Watched this in church today. So encouraging! :)

1st Beauty & Identity Teaching Accomplished! :)

As you may have read in my last post, I've had a few pretty crazy weeks.  We've had a lot to get done before Infusion started, and now it's here!  A tiny part of me thought that once Infusion started, things might be a little bit more relaxed; but our schedule is definitely full!  I've been so grateful for a few hours off today to recoup and get a homework assignment done, and now I'm feeling much less stressed out.


Yesterday I was one of three lucky ladies to get to speak on Beauty & Identity to our Infusion ladies.  There were about thirty of us in the teaching, talking truth to each other about how beautiful God's designed us and decorating mirrors for ourselves with lots and lots of sparkles.  It was the first time I've ever spoken to a collective group of women about Beauty and Identity, and it was so much fun.  I was so nervous, but I had so many friends here in LA and family back home in Idaho praying for me during my teaching time that I knew I'd be okay.  And I was.  :)


I'll share a little bit with you about what I spoke on, because as I was putting together the teaching I learned a lot.  Funny story actually.  I was only going to share my testimony during my speaking time, but a few days prior when I sat down to write it out, there was a ton of other stuff on my heart to teach on.  It was definitely God, because a lot of what I wrote down were things that had been so far from my mind beforehand.


My goal was to paint a picture for these women of how much God desires for them to know the truth about themselves.  About how God wants to say something to us about our beauty and identity every single day.  That beauty is a huge part of a woman's identity, just because that's how God has designed us.  And most importantly that our identities are lined in the truth that God says about us.  


With that said, I talked about how crucial it is for us as females to talk with each other about our struggles with identity, beauty, insecurity, etc.  Because we must be interdependent to overcome lies, and we must have accountability with each other to grow in God's word and in God's truth.  And that praying for each other in hard times is such a need, because sometimes the only thing that can break off the enemy's strongholds against us.


Also, if finding identity lies in seeking God's truth, than we must read what's known to be the Book of Truth... the Bible! :)  God has so much to speak to us about how precious and irreplaceable we are in the Bible.  About how unique and beautiful He's made us on the outside, and the traits He's given us in our personalities.  And how He desires for us to continue to seek Him to become more beautiful on the inside, and to put effort in becoming Proverbs 31 women.


Continuously seeking Him and diligently going after His truth will reveal so much to us about our beauty and identity.  It's unlikely that we will know how truly beautiful and wonderful we are as women without spending time reading the Word, praying, or simply sitting in a quiet room with God.  This is what will feed our souls, and help us to discern the truth that God says about us versus what a Cosmo magazine says about us.


I encourage all of you ladies out there (and men, too :)) to keep on keeping on!  Read your Bibles even if only for a few minutes.  Pray every morning while you're on your way to work.  Give time to God.  It's so rewarding, and something all of us should be doing more.  Seriously, I'm saying this to myself probably more than I am to you.  


I love you all, and hope you've enjoyed a wonderful weekend!!


-Nan :)

Your identity lies in the truth God says about you.

Busy and Messy :)

I'll be honest, this post is probably going to seem a bit hurried, short, and messy; and that’s because it is.  I'm writing just before dinner, while grinding coffee to take on a camping trip tomorrow, and also preparing a teaching on Beauty & Identity I'll be sharing with Infusion ladies on Saturday.  It’s been a busy weekend.  J

The last week has been quite fun as we’re gearing up for Infusion (a "mini DTS" of sorts for youth ages 13 to 17), taking care of all the logistics and making shopping trips and all kinds of things.  In the business, quiet time with God has been super refreshing and I've been reminded of the importance of making time every day to do that.  At times it’s been a bit of a test to remember to make time for God in the last week, but it's been really good.

Updating you on my last post, God's also been working in me more and more to remember to live each day to its fullest.  Let me tell you, the amount of stress I've been feeling towards the future and my workload has diminished exceedingly.  It's been awesome, and I'm loving how much happier and excited I am for each individual day and what I get to accomplish in that time.  

God's also been showing me how to have a little more patience.  I'm the baby in my family, so that's something I've always needed extra time spent on. :)  Working with so many different people from so many different cultures, backgrounds, etc. has really stretched me to have patience and understanding before becoming upset or antsy in a given situation. 

Just a little bit of what God has been teaching me in the last week, and I wish I could update you more.  I hope you have an amazing week, and I love you all! 

Waiting For Now

Sometimes I forget to live in the moment.

I’m so focused all the time on my “next step” or what is going to happen in the months and years to come, that I forget about the days I’m living right now.  Sometimes an entire day will go by and I’ll realize that I wasn’t fully living that day out.  I can spend hours a day thinking about how my life will look after SOMD, YWAM, marriage, etc.  And in this I’m missing out on what God wants to do in me right now. 

I’ve noticed that especially in the last few months, I feel like I’ve been in a waiting room.  Like I’m just waiting each day out until finally I get to move on to the next thing.  I’m sitting in a room, twiddling my thumbs, anticipating when it’ll finally be my turn to see the doctor.  All the while thinking about all the other things I should be doing at the time. 

Waiting for what God has to show me as my next step doesn’t mean that I have to push the “pause” button on my life now.  I didn’t realize how often I do this until I recently listened to a sermon that discussed the entire subject of waiting.  In summary, the message conveyed that if God has put you into a waiting period… then you’d better be using your time wisely.  How you spend every moment of every day matters.  Whether watching TV or Facebook Stalking; reading the Bible or investing in people’s lives. 

The things that your days are consumed with are the things that will matter most to you in life.  So if I’m sitting around all day worrying about where God wants to send me after SOMD or how I’m going to get the finances to do so, then those things will matter most to me.  Then I’ll be stuck in a state of worry and anxiety until God reveals his plans to me.  This will most likely become a pattern throughout my life, distracting me from what I should be focusing on. 

What I want to be focusing on are the things that will matter the most in this life, like growth in my relationship with God and with others.  Without growth in my relationship with God, I’ll end up living a life where I’m unsure about what God’s truth is.  I’ll be consumed with what the world sees as truth instead of seeking God for his thoughts.

Playing the waiting game isn’t very fun, though sometimes it’s necessary.  But that doesn’t mean I have to miss out on opportunities with God, with friends, family, etc. in the process.  Because God wants to do something in me every single day, and for each moment I spend thinking about “what’s next” I run the risk of missing out on what that might be.  So no more for me!  I’m just going to have to trust God that He’ll show me His plans for me in His perfect timing.  Just like it’s supposed to be. 

Love you all and hope you have an amazing 4th of July!