Summer plans.

Well, I just found out some of the best news of my life.

It’s official: My flights are booked and I am going to be spending most of July in Kenya, Africa! This has been something that I have wanted to do since the first time I visited Kenya back in July 2009.

The Mbuvis, the family that we travel with and work side-by-side with in Kenya, help run an organization in Nairobi called Made in the Streets. This is basically a place that goes out into the slums and brings kids in to give them a place to sleep, eat, get an education and learn about God and His love for them. I will be living with the Mbuvis and will be helping out at Made in the Streets. I will help teach the kids at school and will help “counsel” the girls that are a part of Made in the Streets. I also get to help out on the farm!! haha

There is just something about Kenya that I simply cannot explain. The excitement and pure joy I get when I look at pictures, watch videos of the kids singing, or even just talk about my experiences with other people is something that can’t be understood by anyone unless they have experienced it for themselves. Even then, some people just don’t feel the same way that I do.

I have talked about this with one of my friends, Haley Whatley, who feels the same way about Piedras Negras, which is where the Lord has called her to be. As much as we want people to understand how we feel, we just can’t explain it. Sometimes just talking about Kenya brings tears to my eyes, as it does for Haley when she talks about Piedras Negras. These places and the people there just have a special place in our hearts.

Am I nervous about going to Kenya alone? Absolutely.

Am I nervous that my flights will be delayed or that something will go wrong at the airports? Yes I am.

Am I worried about what I will say to the students at Made in the Streets? More than you know.

BUT – God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips those that He calls!

That is the hardest thing for me to accept and trust right now. I don’t know what I will be teaching, what kinds of questions the students will have, what will be expected of me as someone who is there to “help” but I am just constantly being reminded that God is going to provide and He will make everything work out just fine. I don’t need to worry about how certain things will play out, but I just need to go to where I have been called.

The way all of this worked out was pretty amazing.

My last Thursday night in Lubbock, I was at Indiana Baptist’s Thursday night service called Overflow. Before it started, I was looking through a book called “Hope in the Dark” with my friend Dylan Cole. It is just a ton of photos taken in Africa and compiled into one book with different short writings and such in it. Dylan asked me if I felt called to be in Africa. I said yes. I almost always answer yes to that question just because I love it there and would LOVE to be there, but when Dylan asked me, I said yes and for the first time I truly believed it.

I sat at Overflow thinking about Africa. Romans 8:26 had been on my mind all day.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

This verse was so heavy on my mind and finally God was like “Well, if you don’t know what to pray for, then just stop. Just stop and listen...obviously you have a passion for Africa. Obviously you want to be there. Well then obviously you WILL be there because when you delight in me, I will give you the desires of your heart…”

I had never heard God so clearly in my entire life. But at this point, I was just longing to know when, how, where, with who, etc… but I trusted that He would provide. And He has. Oh man, has He ever.

Since then, Psalm 37:4 has been a huge part of my life and the things that have been going on lately, ESPECIALLY concerning me going to Kenya.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I have heard this verse many, many times, but I had never really seen it played out until recently. A lot of people will read this verse and think, “Well, if I delight myself in Him, I will get whatever I want! I’ll get that car, or that job, or that boyfriend/girlfriend, or whatever else I want…”

Although, I don’t think that’s necessarily what He was talking about in this verse.

Delight yourself in HIM and you will receive what you want… yes, that is basically true, but I believe that when we do delight in Him, our wants and desires change. Our desires become the same as HIS desires. What we want becomes what HE wants for us. This is what I have personally experienced.

This past year, mainly this past semester, has been unbelievable. I’m sure that many of you have heard about all of the incredible things that have been going on in Lubbock, especially at Texas Tech. The Spirit has been moving in tremendous ways and so much has been happening. I talked about it in one of my previous blogs, but many people have been talking about how a revival is coming and it has! It has and is happening in Lubbock! I have seen God and He has revealed Himself to me more than ever over the past 6-9 months because I have been more aware of Him and have been truly searching for Him! I have seen my desires change. I have seen other people’s hearts and motives change. I have seen God work in so many people’s lives and because of it, our desires are His desires and we are being blessed more than we could ever imagine. All of this with me going to Kenya is one of the ways that I have been given the desires of my heart. I have been praying that somehow, I could spend time in Kenya, and since I have been seeking God and asking for His plan to be played out in my life, I have been given the desire of my heart, which is also His desire for my life. It’s truly incredible.

Anyway, this is an update on my life and what’s been going on with me and my new and exciting summer plans! If I could ask one, actually two, things of all of you it would be this:

1)To be praying, FERVENTLY praying, that God continues to reveal Himself to each one of us and for our desires to match His.

2)And I would also greatly appreciate prayers, and lots of them, as I spend a month in Kenya. Pray for peace, protection, and for everything to go smoothly. Also for me to accept what God wants of me, and to be able to trust that He WILL provide!

Thanks so so much... I hope everyone's summers are going great so far :)

-SG

Almost there.

Summer, you are so close I can taste you...almost there...

Today I went to my very last class of my freshman year in college.

No more. Nada. Zip. I'm DONE.

Well, other than my 2 finals. But as far as attending classes, I am finished with that nonsense for a while. And I am SO pumped. Summer really couldn't come at a better time for me. Every now and then, there just comes a time when you need a break. That's where I am. I love my life, but I need a break, and I can't wait to be home for the summer to be refreshed during that break.

I will, however, miss my friends. A lot. A lot, a lot. But really only 1 of my closest friends will be far away in Fredericksburg. The rest will be in Lubbock or Midland for the summer which will be nice. Highway 349/I-27 will definitely feel my tires speed over them many, many times this summer.

I really don't know what to write about. I don't know what to update you on concerning my life. I don't know what I'm searching for, what I need, what I should be looking for right now.

I.

Do.

Not.

Know.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

-Romans 8:26

Thats' what I count on. What I believe. What I know will get me through.

Even when I don't know, GOD does.

I could re-cap my freshman year, tell you what I did, how I grew, what I learned... and there might come a day in the near future that I do that. But for now, this is all.

-SG