WELCOME Trinity International University to New Orleans!!
This awesome team is led by return leaders, Matt and Sarah. I first met them last year when they led the TIU team down to serve for winter break. Then, at the end of January, I was able to visit them on campus. I'll never forget our NOLA reunion because Matt and Sarah shared how they felt God's call to come live in NOLA once they graduated from seminary!! I was completely shocked! I mean yes God had put it on my heart to move to New Orleans after a one-week mission trip but I forgot how crazy that sounds.
New Orleans was definitely not on their radar for post-graduation but God knew all about it! Matt graduated this May and moved down after the summer. Sarah just graduated in December and she is moving down this month. I'm so excited to see how God will use them and their gifts here in NOLA. Matt has already connected to a church planter here and has built many relationships with his neighbors. I praise God for calling them here and for their desire to lead another team down this winter break!
My prayer:
That no matter how crazy it sounds, I always walk in obedience to God's voice. I pray I don't let fear or doubt stop me from following my Savior wherever He leads. I hope you can pray that same prayer too!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Day 4 of 31: Delicious Day NOLA style
I experienced a first today. My friend Terah introduced Ronnie and I to the awesomeness of Delicious Day! Delicious Day consists of visiting a variety of restaurants and ordering one appetizer or entree to share.
Here is a list of the restaurants we visited and what we ordered:
Salad Station - Salad and soup
Charcoal - boudin balls
District - fancy donuts & coffee
Dat Dog - turducken sausage
Rum House - calypso beef taco & chocolate molten fritters
It was nice to try the yummy tastes of New Orleans that I hadn't tried yet and spend time with the girls. I'm looking forward to the next delicious day and the next time I get to hang out with such amazing women!
Friday, January 3, 2014
day 3 of 31:PRD'd today
I PRD'd today. PRD is short for "Personal Retreat Day" and our ministry requires that we take a personal retreat day (PRD) once a month. So what is a PRD you ask?
It's a day set aside from my usual ministry duties and responsibilities to intentionally spend time with the LORD. So yes, its a requirement to take time away from "work" and fellowship with the LORD. How cool is that! Not only is it a time to renew my heart and draw closer to Jesus, but also to evaluate how I'm doing with my ministry duties. It's nice to take a step back from what I'm doing each month and evaluate the direction I'm headed.
Even though I know the blessings of a PRD, it's not always easy to take them. I've learned that unless I set aside a PRD a month in advance, it's very easy to keep working and miss a month or two. I used to think if I took a day away from "work" then ministry would be lost without me. I've definitely learned over the years that God can certainly take care of things while I take time away. He doesn't need me but chooses to use me and has prepared good works for me in advance.
My prayer:
I pray that I never think I'm so important that I can't take time away to spend with the LORD. I pray that I always take a PRD as regularly as possible no matter where God takes me in the future.
So how often do you take time to intentionally spend with the LORD? Is it easy or hard to set down your responsibilities and trust that Jesus can take care of things while you fellowship with Him? I pray that you check out your calendar NOW and see when you can schedule your own PRD. Let me know how it goes!
It's a day set aside from my usual ministry duties and responsibilities to intentionally spend time with the LORD. So yes, its a requirement to take time away from "work" and fellowship with the LORD. How cool is that! Not only is it a time to renew my heart and draw closer to Jesus, but also to evaluate how I'm doing with my ministry duties. It's nice to take a step back from what I'm doing each month and evaluate the direction I'm headed.
Even though I know the blessings of a PRD, it's not always easy to take them. I've learned that unless I set aside a PRD a month in advance, it's very easy to keep working and miss a month or two. I used to think if I took a day away from "work" then ministry would be lost without me. I've definitely learned over the years that God can certainly take care of things while I take time away. He doesn't need me but chooses to use me and has prepared good works for me in advance.
My prayer:
I pray that I never think I'm so important that I can't take time away to spend with the LORD. I pray that I always take a PRD as regularly as possible no matter where God takes me in the future.
So how often do you take time to intentionally spend with the LORD? Is it easy or hard to set down your responsibilities and trust that Jesus can take care of things while you fellowship with Him? I pray that you check out your calendar NOW and see when you can schedule your own PRD. Let me know how it goes!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
day 2 of 31: Holding Hands
Yesterday I prayed for God to show me someone that I could connect with so I could learn more about the purpose God had given them. It was neat to see how God answered that prayer at dinner last night.
On Wednesday nights, we host a gathering at a local BBQ place called Ms. Hyster's. We invite the homeowners to come out and join the teams for a time of fellowship, good food, and sharing life together. It wasn't a homeowner I spoke with but a friend of mine who has grown up here in NOLA. He told me how he feels God has put a desire and passion in his heart for more intentional discipleship of young men and to find ways to encourage them to grow in their walks with the LORD.
