The Abundant Prosperity of Obedience

Life has been so abundant, so rich here. People here say you go on roller coasters of emotions… weeks of feeling like you’re on a honeymoon with God just freefalling and loving the nearness of his love, his presence, and the people He has surrounded you with. And then they describe some weeks and days of culture shock… being afraid, missing family and home. I can honestly say I have been in this beautiful honeymoon phase every moment and day since my arrival and it feels like it will never end. And though I’m sure there will be times of missing home, I believe it will actually never end as long as I’m here. Bottom line is one year ago it would have never even crossed my mind that God would have picked ME and said “Emilie, come away with me.” … to AFRICA. I NOW get to experience, taste and see all the abundant fruit here from every seed sown in this last year, and my life. Seeds of surrending my life. Seeds of saying “God, do whatever you want to do with me”.  Seeds of being content in the seasons when I think nothing is happening, but pressing into him and setting my hope on Him anyways. Seeds of hearing his call, and though terrified, saying  “Yes, I’ll trust you. I’ll walk confidently into the unknown, because you are good.”. Therefore most of all, seeds of obedience. Seeds of obedience, is the exact fruit I am tasting and living in right now.

The Deuteronomy 28 chapter entitled, “Blessings for Obedience” has been my favorite chapter to dig in and grab hold of lately. BECAUSE I obeyed, therefore I AM blessed!

Deuteronomy 28

English Standard Version (ESV)

Blessings for Obedience

28 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 11 And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God.

 The Lord has been so faithful to this promise. Words cannot describe the spiritual wealth and richness I have,  He is so great!

The people here are incredible. I absolutely adore them. Not only are Africans absolutely dangerously beautiful, and fantastically hilarious, but they are abundant in love, in friendship and community. I couldn’t believe how close I felt to them within a couple days because they exceed in treating you like family from the moment you meet them!

I thought I’d be good to write some highs and lows of being here, since I haven’t quite done that yetJ

Cons:

16 girls sharing two bathrooms and two showers and one room. Enough said. Luckily that was only for a day in a half before we concluded that it really wasn’t working and it was time to split up.

Mosquitoes. And massive African spiders. And ferocious African beetles. And more mosquitoes. And rats. And ginormous flies. And more mosquitoes. And a more mosquitoes. And more. They really spice up my quiet time in the mornings by trying to enter my eyeballs. I want them all to die.

This is more of a challenge than a con; there are 6 African girls in our room. They are the absolute sweetest; some of the most God loving, people loving human beings I have ever met. The challenge is that they hardly speak any English, so it’s hard to understand each other. But good news!! We’ve found a common ground of the language French! Mom, if you’re reading this I know you’re all giddy and excited. The school stresses that they need to learn English, but for any words they don’t understand, French does the trick!

Jet lag... absolutely terrible. Makes your days 10 times longer.

Rice, beans and potatoes are for lunch and dinner everyday. I don’t find this a terrible thing yet, because it’s food, I’m thankful and I find it actually delightfully delicious. But I’ve heard from previous students about the “beans and rice meltdown” that is to come... oh dear. So I guess that is to come as a con, but I’m loving it now.

The culture differences have been hard to get used to. I’m so thankful that the Africans here have the boldness and confidence to speak the truth in love, because I have done countless things to them oblivious to it being an insult! The other day in class I finished my cup of tea, put the empty cup in front of my friend David, who is an African, and walked away. Luckily I was confronted later that that particular action meant that I was saying he was inferior to me, and they just laughed about it. But it broke my heart that I did that, and have done many things like that, even though I have no idea.

 Internet is down on our base until late March, and we’re only allowed to go to town every other weekend which is where we get to use internetL So I am sorry about that!

Pros:

The sunrise.. absolutely indescribable. Wakeup call is 5:55 am every morning in order to have our individual quiet times with our Creator at 6:00. Sunrise happens right at about 6:20 and it is absolutely incredible and magical. No sunrise is the same, and each one is just breath taking.

