Where I'm At: Megan

Right now, I'm eating lunch at my desk: A perfectly-sized cubicle that I almost immediately decorated within an inch of its life.

Today, I'm sitting in the place I couldn't imagine nine months ago. Nine months ago, I wrote about entering my senior year of college and all the prayers and pressures and winding paths that went with it.

Today, I look back and I see faithfulness - and I'm so grateful. It was an amazing year with new adventures and deepened relationships; my Bible study girls grew in their relationships with God and each other; two of my friend came to Christ and several more are asking questions. And nothing felt quite so good as hitting that gong when I turned in my senior honors thesis. Actually, I hit it so enthusiastically, I knocked it off the table. Oops.

A big question mark throughout all of last school year was my job and where I would live. Entry-level positions in public relations agencies are very competitive, and few agencies find the need to hire over the summer, because they have interns. (But you can apply to be an intern!....again). I confess that I did worry; it was hard to not be able to plan for the next season or literally the next month because I didn't know what state I'd be living in. I should mention that agencies also try to fill positions immediately, so you can't really get hired until right around the time you graduate.

And yet, in spite of my worries, God gifted me with a great job a whole month before graduation. I've now been here a month, and I'm grateful for all the little things that I didn't think to ask for, but make a big difference to me - like a company culture that is affirmative, and team members who are friendly and offer support when you make mistakes.

But in looking back and seeing how God has answered prayers for me and my friends this year, I think He's challenging me to trust him more, to pray bigger and bolder. He loves to partner with us and work through our prayers.

You can't pray the wrong prayer. He'll say yes if it's in his will and it's the best. And if he says no - it's still better that you trusted him enough to ask, right? Right.

So now I find myself in another place where I'm starting to put down roots, and there are several bends in the path that I can't see behind. I'm so grateful to be here. But I'm also going to start praying bigger prayers, praying expectantly, looking for the ways He'll show up.

What has God been placing on your heart lately?

Perfect Faithfulness

  
Pastor Charles Stanley once said, “Often times God demonstrates His faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive. He does not change our painful circumstances. He sustains us through them.”  Isn’t that a beautiful thought to embrace? Sadly, it is not the easiest thing to practice especially when we start walking through trials and adversity.

Of course, every trial and adversity can be told in a story. Every individual, Christ-follower or not, has them. This story is about two friends and two different trials, each used by our faithful Savior to bring glory to his name. The first one began in high school where all we looked forward to was prom, youth groups and colleges. It was one of those seasons in life where you didn’t expect any curve balls to hit. To a girl named Cara, one came and changed her life forever. It was her senior year when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She had no preexisting conditions or genetic predispositions, and was an exceptional student and football player. She was also a strong follower of Christ. It hit her, her family, and our youth group strongly primarily because as a teenager, you don’t expect to face mortality any time soon. Cara remained strong in the Lord, and God was faithful. She was operated on and the doctors called it a miracle that an hour post-operation she was fully aware and sipping a smoothie like nothing happened. She was quick to point to Christ and used that trial as a testimony.

Trials come in various shapes and sizes. For Cara, the Lord wasn’t finished using her life for His glory. Three years later, Cara was able to enroll in college courses and play football again. Those were things sacrificed and things that she missed and enjoyed doing. However, the brain tumor came back and this time, it was inoperable. The doctors gave her six months and as a witness to those remaining months, they seemed very short. One day we had her, and then another day, she was gone. To her family, it was one of the hardest things to go through. As her friend, my heart grieved and I remember praying the night she passed that “Lord, Your will be done.” There were questions, and there wasn’t much comfort at first but the Lord proved to be all that we, the youth group and her family, needed. Goodbye wasn’t easy, but one of our comforts was this- there was something other than this life to look forward to: eternity with our Savior in heaven.

