Thanks!

I've been working on a list of 1,000 thankfuls. I reached one hundred today. 

There are a couple reasons I started the list. One of them is that I seem to get discouraged and overwhelmed really easily. As I chose to be thankful I am telling my discouragement to get out and choosing to believe that each moment was planned and a gift! 

I thought I'd share a few:

4. Food for every meal

16. Brady and Shannon offered me a job at Starbucks 

18. Krista and my fire started on the camping trip

24. Tall ceilings with windows at work to let in sunshine

25. Wool socks

28. Encouragement from roommates after a long day

45. Aimee's talks

49.Luke filling my anti-freeze

61. Birthday breakfast with Tiff and Dana

62. Hanging out in Mount Pleasant with Liz on my birthday

99. Quiet mornings before night shifts 

Thank you Father! Thank you for planning and giving me each day! Please help me to see it like that, especially when it doesn't feel that way!!!

Love Like Jumper Cables

I HATE car stuff. First of all I don't like it because it is smarter than me. I don't get it, but second because I have a car, which requires me to do said car things.

Every time I'm supposed to do a car thing, like check the oil, transmission fluid etc., I don't like it and get a bit nervous, but then actually having a problem and getting that fixed, that's a whole 'nother level. 

It's really a bit sad. I have tried to work at learning the important things to care for the car my Father (both my earthly and ultimately my eternal Father) has given me. I check said fluids and tire pressure, eventually I take it to get its oil changed and last winter after the battery dying I tried to learn how to jump my car for when the time comes again. It took about three times, but after that when my battery died on the 4th time I was actually able to jump it!!!

This week one of my roommates battery's died 2x, and miraculously I was able to help jump her car!!! Then later this week when I was driving home from work I thought, "Man, it's been a long day!" And I saw a woman whose car was broken down in the middle of the turn lane and realized it could be a lot worse!!! I hadn't ever thought to do this before, but I pulled over to help her. I got out there and thought, "What kind of help could I possibly offer her??? I don't know car stuff!!!" But I thought at least someone noticing her might be something that encourages her in this situation. When I got out there she was so appreciative, and I didn't do anything. I just stood there with her as she tried to cool off the radiator. Thankfully after a while one person jumped out of their car to help us push the car out of the road, but even after cooling off for a while the car wouldn't turn on. She told me she thought she'd need to get it jumped. I quickly pulled over and we were able to jump her car. She was elated. She hugged and kissed me and thanked me over and over again. 

It was so amazing to me that I was able to love this lady through something they I am so incompetent at! I was willing yet incapable to be of much help. But my Father is so much bigger than that and He had a plan to show His love to this lady through me, and at the end we were praising Jesus together.

Just like my jumper cables in my car, they aren't powerful on their own and can't start a car, but they are the means used to start a car, I am not able to show love on my own and don't have my own love, but I have the special privilege of carrying my Father's love to others. And my Father even uses me in areas I don't feel comfortable in or capable to be able to show His goodness.

Strangers or Friends?

It's crazy to think that three girls who used to be strangers a month ago now are a part of my life I really don't want to do without.

Tonight before leaving work I texted my 3 housemates to see if we could all eat together. We each brought some part to the meal and Dana made it all fit together.

While we sat down and talked and just caught up on our days and shared some random silly memories I thought to myself how much a part of my heart each person at the table has. I don't want to sit here as I get ready for bed and think that we'll all be the best of friends and that it will all be smooth sailing, but I also truly love each one of them. As we have been learning the ropes of our new town together, and had some crumby days I have seen their genuine, loving, caring hearts and I don't want to think about not having them as a part of my time here. I have been welcomed and accepted and know that each of them would give of themselves for me and have gone way out of their way to help me.

Whether that's listening to me talk as I process my day, or helping me get a new key after I lost mine and just stopping their day to pray with me. And after leaving a tight knit group of friends behind, I just don't think I could've imagined my Father would provide this kind of gift to me.

And honestly that's not even all of it. I also have a core team who are constantly going to the Father on my behalf and on the first time of meeting them are already like a teammate. Just last night we sat together and discussed plans for building community over the next few months and looking around the room I just felt privileged to be a part of something so special with people like we have on our team, and when I had exciting news to share with them today, it was like telling my family as they rejoiced with me, because it has been heavy in their hearts, like it has been on mine!

I know that even later this week I'll be struggling as I always do and wonder why I left what I was doing and moved here and what I think I am doing, and how I fit in. But I also know that I have so many blessing and I am seeing my Father provide and work and I want to remember both of those times, the best parts like tonight and those moments I am totally desperate for my Father and have nowhere else to turn!

Beach Life

Today one of my challenges is hydrating a sun burn, a little bit too much sun exposure in prime sun hours, however it was well worth it.

Today's trip to the beach, along with the many other trips are actually a part of what God is doing with Hope C here in Charleston. I praise my Father because He has given my 3 godly women to share a beautiful house with. Today 3 of us took a trip to the beach after church and just like the other 4 times this week, the Father used it to build relationships with the other team members he has brought to help start Hope C in Summerville. As we watched the waves and enjoyed the sand and sun, we also discussed the maker of the sand and sun and his work in us. We related over our families and the blessings they are as well as the struggles of picking up our lives and starting brand new.

Some of those we took to the shore with us were ones that are considering moving to SC and we talked about life and what the Father has been doing in their hearts. I never expected the beach would be such a key location for what the Father wants to do here! #blessed

It is such a sweet blessing to have these times together and hopefully many more to come. There are also many who are not here yet that are trying to find work and housing in order to move down here.

Please join me in asking the Father to unite our team so that we can share His love and truth with each of our unique gifts together!!

