly and children, work was done in the thrift store and food pantry, computers were worked on and Mr. Joe had the blessing of praying with a young man to receive Christ. He came in for groceries and went home with Jesus (and the groceries to boot)!!
The backyard bible club crew showed up ready to have a great time only they were missing the kids. It's one of the many things that you learn to work around when you are doing this kind of work...so they busted out some candy, walked around and found some kids - and are expecting 8 to 10 tomorrow - with an additional one to be done at the Shepherd's Center!
Our kids - your kids - were INCREDIBLE today! They have jumped in with both feet doing anything from cleaning houses, to hanging clothes, to recruiting for BBC, to running food orders up and down stairs because the intercom was broken, to cleaning up around the thrift store - you name it, they did it. AND THEY DID IT WITH A JOYFUL HEART AND A SMILE ON THEIR FACES! Hearing them talk tonight about the things they saw, and the things they learned, just in this first day, made my heart swell and put a big, fat happy smile on my face. There is a lot to be learned from the enthusiasm of a child :) I am some kind of proud of these guys and can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for them!
We ended tonight with a song, devotion and share time - one of my favorite parts of the day. I love how the people who are doing the devotions were picked over a month ago and yet the devotions they are using are exactly right for the day and the time, just what we need to hear. Of course they had no way of knowing that...but God did.
So as I look back over the events of today, the work that was done, the people that I am serving with, and how God used each and every one in His own special kind of way, WOW, is a very fitting word.
Both house projects were started and found to be considerably worse than we originally anticipated - however, they took off with a bang and had very productive and successful days. The crews worked hard and they had the sweat, dirt, tar and stink to prove it when they got home!
The house cleaning crews had their hands full - and will for the next couple of days. Tricia summed it up well tonight when she said with tears in her eyes, "today I am thankful for my clean house." I knew when this one particular house was chosen it was going to be a doozy. So much so that I opted to not show them the pictures, but let them find out for themselves. Well they did, and they are going back to clean for most likely the next two days - and just to give you an idea, that won't be enough. The one thing you need to keep in mind is the house cleaning is not the most important thing they are doing - it's the relationship that they are forming with these people that will matter most. They are doing "heart cleaning" through the house cleaning and most certainly filling that particular house, and all the others with the love of God.
Lunches were fixed for elderly and children, work was done in the thrift store and food pantry, computers were worked on and Mr. Joe had the blessing of praying with a young man to receive Christ. He came in for groceries and went home with Jesus (and the groceries to boot)!!
The backyard bible club crew showed up ready to have a great time only they were missing the kids. It's one of the many things that you learn to work around when you are doing this kind of work...so they busted out some candy, walked around and found some kids - and are expecting 8 to 10 tomorrow - with an additional one to be done at the Shepherd's Center!
Our kids - your kids - were INCREDIBLE today! They have jumped in with both feet doing anything from cleaning houses, to hanging clothes, to recruiting for BBC, to running food orders up and down stairs because the intercom was broken, to cleaning up around the thrift store - you name it, they did it. AND THEY DID IT WITH A JOYFUL HEART AND A SMILE ON THEIR FACES! Hearing them talk tonight about the things they saw, and the things they learned, just in this first day, made my heart swell and put a big, fat happy smile on my face. There is a lot to be learned from the enthusiasm of a child :) I am some kind of proud of these guys and can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for them!
We ended tonight with a song, devotion and share time - one of my favorite parts of the day. I love how the people who are doing the devotions were picked over a month ago and yet the devotions they are using are exactly right for the day and the time, just what we need to hear. Of course they had no way of knowing that...but God did.
So as I look back over the events of today, the work that was done, the people that I am serving with, and how God used each and every one in His own special kind of way, WOW, is a very fitting word.
An update from Grace Anne
Today I cleaned a house with my mommy, Mrs. Lindsay, Corbin and Mrs. Betty I. I had fun, my favorite thing about it was talking to the people and helping clean their house. After lunch we went to the park to have Backyard Bible Club. I was sad that we didn't have any people come, but we probably will have some tomorrow. We walked around and invited some people to come tomorrow and we gave them some candy. I am so excited to be doing this mission trip. I am really excited about tomorrow because I will be going with my daddy and doing the lunchbox bus. Then I will go with my mommy to Backyard Bible club. Please pray for us tomorrow.
Love,
Grace Anne
Love,
Grace Anne
Praising Him!
After the bus breaking down (only 1hour into the trip) and
Lori Dulaney
and then having to stop and get 2 new tires,
we finally made it to Rogersville Tennessee!
God wanted our 7 hour trip to be an 11 hour trip and we were PRAISING HIM the entire time! Every delay we had, we could clearly see God's hand of protection over us. The 3 plus hours we were broke down, you didn't hear people from the team complaining, but PRAISING God for His protection. God just gave us a little taste of the GREAT things He has planned for us this week!
God wanted our 7 hour trip to be an 11 hour trip and we were PRAISING HIM the entire time! Every delay we had, we could clearly see God's hand of protection over us. The 3 plus hours we were broke down, you didn't hear people from the team complaining, but PRAISING God for His protection. God just gave us a little taste of the GREAT things He has planned for us this week!
In a few hours we will start our first day here. There will be teams doing construction, cleaning houses, backyard Bible club, preparing and delivering lunches to both seniors and children, working at the center and visiting nursing homes. Please pray for safety for our entire team this week and for every person that we come in contact with as we go out and share God's love to Rogersville/Sneedville Tennessee.
Lori Dulaney
Monday, July 11, 2011
Just the beginning...
