Seeing the Signs...

These past 4 months at ILE have been incredible, thank you Lord.

After I finished writing my blog last night it hit me that it was 7 years ago that I made the decision to dedicate my life to ministry and missions. If you were to ask me before then what it is was that I wanted to do with my life my answer would have been, " to attend a state university and become a social worker in order to help families and children". The drive behind that decision was that I wanted to in some way for the better change the way the Department of Child and Family Services in the United States works. The problem back then was that God was not my focus. My focus was on what I could do not God.

If you were to ask me after I decided to dedicate my life to ministry and missions what I was going to do with my life I would have said something like this, "I don't know. I'll go where ever God leads me". My focus shifted from what I could do to what can God do through me. This was not an easy shift because I like to plan things out and have control so this was kind of terrifying to not know where I was going to end up. All my plans to go to a state university and get a degree in social work went out the window.

I can definitely tell you that I did not plan to travel around the world every year working with different ministries and different people. I can definitely tell you that I did not plan to graduate college with a missions, children's ministry, and Bible degree (I didn't even know those were degrees back then). I can definitely tell you that I did not plan to work as a children's ministry intern in Wisconsin and as a missions intern in Spain. I can definitely tell you that I did not plan to be in Costa Rica learning a second language and working in a ministry with children. Those were all things that I could never have planned on my own. God totally guided me every step of the way.

Before coming to Costa Rica, I did the same thing that I always do with God every time He asks me to go somewhere or do something that I am unsure of or that makes me feel uncomfortable. I have this time of going back and forth with Him in order to make sure that this is something that He wants me to do and that I am hearing Him clearly. He knows that I need clear signs in my life to show me that what I am doing is right and that He wants this too. He knows that I need confirmation and affirmation.

That is something that I have been very thankful for these past few months. God has been continually showing me clear signs of confirmation and affirmation that everything is going to be all right and that I am on the right track. I have always been able to see God's "signs" in my life, but there has been times in the past where I have purposely chosen to ignore them because He was confirming that I was doing something that I shouldn't be doing. You might ask why did I chose to ignore those signs, but my desires and God's desires did not always match up, there is a little something called sin that likes to get in the way. However, as I have grown and matured in Christ I have learned that these signs are there for a purpose. They are there because God has my best interest at heart and He knows what is best for me. He also knows when I need protection and strength to get through hard times. God knows me and He knows what I need even when I don't.

Making Him the leader of my life and the lover of my heart was the best decision I ever made.