The worship here! So. So. SO fun! Nothing but voices, guitars and hand drums. It’s so free and exhilarating. Some of the best worship I have ever been in.. God’s presence is most definitely there and there is so much joy.

THE RAIN! I’m sure some would find this a con but I love the rain already… in Africa it’s a massive downpour. And it’s wonderful because it happens to be beautifully warm and sunny, and in the same day a rain storm will happen. I love it.

The people here make me feel like I’m a home. They’re ridiculously loving and kind… so warm and welcoming. It’s like they’re already so full of love that when they meet it it’s just an abundant overflow. I love them. All.

The natural state of this country is BEAUTIFUL. The sunrises. The life. The plants. The land. Everything! And God has been putting the nature to very good use with me hereJ  I can say that for this past week, he has spoken something different to me every day, through his creation around me. Such as the birds- The Matthew 6 command of watching them and how God cares for them, therefore not being anxious. The refreshing clean air that is remarkably different in the prayer garden- His breath. He is near to me always. Hundreds of lilies falling around me as I was alone with God in the prayer garden- the verse in song of songs 2 proclaiming his love for me as his lily amoung the thorns, his darling amoung the maidens. And that is just a few examplesJ He is so good to me.

Allow me to say there are SO many more pros than cons, but I don’t possibly have enough time to write them all down!

I love you all and miss you! Thank you for your prayers, love and care! I am so blessed!

The Travel Process!

This whole voyage has been so peace filled! God has met every single detail abundantly, even the surprises. All throughout my entire trip.. every plane ride, every layover, every person I spoke to, everywhere I went it was as if God had already been there, and he was just waiting for me to arrive. Seeing him before me and everything I did brought even MORE peace than the peace I already had, because I felt him so near me the entire time. There was not one little THOUGHT of fear that overcame me before Jesus broke it off with his words, “Do not fear, I am with you. Do not fear, I am before you. Do not fear, I am with you.”
My flight from Eugene, to Seattle, to San Francisco, to Dubai (the 15 hr one one) and to Entebbe went perfectly smooth and everywhere I walked it was as if I knew exactly where I was going. That right there testifies God’s presence and his spirit with us, because uhh I would be getting lost left and right if I was on my own!! And panicking. And then probably having meltdowns in the airport. But God was WITH me so I was sure and confident every step of the way.
The one and only “mishap” I believe really wasn’t a “mishap”… it just wasn’t in my plans. I journal my relationship with the Lord and everyday I get deep in the word and spend time with just him. Everything he speaks to me, everything I learn, everything I struggle with and every miracle he does gets written on those pages. Me and my sister Val used to always joke that we wanted someone to “steal” our journals because in them is the very gospel, the very nature of Jesus and his interaction with us. It is written and proved in that journal that Jesus is alive and loves us intimately. Well, I had literally JUST finished one up, and on my flight to Dubai, it got “found”. (I would say stolen, but I wouldn’t call it that) I searched high and low with the attendants and after about 15 mins of searching my seat area, I just shrugged to her and said, “Oh well. They were supposed to have it, and they’re better off with it than I am!!” She didn’t get it. Oh well, I felt so happy! I pray that the person who has that journal in their possession will be deeply touched and moved by God’s heart the way I was all throughout it.

I won’t forget the peace and joy I had all throughout this trip and was able to abundantly enjoy thanks to his presence all around me and his protection. The time I most tangibly felt his peace was when I finally took a seat in the waiting area for my bus to arrive in Dubai. My bags were in my possession, my items were with me, my passport was stamped, and the little young woman I didn’t think I could be made her ALL the way through 3 different foreign airports to be right where she belonged. I knew it had been him with me all along. And in that moment, I was overwhelmed with more peace than I’d ever had my whole life. Right there, in an airport in Dubai, with no one else with me, he was near to me like never before.

