i wanna set the world on fire

 

tifts and galents

i think God gives us gifts and talents. i'm in nursing school and some people faint at the sight of blood. i can't deal with 20 screaming first graders, so i'm thankful some are gifted with teaching. i have to use a calculator to solve simple math problems and i'm not good at balancing my checkbook, so i'm glad i don't work work with numbers. my outfits don't always match and i seem to be behind in the fashion world so i'm glad i'm not an apparel designer. i'm not so eloquent with words and i get nervous and red when i speak in groups, so i'm glad others have the gift of public speaking. God gives all of us talents and things we're good at so that we can give them back to him. note that God wants us to give them back to him. let us never take credit for what God has gifted us with.

passion

i realized that i'm not completely passionate about very many things. i had a revolutionary thought the other day. (i'll explain in a minute...)

i've just recently picked up the sport of track. i've been running, training nearly every day, i even bought some track spikes. i've competed in a track meet (and didn't do so hot). my ultimate goal is not to make it to the olympics. sure i want to do well and to run fast, but my original intent in doing this was just to stay in shape and be fit and healthy. my coach (who's awesome by the way) pushes me to do well and gives me tips on how to increase my speed, but at the end of the day, i'm not passionate about track.

 i'm about to graduate from nursing school. i mean, like in 13 days, i'm about to graduate. i chose the nursing profession because i love caring and connecting with people. i wanna be that nurse that can make the difference in someone's hospital stay. i want to exceed people's expectations and go out of the way to make my patients feel comfortable and informed. i love learning about the body (maybe not enough to study as much as i should) and seeing how the puzzle fits together when it comes to health problems and diseases. i wanna use these skills to go overseas and minister to people in other countries who don't have the means to stay healthy. i want to help with physical needs around the world, but more than that, i wanna use my nursing skills to share with people about the Great Physician. i wanna share how my God is a healer and a sustainer of life. but at the end of the day, i'm not passionate about nursing.



i love to read. i wish i had more time to read. i love to read biographies. i love to read novels. i love to read inspirational stories. i love to read magazine articles. but i have a problem. i get really excited about a book and read a couple chapters, then i see another book that i get super excited about and i start it, leaving the other half-read on my desk. i love to read, but at the end of the day, i'm not passionate about reading.



so i had this revolutionary thought the other day. what if i was 100% completely passionate about one thing. how would that one thing change my life? how would my day to day life play out? what would my thoughts about this one thing consist of? who would i hang out with? what would i talk about? would this one thing take over my whole life? 

i want to be 100% completely passionate about jesus. his heart beats for the world to know him . i want my heart to beat for the world to know him. i want my first thought when i wake up in the morning to be about jesus. i want my last thought to be about jesus before i drift off to sleep. i want to talk about jesus with my friends. i want it to be natural to share about jesus with my friends. i want to be jesus to the world. i want to be his hands and feet. jesus was a servant. i want to be a servant. jesus was humble. i want to be humble. jesus was radical. i want to be radical. jesus was compassionate. i want to be compassionate. jesus was love. i want to be love. 

i want to be passionate about jesus. and i want it to be obvious. 

rex

my puppy rex died about a week and a half ago. he was over 14 years old, and lived a good long life. he was quite possibly the best dog in the whole world. he found us and slept in our garage one night about 14 years ago, and being the little girl i was, i set a bowl of dog food because i didn't want him to starve, and he kept coming back. his owners never searched for him, "can we keep him, puh-lease?" so we kept him.

we took long bike rides and he would chase after me and he would chase cars too :) he had the biggest water bowl of any dog - he drank out of our swimming pool (i think i would bet that's why he lived so long... chlorine... it lengthens a dogs life :)...) he was so sweet to us. he would nuzzle his head under our hand so that we would scratch him.

he outlived any of our other dogs. he taught amy and mocha how to play out in the street, but forgot to teach them how to avoid cars. he got a little jealous when toby came to live with us because toby was a little demanding dog with more energy. but rex was sweet, stable, lovable rex.

he was a wimp when it came to bad weather. if there was even a drop of rain, he would start wimpering until someone let him come inside to go to the garage. because he was an outside dog, he didn't come in much. when he did, we would get really excited and run around the house like a squirrel being electrocuted. he was so excited he would even pee a little bit :)

rex was our little garbage disposal. "mom, i don't want the rest of this chicken." "give it to rex." one time we gave rex waffles. he scarfed them up like he hadn't eaten in years. so anytime i didn't finish my waffle, i tossed it out to rex. my dad was putting in a sprinkler system in our backyard and dug up some tunnels for the pipes. he dug right into a little waffle graveyard. apparently rex didn't really like those waffles.

a few years ago, rex kept getting out of the backyard and we couldn't figure out if there was a hole in the fence or if he was just pushing hard on the gate. so i watched him from the back window. he casually walked over to the back corner of the fence and took his time. he stopped and looked around for a little bit to see if anyone was looking. he looked at the back door to see if any of the heido's were watching him. then he made his move. he dug a little hole under the fence and he slid through the cracks... i just died laughing because he was like a little human, watching his back, trying to get away with something!

i'll miss that little puppy! he was the sweetest thing i ever did see!

new experiment

hey what's up friends? so this whole blog thing is new to me, and i don't really know what's going on, but i thought i'd create a journal/smorgasboard for the thoughts and ideas in my head. i hope to show a little bit about who i am, encourage those i come in contact with, and be a true friend to those in need.

i don't just wanna be a girl who loves God and knows a little bit about the Bible... i want to be a woman after God's own heart. i want to be a vessel used for God's purposes. who cares what i want. it's not about me.

God is big!

i've been challenged to pray for different countries of this world God has put us in. through this book operation world, i've learned so much about how other countries function, and it's given me a bigger heart for the world :) on this particular day, i was praying for columbia, and this was one of the answers to prayer that was listed to pray for. it read:

"God is reaching the lowest and most desperate. Bellavista Prison is a maximum security prison in Medellin that was often called "hell on earth" where the murder rate often topped one per day. Through prayer and the bold witness of some anointed believers the prison has seen a remarkable turning of the most hardened criminals to Christ. Large numbers of the inmates are now believers, and round the clock prayer chains often function. The spirit of murder has all but disappeared, and the brutal conditions improved. Now, a Bible Institute has formed in the prison, training inmates for ministry once they are released."

after i read that and picked my jaw up off the desk, my second thought was, "wow, don't we serve an amazing God?!" when most people would have given up and said these men would never know Jesus, through the power of prayer and the direction of the Holy Spirit, this prison has turned into a seminary! ha! that's amazing!
can we all just stop and smile and praise Jesus for a second! that's awesome!
i hope you are encouraged today that what you're doing is worth it. you might not be seeing results x10 right now, but God is moving when we are obedient to share the gospel! take time out today just to praise God for ways that make no earthly sense! :)