BIG NEWS

Hi friends,
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22.
It is my birthday!
Congratulations must go to my mother for giving birth to me. I feel like I should be giving a gift for HER on my birthday, instead of the other way around. I mean, I certainly have a lot to thank her for.
But I am very blessed because I have more than my birthday to celebrate.

A while ago I came across a contest on Facebook to win a missions trip to Cameroon with OneBook. I asked my brother if he wanted to enter the contest, since I know he's always wanted to go to Africa. But he did not want to enter it and so I did. My friends and family ended up being extremely supportive. On the day that the voting of the contest ended, there was a tight race for votes between me and another competitor. The contest ended at one in the morning and I went to bed at  8:30 that night because I work very early. I decided to leave the contest in God's hands. What I did not know is that many of my friends were staying up late and following the contest closely, and asking their friends to vote for me!

To cut to the chase, the winner of the contest was announced today, and it is me.

I will be joining national Bible translators from all over the world in Cameroon in March and will be doing communications: essentially what I am doing on this blog- Through various media, I will spread the news of what God is doing. 

I am constantly astounded at where God takes us. Who would have thought I would be travelling to Africa twice in one year?? And I will not have to pay at all. Wow.

Here is a quote from Jim Palmer's Divine Nobodies, the book I am reading at the moment. It describes my life right now:  "He is what I`m looking for. The risks are worth it. I can't control or predict God, but I trust him enough to allow this journey of knowing him to take me wherever it may lead, even if I don't know where that is until I get there."

Of hobbits and trusting in God

A few weeks ago, my roommates and I hosted a potluck and the theme was "Hobbits." We made rabbit stew, friends brought "lembas bread", mushrooms, and ale, and we listened to the soundtrack of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It was a nerdy and enjoyable evening. Throughout the evening, the following quote from the Fellowship of the Ring came to my mind. It's something Bilbo Baggins said to Frodo.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

 

The road outside my front door...

And of course it's a poignant quote because Frodo does step onto the road, and he ends up being swept off into the most incredible adventure in literature. The thing is, the Lord of the Rings is about more than just Frodo. It's about a battle between good and evil. And Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship are not particularly heroic. They are simply courageous enough to fulfill their purpose in this battle.

I think following Jesus is kind of like that too. When you start following Jesus, you don't really know where you'll be swept off to. But there's always adventure. And we need to be courageous enough to step onto the road, to trust God to use us in this adventure. 

Lately I have been thinking about trusting God. I was able to catch a bit of the Nova Scotia Inter-Varsity retreat this past weekend and there was some teaching about Genesis. The story of chapters 1-3 of Genesis is heartbreaking. First God creates the world and it's perfect. Unblemished. And he creates two people and they have perfect community with each other and with God. And did I mention they live in a beautiful garden? Except there's this one thing: God sets limits. He says they can eat from any tree in the garden except for one. Later, a serpent comes along and basically says "Did God really say that?" Well, the people eat from the tree, and they die. Here's the thing about this story: the people ate from the tree because they doubted God. They did not trust that he had their best interest at heart. And since then, people have had a tough time trusting God. I certainly do. But God knows me even better than I know myself. He knows what is best for me. But sometimes what I think is best for me conflicts with what God thinks is best, and I am ashamed to say I often go with what I think is best. Like the story in Genesis, it does not end well.

So here I am, trying to be swept off onto this road of following Jesus, and trusting God to take me on this wonderful adventure.

I sing this song as a prayer:"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders."

And right now, I am getting to learn how to trust God a lot more. Like planning a 24-hour of prayer event on campus. Like entering a contest to go to Cameroon (Vote for me here if you haven't already. Thanks!). Like trying to figure out what to do next year. Oh, it's a dangerous business, going out my door.