Recalibration

Life is beginning to slow down for me. It is such an odd sensation to go from having one of the busiest semesters of my life to having loads of free time all of the sudden. My days this semester had every minute scheduled from 6:30 a.m. until 2:00 a.m. the next morning with absolutely zero free time in there. And suddenly, here I am with commitments wrapping up, resulting in free time where I do not know what to do with myself. All semester I dreamed of having free time to do whatever I pleased, but now that I have it, I find myself slightly overwhelmed by all of the quiet moments.

I want to preface this by saying; none of this is a complaint in the slightest because the free time is quite lovely. It’s just a recalibration of priorities. I have been asking myself questions like:

·      How am I going to deepen my relationship with the Lord?

·      Who needs my time?

·      How can I serve my roommates and show them love?

·      Where can I volunteer in the Bryan/College Station area?

·      How can I make people around me feel special?

These questions are helping me recalibrate my priorities. It is so hard for me to admit, but I spent this semester being very selfish. It was all about my commitments and how busy I always was. Me and I and my. Embarrassing, because this life isn’t even mine. God could take it away in a second, so I don’t know why I ever get confused about what’s important. If the Lord chose to take me today, I would want my last action on this earth to have been something that was serving others because that is what God intended for us to do. Jesus’ last action on this earth was dying on a cross for our sins; He was perfect and didn’t need to suffer on our behalf, yet He selflessly did. So in this recalibration period of my life, I am praying that God would allow me to walk with His eyes, seeing the need and hurt of those around me. I am praying that He would teach me what compassion looks like, to not view people as worthless if they aren’t like me, but to view them as an equal because God created them as well. Recalibration is quite humbling, but it is drawing me near to the heart of God and breaking my heart for what breaks His more and more. 

Psalm 139:13-16

She is such a goofball.

She is so loving.

She is mischievous.

She loves to laugh.

She's got sass.

She wants my hair.

She exudes joy.

She is fearfully and wonderfully made. 

I love this little one and am blessed to hold her in my heart.

To A Special Friend

Deeply thankful for this sweet friendship in my life.

Chloe,

Thank you for being a constant source of encouragement and joy to me everyday. I love the laughter we share together, and I love the deep conversations as well. I know that I can always count on you, and I value your insight and wisdom more than anything. I am going to miss you terribly, and I hate that we will no longer be able to have our wonderful date days full of books, blogging, coffee, and licorice wheels, but we’ll just have to improvise with electronic “lunch dates” (which are always going to be the highlight of my week.) I cannot wait to walk alongside you on this adventure, and I pray that one day we will be able to adventure alongside one another. We are two hearts with one beat, and not even two different continents will separate us. I am always here for you and you are always in my prayers. I love you and am so proud of the way you follow Jesus. Your faith is inspiring. God has gifted you with an ability to love and feel deeper than the average person, a gift that will serve you well as you attempt to walk alongside a broken people who are in dire need of someone to bring light into their lives. You carry that light, Chlo, and they are going to see it in all that you do. Hold those babies gently, hug those broken-hearted women tightly, and relish the joy of holding the hand of an orphan who is a prince or princess of our Savior.  Breathe in the life that is in air of Africa, the life that our God created to bring Him joy. Savor every moment spent with those people, and work hard so that when you go to bed at night, you are peacefully exhausted from fulfilling God’s will.

There will be hard days for sure, but this life was never promised to be easy, and you know that. Taking “the road less traveled” like Christ has called you to do is going to result in some struggles. But “Count it all joy, my sister, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

Do not lose heart even when things are hard, and know that you are never alone. You are following God’s call: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

God will build you up when you are lowly in spirit:

And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” For thus, says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, who name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57: 14-15)

And God has asked this of you. I truly believe God is going to raise up generations in these African nations that will glorify Him if we are faithful in following His calling:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61: 1-4)

I love you, Chlo, so very much. Keep running hard after Jesus.

