Am I Jonah??

      As I get older, I notice that time seems to go by faster and faster. There are even times when I have to rethink how old I am. Where has all of the time gone? I now understand why people say appreciate every day, because it flies by quicker than you can imagine. As I think about time, I think of where I was last year. Last year I was deciding where I would be going to serve for a year. I was given the opportunity to get one of three spots for the Global Service Award through Loma Linda University. I was overjoyed, but anxious at the same time. I said that I wanted to go wherever God wanted me to go, but my heart wasn't on the same page. As usual, I had different plans than what God had for me. I saw myself living in a tropical like area serving people with some ease...God had a COMPLETELY different view. God kept on bringing people or things in my life that were connected with Chad. I was thinking it was a test of my faith, but surellly He wouldn't send me there. After much fighting and avoiding I could no longer run from God. It just hit me, I am a modern day Jonah. So many times we bash Jonah for running from God, who is everywhere. How could Jonah not do what God said? How could Jonah think he wouldn't be found? These are the questions that we raise...Well I am no better than Jonah. I didn't jump on a boat and then have to jump into a belly of a whale, but that might as well had been the scenario. 

      The time that I jumped out of the boat into the whale's belly was on a Friday night. I was in my apartment trying to star glaze past bright Loma Linda street lights, while listening to the music play in the background. I thought of what it would be like to fly through the heavens, just me and God. It was a beautiful moment, that brought tears to my eyes. I opened my eyes, looked up towards the stars and had a moment with God. I declared " I give up! I won't run anymore!" I decided than, that I was waving my white flag of surrendering totally to God. I was not going to run away from Him, but straight into His arms. I gave my life back over to Him, that meant I released to Him my plans, hopes, dreams, fears, life, and gifts. I read that night an insert that I wrote earlier in my God journal. I wrote about my mission trip to Honduras and said "may my mission be your mission." I realized then that our missions were not aligned. I was heading on a ship in the opposite direction of where God wanted me to go. After many other events I pressed for the people to send me to Chad. I was hit with opposition, but I was determined to go there, because that was where He wanted me to go. There were doors that seemed shut, but God opened every last one and blessed me over and over. 

     Then the day of reality had to come. I was leaving comfortable America to live in a foreign country for one year. This meant letting go of all that I knew and totally depending on God. I was stepping into an unknown place. September 12th I boarded the last plane that would bring me to Africa. That was the day that God spit me out of the whale onto dry land. As I sat on the plane I said to myself "well there is no turing back now." I wasn't heading to a city to tell them to turn from their wicked ways like Jonah did, but I was going to face the same things in another way. I did understand why God choose little 'ol me to go, but I had to trust He knew what He was doing.

  On the way to Ethiopia

    I told you in my last post that this past September marked my one year service in Chad. Did I regret going? Did I wish I took a different path? Did I want to go back home then? ...No. I was in the place that God wanted me to be and it was just right. No, thinks were not perfect. No, I wasn't on easy street. No, I did not ever think of going home. Being in the right place doesn't mean that it is all daises, it just means that there is no better place to be going through those good and bad times. Every day that was a hard day, I could only say to God that I knew that He wanted me there for whatever reason. I came home briefly in April to visit family and friends. During that time it felt good to be back in the states, because I missed being connected to those I love. What lingered at the back of my mind was if I was done with Chad or not. When I returned back to Chad I talked to a couple that work at another hospital. The wife asked me three simple questions, which made me discover my next step. When I finally opened up fully to hear God's plan for me, He informed me that He told me before through her questions. I felt weird for wanting to stay in a place that doesn't have a easy way of life, but much harder than other places. I could move back to the States and be able to see and talk with family, eat variety of fruits, veggies and cheese, drive a car, not worry about diseases, not hear death cries.....but I wanted to be where God wanted me to be. I have come to learn that the best place to be is where God wants me to be. After much conviction, I decided to extend my contract till May of 2015. 

    I sit at home right now, in slightly sunny Florida. I am on a short month break from work to rejuvenate and fatten up. It is good to be back with loved ones and have good ol' home cooking. As I type I can't believe that it has been a year and 3 months since I stepped onto that plane that would change my life. It was just a few months ago when I was telling you these same things..I thought last year that this time would not come quick enough...haha was I ever wrong. The time has flown by quicker than I could ever imagine. I have till May, but I already know my time will fly by faster than ever.

 

 My Chadian family

 Just joking around

    Back to my Jonah experience.....After Jonah spoke God's word to the people, it was up to them to accept it and change from their ways. The whole place was transformed and gave their lives over to God. I do not have the same exact mission as Jonah, but I do have a mission. I hope that my words on health can help people to see how simple changes can save their lives and children's. I hope that people are able to see God's love and care through interacting with me or just seeing how I treat others. I hope that people are changed physically, mentally, and spiritually, because of the words that God places on my lips. I hope that my time in Chad is not a waste, but rather it reaches God's plans for my time there. Please keep my mission and journey in your prayers. If you are standing in a position right now where you are deciding what to do in life, please do not run like Jonah, but let Him call the shots. Letting Him call the shots has been the best decision in my life. God will call us to places that others would not dare to go to, but that's why He calls the special ones. He calls the ones that will do the work that He has for them. I live by this saying and found it to be true, "God does not call the equipped, but equips the called." What is God calling you to do? What is He calling you to surrender? Open your heart to what plans He has for your life...He will take care of the minor details. 

~Let go of fear and control. Take a hold of God's hand, wherever it may lead you.~