(To learn more or support Hope C, click here)

Perspective

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Ecc. 7:2

This passage came to my mind today as I watched the video of Beth Hopper's funeral. Beth was a woman from Faith Ch in Indiana who fought cancer for the past few years and died just weeks ago from cancer in her 30's. I did not know her personally, but I was able to hear her story last year as she shared it with a woman's group. (Check it out here).

It is so true what Soloman wrote, that going to a funeral gives us perspective and reminds us of how our lives are so brief. 

I have been struggling this week to trust. I wasn't here a few days when I became scared. Did I make the wrong choice? Should I have done something that was more secure? Should I have moved here without a job? Will I get a job?--And it was certainly irrational, especially considering that I had not even been here long enough for most of the companies to review my applications! However, those crazy irrational feelings quickly take over. 

It is so easy to lose perspective. As I sat and watched that video today, the thought was solidified in my mind--My Father has a BIG plan in place, and He has supplied me with EVERYTHING I need to do it! He is not sitting questioning like me, "What will I do with Timea?" "How will she ever survive?' "Is there ANYWHERE she can work?" No, He told me
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence," 2 Pet. 1:3.

I am so thankful that my Father brings me the truths I need just when I need them, and doesn't sit back when I am scared or doubting, but He is so quick to use His Word and His people and remind me of the truths I need to know!

The Move

One week ago I worked my last day at Vision of Hope in Lafayette, IN and said all my goodbyes before a very early departure on Wednesday morning. It was such a crazy week of high emotion for a number of reasons. The hardest part was leaving friends who I have grown to know and love for the past year and a half, where I have never been gone longer than ten days in that time!
I knew that this time would be so different. Every time I told another friend "See you later," was hard, but the most challenging ones were my fellow interns. Some of them knew me since the first time I visited Vision of Hope and all were ones who I had worked alongside day after day and even in the middle of the night. There is nothing like having people who have your back even when it's late or inconvenient, and ones who love you even after they've seen you at your worst! There were many moments we recalled as I told each one goodbye. I loved remembering stories of tears together and hard days as well as joys and victories.
As I hit the road I just spent a lot of time talking. I talked to my Father about my hurt and no longer being so close to such good friends and a great job. But I also got to share with Him my anticipation for moving to Charleston. Actually, as I drove I was getting videos of possible rental places from my future roommates as they toured places in our soon to be home, Summerville, SC! Such a strange mixture of emotions! But I am so thankful for good friends worth missing as well as the adventure ahead of me!
And that adventure is what I want to let you in on! My sister Tab and her husband Robb have been serving in their church in Lynchburg, VA and are being sent by their church to plant a church. They have been prayerfully considering moving to do this in the Charleston area for a year and half, and over a year ago they invited me to join them. As I heard them sharing about it more, I decided I wanted to join in October. What really drew me in was how they wanted to do this. They said they wanted a team of people in 
Charleston to be working jobs and sharing the G*spel in their workplace and community and starting small group B*ble studies. That got me because that is exactly what I want to do oversees someday! And that is how any Follower should live!

So right now my main focus is job searching. Thankfully God has provided us with a rental place (me and 3 other girls on the team),
I would love your prayers for this and for boldness on my part to live out my faith and for the Spirit to stir up interest and questions in the people I will interact with!

Testimony

This is a blog posted on Vision of Hope's Blog that I am reposting (see this link for the original http://blogs.faithlafayette.org/voh/2014/09/21/all-about-him-timeas-story/):

It has been a true honor and privilege so far to hear from our current interns as they share their stories of Christ’s redemption! Today, I would like to introduce you to let another one of our wonderful servants. Timea came to us in January, 2014. She was a missionary kid, born in Hungary. She was raised in upstate New York and the Czech Republic. Timea learned about Vision of Hope while attending Word of Life Bible Institute in New York, and God led her here!
We are very thankful for Timea and the time she has spent with us so far. Please be encouraged as Timea shares about how God radically took hold of her life:
“As a young child my parents told me of a God who made everything. I also learned that the bad things I did separated me from Him and soon learned about the way that I could know Him and be in a relationship with Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. When I was 4 years old, I put my trust in Jesus’ taking my sin and my punishment to be saved.
Although I was surrounded by good teaching from the Bible, it wasn’t until I was 13 that I really started to care. God answered some of my prayers and I saw His care for me personally. He also gave me friends who really loved God. Through time with God and godly friends, God began challenging me and teaching me what it meant to be a Christian and to follow Him.
In High School, some of my beliefs about God were really challenged in some difficult situations. At the time, I was trying to figure out how what I had learned my whole life about God lined up with what I saw happening. I praise God that in that time He brought a wise, mature Christian woman into my life who loved God. As she spoke about Him, I saw His heart and His love in the stories that were so familiar, and it gave me a love for Him. She also shared with me the importance of keeping the truths of God and the Gospel in my focus at all times. Doing this over the past few years, my relationship with Him has continued to deepen. He continues to bring me through challenges and reveal my sinful heart, but as I go back to the teachings of the Gospel and His Word I have a foundation and a place to go with my questions and difficulties.
As God is working in me now, I hope to continue to look more like Jesus and bring glory to God, so that is what I am trying to focus on for my next steps. My dream job would be to be a missionary overseas.”
I also asked Timea to share what she has learned so far during her 8 months as an intern. She answers:
“I don’t even know where to start! There are so many things God has taught me. The most foundational one in my time here is learning why I do things the way I do and why I struggle with sin—my desires! James writes that it is our desires that make us struggle with sin. Since being at Vision of Hope, I’ve begun to see what often are my driving desires. It’s been a difficult and uncomfortable learning experience to see my own sin and my desires to please myself and make myself look good, more than I want to please God and make him look good.”
Thank you, Timea, for sharing your story and reminding us that it’s not about what we want – it’s all about God! Keep checking in to read more stories of God’s transforming love!