The fulfilling life of living with Jesus

Jesus is so incredibly consistent and faithful.

I just wanted to pop on here today to share a few more fun photos and details, but mostly just to express how grateful I am for the fact that Jesus walks alongside me. I have been learning more than I ever thought I could learn about Jesus and life. I knew when I signed up for the gap year that I would be experiencing Jesus in amazing ways but I just never knew what that would actually feel like. I have been doing a lot of heart examining and deep thinking which is sometimes really hard for me but it has been so good and so needed. God has been teaching me so many different things and I am just so excited and ready to live out some of the wisdom I have been learning. Obviously I will not be able to do this perfectly, but I am not alone. Sometimes just seeing little growths in your own heart can be the most encouraging thing.

Here are briefly a few things that God has been teaching me.

1. God does not break his promises and He never works against himself (He simply uses the bad for His and our good). A quote that has helped me with this is "Often the purposes of God seem delayed but they are always fulfilled. God's delays are not his denials, and He has a loving purpose in every delay."

2. God wants a moving vessel. He wants us to be actively working, searching, and trusting Him. Recently, this has applied mostly to my fears about my future and plans. I don't want to be sitting in uncertainty and frustration. I want to be working, always for His glory and to serve and love others, searching, to know more of Him and His personal love for me, and trusting, His good promises and plans for me and the truth that I find in His word.

3. Just being with the Lord and in His presence is far better than ANYTHING.

I will probably be learning how to rest for the rest of my life (No pun intended;). We have a real need to spend time with Jesus and He lovingly knows this. The invitation to "Come away with me" is always there. The table (& a rich feast!) is set for two - for you and your loving father. He simply wants us to know Him! He knows this will bring us the most joy. Psalm 84 and John 15:4-11 !!!!

These are just a few highlighted things the Lord has been placing on my heart. All of my training sessions at the office have been super fruitful and encouraging. They have made me think deeper than I ever have before.

So what has my day to day life looked like while here for training in Orlando Florida?

Well to start, I am usually at the office Monday-Friday from around 10am-5pm with the exception of Wednesday and Thursday mornings. At the office, several staff or guest speakers will come in and share some of their God-given wisdom with us! The topics we have covered so far are; budget, team norms, evangelism, how to study the Bible, how to listen and ask good questions, social media, conflict management, strengths finders, how to lead a bible study, how to use technology tools (like apps and short videos) to share the gospel, how to face spiritual battle and address the false views we have of ourselves, sabbath rest, and other practical tools to help with high school ministry. Each of these topics have been super helpful and we still have a few more to cover! As you can probably tell, ours days are pretty long and sometimes very exhausting. I am excited to put to practice the information I have been receiving.

Life at the office :) Top left picture- Part of the team (left to right) Bethanie (Administrative Assistant and sweet friend), Kathryn (Team Leader), Mackenzie (Team Leader), Jill (Gap Year Director), Alondra (Student), Me (student), JP (student), and we are waiting on one more teammate (Precious) to join us! Top right picture- Alondra and I presenting some of what we are learning. Bottom left picture- games during lunch break! Bottom right picture- pretty office space.

On Wednesday and Thursday mornings we do ministry with the local staff on public high school campuses.

Learning how high school ministry works! Left picture- team + staff at the local Lake Nona High School. Middle picture- sharing part of my testimony! Left picture- student outreach and small groups during their lunch period at Lake Howell High School.

What about the rest of the time?

Tuesdays are team time days so we will do whatever! Its always a good time and fun team building.

Evenings we usually cook together, watch movies, play games, or get work done.

And weekends are super chill and a great time to rest and spend time in the Word!

I am so excited to finish up my month of training here in Orlando and move on to overseas ministry, but I am also super grateful for this time and what I have been able to learn.

Here are some prayer requests as we finish up our last week and a bit here and prepare to head out.

1. As I briefly mentioned before we are waiting on one more student to join our team. Precious is from Uganda and was planning to spend the whole year with our team. Unfortunately her U.S. Visa got denied and so she has been joining our training sessions virtually. We long for her to be with us in person for the rest of the time so please pray for a miracle. She still needs her Central Asia and Egyptian Visas approved.

2. Just pray for energy for the whole team and continued time in the Word.

My two big goals for this year are: 1. To fall more and more in love with Jesus, and 2. To grow in dependency on Him. If I am even one more ounce in love with Jesus and more dependent on Him by the end, then this year will be completely worth it. And I know that Jesus will do so much more than that.

Later skaters ;)

-Meg