He referenced Exodus 17:8-13 when Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold his arms up so the Israelites would defeat the Amalekites. Aaron and Hur didn't try to take Moses's purpose from him, they came to support him in living out his faith. He sees this is where discipleship comes in to play. He wants to be a support to the guys in the community to live out the purpose God has given them.
My prayer:
LORD, I praise you for how you have given my friend a purpose to invest in the young guys here in NOLA. Thank you for putting that desire in his heart. LORD I pray that you would give me eyes to see who you would like me to intentionally disciple whether someone here in NOLA or far away. LORD I pray for someone to intentionally disciple me.
If you are a believer, I encourage you to pray for people you can disciple and to pray for someone to disciple you. We can't neglect the Great Commission, to go therefore and make disciples, if we truly desire to follow Christ. I praise God that I've had wonderful women in my life who held my hands and encouraged me in my walk with Christ.
So LORD, whose hand do I need to hold?
On Wednesday nights, we host a gathering at a local BBQ place called Ms. Hyster's. We invite the homeowners to come out and join the teams for a time of fellowship, good food, and sharing life together. It wasn't a homeowner I spoke with but a friend of mine who has grown up here in NOLA. He told me how he feels God has put a desire and passion in his heart for more intentional discipleship of young men and to find ways to encourage them to grow in their walks with the LORD.
He referenced Exodus 17:8-13 when Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold his arms up so the Israelites would defeat the Amalekites. Aaron and Hur didn't try to take Moses's purpose from him, they came to support him in living out his faith. He sees this is where discipleship comes in to play. He wants to be a support to the guys in the community to live out the purpose God has given them.
My prayer:
LORD, I praise you for how you have given my friend a purpose to invest in the young guys here in NOLA. Thank you for putting that desire in his heart. LORD I pray that you would give me eyes to see who you would like me to intentionally disciple whether someone here in NOLA or far away. LORD I pray for someone to intentionally disciple me.
If you are a believer, I encourage you to pray for people you can disciple and to pray for someone to disciple you. We can't neglect the Great Commission, to go therefore and make disciples, if we truly desire to follow Christ. I praise God that I've had wonderful women in my life who held my hands and encouraged me in my walk with Christ.
So LORD, whose hand do I need to hold?
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
I've never done this...
I don't know why but for some reason I've been thinking about writing a post every day for the month of January. Now granted I've never been a daily blogger and I'm working in New Orleans, planning a wedding in North Carolina, and traveling this month but hey, what's one more task on the to-do list. So please be gracious as I'll probably miss a day or two.
So here goes...last night I celebrated New Year's with the volunteer teams that have come to serve in New Orleans. I'm still amazed that people would agree to give up their winter break to serve God and the homeowners here (especially since Katrina was almost 9 years ago). It's amazing to see people who three days ago were complete strangers but today are laughing and joking with each other, playing games together, serving each other, and eating meals together like they've been friends forever. I love seeing teams take advantage of being in the same place and not letting where they come from stop them from building relationships with one another.
We all have so much to learn from each other. I have so much to learn from the teams and people around me about life, family, God, culture, etc. I hope I can continue to be intentional with building those relationships.
My prayer:
God puts people in our path everyday that we can learn from or that we can build relationships with...are my eyes open to see that? Are your eyes open to see that? Let's pray and ask God to show us who He wants us to connect with today. Maybe its a colleague at work, a fellow student, a neighbor, a friend from the past, etc. Every person is someone God has created for a purpose and perhaps He wants you to learn more about them so you can see that purpose and praise God for it! Let me know how God answers that prayer!
So here goes...last night I celebrated New Year's with the volunteer teams that have come to serve in New Orleans. I'm still amazed that people would agree to give up their winter break to serve God and the homeowners here (especially since Katrina was almost 9 years ago). It's amazing to see people who three days ago were complete strangers but today are laughing and joking with each other, playing games together, serving each other, and eating meals together like they've been friends forever. I love seeing teams take advantage of being in the same place and not letting where they come from stop them from building relationships with one another.
We all have so much to learn from each other. I have so much to learn from the teams and people around me about life, family, God, culture, etc. I hope I can continue to be intentional with building those relationships.
My prayer:
God puts people in our path everyday that we can learn from or that we can build relationships with...are my eyes open to see that? Are your eyes open to see that? Let's pray and ask God to show us who He wants us to connect with today. Maybe its a colleague at work, a fellow student, a neighbor, a friend from the past, etc. Every person is someone God has created for a purpose and perhaps He wants you to learn more about them so you can see that purpose and praise God for it! Let me know how God answers that prayer!
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