Your sister in Christ,

Megan

Wrestling

Jacob Wrestles with God

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh. –Genesis 32:22-32

This is a passage I learned about in Sunday school from the time I was a small child. But it has never really had meaning in my life until now. Ok I am about to get vulnerable; I am wrestling with God. Never have I struggled through a passage of Scripture more in my life. As I have struggled through some issues with God, I remembered this passage and opened my Bible to it. But it lay barren in front of me, lifeless on the page and confusing to my mind. Yes, I could read the words, but I couldn’t grasp what the words were saying. Everyday for about a week I read this passage, knowing that God had something He wanted me to see through this passage. And then one night it clicked. Jacob demanded to know who God was, demanded that he be blessed. And because of his persistence to know and understand God, God blessed him. Jacob was blessed for his wrestling. I thought I was sinning for questioning God, but if we look back over the Bible, so many of God’s “greats” have questioned Him. It doesn’t mean that they don’t believe, but it is that they desire to know Him more. Abraham questioned where his promised son was, Job questions if God hears him, David cries out to God several times feeling forsaken, Esther questions if she has the courage to stand up to King Xerxes, Jacob literally wrestles with God…The list could go on and on. All of God’s greats have questioned/wrestled Him at some point, because you only get stronger through the struggle.

A good friend told me that your spiritual growth is much like your physical growth, you have to exercise new muscles in order to make a difference, but you cannot do the same exercises forever. You eventually plateau and have to run farther in order to get stronger. Our faith is the same way. If you never ask God why, you can never see His goodness, love, and mercy in more depth, because I truly believe He only reveals that to those who seek to know it. That is what separates people, because you have to be willing to grow in order to know God deeper, because the growth requires pain at times. Growth is not for the faint at heart. In fact, Jacob walked away from his wrestling match with a limp, but He also walked away with a new name, Israel, which means, “He strives with God.” Yes, Jacob made many mistakes, all of these people did. But he also was the father of the nation of Israel as a result of his wrestling. So as I wrestle and struggle to understand why God has asked me to go to Africa and spend my life there, I rest confidently knowing that this is growth in its highest form. I am fully confident that while I will come out of this with a few bruises and “limps,” those limps will be what make me more dependent on God and more accepting of His will. It cannot wait to adventure further with Him as He becomes stronger in my life and my limps make me more dependent upon His help.

But he said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly f my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with my weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Who Am I?

We get asked who we are all the time because we always have some sort of identity attached to it. If you had asked me who I was about a month ago, this is how I probably would have answered that question:

“My name is Megan Jarvie. I am a believer and follower of Christ. I am a runner; I run about 35-40 miles a week. I am an English and Communications double major at Texas A&M University and I am planning on going to law school to become an international adoption lawyer because I love Zambia with my whole heart and would pick up and move there tomorrow. I adore my friends and would do anything for them in the drop of a hat.”

Do you see the problem with what I just said? Maybe you don’t, but I certainly do. I never had before, but I see the problem now. I see the problem because God is currently stripping me of most of that stuff which is making me realize how much I care about all of the titles in that short paragraph. It is almost embarrassing to admit, but I don’t know my identity. The only line that should matter in the paragraph above is the first line pertaining to being a believer and follower of Christ. You see, I know the right answer. I know that should be my identity. But if we’re all being honest with ourselves, how often is that the only thing that we care about? It should be the only part of that statement that matters, but oftentimes it isn’t. That part of my identity makes me think differently than the people around me. That part of my identity makes me stand out versus allowing me to blend in. That part of my identity continually reminds me of how weak I am and how deeply I need help in this life. That part of my identity calls me to love when I feel like hating. This part of my identity takes what I want and forces me to surrender that to someone else.

Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? Well it’s not. The person whose will I surrender mine to is perfect. He is all knowing. He is the most tenderhearted person in this world. He is strong enough to move mountains with a gentle sweep of His mighty hand. He was beaten and hung on a cross for being different. Though He required no help, He chose to come down to this earth in the form of a needy child. Everything I feel on a daily basis, He has felt tenfold. He should be my all-consuming identity because of this, but instead I so often push confine Him to one short sentence in lieu of surrounding myself with what I consider to be accolades, forgetting that to be His child and follower is the highest of all accolades.

