in the storm...

Matthew 14


vs 26: When the disciples saw [Jesus] walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

vs 27: BUT Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

vs 28: "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "Tell me to come to you on the water."

vs 29: "Come," He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.

vs 30: But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

vs 31: Immediatly Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, "You of little faith, " He said, "why did you doubt?"

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So the disciples are there.. in a boat... in the middle of a storm.. scared out of their pants because they see what they imagine could be a ghost coming towards them.

Jesus knows how they are feeling from the get-go and goes on to comfort them.

Peter is the willing one. Peter is the one who is putting his faith into action. Peter is the one who Jesus says has 'little faith' and yet he is the only one who takes the step out of the boat.

How crazy is that, really? That he is willing to step out of the boat and in the middle of the storm, venture to walk on the water towards Jesus. And yet that is what God calls us to do. To listen to His voice, His leading, to follow Him wherever.

Peter initially desires to know for real if it is Jesus or not, but he believes that it is and trusts enough to take the first step.

Not until a few moments in the waves does he probably begin to doubt "Crap! What am I doing?" and it is at this point that he takes his eyes off Jesus. Then what happens?

He starts to sink. But immediately Jesus reaches to save him. IMMEDIATELY! How awesome is that.

Even though, Peter doubted, took his eyes off Jesus, and began to sink.. Jesus was there, with him in the middle of it all, ready and willing to save him.

Sometimes Jesus asks us to do crazy things. But He promises to be with us always and to sustain us and carry us through. S

ometimes, all we can do is take the first step... out onto the water.

wanted

1.
to feel a need or a desire for; wish for. 2. to wish, need, crave, demand, or desire


I like to be wanted. If others want to talk, want to spend time together, want to this, or want to that, it makes me feel significant, important, valued. And yet, I don't think this comes close to the desire our Father has for us. Get this..

John 17:24 (Jesus is praying..)


"Father, I want those You have given me to be with Me, where I am and to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world."

WHAAAAT? My prayer is for a complete, deep revelation of this truth.

Jesus just WANTS us to BE WITH HIM. Not perform, not try harder, BE. Jesus WANTS us to give Him our burdens, our crap. Jesus WANTS us to run to Him with our problems, concerns, anxieties. Jesus WANTS us to accept His love, His grace. Jesus WANTS to be our Everything, the center of our lives. Jesus WANTS to show us who He is, who we are.


I don't want to settle for being satisfied when others want me because it does not come close to the desire, the longing, that God has for me.

jjourney

Journeys are beautiful. And life is made up of journeys. Things are constanly moving, changing, evolving, growing. Sometimes I wish I could just see the end result, of my life, of who I'll grow into, of how things will turn out, of where I will go, and what I will do.

More and more though God has shown me how it is all about this life journey, walking it out, step by step with Him. And how joyous and peaceful that is! When we don't have to feel like we need to know how everything will work out, but instead our focus is on knowing our Creator and then our confidence can be placed in Him.

I want to let go, I want to trust with a childlike faith, I want a willing heart, and an excitement for the future.

I'm going to enjoy this journey, each step of the way, for what it is worth. I am going to live trusting in my God, that He has my best in mind, and relying on Him and His love.

This life truly is beautiful, ya know?:))

First of all.

July, where have you gone?

The last few days some friends from my Discipleship Training School came for a visit. So fun, many laughs, and a blessing to be able to see them.:)

I haven't updated in a while but am sitting here trying to figure out what I could update you all on. ha. I have been busy with babysitting, and working primarily. Along with being up to this, that, and the other thing. Things are good.

I'm pretty much done filling out visa forms and just need to wait for my FBI results -- so things are rolling! I keep finding out that things are cheaper than I had expected which is so awesome. These next few days I'm going to spend some time figuring out fundraiser ideas and such. But it has been cool to see God's provision thus far..

Times-a-flyin'!

So there. I kept it short and sweet. :)

Okay, so this is so stinking cool....

Last week my dad overturned his ankle at work. It got really swollen and was either badly, badly sprained or broken. Not sure which but it was causing him a lot of pain and he had to wobble-limp around on it.

With all this going down, it was a bit of a kill-joy. Obviously he had been praying for healing for his ankle and the past days I've been asking God to heal his ankle also.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. He called me saying that when he woke up yesterday morning the swollen-ness had gone down, and that it didn't really hurt but he could make it hurt if he wanted to!! Isn't that crazy?!

I saw him Monday night and he was limping on it and then saw him yesterday and he could jump on it!

Praise God!

So yes, wanted to share this with you people who read this sometimes.. God is so cool, so near.


Psalm 145:18&19
"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them."

1 John 5:14&15
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which have asked from Him."

Philippians 4:6-9

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.



Peace WILL guard my heart/mind, transcend my understanding of reality as I think of things that are true, lovely, and praiseworthy.

I love these verses... I love PEACE... I love Jesus....

Who likes discounts??

SOO. I am selling discount cards as a fundraiser to raise money for me to head back to Australia. I am planning on doing my staff internship at YWAM Reef to Outback (http://www.ywamrto.org/) and believe this fundraiser will help me see a lot of money come in to make this possible! You guys can help!



Cards are 20 bucks and look like so-


You can really see it because of the date being in the lower right corner but it expires June 1st, 2011. On the back there is a list of 16 different businesses around Lancaster (restaurants, coffee shops, etc.) that have discounts available. (Email me @ leedslady9@hotmail.com, and I'll send you a more detailed list of the deals)

All the offers, except a few, are good for as many times throughout the year as you want!


Email me, comment me, facebook me, text me, call me.. ha whatever is easiest if you are interested or know anyone who may be:)

Bless you guys.