Adventures in Madagascar: But First, New York

Well, my adventure has officially begun. Yesterday (June 27th) I flew into Newark, NJ, and then drove to AIM's headquarters in Pearl River, NY. I absolutely loved the flight, as I sat back and admired the beauty of God's creation as it shrunk away far below me. Lake Michigan looks like a gorgeous blue from the air. Even just being surrounded by the fluffy whiteness of clouds, I felt a sense of awe of God.

I met my other teammates (Rachel, Anna, Marlee, Tanya, and Meghan), as well as the people who work at the mission and other short-termers who are going to different places. We had supper together and my roommates and I (one of whom is a teacher and the other who is an education major) had a fascinating discussion about education. :)

Today we spent the entire day in workshops, learning about everything from culture shock, to travel details, to our Biblical purpose for why we are here, to budgeting, to defining culture. It was quite a full day. At the "farewell luncheon" I was one of those selected to give my testimony: a short less-than-three-minute telling of my name, where I was from, where I am going, when I accepted Christ, a Bible verse that God has used in my life, and prayer requests. It was neat to hear some of the other testimonies given.

Tomorrow we fly out very early in the morning. We will fly into South Africa, and from there to Madagascar. I don't know how often I will have internet access while I'm there, but I'll try to blog about my trip whenever I get the chance. So keep an eye out for updates! Thank you all for your prayers. I have an added prayer request: two days before coming here I got a cold, so I've been trying to deal with that while preparing to leave. It isn't too bad; I've just been coughing a lot, so I would appreciate your prayers.

I want to leave you all with the verse that I shared in my testimony:
Philippians 1:20b- "Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by my life or by my death."

May the Peace of God dwell in you richly,
Renee

God's Rainfall

You know what's beautiful? Rain. Rain is beautiful. Have you ever seen a raindrop just barely clinging to the bright green branch of a fir tree? Or maybe it hangs off of pink flower blossoms on a dogwood tree. Have you pondered the beauty of a raindrop? Or what about the sound of rain. A steady, comforting shhshshhh as it drips and falls. It reminds me of a whisper. A whisper of God. I see and hear God in the rain. In its beauty and in its comforting sounds. Rain makes grass and trees look greener...no really, have you ever looked at the grass while it's raining? Something about the shimmering water falling makes the grass look its greenest as its roots soak up new life brought by the rain.

Today I went for a walk in the rain. Not a walk to get anywhere, not a walk with a purpose, just a walk, a time for communion with God in His creation. After all, the same God who created the Sun also created the rain. So why is it that we appreciate and find joy in the sun, but not in the rain? Why do we find the sun more beautiful than the rain? When the sun comes out we rejoice and we want to go outside to enjoy it. Yet we cannot stand God's other gift, rain. We hurry to our destinations, hunched over, trying to avoid the raindrops instead of basking in the glories of God's creation. I find this interesting, and I ask myself, Why? Why do we place the sun on a pedestal but shrink from the rain? Why do we make such a distinction between two of God's gifts? I say, revel in the rain! Find joy in the rain! God is there in the rain just as He is in the sunshine. Laugh in the rain. Find God's presence in the rain. Look for God's mysteries in the rain. Look and listen for the beauty of rain. And maybe you will enjoy the rain as much as I did today.

Sacred Singleness

"It is difficult enough to get among people, learn their language and customs, get acclimated and make all those emotional adjustments without adding the tremendous task of aligning to married experience. For the woman, it is even more difficult and there have been cases where family responsibility so absorbed the wife that she never has become a missionary, simply lacking time to make the social adjustment because of the multiplicity of domestic details." -Jim Elliot (quote from Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot)

Lately, I have been reading a lot of books on being content with whatever our relationship status may be (and for me, that is currently singleness). I have found that there are certain times when I am much easier about being single than other times. Living on a Christian campus where one cannot avoid couples even if one wishes too only adds to the challenge. Yet, I find myself quite content with my current condition, and have been realizing more and more lately that perhaps God is calling me to singleness for quite some time. Over and over I have been reading of the effectiveness of single missionaries, and since that is what I want to do with my life, maybe God has plans for me in the near future that do not include getting married. I will not pretend that I don't want to get married, it just seems that there is no time for a romantic relationship in my life right now. As I begin preparing for the mission field, I am glad that I am able to make decisions based on what I feel is God's calling in my life, whereas if I were in a relationship I would feel the need to consult my significant other in the making of those plans. Singleness is much simpler at this point in my life.

I am not a fan of the current trend among young Christian men and women to follow the pattern of the world in casual dating. I do not think that it is necessary for a young woman (or a young man) to have a string of relationships in their past, nor do I believe in jumping into a relationship without careful prayer and consideration. As Christians, we must become content with God's will for our lives, whether that includes marriage or not. Jumping after every chance to get into a relationship does not help us follow God's will, and brings more heartbreak than would otherwise be necessary. Jim and Elisabeth Elliot waited for six years before they sensed God's permission for them to marry. They were only married three years before he was killed. Are we willing to live with that kind of commitment to God's will?

I am not trying to offend anyone with this message, I'm simply trying to state that there is another option to the dating scene: waiting on God to direct our love story. The more I wait, the more I discover that perhaps God wants to use me in ways as a single woman that He wouldn't be able to were I married. And to anyone who is reading this, I ask that you consider this as well. What does God want for your romantic life? Are you focusing on your relationship with Him first before you focus on your relationship with the opposite sex? Does the romantic relationship that you are in keep you from focusing on God's plans for your life? Does it inhibit your willingness to go into all the world and preach the gospel?

