Calling: How do I know?

I know I might not be an expert on calling but it is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately especially this weekend and I will tell you why later on. I had always been taught that God had a calling on my life and although knowing that was comforting, there was a sense of discontentment that came along with that. How would I know what my calling was? What if I missed it or did the wrong thing?

From personal experiences and help from some adults I have talked to, I have a couple guidelines that I used to figure out my calling and to help me pick my major for college (which I have changed twice since  being in college for almost two semesters.) Once in a meeting with my home pastor he asked me what my passions were/ What were the things that got me fired up, either negatively or positively? This was a couple years ago and at the time I told him one thing that broke my heart was teen pregnancy because I was starting to see it more and more at my school. This is still true about me today but I have been able to expand on his question as I am going in my faith and learning who I really am. I have a passion for teenagers and the issues they face in daily life. I believe that if you can get to kids because for they get older and too ingrained in their own ways of thinking, you can bring more people to Christ and the teens themselves will live better lives. Adolescence is a crucial stage in anyones life. Most adolescence face heartbreak for the first time, are exposed to drugs and alcohol, go through their parents divorces, death of grandparents or sudden deaths (which are often times the worse, from personal experience.) This is a very hard time in life and that is where my passion is, therefore that is where my calling is.

Not to say that everything you are passionate has to be your career. I have a heart for hurting children overseas. I am going on my first mission trip this summer but as of now I do not intend on being a full-time missionary. Although I believe I could benefit from being a full-time missionary that is not where my heart is fully set. God calls us all to different areas of ministry because no one can do everything on their own. Being a missionary can be a part of my Youth Ministry calling. For example, this summer I am going on a mission trip with the youth group that I work with. Not only will I be helping the people of the Dominican Republic but I will be helping the kids in my youth group, the ones that I invest so much time and love into.

The reason I have been thinking about calling so much lately is because on Saturday I went to the CPYU Hope and Healing for Broken Kids seminar in Monroeville with one of my ministry classes. I did not expect the seminar to have the effect that it did on me. We discussed topics like self injury, which I have never really been exposed to, and suicide, which after the loss of my friend two Christmas seasons ago to suicide, touched home for me. The speaker read journal entries from teens dealing with depression, anger, and self injury. I felt myself taking on the burdens of the kids I was learning about. I just wanted to cry out and hug them. I was so effected by this conference that I began to question my calling. I began to think of the future and how every day the lives of the teens I worked with would weigh heavily on me. It would hurt like I was hurting now, maybe even worse because I would know these teens personally. Could I handle this? Was this really my calling?

Romans 8:28 

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

I was learning about passion. What it means to really care. God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. My heartache was good. My passion will make my ministry stronger and more affective. Without heartache, how could I help teenagers going through such devastating times in their lives? Rather than turning away from my calling this weekend has brought me that much closer to it. I can see vividly the work that I need to do to aid these broken kids. I know now that I have to reach these kids. God has appointed kids just for me to talk to, just for me to love on. I may be the only person that loves that teen on earth, and its my responsibility to show them that not only do I love them but there's a God who made them and loves them so much.

Challenge of the Day

Think about your passions. What drives you? What gets your blood boiling? What makes you happiest? When you can figure some of this out you will be so much closer to your calling and figuring out what God has for you to do. It will not always be easy but it will be worth it. You will get satisfaction of a good job here on earth and satisfaction knowing that you are making your Father proud. He loves you so much that He has given you passion. Do not get discouraged when your heartbreaks. It is a sin of passion.

Love in Christ

Until later Bloggers,

Court

Learning to Love Yourself

Self esteem is such a huge issue, for boys and girls alike. We are constantly looking to other people to build us up. The more people that like us, think we're attractive, or think we are good people the better we feel about ourselves. We look to relationships as a sign of worthiness. You can sit here and read this and say that this is not true for you, but you are either confused or just lying or got it together a lot more than I do. It is natural to look to other people to determine your own self worth. For me, this is one of my biggest struggles. I look to people to build me up, because on my own I do not feel good about myself. There is always someone better or better looking. This is a real challenge for me, a very personal part of my life that I may regret blogging about later.


I wish more than anything that I could find my self worth in Jesus Christ and who He says I am. I believe with my whole heart I will never be satisfied until I learn to love myself like my Creator loves me. I truly believe that but applying it to my life and making it a reality is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do. I wish I could write this blog and tell you here is how I perfected my self esteem and here is how you can do it too but I can't do that yet. Maybe the sole purpose of this blog is so that we can look back on this someday and see where God has brought me from.