Arriving at my base was tough… it had never hit me that I was going to Africa until, well, I got there. I just couldn’t believe where I was.. I couldn’t believe what I was doing and what I’d gotten myself into. It was terrifying to finally realize I was so far away from my family and my home and to realize it when I was actually there. But I held fast to God’s peace surpassing everything. I held fast to his promise that he leads us beside quiet waters and that he is our caring and protecting Sheppard, not one that leads us to disaster or things that we cannot handle. I have already been able to meet and get to know a few people on my base. It’s amazing that we really are all in the same boat.. being away from home in such a different culture for 5 months is not easy.. it’s not easy at all. But there’s grace. And there’s so much perseverance, trust and faith built with God in and through our beings every bit of this journey. This is only day one and I am sure and confident of the goodness of God that I have already seen.

Internet at our base will be down until late march but I’ll do my best to keep my trip updated! Love you all and thank for the care and support.

The Travel Process

This whole voyage has been so peace filled! God has met every single detail abundantly, even the surprises. All throughout my entire trip.. every plane ride, every layover, every person I spoke to, everywhere I went it was as if God had already been there, and he was just waiting for me to arrive. Seeing him before me and everything I did brought even MORE peace than the peace I already had, because I felt him so near me the entire time. There was not one little THOUGHT of fear that overcame me before Jesus broke it off with his words, “Do not fear, I am with you. Do not fear, I am before you. Do not fear, I am with you.”
My flight from Eugene, to Seattle, to San Francisco, to Dubai (the 15 hr one one) and to Entebbe went perfectly smooth and everywhere I walked it was as if I knew exactly where I was going. That right there testifies God’s presence and his spirit with us, because uhh I would be getting lost left and right if I was on my own!! And panicking. And then probably having meltdowns in the airport. But God was WITH me so I was sure and confident every step of the way.
The one and only “mishap” I believe really wasn’t a “mishap”… it just wasn’t in my plans. I journal my relationship with the Lord and everyday I get deep in the word and spend time with just him. Everything he speaks to me, everything I learn, everything I struggle with and every miracle he does gets written on those pages. Me and my sister Val used to always joke that we wanted someone to “steal” our journals because in them is the very gospel, the very nature of Jesus and his interaction with us. It is written and proved in that journal that Jesus is alive and loves us intimately. Well, I had literally JUST finished one up, and on my flight to Dubai, it got “found”. (I would say stolen, but I wouldn’t call it that) I searched high and low with the attendants and after about 15 mins of searching my seat area, I just shrugged to her and said, “Oh well. They were supposed to have it, and they’re better off with it than I am!!” She didn’t get it. Oh well, I felt so happy! I pray that the person who has that journal in their possession will be deeply touched and moved by God’s heart the way I was all throughout it.

I won’t forget the peace and joy I had all throughout this trip and was able to abundantly enjoy thanks to his presence all around me and his protection. The time I most tangibly felt his peace was when I finally took a seat in the waiting area for my bus to arrive in Dubai. My bags were in my possession, my items were with me, my passport was stamped, and the little young woman I didn’t think I could be made her ALL the way through 3 different foreign airports to be right where she belonged. I knew it had been him with me all along. And in that moment, I was overwhelmed with more peace than I’d ever had my whole life. Right there, in an airport in Dubai, with no one else with me, he was near to me like never before.

Arriving at my base was tough… it had never hit me that I was going to Africa until, well, I got there. I just couldn’t believe where I was.. I couldn’t believe what I was doing and what I’d gotten myself into. It was terrifying to finally realize I was so far away from my family and my home and to realize it when I was actually there. But I held fast to God’s peace surpassing everything. I held fast to his promise that he leads us beside quiet waters and that he is our caring and protecting Sheppard, not one that leads us to disaster or things that we cannot handle. I have already been able to meet and get to know a few people on my base. It’s amazing that we really are all in the same boat.. being away from home in such a different culture for 5 months is not easy.. it’s not easy at all. But there’s grace. And there’s so much perseverance, trust and faith built with God in and through our beings every bit of this journey. This is only day one and I am sure and confident of the goodness of God that I have already seen.

