He is Faithful.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, 

for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Oh man...God has been so faithful this last week. And coincidentally, Bryan's message was titled "God is Faithful" Bahaha Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence...

I've been fairly antsy the last week or so stressing about things I need to get done before Thanksgiving vacation, getting somewhat annoyed with issues with the boys, worrying about siblings back home, thinking about the transition that the River Center is going through and just wanting to be HOME again!

I've felt so distant. Like I don't really know what's happening with all these people that have been in my life for so long and it's been driving me CRAZY! I've been thinking a lot about what it's gonna be like when I go home. Wondering if it will still feel like home. Because I've changed. I'm not who I was. But no one in Oregon has seen the process of me changing. So when I get back, everyone will still treat me like I was the old Brittney. Expecting the same things from me.

Anyways, So...I've been mildly emotional. =) Ok...maybe it wasn't so "mildly" because the boys noticed it. haha. But last week God just began calming my heart in different ways.

He's shown me that while I've been concerned about going "home" and getting anxious for my plane to leave, that my attitude has been wrong this whole time. THIS is my home right now. Because the definition of a home is: The usual residence of a person, family, or household. OR the place in which one's domestic affections are centered. And right now I live in St. Louis. This is where God has placed me. THIS is my home. Never again will I only have one home. Because even when/if I leave here and move back to Oregon, a part of me will always consider this to be my home. And that's not something that should freak me out, it should actually be exciting to me. =) I am part of a family that is much bigger than the Gerigs or the Calahans.

Ok, So.....Wednesday we had a meeting with Curt. It was our monthly "relationship meeting" and the four of us got super deep and personal about issues we've been having with each other. Honestly, it was pretty intense. But it ended really well. And afterward I felt a huge weight lifted off my back. The awkwardness was gone. (Thank God! I was about to lose my mind...)

Friday night we had a surprise party for a friend. We all had a great time. The whole night Dillon was trying to get people to pray and worship....no one was interested in that moment. lol So...after a bunch of people left, there was like 6 of us still there and someone got out the guitar. =) Me gusta. It was an amazing time of prayer and worship! And JUST what I needed! God spoke to Dillon about Cory. And calmed my heart about that whole situation.

Then last night we had a prayer and worship night to pray for Mobilise USA. And I'm not gonna lie, I was distracted. I was thinking about things that I'm stressed about and having a really hard time focusing. So, we started to pray for specific people that we want to come to Mobilise. Then Dillon said that thought we should pray for me and my influence in Oregon. So, as this group of people is praying for me, I just began to see God's heart for the River Center. And how He wants us to prosper. He has placed the River Center in this family of churches for a purpose and it's so exciting to be a part of it! And what's even more exciting to me is that He wants to us ME to convey that love and vision of New Frontiers to the River Center! Gah! Scary! But exciting all at the same time. Hearing them all pray over me made me realize something, I don't have to be concerned about what people are going to see me as when I go home. Because, God has already prepared the way. HE is already preparing people's hearts for what I'm going to say. And More amazing than that, HE is already preparing what I'm going to say! Because, I surely don't know what the heck it's gonna be. =)

Anyways, this whole week has been an amazing reminder of just how good God is to me.

I'm excited for Thanksgiving break! =)
It's gonna be a BLAST!
AHH! I just wanna scream! =)

K....I'm gonna go finish my reading, and get things together for Wednesday! We're leavin at the crack of dawn! =)

Love and Miss you all!

An Encounter of the Furry Sort

So…We’re in the car on our way to Wentzville…and I figured that instead of sitting here thinking about all the things I can blog about…I’d actually type it out. =)

Lately I’ve been thinking about heaven a lot. =) And let me just tell you….I am excited. Lol I mean….I’ve always been “excited” for Heaven. But it’s never really been something that I consciously think about on a daily basis. I was reading my Bible the other day…and this random thought popped into my head.....In Heaven….I get to play with Lions. LIONS! =O Dude…that’s amazing.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6

Ha. That makes me laugh out loud when I think about it. =) And the boys in the car are probably wondering what on earth I’m chuckling about. =) Oh well…