No one is perfect. We all know that we can see it everyday in everything we do. We all have struggles that seem to almost completely overcome us, this is mine. Self esteem is my struggle but I know God can bring me out of this. He has a plan for me that I cannot fulfill until I get this taken care of. 


Challenge of the Day:
Address your struggle. Get real about it. God knows your struggle and somewhere inside you do too. Admit your struggle(s) to God and ask Him to take care of them. Whether your struggle is self esteem like me, or a substance addiction, or maybe you struggle with pornography, we all have struggles its okay to admit them to God. He wants to help you. He wants to be the one who delivers you from the heartache. Let Him. See what He can do with your life when you let Him take over. This is a challenge for me as well as you. We'll do it together and I will blog about my progress.


Here are some scriptures for anyone struggling with self esteem or self worth:

Psalm 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Song of Solomon 4:7 

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Love in Christ

Until Later Bloggers,

Court

Are you hungry?

Matthew 28:19-20 (New International Version)

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As I prepare for my mission trip, I have been reading up on scriptures given to us in our trip packet. This scripture really stood out to me today. It made me stop and really read through every word of this familiar verse. 


"Go and make disciples of ALL the nations." It does not say go and make disciples of your friends or your family or your neighborhood. It says GO. Leave. Do not just make disciples where it is easy for you. Tell all the nations. They all deserve to hear the good news of the gospel.


"Baptizing them." That part really struck me. Should I literally be baptizing people? Do I have that kind of authority? For me (and correct me if you feel I am wrong) I feel that I could teach people about the good news of Jesus Christ and teach them what it means to be baptized and made a new creature in Christ. As far as physically baptizing them myself, I would have to pray about it and do what God led me to do. 


"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Another phrase so commonly said but today it made me stop and think. The Trinity is such an amazing concept. One God in three parts. You have God the Creator who created Heaven and Earth and everything in between. Son, who is 100% God and 100% Human who came and died for our sins. And a Holy Spirit, who enters into us when we accept Jesus Christ, and who lives and breaths in us. Three awesome parts working together to form one perfect God. That's breathtaking. 


"And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" This is saying we know what foundations God has laid out for us. We know the Commandments and we know the laws and most importantly we know the love of Jesus Christ and salvation we receive from His death and resurrection. It seems almost second nature to us like "duuuh that's what you're supposed to do" but there are people out there who do not know! They do not know that the wages of sin are death. They do not know that Christ came to earth just to die so that we can have new life. They don't know. No one told them how God wants you to live. It's our job to share with people what God has shared with us, so that they too can find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.


"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


God never leaves us. He loves us so much that He is there every single step of the way. God of the universe goes to class with you. He eats lunch with you. He is there in the midst of your conversations with your friends. Right now as I sit in my room and type, He is here. How comforting is that? No matter where you are or what you are going through God is right there. He will never leave you. Think about that for a second. 


Challenge of the Day
Get into the Word today and while you are reading think deeper into scripture. I'm not saying trying to decode it and find hidden messages. I mean really read each word and take time to appreciate how good God really is. So good that He sent His son, and filled disciples with knowledge of Him so that they could tell us, that God gave us written word in form of the Bible. God gave us His words in writing! How often do we take advantage of that by not reading it. Get hungry for the word and hungry for the love of God.


Love in Christ
Until later Bloggers,
Court

"Mi primer viaje de misión"

The title of this blog is "My First Mission Trip" in Spanish.. well at least according to the internet. I have just recently decided to take an opportunity given to me by the youth group that I have been working with to go to Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic this summer for a week long mission trip! I am just so excited. There is a lot of preparation that has to take place first and a lot of money that I need to raise but I am just ecstatic.

Since coming to Geneva College the Lord has really been putting on my heart to go on a mission trip. Coming from a small church at home there were not a lot of opportunities to go out into the mission field. While at school, hearing other students stories of their trips, I decided it is definitely something I want to do. There is nothing cooler than stepping out of your comfort zone and traveling to tell people the good news of Jesus Christ. So, I knew I wanted to go on a trip but I didn't know how or who I would go with. God placed the perfect opportunity in my life. I will be going with a youth group I love and people I trust.

To some this trip may seem so impossible. It definitely looked impossible to me at first. I have to raise so much money in a short amount of time that to the world it would seem like an unattainable goal. I don't believe what this world tells me though I believe the truth that comes from Jesus and that truth is that nothing is impossible with God. He will make a way for this trip. He will make a way for me to go out and share the gospel.

What is so awesome to me though already in this process is the people that want to help. The majority of people who have approached me about making donations to my trip have been my friends, broke college students like myself. And although they cannot give me a ton of money, they are most definitely helping and just their support alone means the world to me. To have other college kids supporting me in my ministry is just amazing. It is truly the best feeling in the world. God has surrounded me with the most amazing people and I am so blessed.