Maybe you will dismiss this as the ramblings of a woman trying to find an excuse for her singleness. Well, that's your choice. All I know is that God has a purpose for every circumstance, whether single or not. And I want to choose to live for His purposes, not my own. Would it be hard to accept if God called me to an entire life of singleness? Yes. Would I accept it? Yes.

-Renee

If you want to research further this idea of sacred singleness, here are some books I've been reading during my devotion time:

Sacred Singleness by Leslie Ludy
Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy
Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot
Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot by Elisabeth Elliot

The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28-30 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'"

God's commandments are like a pyramid. The first, greatest, and most important commandment is the bottom layer that holds up the rest of God's commandments. If we obey this foundational commandment, we will naturally obey the rest of them. Yet this first commandment is also the most easily broken. Often we look at the commandments near the top of the pyramid (such as do not murder or do not commit adultery) and say, "I'm not a very bad person because I haven't done such and such." Yet, if we turned our view to the bottom of the pyramid, how many of us would find a cracked and broken foundation for our self-righteousness? We would find that we have broken the one commandment that is key to all others. And we have broken it often. So if we are to obey God's commandments, we must first learn how to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength; that is, with every fiber of our being, with all that we are.

Christmas Time is Here

Happy Christmas everyone! This year's Christmas has been an especially good one. As I get older, Christmas is not quite the same, yet there is something nice about that. When I was little, there would be so many presents that we'd take hours to open them and then my parents would have to rush off to make Christmas dinner. This year after unwrapping, we were able to just sit and relax for a little while. I felt a sigh of relief and joy just to enjoy the silent company of my family. Traditions were broken this Christmas, but it was not as wretched as I had assumed it would be. Different, but not bad. I think that is part of what makes Christmas so special. Every year it is different, but somehow being able to celebrate Christmas brings a sort of stability to life. To think that no matter what else is happening, on this one day I am celebrating with all of my brothers and sisters around the world. Everyone may celebrate in their own way, but on this same day (albeit in different time zones)we are all celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior.

To celebrate this day, I wanted to list some of my most favorite things about Christmastime.
1. Obviously, Christ's birth. I have celebrated Christmas before with barely any mention of Christ. Yet when I celebrate Christmas keeping Jesus as the focus, I feel a deeper joy in Christmas. There's a sense of wholeness, of rightness. A baby changes everything, and Christ was the baby that changed the world.
2. My family. We have many traditions, but my favorite are the ones that revolve around each other. Like how we watch each other open gifts. It is so fun to see everyone's reactions and for a couple minutes to focus on each other. I also love Christmas family dinners. There's no ceremony, no propriety, no stiffness. It's just us (but with fancier food and dishes).
3. Snow. It just gets me in the spirit of Christmas. And this year we had a White Christmas!
4. Decorations. Same thing as the snow. I love what the decorations symbolize, especially the manger scenes and the lights.
5. Gift giving. I love to imagine the reactions as I plan gifts for people, and then I love to watch the reactions on Christmas morning.
6. Gift getting. Who doesn't love this part? But I think it's not just getting a gift, but knowing they took the time to pick out something you'll like; knowing that they were thinking about you. I think that's what makes gifts so special. And that's what made God's gift of His Son so special, because He was thinking about us because He loved us.

Merry Christmas my friends. May it be joyous.
-Renee

Just a Staff

Exodus 4:1-5 Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?..." The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail...that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you."

All Moses had was a staff. At this time in his life, he was just an ordinary shepherd. But GOD USED WHAT MOSES HAD. He didn't give Moses fancy clothes, fancy words, and a magic wand with which to do miracles. He used Moses' plain old shepherd's staff to showcase His might. He can use what you or I already have, the gifts we already possess. He doesn't have to make me fancier, prettier, smarter, more talented; He doesn't want to turn me into someone else. He wants to use what I already have. And what do I have? The gift of teaching. A heart of compassion for children. A desire to serve Him. A yearning to know Him better. A healthy body. Leadership potential. A VIBRANT SPIRIT. Passion. Conviction. Money and time to give. Two hands and two feet.

"But Lord," I ask, "What if they won't listen?" "It is not your job to make them listen," He replies. "Take the staff. Be willing to let Me use what you have. I love you the way you are and I made you for a reason. I gave you your gifts and talents...your staff. And I want to use you. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you and I will teach you what to say." I don't have to have all the answers. I don't have to have all the gifts. I just need to use what God gave me. And if people don't listen, or agree with me, that's okay. It's not my job to make them listen. I just have to be willing to let God use me. After all, it's just me. Just my gifts and talents. Just a staff.

Rejoice!

Did you ever think about the fact that God rejoices in us? Think about it, the Creator of the universe delights in mere human beings. Luke 15 is a passage that's familiar to most of us. It tells the story of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son. Every time the story's main character finds what they had lost, they call all their neighbors together and they say "Rejoice with me, for I have found my ____ which was lost!" What a beautiful image of God! He finds us and He rejoices! He has found me, and He rejoices in me.

He rejoices in me! That's such a spectacular, wonderful feeling. It makes me want to shout for joy! I feel wrapped in the warm blanket of God's love. Just to know that someone can rejoice/take delight in me for who I am. The Savior of the world finds joy in me! Like the warm joy a parent feels as their newborn's tiny fingers grasp their own, or as their precious toddler takes his/her first steps or says his/her first word, so does God take joy in us. Only His joy is an hundred-fold more than the joy of human parents. What an idea! What an amazingly spectacular feeling to be rejoiced in! God says, in Isaiah 65:19- "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people." God rejoices in me, His child! And, my friends, He also rejoices in each one of you. Whisper that to yourself- "God rejoices in me!" Now say it with conviction! He rejoices in you! That thought should thrill you to your very fingertips.

Blessings,
Renee