The second story was ten year old Tim, who faced a brain tumor at an early age. Through the faith of his parents and himself, God sent healing and faith. Tim grew up serving the Lord in the music ministry and his talents at guitar playing were clearly visible. His love for the Lord was evident in his lifestyle. What next? Well, now at twenty-four years old, another tumor was discovered and he was operated on. God kept him strong and God is truly amazing with His ways. At the moment, Tim and his family need more prayer as Tim had to return to the hospital due to infection problems. My hope in all this is that we learn that God is always faithful, and that in all things, He be glorified.

2 Timothy 11-13 says, “If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.” I always marveled at His perfect faithfulness because in comparison with our lackluster and imperfect one, it is worthy of praise! It is much more beautiful as His faithful is dependent on Him alone; nothing we do adds or subtracts from it. There is nothing we can do to earn it and He gives it because of who He is. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

     Dearest Lord, We live in a world of imperfection, where sin and its consequences lurk at every corner. Guard our hearts in your Word that we may stay strong in the only true foundation: Jesus that we may stay faithful and true and that we can fulfill our calling as a good soldier that shares the gospel to others. Amen.

Summertime

Summertime's here, girls, and we thought it'd be neat to update you all on what each of us Bloom! girls is up to! God is doing amazing things in our lives, and we are excited to share them with you!

Joanna: I'm really excited about this summer, because I have been catching glimpses of what God is doing and it is beautiful!  I am living in a land where idol worship is the norm and the Gospel is not well known, where spiritual oppression is real.  I am so thankful to be apart of spreading God's love here in Taiwan - whether through teaching English, high fives, prayers, or hugs.  These kids are often love-starved and I know the only person that can truly love them - Jesus.  So I will be in Taiwan through July.  Then in early August I will be in a dear friend's wedding in the States.  After that, I am not sure of my plans, but I know my Lord is
faithful and will lead 
me each step of the way.
   
Megan: It's a summer of new adventures for me. I graduated from college in May, and have been working in a public relations agency for about a month. It's a wonderful job, and I've already fully decorated my cubicle. I'm living at home for a few months, and looking forward to several of my friends' weddings this summer and crossing some fun things off my bucket list. I will also start to volunteer with Love-True, an organization based in New Jersey that fights human trafficking. 

Krista: I graduated two weeks ago and I now have a degree in Child Development. Currently, I've been looking for a job where I can teach young children and also preach the gospel. I am also finishing up on a discipleship training program offered by women in our church and it has been really fun learning more about what the Bible can teach us about being women for the Lord. I have also been babysitting and taking care of some children from our church in Sunday school classes. In my free time, I have been crafting a lot - making accessories and sewing. 

Emily: Summer is my favorite time of year! This summer has been full of baseball games and VBS as usual. We have ball games almost every night of the week, (Go Bobcats!), and we're now heading into our second week of VBS this summer. I'm also excited to be shooting wedding pictures for a good friend of mine this weekend and to have helped take pictures for the local charity Machine Pitch Tournament a few weeks ago. While all this is fun there's something even more exciting coming up. My sweet little brother, Josiah, is due to arrive any day now. I cannot put my excitement into words! God knew I was needing a new little brother. He always knows best! I hope all you girls are having a wonderful summer! 

   
Victoria: Well, I'm still finishing up my junior year of high school. (But should be done before July!) But what I'm really excited about is going to music camp! I'll be going to a Christian college for about a week to be immersed in music, and have fun and make lots of friends! So I'm really happy about that! During summer break I plan on spending more time developing my ability at things I enjoy (like piano, art, Spanish, and more!) I've also just started training for a half marathon, and will hopefully be ready by fall! I've been running almost every day over the past year, and through it all God is showing me He's my strength. He gave me a beautiful verse from Isaiah 41: 29: "He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might He increases power."

There Will Be a Day

 

I was repeating the song lyrics to myself like a mantra last week. There will be a day, with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears. There will be a day, when the burdens of this place will be no more: we'll see Jesus face to face. There were a few reasons for that, actually - Jessina and I were choreographing a dance to this Jeremy Camp song, and I was reminding myself of this message to give me courage in the face of some difficult things I was facing.

