well i could update you on everything and talk about today in major details but it will literally take a lifetime to explain all that God has been doing but i will overview briefly...
the first group from washington and lee was awesome...it ends up they know a few of my laurel high pals which is also cool! damian who came to visit and i went to the spy museum and five guys always clutch. if you have not been to either one of these, get there!
ummmm but lets just say this all started out with psalm 40 i read the other day that's when i knew God wanted to get my attention...if you get a chance to read it do it because it is a testimony to who God is and what he does...
psalm 40 vs. 7-8 the message:
So I answered, "I'm coming.
I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I'm coming to the party
you're throwing for me."
That's when God's Word entered my life,
became part of my very being.
but then i enjoyed a friday of awesomeness meeting pastor bob and seeing the fruit of his harvesters...and a bunch of other stuff and then today mo and i went to jasons-city director-church for an acquire the fire youth workers training and it was awesome and encouraging to see so many who love youth there to learn how to impact and raise up new leaders in there youth group whatever the size...and i love youth and i love kids and i just thing that God is doing some great things with this next generation...and its not me which means i am getting a little older but the new generation is ready and i want to go alongside them and aid not hinder...this is my prayer...
at the conference a huge theme was about not only picking leaders but making them into the leaders you want them to be a leader after God's heart which includes calling them out in love...knowing that you are creating a culture...leading by example...there is so much more i learned but i go now to an awesome part of my day...
mo and i were riding the metro and there was a small girl sitting across the aisle from us with what seemed to be her grandmother...the train slowed down and in my head i was like come on why the heck is this train going so slow i want to get to church and all this stuff...you know how our minds wander...but the next thing i know this small girl shouts really loudly from the window...this is the fastest train ever! i was immediately humbled because so often i miss not only the big picture God has set out, but also how amazing the small things actually are and because i am always caught up in the next thing i miss out on how fast the train is really going and how amazing the train is for even going at all...o and there was more to this lesson to follow...i went to ncc this evening...
national community church is known for meeting in theaters in the dc metro area...they also have an awesome coffeeshop ebenezers like a block from union station i tried to make the 5 oclock service and that ended up actually being a 4:30 service and even though i was only 10 minutes late there were no more seats so they gave me a gift card to get a coffee at there coffeeshop and told me to come back at 6pm. i am glad that i stayed because it was a great service...very talented worship leaders it wasn't to glitzy and glamoreie and the best part is the pastor ( which actually was a video of the previous service) preached form the word of God and the following are noted form his kick-off sermon of a new unit tears...
pastor mark explained that tears are amazing things...God made only humans with the ability to use tears to show emotion...and that tears have in them certain things to aid us...bacteria fighters...pain killers our tears are composed of a lot of awesome substances...composed by God made in His image... but the sermon was actually about Job and all this suffering and how we always look at it in just a temporal state when we ened to try and look at it from a n eternal standpoint...he outlined that suffering is either because of our sin, a testing, or a spiritual attack..and pastor mark made sure he clarified that a lot of times we blame God when we should be annoyed and angered by the devils attack...or understand that a test is to refine and prepare us for something else. he said suffering is about "sanctification and glorification" and he quoted one of my fav interactions with Jesus and his disciples...i think it is in john 9. the disciples and Jesus come across a blind man and the disciples immediately ask who sinned..."was it him or his parents that sinned here?" and Jesus answers neither this man is blind so that the glory of God can be shown...
the sermon i thought was excellent it really addressed suffering at its core or what i sometimes refer to as stormy weather...like we have these storms and these times when we suffer whether it is a bad day or a death of a close family member or friend...but we are called and promised not only that there will be a storm but that as long as we stay in the will of God we will make it through the otherside and sometimes we get so caught up in our comfort rather than Gods glory and this is huge we are called to more and we are responsible to our own attitude which can always be controlled no matter what situation we are called to more than just react...
and you know job got to a point where he was at the end of himself and was fully relying on God and God redeemed him...and yes job still went through some terrible stormy weather but there is redemption and the opportunity for Gods glory to be shown through the suffering...and God promised he would bring us through.
and I end with psalm 40: 11ish
Now God, don't hold out on me,
don't hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
are all that keeps me together.
tasha
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