Internet at our base will be down until late march but I’ll do my best to keep my trip updated! Love you all and thank for the care and support.

So the adventure begins!

For those reading this, I am here making some last touch ups on my blog during my last hours in the US.  This will be a blog that will record revelations, pictures, stories and news during my 5 month missions outreach in Uganda, Africa with the outreach group YWAM. Can't wait! God is good!

Uncontainable Love.

It's been such sweet season of humbling myself before God and fully receiving what he has for me in these months WEEKS before Uganda. Whether we feel it or not, see it or not, know it or not, we are always, always growing when we live in surrender to Jesus. He is the author & perfecter of our faith and to think there's a moment that we aren't moving and can't improve... is an insult to what our God can do and hindrance to what he wants to do!

Learning to live in that way as a living sacrifice, his light has come into my life in such a way that has opened my eyes to my own selfishness. You can only go so far in your walk with the Lord before you just hit a wall and AREN'T satisfied with "me, me, me, me"! I have hit that point and recently in my quiet time, I fell to my knees and told him just that. "God, I'm not satisfied anymore with treating you like a vending machine.. just wanting, wanting, getting, getting. Thank you for all that you have given me and for all that you've spoken to my heart, but I'm starving to give away! Teach me!"

.. haha. "teach me"..... He loves when we say that:) Watch out when you say those words!!! Anyways, taught me right then and there he did.

He took me right to the life of Jesus. Luke 10:25-37.

This is when Jesus tells the "expert of the law" the story of the Good Samaritan. Explained to him first to
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself."(27)

And what Jesus explains next as the story of the Good Samaritan blows my bind and lifestyle to see and know what love REALLY is.. what it REALLY looks like.

Jesus begins the story explaining an innocent man traveling on a road and getting robbed, beaten and left alone by robbers he encountered. A while later, one man( a priest,) came down the same road and ignored him. Second man was a Levite and did the same thing. The third man was the Samaritan.

Now, I want to go into detail and pick apart here what exactly that Samaritan did... because I think it not only shows us exactly how to love the "men down" around us, but also beautifully and purposefully portrays the love given to US.

1.) The Samaritan man CAME to where the man was. (33)
2.) He SAW the injured man's needs and loved him. (33)
3.) He WENT to the injured man, bandaged his wounds, and poured oil and wine on him. (34)
           -I believe this is the spiritual meaning- GOING to him, bringing healing and love, and pouring the
            pouring the presence of God upon him
4.) The Samaritan man TOOK HIM IN and took care of him.
           -I think this area and beyond is what we lack in often.  We can't just BEGIN to love
           someone, bring them to know the Lord and his love, and then just leave them... it's like leaving an
           infant alone to take care if himself. We NEED to realize this area of need in people's lives.. to
           "take them in"... love them, mentor them, meet with them, talk to them, love them some more.
           And more. and more.
5.) The Samaritan man took out his own money and gave it to someone trusted. He said to this trusted one, "Look after him."
         -We should EXTEND our hand to our community, other believers, to stand hand in hand to
         partner in loving and covering this person together. God gave us a community of unified believers
         for many reasons, this being a great one!
     
At the end of this story, Jesus tells the expert in the law,

"GO and do likewise."(37)

This has challenged me so much in my life... What good do I do when I see a man down, go to him, bandage him up, release God's love into his life... and then just leave him? Am a portraying God's heart for him? Am I loving him the exact way God loved me and loves him? Jesus asks for us to GO and do all of the above! Take them in. Care for them. Sacrifice for them. Connect them and surround them with Godly people. THAT'S love.. THAT'S the love Jesus has for us.

He had already shown us long before this story was said, what kind of love that was that he has for us.

 He sent from on high, he took me;
   he drew me out of many waters.
 He rescued me from my strong enemy
   and from those who hated me,
   for they were too mighty for me.
 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
   but the LORD was my support.
 He brought me out into a broad place;
   he rescued me, because he delighted in me
Psalms 18:16-19 (ESV)