Life with Jesus is NEVER Boring...here's why!

Yesterday marked 6 months of being home from the World Race.  6 months.  It feels like ‘yesterday’ that my squad and I was stepping off that plane in Chicago.  With anticipation and eagerness, we still had one more security and customs to clear before we were back in the arms of loved ones.  6 months, yet the feelings and emotions tied with it, are still fresh in my mind and on my heart.  Feelings of joy, of pure happiness and the sense of ‘Whew I actually made it through…” as the realization was only just beginning to unfold of what we had just truly accomplished.  

Today, I am 9 days, 6 classes, one take home exam and 3 in class exams, away from being done my first semester back in University College- an idea that was NOT in my plans 6 months ago as I embraced my mom in a hug for the first time in just under a year.

Who ever said being a Christian was ‘boring’?  Can I just smack (out of love of course) that person silly?!? It is anything BUT boring!! Seriously.  

From Holding the hand of my
favourite child in Swaziland...

I thought that, when I got home, life would go back to ‘normal’ (whatever that looked like).  I quickly learned that just because I was officially ‘off’ the race, did not mean I was ‘off the race’.  World Race, yes.  The race/journey of life?  NEVER.  Oh how I wish I knew, what I know now, when I stepped off that plane.  Actually, truth is, I probably would have gotten right back on that plane and headed to a destination unknown.  THAT was familiar, the last 6 months have NOT been familiar.  What? Nikki that doesn’t even make sense.  Your at home.  In a place, a climate, a language, a country that you KNOW! How is that NOT familiar?  Yes, that is a conversation I had in my head.  The answer? I was (am) wrecked.  God wrecked me for the Nations, for the unknown and the journey of walking on foreign soil.  Life back at home, in my mind, was ‘boring’. 

...To holding the small hand of my
brand new nephew
for the first time

Needless to say, life the last 3 months, has been anything BUT boring.  Without going into too much detail, I have seen (and felt) the Holy Spirit move in ways in which I never did on the race.  I have seen God bring healing- in my own life, and in the lives of those around me, in a way I didn’t on the race.  Although I miss holding orphan’s hands, and hugging widows daily, there is nothing truly greater in this world, than holding your own nephew as he falls asleep in your arms and seeing your grandma’s face light up, because of a simple ice cream cone that you brought her.   

Truth is, I miss the freedom that the youth had to lead worship and dance, in the Philippines, yet it is so good to back in my own youth group.  Reconnecting with ‘my girls’ (and seeing them graduate) from the year previous, and seeing the current grade 11/12 group on a more mature level-has been a joy words cannot describe (so proud of you all!).  It has been a gift I was waiting for since I LEFT for the race.

A new journey in youth, has been getting to know those that God has now placed within my life to love, lead and (hopefully) ‘be Jesus’ too…an awesome group of 10-12 grade 9 girls.
  I am so very excited to now join in on the journey God is taking them each on through this phase of their life.  I am praying I can be a small light, in their journey’s. I missed simply being able to serve (and love) the way God has called me too, the way He has equipped me to, and to NOT be challenged/corrected on it.  What a freedom!!!!!!!

I miss my two best pals from the race and the physical distance between us, drives me crazy every day.  Yet their constant texts, reminds me daily that I am loved and missed (despite the “Canadian jokes” that happen daily as well! Love you guys!)  

However, reconnecting with my friends here at home, has been an incredible blessing I cannot even begin to describe.  I am loving spending time with one of my best friends and her kids.  Hearing the kids call out “Nikki”, or in the case of the 3 year old, “Micky”, warms my heart every time.  Spending time with their mom (my friend) is always an encouragement and a continual blessing to me on so many levels.  Working alongside her in youth ministry, has definitely been an added bonus.  I love serving with people who truly love to serve.

School itself, were do I start?! I LOVE the international community here at Prov. Again, the world is literally at my door!  What a blessing! TESOL itself, incredible and I cannot wait to get out and use it in this world! Thank you LORD, for leading me here!

Needless to say, it has been a crazy last 6 months.  The first semester is nearly over, with the second one starting in just over a month. 6 months from now, who knows where I will be! It will be summer, and although I hope to be on my practicum overseas somewhere, I KNOW that the journey that lies ahead, will continue to be an adventure of a life time!

After all, to quote a good (East) Indian/Cambodian friend of mine, “life with Jesus, is NEVER boring!!”

Freedom

“You have searched me Lord and you KNOW me” (Psalm 139:1)

Those are the words on the familiar page that my fingers flipped to.

I will be really honest…reading the bible faithfully every day, has always been a struggle for me and it continues to be, to this very moment.