There will be a day.

I know much has been said about living in light of eternity, but I recently realized that I certainly haven't been living this way. How would my life change, I wondered, if I clung to the promises in the Bible, of the time when everything will be new and wonderful and perfect, when there will be no more burdens, no more tears? Would that promise have any bearing on my life today?

I discovered that it does. Trials don't seem so big, because I have my eyes on the Conqueror, and know they won't last. I have more courage to face them, because I know they won't last. And while my heart cries at the sorry state of the world today, I still have hope - that one day all these horrible, pointless, and unfair things won't happen. One day everything will be right.

And the beauty that's in store/Outweighs the hurt of life's stings.

One day, I will understand what has been going on and why; I will be able to see the beautiful tapestry that was being woven when I could only see the black threads. And it will be undeniably worth it.

There will be a day when the burdens of this world will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face.

Even when my life seems to be sailing beautifully, living in light of eternity means that my preoccupations are different. Granted, I haven't been living out this last one well at all. But still, if we have our eyes on the horizon, the petty things our culture is obsessed with will seem just that - petty and pointless and probably pathetic. (Yes, I like alliteration!) Our focus should be lifted off ourselves when we realize that not only is life not about us, but we are transitory and have only one short life to live. (Even though, as a teenager with everything stretching before us, it doesn't seem so short right now!) And we only get one chance at life. By keeping our eyes on the finish line, we'll realize more than ever that we don't want to get trapped in petty worries and selfish living, that we don't want to get to the end of our lives only to stare "that day" in the face and realize I've wasted it.

We all know the verse about running with perseverance. But did you ever notice that it's really hard to run well, and "finish strong" when you can't even see the finish line, when it seems light years away? Yet it's precisely now, at the start of our race, that we must be looking ahead and seizing the promises and the courage. Otherwise, we may forget that there is a finish line until it's too late.

There will be a day. 

-- from the archives

Friday Footprints

A snippet of where we've been around the web recently...

The Light of His Grace: "And if I’m disappointed in myself — then how is God not disappointed in me? How does He look at me with unfailing love and hope that I’ll do better tomorrow but won’t love me any less if I don’t? It doesn’t make sense. And sometimes it just feels easier to cover these insecurities up and pretend they’re not there instead of exposing them to the light."

Why Do Bad Things Happen? It's the question we always ask. Ci Chong offers grace and wisdom in a guest post on The Rebelution blog: "David’s peace and comfort, as well as his joy, came from the same source: his deep relationship with God. In other words, David knew God so well he could still be convinced of God’s perfection despite the bad things in his life. God’s perfection was a glorious reality, so much so that David could trust that even the trials in his life were part of God’s perfect plan."

Living in the Sacred Present: It's graduation season again, and so we're pulling out from the archive Jessina's thoughts as she graduated a few years ago: "Amidst the striving and the rush and this emphasis on the future, we lose sight of the beauty of an ordinary afternoon, we overlook the evidences of grace in another person’s life, and we take no delight in the actual act of our work."

Happy Friday, lovelies!

Megan, Joanna, Krista, Victoria & Emily

The Joy of Answered Prayer

It was one of those things that changed the course of my life. It was when the Lord changed another life. It all began in the fall of '09. During that autumn, I would see random people and just feel like I had to pray for them. It was around this time that I began praying much more for salvation for others.

Well, it was football season. I'm a football fan, along with my dad and two older brothers. I prayed for the college's athletic teams, but especially for the football team and staff. And most and hardest of all for the quarterback. He was not a very good player, I'm sorry to say, and when others would sometimes put him down, I felt sorry for him and never gave up hope that he could become better. I rooted for him, and prayed hard for him and for his salvation. I prayed when I saw him on TV or when I thought about him. I prayed probably the most faithfully I've ever prayed for somebody. I didn't know if he was a Christian already, I didn't ever expect to find out.

But one day my life changed.