So right now, I am being stripped of my identity by the grace of God and it is being replaced with His identity, because what is mine is actually truly His. I would be lying if I said it felt great, it doesn’t. In fact, it’s very painful to be stripped of who you think you are in order to be taught that everything you have previously boasted in is actually just a blessing from Him and not something that identifies you. Trying to figure out who you are and whose you are rubs your heart and soul raw. I feel exposed and far more open than I have ever felt in my life. Nothing is more humbling than having to look a best friend in the face with tears in your eyes and say, “I need help because I can’t do it all.” But that’s where I am because I have been trying to identify myself in so many other ways for my entire life other than solely as a child and follower of Christ. So now He is being gracious enough to “rub me raw” right now. And I know that I will be sutured up again with His healing hand.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” –Psalm 34:18

An Unquenchable Craving

With each passing day, my soul craves Jesus more. As I have mentioned several times in past posts, the journey that I have been on these past few months has been full of rocky terrain. I have wrestled with my doubt, insecurity, and the meaning of true joy more now than ever before in my life. Having grown up in a Christian household where I attended church and youth group every Sunday, trials and rocky patches were things that I heard about but never really thought would hit me. But I feel like real life has begun lately, and I realize now that the innocence of youth is gone. I see with clarity the brokenness and pain in this world. I see the poverty of orphans and the pride of wealthy Americans, and my heart breaks. “Lord, this world is a mess!” There is no fix, and the news informs us that our country is falling apart. There is threat of terrorism all around, and we live with the constant fear that our world could end in a second because of nuclear weapons.  

Never before in my life have I lived with the constant urgency that Jesus could be coming back tomorrow, and I remember that I would feel guilty when we would have talks about it in youth group because I was lucky if the thought of Jesus returning crossed my mind every two months or so. But now, the thought of Jesus’ return is the fuel that pushes me through my day. It is the hope that I cling to. One day, this brokenness will be fully repaired when my glorious King comes back to redeem this aching earth. There will never be an end to joy. Imagine that for a moment. Imagine your best day where everything you love happens and it is full of happiness. Not to be a downer, but there is always an end to that perfect day. It cannot go on forever, because that is what sin has done to this earth. It has put an end on all things good. Sadness is the end to happiness, night is the end to light, and death is the end to life. However one day, ONE GLORIOUS DAY, there will be no end to joy. It’s called eternity, and in eternity there is perfect peace, perfect life, and perfect joy. That is the hope that I cling to each day. Though my soul is weary and exhausted here, I cling to the knowledge that one day I will get to talk to my best friend, Jesus, face to face, for as long as I want. There won’t be an hourly limit to it because there will be no concept of time in Heaven. My love language is quality time and I thrive when the people who love me the most give me a huge chunk of their time. There is no better gift that anyone could give me. And in Heaven, I won’t even have to ask for time because quality time will never end there! There will not be fractured relationships. It will be 10,000 times better than the best day you can even fathom here, and there will be no end to this incomprehensible day.

Though I am exhausted here on this earth and I crave time with my King more and more with each passing day, I trek on here with joy, knowing that I only get to meet Him once I have fulfilled my purpose here on this earth. So I give 110% to trying to meet that purpose so that magnificent day comes as quickly as possible, knowing that as I maneuver through this life, my God is faithful and never lets me go. He pushes me to my limit yet never gives me more than I can bear, because the more I feel overwhelmed the more I need Him. With each passing day, I become more needy than the day before because more and more I am hit with the reality that I am nothing special and that Christ is the only special thing about me. He is what makes my life here worthwhile. The more I yearn to encounter Him, the more I grasp that He can’t wait to meet me also. He looks forward to our time together each day as much as I do, and one day we are going to get to spend all of eternity together. It is going to be the reunion of all reunions, the wedding day of all wedding days, and I cannot wait. Jesus, my soul craves eternity with you. Come back and rescue this world soon. 

A Joyful Song in the Desert

This is my prayer in the desert

And all that's within me feels dry

This is my prayer in the hunger in me

My God is a God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire

In weakness or trial or pain

There is a faith proved

Of more worth than gold

So refine me Lord through the flames

And I will bring praise

I will bring praise

No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice

I will declare

God is my VICTORY and He is HERE

And this is my prayer in the battle

And triumph is still on its way

I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ

So firm on His promise I'll stand

All of my life

In every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship

This is my prayer in the harvest

When favor and providence flow

I know I’M FILLED TO BE EMPTIED AGAIN

The seed I've received I will sow

Tonight, I am blown away at the overwhelming peace that my King gives. Satan has been attacking me and making me a desert, yet Jesus has provided a flowing river of peace through my parched soul. He steadily nourishes my heart with His soothing promises. This life is full of seasons, like this song says. And while I was going through a rough period, the Lord gave me this song to listen to, and to meditate upon the lyrics. It has been my prayer in the past few weeks, and yet tonight, He allowed me to step back from my small view of my life and momentarily see the way He is perfectly weaving my life together to glorify Him if I continue to choose Him. I wish I could go into more detail, but tonight I just want to encourage you with this: Our God is GOOD. And persevere through your desert, because I promise He provides water in the drought. Let me end with these lyrics again:

All of my life

In every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship

Lyrics to "Desert Song" by Hillsong 

The "Best" Gold

Sometimes I am truly blown away by how well the Lord knows my soul. It's like He knows exactly what medicine to feed it; sometimes without me even knowing it. When I was in Zambia, my mom sent over a devotional book for me with one of my best friends who was coming to see me that week. It is called Daily with the King by W. Glen Evans, and I cannot even begin to express how much truth I have found in these words in even the short time that I have had this book. They are just short little devos, what I like to call "Megan Length", because I don't have the attention span to sit through a really long passage...It will lose me and the point will get overshadowed in the length. Tonight, I was catching up on the devos, because I had missed a few during the week and the wisdom in them is just too wonderful to not go back and completely soak in! Here's one of the ones that I caught up on; it so deeply hit home that I couldn't help but share it.

The Discipline of Decision Making

The process that brought me to Jesus in the first place goes on long after I have trusted Him as Savior. The difference is not in the nature of the decision, but in the nature of the things sacrificed. When I yielded to the saviorship of Christ, I sacrificed my sins; now in my Christian walk I must keep sacrificing those things that keep me from being my best for Him. The "pearl of great price" makes this clear. The merchant sold his good things in order to obtain the best thing (Matthew 13:45-46).

I must learn to do business in my Christian life, to "exchange" things as Jesus did. "In exchange for the joy lying around Him, He endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2, author's trans.) Jesus saw what was infinitely good and surrendered it for something infinitely better. Daily I will be confronted with a "good" that must be exchanged for a "better"; otherwise I invite spiritual stagnation. The discipline of decision making does not end the moment I accept Christ as my Savior. It is in this process of making decisions that God weans me more and more from what I am to what I was meant to be. 

To be able to use that which is better I need insight and willpower. Insight tells me the difference between the "common" and the "holy" (Ezekiel 22:26); willpower commits me to it. Thus, my Christian life will always be a series of crisis that brought me to Christ. I must forever accept the fact that both birth and growth are traumatic; yet the trauma leads to a burgeoning spiritual life that is positively thrilling! The "things...that God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9) are for this life, not only the life to come, and they make the Christian adventure richer than any sight or sound experienced by the natural man.

"And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).

I have always said that I believe in a "good", a "better", and "best" for people in all situations. However I also think that sometimes our sinful human nature makes us too impatient to wait for the Lord's "best" for us, and we end up settling for "good". And while "good" is tolerable, it simply isn't "best". It's like settling for bronze over gold.  Wait for "best"; choose gold. I promise it is well worth the wait. 

"Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." -Habakkuk 1:5

Violet

This one is for you, Chloe. You've been the encouragement to post this. 

The color paints ends of the horizon

As the fire ball dips down

Is dotted amongst the tall grass

As the flower pops up in the spring

Joy unexplicable, unexplicable joy

A handicap though one would not know

Seeing life through only one

Instead of two

A bundle of life

Sweeping the dust off the floor

Bouncing to the sound

Of the Most High’s call

The scrawny body leaps with energy

I wonder how…

But she knows no different.

Momma, Momma, Mommy

Come back to me Baby

Violet colors, stroking across my heart

Every moment of every day.