I’m not sure exactly how to put this into words…but another thing I’ve really been thinking and praying about a lot lately is for God to remind me that this life on earth is temporary. I mean, I KNOW that in my head. But do I actually live that way? I understand that money, clothes, furniture is temporary…and that’s typically what I think of as “treasures on earth” (ya know, those things we aren’t supposed to store up?) But as I’ve been praying about it God has really shown me that it’s so much more than just material things. It can be anything. An attitude, a relationship, a desire… When focusing on any of those things, I should be thinking about it with eternity in mind. HOW is this going to affect me in eternity? Or will it? Or perhaps more importantly HOW is this ultimately bringing glory to God’s name? Or again, is it?

There are multiple examples of things in my life that I’m reevaluating and thinking about….wondering just how important some of them are. I’m not going to go into detail because some of it I’m still in the process of changing  and other stuff is kinda personal  But…I just wanted to put that out there…it always helps to write things like this out so that I don’t forget it and even while I’m typing I’m thinking of new things. =)

God is so good.

Another thing I’ve just been amazed by lately is the fact that the GOD of the UNIVERSE speaks to me. I know I’ve blogged about this before but I guess it’s just something I’m continually shocked by  Now what I say “Speaks” I’m not saying that I hear God’s audible voice daily. I just mean that when I pray there is something inside of me (the Holy Spirit) and puts thoughts and ideas in my head that weren’t there before…things that I can’t come up with on my own cuz I’m just not that smart.  It’s also amazing to see how He reveals Himself to me as I continue to be faithful in doing what He asks. Not gonna lie…it’s hard sometimes. The Holy Spirit does NOT always make me feel comfortable. Sometimes I feel the urge to go pray for someone about I don’t even KNOW what….and I’m like “God…this is NOT cool….how can I just ask this person if I can pray for them when I don’t know what I’m praying for? What if…I look like a retard and I have nothing to say???” But the thing is, once I get over that and just submit to God’s authority in my life, realizing that he has NEVER let me down….I do what I know I should do…and God always comes through. Bringing words that I don’t even know how they come out of my lips…they just do.

I’m falling more and more in love with Jesus.
Completely amazed and humbled by His faithfulness to me.
What else do I need in life?

*sigh of happiness*

Although 90% of the time lately I feel like I’m going to explode if I have one more thing to put on my calendar...I’ve decided to take things one day at a time. That’s all I can do anyways, right? =) Freaking out gets me nowhere. (Except in a place of wanting to hurt three young men….) haha

On THAT note…the team aspect of things is going pretty well. I think we still struggle with learning to communicate with each other. And because of that we sometimes misunderstand things and someone gets offended by another person when that person isn’t even aware that what they said was offensive….Oh boy oh boy. This year is going to be such a dynamic year of growing for all 4 of us. =) It’s wonderful….haha (No sarcasm there…I promise)

“ALL of my life, in every season, YOU ARE STILL GOD, I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship.” =)
(sorry….it’s on the radio and I LOVE that part!)

K….we’re almost to Rick’s house….

Love and miss you all!

Ok...So I WAS done blogging..and it's nearly midnight and I'm just now getting around to posting this. (didn't have internet in the car...)

But...I have something more to say! And here it is. =)
So...we get to Rick's. Eat Lunch. Drive to go on a prayer walk. We're in the car. and I'm frustrated. During lunch, you could have cut the tension with a knife. Besides the fact that at all times I have a constant list in my brain of all the things I need to get done. Basically, I'm a work in progress.... Anyways...
So we decide to go on our walks separately instead of in pairs like we always do. So...45 minutes alone...just me and God. Praying...
I walk and walk and walk...and find a road with railing on one side blocking off a big drop off with a batrillion leaves and trees and stuff. So I pause. Sometimes I just like to look at creation. =) I'm standing there praying. I can hear crickets and birds and I keep hearing little things all over rustling the leaves. And I prayed this "God, if it's not too much to ask, could you just show me SOMETHING that will warm my heart? Just like...a little sign of your love for me. I could use a little hug..." So..I'm standing....looking....Nothing.

So...I'm just bein real here...I was like, "Ok, God...I understand that you're not my genie...I shouldn't just like ask you to do magic tricks." (Secretly still wanting SOME sort of something..) And i open my eyes and on the ground next to me..is this...



