What God is doing in my life

If y’all know much about me you know I recently graduated in May of 2019 I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling and this past December I graduated with a Master of Divinity in missions.  It’s kind of crazy and awesome at the same time because I basically graduated with two degrees back to back.  I’m not sure how God is going to use these degrees in my life but I am just following Him in faith knowing He will show me the next step and the next step and the next step.

If you know me you probably know I’ve been praying about what God wants me to do next.   I don’t know when exactly it was but 3 or 3 years ago I started the process to become certified as an ACBC counselor.  If you aren’t sure what that is it is the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.   The past few years have been an exciting and challenging adventure.  I went to my first biblical counseling conference in Florida and then went to one in Texas.  I’ve thought sometimes that I would never be certified and wondered if I was even doing the right thing but I just keep moving forward in faith.  I’ve been to Hawaii for three months and I love it there.  I can see myself going back there to one of the Islands if God allows someday.  The culture there is amazing and it leaves you unchanged. In some ways I had some of my most challenging times there but the friends and people I met there challenged me to be more like Christ.  The people there are the most welcoming and loving people I know.  The spirit of Aloha changes you and makes you want to be a better person.

I have been praying about what God wants me to do next and God has opened up an opportunity for me to go to Oregon.  I had been looking to do a biblical counseling internship somewhere and there was really no open doors.  I emailed a few people and checked a few places but it was either not the right timing or the people I contacted didn’t really do internships.  Recently I contacted a missions pastor in Oregon though and he answered right away and gave me the contact information of the biblical counseling pastor there.  He was the first person to say that he would be willing to help me and that there would be opportunity for me to do counseling there. I’ve thought about going to Oregon for a while.  It seems like a beautiful place.  I just didn’t know how it would work out to go there.  God has taken me so many places though, more than I ever deserve.  I’ve been able to see a lot of things that some people may never see and I’ve experienced things that have changed who I am for the good I think.  Anyways, for me to go to Oregon I was going to need to find a place to stay.  It got to where I thought maybe I was crazy to think God wanted me in Oregon and maybe I had just thought He was opening the door for me to go there.  I knew God would have to provide a place for me to stay if I wanted to go because I wouldn’t be able to go otherwise.  Flash forward a little and you have God showing up and showing what He can do in His perfect timing and in His way. A couple from the church I am going to be doing the internship at is willing to let me stay at their home.     I’m thankful that they are willing to let me stay with them.  It’s been quite the ride and quite the adventure. Some of those times have seemed scary and challenging and there will probably be more of those times but I’ll leave you with two of the songs I like.  One is by Rich Mullins and is called Hold me Jesus.  He starts off the song with these lyrics, “Well sometimes my life just don’t make sense at all.  When the mountains seem so big and my faith just seems so small. So hold me Jesus cuz I’m shaking like a leaf.  You have been king of my glory won’t you be my prince of peace?”  The other song is by Miley Cyrus and to me it just shows that even through the craziness and struggles of life it’s the journey and the adventures of life or “the climb” as she refers to it by.  Here are some of her lyrics, “  I can almost see it

That dream I'm dreaming but
There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it,
Every step I'm taking,
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking but I
Gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm going to remember most yeah
Just got to keep going
And I
I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, 'cause

There's always gonna be another… “. 

It’s the hard times and the good times and the moments that challenge us and change us to be more like Christ.  I’m pretty sure this is one of my life verses and that is Romans 8:28-30, “ 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified“.  And also a verse that one of my mentors loves is Philippians 3:12-14 which says, “ 12 Not that I have already attained,[a] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [b]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus“. Y’all let’s keep going forward and keep loving Jesus and others.  Let’s press forward that we may win the heavenly prize in Christ Jesus.  Love y’all and love being on this journey with you!  It’s sometimes scary and sometimes adventurous and sometimes challenging and hard but don’t forget God is working it out for our good and that’s to be more like Christ! It’s going to be good!!! Love y’all and look forward to living life with you!