I Will Follow You

I am currently reading through Matthew in the New Testament. What better way to hear from God than to actually read the words that Jesus spoke while He was alive? But I think what I've been completely blown away by as I read through Matthew are all the different stories of faith. You hear people say all the time that it would have been so easy to trust in Jesus if we had actually been alive when He was performing miracles and walking this earth. We would all love to think that we would have been one of the few who would have given up everything to follow Jesus during His three-year ministry here on earth, but the truth is that we probably wouldn't have. He was contradictory, and He preached against what the leaders of the time were saying. The fact of the matter is that it would have been a lot harder to follow Him than we want to admit, and our human instinct is not to go against the crowd. However, as you read through Matthew, you read the story of a blind man who simply and fully believed that God could and would heal his blindness. You read the story of a centurion who thought he was unworthy to have Jesus to enter his house, yet believed with his whole heart that Jesus was powerful enough that he could heal his servant from a distance. You read of a woman who had been suffering for twelve years and had the faith to believe that she only needed to reach out and brush the tips of her fingers along His garment to be made well. You read about Matthew himself, who was a sinful tax collector, yet when Jesus passed by him and asked him to follow, Matthew did. The verse plainly says:

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a an called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." and he rose and followed him." -Matthew 9:9


Talk about faith. To turn in an instant from your sinful lifestyle, leave all your wealth, and instantly follow the man who was the talk of all of Israel at the time (and not in a positive way)...Wow. I can only hope that I live my life with that kind of faith. To give up everything in an instant to follow a man that don't know too much about, now that takes courage. But isn't that what the Gospels are all about, giving up our comfort to follow Him? We so often want to have our cake and eat it too, hoping that our lifestyles will afford us ease and also allow us to follow God at the same time. But truly following Christ is so counter-cultural that it isn't going to be easy. You are always going to face opposition, whether it be through a moral disagreement with your friends or a life-altering decision like the girl at Columbine High School who gave it all up for the Lord. These are the moments where you are faced with the simple question of faith - Are you or are you not willing to give up EVERYTHING for Jesus? Who really is your King? These questions challenge me everyday, and as a Christian I am constantly asking myself who I live for, so that when the real fires of life come to test me, I can stand boldly with a faith that simply says, "I will follow you."

Matthew 9:37-38 says:
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

This verse so clearly states that we need to be following Jesus. There are so many people out there who don't know about the gift of salvation. You could be in Dallas, Texas or Lusaka, Zambia, but the fact of the matter is that there are people who don't know and that we need believers to stand up and be daring in their faith. People who have the faith to believe that Jesus has the power to change hearts through a simple act of obedience and through a willing spirit to be bold. People who have the courage to withstand the potential opposition of friends and family. We exist for one reason, to bring glory to God, and I can't imagine one day standing at the gates of Heaven knowing that I wasted my precious time on this earth on myself. Everything relies on a simple faith, the simple faith to trust that God has everything under control. The simple faith to know that God has our future in the palm of His hand. The simple faith to know that ultimately, it doesn't matter if you felt awkward in the nail salon while you shared your faith and other people were watching, because that's WHY you exist, to tell others about Jesus. To fulfill the Great Commission. It brings such joy to my heart to know that I have the rest of my life, whether long or short, to follow Jesus' command to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." There is no greater joy, and fulfilling this command only takes a simple faith. A simple willingness to say, "Lord, I will follow you."

I loved getting to follow to Lusaka, Zambia for a month and I pray that the Lord leads me there many, many more times in my life! Look at these precious little angels!

Following in Humbled Faith

The Year of the Lord's Favor - Isaiah 61

 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;1

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.3

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

8 For I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

This passage is my life's calling, and has been a constant reminder of why I am here. Zambia is where the Lord has called me to "bind up the broken-hearted" and "proclaim liberty to the captives" for right now. But if we're being honest, all Christians have been called to do these things, it just looks different for everyone. So the question I want to pose tonight is "Where are you binding up the broken-hearted and freeing the captives?" It could be anywhere, and don't limit yourself to what you want the answer to be, because trust me, if it is uncomfortable and is not exactly what you desire, then it is EXACTLY where the Lord wants you. Because that place of discomfort requires faith. And faith is the conviction of what is unseen. This journey has been one of faith for me, but I have seen the Lord's hand so mightily at work over the past four weeks. I am so humbled when I think about how the Lord has let me be a part of His plan here in Zambia. This week has been an unexpected challenge for me in many ways, but I know that the Lord has ordained this week for me. So I keep going, knowing that the Lord has placed this calling on my life and that this is what the Lord has required of me. I follow in blind faith, knowing that His path leads to unending joy and contentment. This is the greatest adventure of my life thus far, and I encourage you to follow in blind faith as well, because it will be a far better journey than you could have ever conjured up in your small human brain!