Now...anyone who knows me or has been reading this blog should know that God gives me caterpillars when i need them most. You can read about one particular time here. And as I'm walking (yes I KNOW this is silly...but bare with me) God spoke to me through this fuzzy little dude. I'm walking and praying with him on my hands...and he's crawling SO fast that I'm constantly putting one hand in front of the other so he doesn't fall and splat on the pavement. And this little dude was totally content just crawling, full speed, from one of my hands to the other, and on and on and on, pooping occasionally. =) And in that moment, I had this thought. One hand at a time. When he got to the end of my hand....my next hand was there for him to keep going....and when he got to the end of that one...same thing. But one thing was for sure, the little fur twig did not slow down!

Now...me and this little dude should be similar. I mean...one of us is slightly less furry and log-shaped. But...ya know. =)

Why can't I just GO...full speed. At all times. Trusting that God has His hand laid out guiding me as soon as I get to the end of this one?

DUH.

Ok...I need to go to sleep. And I think you get the picture. I'm SORRY this post is soooooooo long. But yeah...I gotta write this stuff down! =)

Ok...once again (for real this time)
Love and miss you all!!!

Hmmm....

APPARENTLY I haven't been too motivated to blog lately. Ooooops.

Anyways...I don't have any super important thing to talk about...maybe that's why. So...I guess I will just share with all ya'll a couple of things that God's placed on my heart lately. =)

FIRST of all...I have been in LOVE with this song lately & I find myself singing "You are holy, great and mighty, the moon and the stars declare who you are. I'm so unworthy, but still you love me. Forever my heart will sing of how great you are." Gah! What lyrics! What truth. =)


Anyways, That's what I've had on my mind lately. When we're out at some college campus doing surveys and in my own strength...I do NOT want to be talking to random strangers, I find myself out loud saying "The POWER of Christ compels you!" I start to get caught up in the fact that this is SO outside of my comfort zone that it's not even funny...and I begin to pray that God would change my attitude. Suddenly I notice different things about people. Instead of seeing them all as mass quantities of people that I don't know, I see them as individuals who are lost and in desperate need of a savior and my heart breaks for them.

God is good. He is. It's a fact. Although sometimes it's hard to understand. I've decided that although it goes against every Brittney-tendency...I'm going to have to be O.K. with NOT fully understanding some things.

For example, last week we had our Bible Doctrine talk with Rick. Oh man oh man. Topic of Discussion: Election. I've been really excited for this talk because I want to understand both sides of this topic better so that I can form an opinion rather than just "going with the flow" of what everyone thinks. And here's my conclusion: I'm not going to try and convince anyone to believe on thing or another. Calvinism, Arminianism, What-the-heck-are-you-talking-about-ism. It doesn't matter. THIS topic is NOT a matte of salvation. This topic should NOT divide churches. Don't get me wrong, you should KNOW what you believe and you should stand firm in it.

But here's the thing: believing one side over the other is not going to cause you to go to hell. I have an opinion, and if someone asked me what it was, I would share it. But at the same time, I don't feel the need to convince everyone to believe the same thing I do.

In praying about it, I feel like God was telling me that there are some things that the human mind can't understand. Bryan's sermon today was titled "God is Just" (On a side note....you really should check out this and other sermons in "The God Series." they have ALL been incredible!)

Anyways...while he was talking...I was thinking about how even God's justice is hard for us to fathom! I mean when a young person dies, we're like "What the?!?! HOW is THAT just?!?!" But at the same time, we who are sinners are offered eternal life through the sinless one's death on a cross...Wait wait wait...now THAT is injustice!

So...I'm ok with not understanding everything fully.

I know without a doubt that God is immeasurably greater than I can understand. That's all I need to know. =)

Enough about that...Umm....what else? Been kinda busy lately. Really thinking about the importance of family and what a blessing they are. I'm SOOO excited to go home and see everyone! Oh how I love Christmas. =)

Well...I think I'm gonna try to finish up my reading for the week so that my Monday-off can actually BE a Monday off. =)

Love and miss you all!