Challenge of the Day: 
It would be unrealistic of me to ask  you to plan your own mission trip, although that would be awesome if you did! My challenge for you today is to get in touch with God and find out what it is He would have you do. We all have a calling and we all have specific tasks at hand specially for us from God. Get into his word and pray. See what awesome things He has for you do to!

If you all could be praying for my trip, both that I would meet the financial need and for the overall trip, I would appreciate it so much. Prayer is the best donation anyone can make. God is so good and faithful. He hears our prayers.

With Love in Christ
Until later Bloggers,
Court

Wild Thang

Since coming to college, I have realized how much my friends and the people around me effect how I act. This became really clear to me when I noticed how differently I acted when I was at home and when I was at school. For some college students, this may mean that they party hard at school and just less at home because their parents are around. That's not what I am talking about though. Being at a Christian college is great. You are constantly hearing the Word in class and surrounded by professors who love Jesus and students that have a passion for learning through a Christian education. In my hometown, I found that I was not always surrounded by these types of attitudes or passions. It was so easy to get lazy with my faith while at home. I saw that I was a different person. Now, I'm noticing it at school too. When my friends are on fire for God, it's easy to be too! What happens when my friends are having an off day? I feel that and I let it effect me. We are not of this world but we still live in it. We need to learn how to go through daily life pursuing God full throttle without allowing temptations of the world bring us down.

"Young people who obey the law are wise;
those with wild friends bring shame to their parents"
-Proverbs 28:7

Notice the scripture doesn't say "those who are wild bring shame to their parents." It says "those with wild friends." Is this because having crazy friends is shameful? After all Jesus hung out with "the least of these" didn't He? Maybe this scripture is recognizing our human nature. Having wild friends may not make you as wild as them, but it can bring you down. I have witnessed this is my own life. It's not to say that you should disown your "wild" friends, but make sure you are the one influencing them. That the light of Jesus shines through you so bright they can't help but notice. You may be the only light they have.

Challenge of the Day:
Be an encouragement to your "wild friends." Find a way to show them God's love, that they may find it too and give up their wild ways. Pray for your friends that seem unreachable and watch and see what happens. Pray that He gives you the words to say and perfect timing. God is so good and He wants you to succeed so trust Him!

*Continue to pray for my Gram. Her doctor's appointment is tomorrow.

Love in Christ
Until later Bloggers,
Court

Prayer Request

Taking a break from my typical blogs today and asking prayer for my gram. She has been feeling really sick lately and for the first time in her life she's feeling old. My gram is a woman of God and loves Jesus with her whole heart. She is a HUGE inspiration to me. She gets so excited to see what God's doing in the lives of her grandchildren.

She has a doctor's appointment this Wednesday to see what is causing her dizziness and migranes. Just keep her in your prayers this week.

God is so good all the time. He wants us to come to Him with requests like this one. Through all things I will praise His name.

Love in Christ,
Court

All Signs Point to Pittsburgh

Today my mom picked me up from my college in Beaver Falls, PA. On the way home, I noticed something really interesting about the road signs. On all the exit signs, the city of Pittsburgh was listed as a destination. First was the Cranberry exit that listed Pittsburgh and Erie. Other signs included Pittsburgh and Butler, Pittsburgh and Monroeville and the list goes on. It almost seemed like subliminal messages. As if the signs were saying "YOU SHOULD BE GOING TO PITTSBURGH." As we passed each of the signs I started thinking.

God sends us signs all the time to exit. Get off here, start a new destination. We don't listen. We keep driving. The awesome thing about God's grace is he gives us multiple chances to reach the same destination. You are never too far from God to go back to Him. He loves you and He will accept you no matter where you are in your life.

No matter how far you drive, there is always a way back to Pittsburgh. It might involve a U-turn or a lot of hours driving. What if instead of fighting off God's calling in your life you just listen and get off the appropriate exit? God has given you the top of the line GPS, the best you can buy, the bible. In it are directions to reaching your calling and improving your relationship with your Creator. Your GPS will recalculate for you when you get off track but it won't easy. God loves you so much that He gives you so many chances to come back to Him. Who else would wait around for you to love Him like He does?

Challenge of the Day:
Save yourself the hassel. Get off the exit. Stop fighting God's calling in your life. The longer you run away from it the more hurt you are going to face on the way back. The farther you have to drive, the more chances you have of getting speeding tickets and flat tires along the way. God's plans for you are far greater than what you could ever imagine for your own life.

Love in Christ
Until later Bloggers,
Court