I KNOW that;

a)       In order to know God more…reading His word is crucial

b)      In order to continually grow IN Him…reading His word is crucial

c)      In order to know His will for me….reading His word is crucial

d)     In order to be the best youth leader God is calling me to be….reading His word is crucial

e)      I simply need to read HIS Truths in order to truly rest in Him

f)       I simply need to be in His presence

I know all of this…

                                                                       So why has my bible been collecting dust?

                                                   Why is today, the first day in a long time, I’ve picked it up?

                              Why has it become a ‘last resort’ when it should be my FIRST resort?

    Why do I struggle reading HIS Word that I DO truly believe is ALIVE and ACTIVE?

This past weekend, was our annual Sr. Youth Retreat.  So often, my prayer going into a weekend like this, is that God will blow the minds of the youth (which He does), and that they will KNOW HIM more (which they do).

Yet for me, this past weekend convicted me more, in the knowledge and understanding of just WHO God is to me.  I didn’t pray a pray for that, but God knew I needed.  I was able to truly worship freely in a LONG TIME in a way that I have not been able to since a Passion concert I went to with my squad while in the Philippines in March. As soon as we would enter the chapel area for sessions this past weekend, my body began to shake in excitement and joy of the worship to come.  I couldn’t stand still.  The freedom within that-amazing. Purely amazing.

“You have searched me Lord and you KNOW me”

Yes. Yes. YES YES LORD!

God IS ALIVE.  His word IS ACTIVE.
The battle your facing, may seem like it’s been lost some days, but in reality-the victory has long since been won. JESUS.  JESUS won it for us so we didn’t have too. 

                                                                       
THAT IS LOVE.

 That is GOD’s LOVE for you and I 

India, Oh India

 The leaves have turned colour and many of them have already fallen to the ground.  The wind has changed.  Instead of a warm summer breeze, the air has become cold and dry.  Above, you hear the familiar ‘honking’ of geese, flying by in their perfectly formed “V”, to destinations unknown to us.  To destinations of warmth, and sun that they will call home for the next few months. Robins are back, also on their way back south.

Classes are in full swing here at Providence.  Assignments, practicums and even mid terms, are filling up the days.  Shorts and sandals have been replaced with jeans and shoes.  (Although my toes, are still finding themselves in sandals).  Baseball caps have been replaced with scarfs and toques in order to prevent the cold air from reaching our skin.

Flags of 4 of the countries I visited this past year, hang on my apartment wall.  Photos and African paintings, remind me of those special moments. Moment in which I truly HEARD God speak to me. Moments of laughter, sorrows and pains.  Moments of bouncing kids on your knee till you felt as though your knee would give way.  Voices of young ones, talking in their Indian language that you couldn’t even understand even IF you spoke their language.  Yet there is no need.  The JOY in their precious faces and the smiles on their lips, say more than words ever could.

Today, right now, I am missing those kids with my entire heart.  I am yearning to be back in Grace Home, overlooking the streets of Ongole with Wendy* as I prayed silently in my heart that God would heal her CP.  To hear the joy in Nora’s voice, as she joked with me and put a smile on MY face.  To hold little ZINNIA in my arms, as she continued to wake up from her nap while Honor told me about her day at school.  Knowing that I would get Jackie’s ‘sass’ every time I would walk into the room…always brought an extra smile to my face and a warmth to my heart…she would fit in SO very perfectly with my family!!

These are just some of the names of the kids God used to change my life last year. 

Truthfully, I fell in love with a place and with a people, that I never dreamed I would. 

India, Oh India.  

To some on my World Race squad, “India” is equivalent to a swear word.  Yet for myself and roughly 12 other ladies that month, “India” became a word with many mixed emotions and feelings.  

Yes, it was a hard month. A VERY hard month on many different levels.  However, it was a month (for me), which brought me to my knees every day.  God became ‘real’ to me and began to reveal past hurts within me which He would (and did) continue to heal for the rest of the race.  He truly opened my eyes, to the community of people around me.  From the foster mom’s we met and worked with every day and their tireless commitment to the kids, to team-mates and squad mates. To say ‘God blessed’ me, would hardly be equivalent in describing the emotions.

October 10, 2013 I wrote these words after a day when I realized how ‘fierce’ the battle we fight daily, truly is.  In some form, it’s a statement, in another way, a prayer.  It is my prayer I prayed daily for Wendy, and one I will continue to pray as long as I am breathing.

“The battle is fierce.  Yet because of Jesus and the working Holy Spirit power within us, we WILL have victory.  WE will have freedom.  When we speak, the earth shakes.  When we ask for healing, healing does happen.”

 Amen.

If you want to know more about Sarah’s Covenant Home, PLEASE let me know and I would LOVE to hang out and chat with you!!!

OR check out http://schindia.com/children/ to see the faces of the children I grew to know and love!!

*Names changed to protect kids*