Perspective Changes Everything

I walked down the beach to watch the sunset this evening. I needed the time to unwind from a day of work, but also wanted to get away to seek God about some upcoming opportunities in my life.

God used this time of undivided attention to whisper his thoughts to me. I came to God seeking answers and instead was given the impulse to get down close to the ground to look at a piece of sea weed.

 From my vantage point above, it looked like a bunch of barren sticks sitting in the water.  As I knelt down to really look at it closely, these sticks came to life with each individual branch gleaming from the setting sun. I was amazed to see how the perspective changed the way I saw those sea branches.

It was as if someone whispered in my ear, "perspective changes everything." So I asked God, "what perspective should I be looking at these decisions I have to make? His answer was simply, "Mine."

I've been looking at things from one angle. It was a narrow point of view, and one that did not include beauty in it. I can become blinded to everything and just see things straight up the way they are, at least from my one perspective. I've been looking at the opportunities that have been unfolding for this summer, and instead of seeing God's hand at work, I've been asking myself, how will I provide? 

Of course the answer for my question was also being answered by God in the very moment, when a flock of seagulls landed in the surf.

Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?

 - Matthew 6:26

How quick I am to forget His provision in my life!

I sat on a sand dune to watch the sun slowly sink down into the horizon. I said to myself, "wow, that sky is amazing!" As soon as I thought it, God spoke to me again, "The beauty is not coming from the sky itself, it's coming from the Sun. It's the Sun's reflection on the clouds that cause the sky to be so beautiful. The "messier" the sky the sky is with clouds, the prettier the sunset ends up being. 

 I broke down with the realization that I am a flawed person. All I have as an offering to Christ is my messy life, but he uses that very same mess and makes it into something good to reflect His glory, the glory of His SON!

God uses our failures, mess, and often the ugliness in our lives to bring His beauty into the world. He asks that we give all of ourselves, withholding nothing, and with that, he transforms us into something beautiful. 

When we can see only the mess, he whispers to us, "Perspective is everything. I want you to see your life through my eyes."

Self-Publishing School

I want to take a moment to share a big announcement in my life....(drum-roll please)

As of today I have officially begun the journey of writing and self-publishing my first book!

I'll be working with a network of around 70 other people from all over the world who are also in the midst of writing their own books. I can't wait to share this journey with you guys (more on the subject of the book later).

Like a Sea Star

Alright, here it goes.

I've written a half dozen different blog posts in the past six months, but have never posted them.

My life went from new discoveries every day, to being dramatically less exciting within moments. By mid-July, I longed to just rest my head on the same pillow for more than two nights in a row. While on the one hand I thrilled in the new adventures, a large part of me longed for the comforts of something that was familiar. Once I was back in the US, I began to realize that the things that I though were so familiar, seemed foreign to me.

How many times had I dreamed of being able to get whatever I wanted at the grocery store, just to get there and stand in confusion for 30 minutes because of the mass variety of products available. There's a whole isle of different kinds of peanut butter! An entire grocery store in Ibadan can fit inside the produce section in any given store in the US.

Part of my struggle with adjusting back to the US was the sudden lack of purpose. I came back without a job in line. I moved to a new city where I hardly knew anyone, and at first, I thought it was the most wonderful thing. After traveling for a month straight, and being swamped with grading, lesson planning, and school for months before that, the quite and solitude felt amazing.

We are not meant to live like this though. Everyone needs a drive to keep them going and I didn't know what that was. I had given four years of my life to teaching, only to confirm that that wasn't where my dreams lie.

On top of all of that, for a time, I didn't even know HOW  or WHERE to get out and do anything. I felt glued to my sofa. I'd been living confined in a compound without the freedom to wander around at will. Once I had complete freedom, I didn't even know what to do with it. Where would I go? I didn't know anyone, what could I do?

One evening, I was tired of sitting on the couch, so I decided, no more of this! For the first time in months, I got up and went somewhere by myself! I took a walk along the beach at sunset, and it was amazing. I had been living in a place with so much pollution and smog that you could never see a truly colorful sunset. Here, however, I was surrounded by beauty beyond description. It stirred something within me, I would no longer be content with letting my life pass by me as I curled up in my safe cocoon!

Last week, I was walking along the beach and came across several star fish stranded on the beach. One of them was in the surf. Wave after wave washed over him. All he had to do was let go, and he would be free to be washed in the waves and back in the ocean.

I realized that I've been a lot like this. I've been afraid to let go of the things that I thought were keeping me on solid ground. I thought the occasional waves washing over me were enough to give me life, but when I let go, I found that there was a whole ocean that I was missing!

So if you wonder why I haven't blogged, well I've been in hibernation. I've turned a new chapter in my life and have exciting things in store!

In the beginning you were singing 
In the end you'll still be singing over me 
In this moment you're right beside me 
You're everywhere, you're in the air that I breathe 

You are an endless ocean, a bottomless sea 

In my sin you kept loving 
There's no end to your forgiveness and mercy 
Every morning you keep coming 
The waves of your affection keep washing over me 

You are an endless ocean, a bottomless sea

Jonathan David Helser

Home 7.19.14

I'm posting this 7 months late, but here it is...

Today I arrived home after 7 months and 13 days of being away and 11 months since I first embarked for Nigeria.

This past year has given me the opportunity of living overseas, getting immersed in new cultures and making some amazing new friends.

I haven't added the exact minutes, but approximately 10 full days out of the last 365 have been spent on an airplane. 

The travels started a year ago today when one of my college roommate's and I visited another roommate in Colorado. After returning, I had just weeks to prepare for my journey to Nigeria. 