I was in the dining room with my brothers and my mom. It was Saturday - game day. My mom said she'd heard that the quarterback of our team had become a Christian. Through a roundabout way my mom had found out that he had become a Christian a few weeks before through Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Not only that, but a few others on the football team had also placed their trust in Jesus Christ. My mom just mentioned it one day. She didn't know I'd been praying for him at all. A friend of a friend was involved in FCA and told a friend of ours, who just happened to talk about it at a prayer meeting my mom was at, and she in turn mentioned it when I just happened to be in the same room!

As for the quarterback, starting almost as soon as he became a follower of Christ, he began playing much better - in fact, becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the conference! When I found out the news of his becoming a Christian it was one of those moments where I felt like I was walking on clouds - I was so incredibly happy! It was a double miracle - the person I'd prayed for so hard had become a Christian, and God had worked out a way for me to find out!

But my story doesn't end there. For God has used that miracle again and again to help me trust in Him and see His individualized love. It helped change my life, but still, I told no one of it for about it for a long time. It was my own wonderful secret. But God didn't want it to impact just my life, He wanted me to shine the great news of His awesome deed to others.

One day, two years later, I told my mom about that miracle. She was, of course, very happy about it. Since then I've told others in my family and my youth group. Sometimes we see God do something marvelous and it affects our live wondrously, but we don't tell anyone - maybe because we want it to be our own secret, or we fear they won't fully understand the amazingness of it all. Or maybe they'll think us silly or stupid. But let me tell you, it is never silly or stupid to praise our God! I know everyone has stories to tell of answered prayers, of miracles that defy human explanation, of God's helping hand in a trying time. Would you be willing to share such stories by writing a comment? We must make God's wonderful work known (Psalm 71:14-19), and not hide our light under a bushel (Matthew 5:14-16)!

So, if you're willing, please share the joy of an answered prayer in the comments below!

Through Her Eyes

Five-year-old Daniela's face twists in horror as I translate how the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross.

This is the first time she has ever heard this before.

She turns her innocent eyes to mine and says she can't believe it.  Nails right through His wrists?  She shakes her head adamantly and says, "No, no, no!".  Pain fills her eyes.  She is so young, but she is imagining His anguish.

I gently nod my head and speak to her in Spanish, taking the time to point on my own wrists where the nails would've been driven in.  She just shakes her head and wants to know what happened next.  It's all so new to her and she still is in awe of it.  In awe of what He did.  I continue translating with Daniela interrupting me many times to verify what I'm saying.  She's amazed, pure and simple.

That moment still stays with me.

To many of us, the Gospel is "old news", something we could recite backwards in our sleep.  We know it.  We have seen it in pictures and videos.  We sing about it on Easter Sunday and celebrate it, too.  We talk about it at church, listen to sermons on it, read books about it.  And we know it is important.

Yes, but perhaps we have forgotten how important and life-changing it really is.

But seeing it again through little Daniela's eyes was different.  She cried out, "No, no, no!" and I know what she means - that it would be painful and horrifying to be nailed to a cross...and why would they do that to someone innocent?

Yet my heart also calls out, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Because Jesus did get nailed to the cross.  He took my punishment - what I deserved because of my filthy sins.  He did that and rose again so that I can now be forgiven and right with God.  That's the Gospel...  That's why believers around the world are tortured and killed.  That is why we live.

And as I see what Jesus has done for me and what He continues to do, I marvel anew at it.

So this week, I encourage you to take some time to see the Gospel again in a new light.  Let it sink in deep.  Let the Scriptures sink in and take root.  Jesus did it for you.  Let the Gospel change your heart, your thoughts, your actions, your life.  See it through little Daniela's eyes with her "No, no, no!" echoing.  But then see how you needed Him, how I needed Him.  How we still do!  See how "Yes, yes, yes!" is part of it, too.  Because without Jesus, we would have no hope, no purpose, no meaning.

But with Jesus?  We have all those things - and more!