The last time I blogged was about a year ago, from a small village in Romania. I had no idea at the time that a year later I would be starting a new blog, about a new journey, with a new group of people to a small town called Rogersville, Tennessee. Really to be quite honest I had no idea where I'd be in a year but Tennessee was definitely NOT on the radar. I figured I'd be doing some short term mission work far, far away - somewhere you could only get to by boat or plane - but absolutely not in the USA and only six hours away at that. Boy did God change my plans! It took two trips to Romania, an old man with an "empty box", 2 dear friends and a 12 year old boy, for God to get my attention, and ultimately to get me to Tennessee.
The short version is God told me to love Him first, above everything else in my life - and to truly love Him meant to demonstrate obedience to Him in every aspect of my life. He taught me that it is not enough to just know Him, you have to do what He says. To know and not do, is plain and simple disobedience. As a Christian you have to grow, and that does not come from sitting still, or even from just talking about it. You have to act - whether that is picking up your Bible to read, getting on your knees to pray, or standing up to serve. Plain and simple, demonstrating truth faith and love of Christ requires action. You love Him, you obey and do what He commands, and then as you step out in faith you grow as you see all the wonderful things He will accomplish through you when you give yourself totally to Him.
So what does all that have to do with Tennessee. For me, it has everything to do with Tennessee. You see God point blank said to me you can go on these trips and you can talk about them, but until you do what I command - you are wasting my time and yours. And that was exactly what I was doing - wasting time trying to argue with God. Finally I realized that He didn't want me on a plane far, far away. He wanted me right here, with my church, going to serve in Tennessee. Not only to change lives there, but hopefully to ignite a passion in the people of Southside Baptist Church that will move them to GET UP and ACT IN LOVE!
Why Tennessee?? Good question :) I have no idea - but He does, and for me that's good enough. Do we have plans for what we hope to do there, yes. Do we have hopes and expectations for the work that will be done, yes. Do we have any idea what is going to happen when we get there, to be perfectly honest - nope not really. You see this isn't my trip, this isn't Southside's trip. This is God's trip. God's beginning to a new chapter in the lives of the people in Rogersville and in Florence. We are just blessed that we were hand picked by God to be a part. Hand picked??? Yes. Only God could have put together a group as diversified as ours - all ages and all kinds of wonderfully unique personalities from 7 years old to...well let's just say we have some golden goodies going with us :)
I have not been this excited since the first time I went to Romania. I'm bouncing around like a child at Christmas! I'm anxious, emotional, nervous a little, even a bit overwhelmed - but on top of all that is this undescribable peace and assurance that this upcoming week will be nothing short of miraculous. I know it will be a life changing event for all involved. Why - because I don't know about you, but my God is BIG, He is SO BIG, and HIS LOVE is so crazy good that we can't even begin to wrap our heads around it, and He is ready as always to dish it out! And because there are 54 other people just as excited as I am, ready to serve, and ready to see God glorified through everything we do. We are going to Tennessee on July 17th expecting God to do great things, and attempting to do great things for God!!!
I will be writing all week along with other team members so be sure and stay tuned...it's gonna be soooo good - the kind of stuff that makes you stand back and say - God is ALL OVER THAT!!!
The short version is God told me to love Him first, above everything else in my life - and to truly love Him meant to demonstrate obedience to Him in every aspect of my life. He taught me that it is not enough to just know Him, you have to do what He says. To know and not do, is plain and simple disobedience. As a Christian you have to grow, and that does not come from sitting still, or even from just talking about it. You have to act - whether that is picking up your Bible to read, getting on your knees to pray, or standing up to serve. Plain and simple, demonstrating truth faith and love of Christ requires action. You love Him, you obey and do what He commands, and then as you step out in faith you grow as you see all the wonderful things He will accomplish through you when you give yourself totally to Him.
So what does all that have to do with Tennessee. For me, it has everything to do with Tennessee. You see God point blank said to me you can go on these trips and you can talk about them, but until you do what I command - you are wasting my time and yours. And that was exactly what I was doing - wasting time trying to argue with God. Finally I realized that He didn't want me on a plane far, far away. He wanted me right here, with my church, going to serve in Tennessee. Not only to change lives there, but hopefully to ignite a passion in the people of Southside Baptist Church that will move them to GET UP and ACT IN LOVE!
Why Tennessee?? Good question :) I have no idea - but He does, and for me that's good enough. Do we have plans for what we hope to do there, yes. Do we have hopes and expectations for the work that will be done, yes. Do we have any idea what is going to happen when we get there, to be perfectly honest - nope not really. You see this isn't my trip, this isn't Southside's trip. This is God's trip. God's beginning to a new chapter in the lives of the people in Rogersville and in Florence. We are just blessed that we were hand picked by God to be a part. Hand picked??? Yes. Only God could have put together a group as diversified as ours - all ages and all kinds of wonderfully unique personalities from 7 years old to...well let's just say we have some golden goodies going with us :)
I have not been this excited since the first time I went to Romania. I'm bouncing around like a child at Christmas! I'm anxious, emotional, nervous a little, even a bit overwhelmed - but on top of all that is this undescribable peace and assurance that this upcoming week will be nothing short of miraculous. I know it will be a life changing event for all involved. Why - because I don't know about you, but my God is BIG, He is SO BIG, and HIS LOVE is so crazy good that we can't even begin to wrap our heads around it, and He is ready as always to dish it out! And because there are 54 other people just as excited as I am, ready to serve, and ready to see God glorified through everything we do. We are going to Tennessee on July 17th expecting God to do great things, and attempting to do great things for God!!!
I will be writing all week along with other team members so be sure and stay tuned...it's gonna be soooo good - the kind of stuff that makes you stand back and say - God is ALL OVER THAT!!!
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