In the past year, I've been in 19 different airports in 12 separate countries and in 4 different continents. (And some airports multiple times) I've flown with numerous airlines.  I've stepped foot in 6 new countries.  

This marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. 

All Heaven and Earth Sing

The past several weeks have been filled with constant busy-ness. From writing and grading exams, packing, then saying goodbyes to an amazing trip to South Africa with my brother Brian(more on that later).

This past weekend Briand and I went to an Afrikaans church in Wellington, SA. Although I couldn't understand the songs or sermon, there is a sort of joy that comes with worshipping with believers in other tongues and nations. Although we speak different languages, we worship the same God. Our same Lord is praised from one end of the earth to another. 

As I was thinking about this today, a thought came to me. We don't just worship God with fellow believers accross the world, we are also joining in a heavenly chorus. I guess I've thought about it before, but it never really registered with me. We sing and join in the chorus with the angels and with those who have gone before us to heaven. All of heaven and earth sing his praises in one giant chorus!

Revelation Song

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

Holy, holy is He

Sing a new song to Him who sits on

Heaven's mercy seat

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

Holy, holy is He

Sing a new song to Him who sits on

Heaven's mercy seat

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings

You are my everything and I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows of living color

Flashes of lighting rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor strength and glory and power be

To You the only wise King

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings

You are my everything and I will adore You

Filled with wonder awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your name

Jesus Your name is power, breath and living water

Such a marvelous mystery

Oh, You're worthy, mystery

You are worthy

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings

You are my everything and I will adore You, I will adore You"

Funke

Funke is one of the most beautiful people I know, but I'm afraid that the pictures may not do justice to the beauty that she exudes. She will never win a beauty contest. By the world's standards, she could just be at the bottom of the totem pole, but she's at the top of mine.

Not much is known about Funke, she had no home, no known family. No one knows her age or the day she was born. Funke can't speak, so even if she did know about her background, she couldn't tell us. She was found on the side of the street, and since that day as been part of the Jesus Kids family.

Several weeks ago, we had a birthday party for one of the girls, and we could see that Funke was quite jealous, but also upset that she didn't even know when her birthday was.

So we decided to have a surprise birthday party for her today. We started out, just like any normal Sunday morning, with singing and then a Bible lesson. We read to them from the Jesus Storybook Bible, which has such a great way of putting the Bible stories.

I love the way they write the story of the woman who anointed Jesus feet with oil from the alabaster jar. The book makes the parallel to Samuel the prophet in the Old Testament anointing David as King. But there was no prophet to anoint Jesus as king. Instead, God chose a woman and a renown sinner to be the one who would declare that he was the Lord. She understood her sin and came to the Lord for forgiveness, whereas the men that Jesus was seated with considered themselves to be pretty good people.

I had just finished reading to them and said, I want to also recognize another very special woman, and we are going to look at a book about her. I pulled out a photo album I had made, full of pictures of Funke with the rest of us. When she realized what was happening, she just started squealing with delight.

She couldn't stop squealing with happiness for the longest time, as she asked to take pictures with all of us.

 Funke, showing off the new jewelry she got for her birthday.

She was so excited with all of her gifts!

Happy 2 Years!

I thought this went out yesterday, but I think the internet must have cut off while it was loading, so here it is...

Today is a celebration for me. It marks 2 years since I had foot surgery and got new feet! After having bunions for most of my life, I got them removed.

What are bunions? Don't old ladies get those? These large bone protrusions at the base of the big toe, typically are on older women, unless you have the misfortune of inheriting them genetically.

Not only did they look bad, and make it hard to buy shoes, but they were also extremely painful.

Surgery day!

I wish I had gotten a picture of my feet, but you can see how  they looked with the socks.

For several weeks after surgery, this was the only sight of my feet that I saw...these mutton chops!

After several days of crawling on my hand and knees to use the restroom, my parents gave me the gift of industrial knee pads!

My best friend, Liz, had knee surgery around the same time, so the two of got to be cripples together.

I was so thankful for a friend to share in the misery and monotony of life as a bedridden cripple.

On day, when Liz and I were just getting back on our feet, we went shopping together. I noticed a couple of stares when we pulled into the handicapped parking at the grocery store. I'm sure they were thinking, "What were two, young, perfectly healthy looking girls doing parking in this spot!? " That was, until we opened the doors and both hobbled out to the closest 

eventually, I didn't have to wear the gauze wraps around my feet, and were able to use these.

For two months I was bedridden and completely at the mercy of  gracious friends who would come and take me places, just so that I could get out of the house. My surgery changed me in more ways than one. Yes,  I have beautiful strait feet now. For the first time in my life that I can remember, I am able to find shoes that can fit. But even more than that, I've learned some things along the way. I've never been so completely helpless and reliant on others. It's not fun being helpless! When you have to get down on your hands and knees to do the simplest thing, such as using the restroom, it's humbling. 

It's hard to have to watch people have fun, play sports, or dance, when you love to be active and want to join in. It's frustrating to be bound to a wheelchair, that can only be pushed around by other people. It's hard to know I was running 6 miles at a time, only to stumble with pain at 6 steps.

Through this time, I have learned to be empathetic to those who can't get around as easily as I can. I see the people here in Nigeria, on the sides of the street whose bodies have been twisted by polio, and I know their pain. Because of this experience, I have learned empathy and I hope it's something I won't soon forget. The scars down the side of my feet remind me of what was and what I went through, and I give God thanks for it all!