Faithful, Extravagant, Papa.

These past 2 weeks the Lord has been teaching me about his faithfulness and provision (not just money, and man is he so good!

It all started when Tyler and I were driving in Brentwood near some extremely large houses. I started ranting about the size of these houses, and how absurd they were, how much money they probably cost etc etc. Basically judging the people inside of them based upon the outside of their house. Tyler cut in and basically suggested that maybe I’m not able to receive the wealth that God has for me because I’m judging those around me that carry wealth. I sunk down into my seat real quick.

The following Monday we were at Emanate when Ryan & Katie Wegenast shared an incredible testimony. In short, they wanted to learn about favor and what it looked like to follow and walk in the Lords favor. They gave what they didn’t have and received what they couldn’t afford. At first they didn’t feel like they were seeing any return on their giving or walking in the favor they were desperate to know about. After a hard week their landlord calls to ask them to move out of their house. So Ryan posts a tweet just to see if anyone had a place they could stay.

They get a tweet back from a couple that attend Grace Center saying they have a house they could stay in for free. After Ryan explains how he expected for the house to be a fixer-upper they show a photo….and the house is huge. It’s remarkably similar to the houses I was unwisely judging just a few days prior.

I couldn’t help but cry and just laugh at the goodness of our God. It didn’t stop there. A few more times that week God used little things here and there to simply teach me about his goodness.

On top of God showing me the extravagant things he loves to give to his children. I was overwhelmed with joy just thinking about all my close brothers and sisters who are being given their hearts desires! From moving to Iceland to attending a sailing dts to being accepted into the school of supernatural life! Oh it’s so wonderful!

I don’t have much else to share and I feel like this blog has not stuck to one train-of-thought but I just want to remind you to think about all the things for which you are thankful. Even the small things like ice cream or sunshine. Write ’em down and praise Jesus for them. It’s been said a few times this week: if you’re busy being thankful it will download supernatural joy into your hearts and you wont have time to complain about what isn’t happening. Rejoice in what is!

Life is wonderful.

Sweet Home Franklin, TN.

I started crying a bit as my plane was landing in Nashville. Excited, nervous, happy, exhausted, joyful & nostalgic were a few of the emotions I was feeling–or those that I could decipher. Mom picked me up with 3 surprise guests with her: Faith, Shannon & Jason. Shannon has grown so much, and doesn’t remember me :( but it was so good to see their faces. Faith even brought me beautiful roses!

Jason & Shannon @ The Airport

Then it was off to a surprise brunch with Mark W., Rafi, and Scotty (Who I hadn’t seen since he left for Indonesia April ’09!) at the Pfunky Griddle—the cutest little restaurant off Thompson Ln. in Nashville. There you order the type of batter and toppings you would like on your pancakes, then they bring it out and you cook the pancakes right on the griddle at your table!–How fun!

Today I attended Grace Center where Heidi Baker was guest speaking, and it was beautiful, really. Worship alone was so life-giving. I am so thankful to be able to come home and go to a service where Chris McClarney & Michaela McLaird are leading worship. God was just pouring into me like I’ve been crying out for since I landed in the states. Heidi spoke the Lords heart for most of the service and everything was spot on—for this city, the Bride, and personally. I could have sat there and soaked all day. Then a nice Tennessee-backroad drive to Grace Chapel–beautiful. It’s been wonderful to see familiar faces and hearts these past two days. 

Dreams, Plans & Hearts of Stone.

We started off this week with intercession for Haiti, it made such an impact–so powerful, just interceding for the people of Haiti. Speaking life and joy over the country. It was also touched my heart because a few of my close friends from home (Lauren Ellis, Nikki Pendergrass, and Leslie Watson) just returned from doing a missions trip there!

This week’s theme was discipleship, and what it truly means. It’s sort of one of those topics that we hear about all the time, but this week I’ve grasped a better heart-understanding.

“..If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” Matthew 22:34-40

On Tuesday we had the wonderful Simon Turner as a guest speaker at Seek My Face [every Tuesday night we have a time where we soak and seek more intimacy with the Father]. He led us through the Lords Prayer verse by verse, showing us how to customize it to our lives and praying to the Father.

That night the Lord was downloading a lot of vision for the future. He was highlighting so many instances since I’ve been here in Iceland that I had shrugged off as coincidence or maybe not even noticed at all–and he opened my eyes just to see the obvious. He has been knitting my life together so intricately and he was just giving me a glimpse of the things he has in store for me on the road ahead.

I was so excited yet a little frustrated. We all have these ideas of how are life may play out…dreams we have for the future and the people we plan to spend it with. So there I was being bittersweet that the glimpse God was giving me wasn’t what I had in mind. Basically doubting that God had the best in mind for me. I spent some quiet time with the Lord that night and he just continued to highlight the lack of trust I had in him. Which all stems from my lack of fully comprehending the Father Heart of God—fear of abandonment and all that good stuff.

The next morning I was still struggling with the things in my heart I was holding back from God and lo and behold the class that day was all about giving your whole heart to the Lord not just part of it. We were made to write down all the things we felt the Lord was pointing out that we were holding back from him and we laid them at the cross. Gotta love it.

I then proceeded to listen to Alyn & A.J. Jones message from emanate on having a heart of stone –“A heart of stone is a protection mechanism to keep you from pain. But it also keeps God’s love out too.” I was challenged so much in realizing areas of my heart that I have closed off…numbed as a defense mechanism.

The Lords just been showing me so much this week! He’s giving me vision for the future and what he has called me to. He’s showing me areas where I need improvement. He’s breaking me over the characteristics of Christ that I don’t display on a daily basis–or maybe even never. He’s healing broken areas in my heart that I have accepted–thinking they may never be healed. He’s showing me what it means to live in community and what it means to have compassion for those around me.

TRUST.

That’s the big one. Not only just trust in him, I find that easy compared to trusting his children around me. He’s teaching me to open my heart and share with those around me…not being ruled my fear that they might hurt me or abuse my trust; but realizing that that could in fact happen and taking the risk anyways because he has designed us to live in community–to be open. By shutting down my heart and not letting others in I’m actually shutting out the love of the Father as well.

I ended the week with a wonderful weekend! One of the DTS staff, Tyler, has a favorite coffee mug that he drinks out of every morning. We took this cup for an adventure and took photos with it all over town and with random people!

Then on Sunday I took a trip with some friends to a black-sand beach…and the end point of the great Þjórsárhraun. The greatest lava flow on Earth since the end of the last Ice Age!

Looking forward to what this week holds.