what i know for sure...

for today's post, i wanted to share with you an email i sent to ash today. i know that we serve a mighty big God who promises us mighty great things, and loves us in a mighty strong way. join me in praying for ashley and charlie and baby rhett today, asking that our Father would just overwhelm them with His presence and His love.

ashley told me that she might do a blog or at least a journal, and she loved how oprah uses the phrase "what i know for sure." what i know for sure, is that God is in control.

ash,

girl, i just want to start by saying that i have been so impressed, so challenged, and so convicted by the amount of faith i have seen in you these last few days. i cannot even imagine what you are feeling, thinking, and living through. your peace, your faith, and your confidence i know is a blessing from the Lord and a result of your clinging to Him. 

while i don't know what to say, i know these things:

God is all powerful- "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. "- 2 cor. 4:7-10

God wants to root you in His love even now- "and i pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - eph. 3:17-19

God is in control- "therefore i tell you, do not worry about life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. are you not much more valuable than they?"-matt. 6:25

God can be your joy even now- "though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."-1 peter 1:8

God is your hope even now- "To them God has chosen to make known among the gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is CHrist in you, the hope of glory" - col. 1:27

"we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."- 1 timothy 4:10

"set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." -1 peter 1:13

God is good and wants the BEST for you- "and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." - romans 8:28

God is your foundation & firm ground- "therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 cor. 15:58

God has already prepared you for this- "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us."-eph. 2:10

"being confident in this, that he who bega a good work in you will carry it on to completion until teh day of Christ jesus"-phil. 1:6

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godlieness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."-2 peter 1:3

God has a plan for you, for Rhett, and for your family- "for i know the plans i have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."-jeremiah 29:11

God is your confidence- "but blessed is the man who trusts in the lord, whose confidence is in Him. he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. it does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." - jeremiah 17:7-8

God is going before you to prepare the way- "i will go before you and will level the mountains; i will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. i will give you the treasure of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." -isaiah 45:2-3

God is with you- "yet i am always with you; you hold my by my right hand. you guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory."- ps 63:23-24

This is happening in God's time- "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of me, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end" -Ecc. 3:11

God is your peace- "therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."-romans 5:1-2

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your equests to God. and the peace of God, whcih transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"-phil. 4:6-7

God has made you a conqueror of all of this- "what shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? as it is written, 'for your sake we face death all dong; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." - romans 8:35-37

God cares about you- "cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for you" -1 peter 5:7

God is your strength even now- "my flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" - ps. 73:26

God is your refuge- "bus as for me, it is good to be near God. i have made the sovereign Lord my refuge; i will tell of all your deeds." -ps. 73:28

"it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" - ps. 118:8

God is knitting Rhett together in your womb- "for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, i know that full well." -ps. 139:13-14

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born i set you apart; i appointed you as a prophet to the nations" -jeremiah 1:5

God loves you, deeply- "may your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." - ps 119:76

God wants to be the answer for all your fears- "but now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you o jacob, he who formed you, o israel: fear not, for i have redeemed you; i have summoned you by name; you are mine" -isaiah 43:1

God can do more than we can dream- "Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church in in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen!"- eph. 3:20-21

praying for you even now,

whit

another new feature....

so its been really exciting to see who has been following this blog. i'm not going to lie, it makes me feel pretty special when someone comes up to me and says, "hey, i've been reading your blog and i liked..." fill in the blank with some random recent post. nathan and i were talking about this and it made me realize what an impact i can truly have just by posting to the world my thoughts, affections, and interests. so thanks for reading!!

as i was thinking about this, i started thinking more about what i hoped people were getting out of this blog. its cool that i have influenced what kind of nail polish they should buy or encouraged them to bake a certain recipe, but at the end of the day, am i conveying and promoting the things that matter most to me?

one way i really want to do this is by sharing another interest of mine and encouraging you to get involved. ever since high school, i have been passionate about the world. i love to travel, love to eat new foods and meet new people and go different places. i love to be found in a land where i cannot communicate on my own, and i love the sounds of the multitude of languages. i eat hummus and feta and appreciate different types of chocolate and room temperature cokes with no ice. i love hijabs, saris, maasi patterns, and soccer jerseys. in school, i studied anthropology because i think culture is extremely fascinating. i drink turkish coffee, and from time to time love a good gyro, or shwarma, or burrito. 

i have had the privilege of seeing a lot of parts of the world. i have been to dumps and orphanages, monasteries and seminaries, castles and villages. i have visited four continents, have delivered christmas presents to the fatherless and discussed disney channel with kids in multiple countries. i love the nations. 

our home is full of nick-nacks and odds & ends from around the world- an arabic bible, a figurine from south america, a blanket from kenya....i could go on and on.  

so is it just that i love culture? well, partly, sure. i am intrigued by "different." but its more than that.

in all my travels, in all my studies, in all the times i have consumed ethnically diverse meals and discovered cultural norms other than my own, i have seen the desperation of the world. i have seen the hunger for hope, the longing for love, the panting for purpose, and the cravings for christ. see, because i love the nations, my heart breaks for them on a regular basis.

its pretty trendy to talk about how many children don't have access to clean water or mosquito nets. we've all bought [red] items and given to the red cross and seen, maybe even supported, a world vision or compassion international child.   while thats all well and good, what are we doing about their eternity? what does it matter if they have a nice glass of water on their death bed if once  they pass, they end up in the place where they will eternally be thirsty for the Living Water?

don't get me wrong, i'm all about meeting physical needs.  but we can't stop there. 

that's why i'm bringing in another new feature. you'll find it in two spots- on the left side bar, you will find a daily people group to pray for, and then every tuesday i'm going to focus in on one group. i want to ask you to join me in praying for the nations. maybe this will inspire further action from you- and i'd love to hear about that for sure! but at least once a week, i want you to join me in stopping and taking a break from the exciting world of pictures and nail polish and join me on my knees, praying for the lost.

in order to do this, i am going to utilize an awesome resource. for a learner like me, this website is awesome. called the joshua project,  this side prides itself on being "a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the least followers of Christ. Accurate, regularly updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding and completing the Great Commission" (from here). their site is full of info on all people groups, and their standings in regards to their knowledge of the gospel. 

did you know....

a people group is defined as the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance

there are 16,719 people groups

there are 6,933 "unreached" people groups

there are 6,929 living languages

the largest unreached people group is the shaikh group that contains over 215,000,000 peoples

therefore, tune in tuesday to see the first group. if you cant wait until then, then check out the people group of the day on the left side.

"therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest..." -matthew 9:37-38

psalm 37

Trust in the LORD, and do good;

    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the LORD,

   and he will give you the desires of your heart.

  Commit your way to the LORD;

    trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

   and your justice as the noonday.

  Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him...

...those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land...

...But the meek shall inherit the land

   and delight themselves in abundant peace...

... The steps of a man are established by the LORD,

   when he delights in his way;

though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

   for the LORD upholds his hand...

...For the LORD loves justice;

   he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

   but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land

   and dwell upon it forever.

 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

   and his tongue speaks justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

   his steps do not slip...

...Wait for the LORD and keep his way,

   and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

   you will look on when the wicked are cut off... 

(psalm 37, esv)