Here is my first video from the Philippines. Enjoy!

Our God is in the restoration business. He is like those guys on television that we see buy these old cars, antiques, or something that looks beaten up and out of shape and He makes them new again. The great thing is that God is so much better than those on television. God works to restore the lives of His children that He loves so much.

How much does God love us you may ask? A lot is the answer, so much so that He gave up His own Son to die on a cross for us. God decided to let His Son die in order to let us live, an imperfect creation full of sin. Let me take a moment to put this in prospective. I recently heard this story and I figured I would give you the short version. Here we go.

“There was a man that was a drawbridge operator. He was to raise the bridge for the boats to pass underneath and to lower it for the passenger train. One day he brought his son to work. The kid got to see all the boats and the wonderful water. When it came time to lower the bridge there was a horrible sound. The son had fallen into the gears of the bridge and could not get free. The operator had a choice to make. To leave the controls and save his son and allow the approaching train to crash into the raised bridge or to lower the bridge to save those on the train and in turn lose his son. He decided to lower the bridge.”

Let the story sink in just a little bit. God, gave up His Son, so that we could be saved. This is how much God loves us. And it gets better, nothing can separate us from this love. You want proof? Read Romans 8:35-39.

God restores, as life beats and bangs us up, God is there to bring healing. Five years ago I was at a point that life threw everything it had at me. I had lost everything. If you would have asked me then if I would ever do missions or live overseas I would have said no. I would have told you that I have failed God and how could God ever use me when I am so messed up? 

The thing is God was right there in the moment. He was already working in my life to restore me. Where I had failed Him, He gave forgiveness. He washed me clean. Took out the dents and called me to the mission field. Over the years there have been people in my life helping me and shaping me into the person I am today. I now find myself living overseas serving a God that loves me so much and cares about me. 

No matter what has happened in your life it is not to big for God. God can restore you, God can use you still. It may not be overseas missions but God still has a plan and a purpose for you. You will impact someones life. You can change the life of someone. All we need to do is surrender ourselves to God and allow Him to do the good work inside and restore us.

After the Christmas holiday the ministry went into holiday mode. We had our weekly Friday night fellowship and youth meeting but the rest of the activities where put on hold. I had freedom do do wha tI needed to do or go where I needed to go. Which for an introvert like myself is not a lot. My idea day off is being alone, it is getting way from others so that I can think, unwind, spend time with God, practice guitar, or even prepare for the future lessons that I may be giving. Yes, I took some time and went out to the local beach and even got to roam the mall after church alone. But the moments I love so much is when I can lock myself in my room and just be alone.

It is in these times that I have been able to reflect on my first month in this country. There are obviously things I need to learn. I quickly realize I am not the most qualified person for this. My experience as a youth leader has been crowd control and setting up the chips and soda for the kids to have at the end of the night. I am in uncharted waters. The thing is, one of the things I have heard over the years is that God does not always called those that are qualified, He gives the qualifications to the those that He calls. 

Say what? Are you trying to tell me that God put me here because I do not know what I am doing? Yes that is correct. It allows God to teach us, it deepens our faith in Him, it causes us to want to rush towards Him more and depend on Him more. 

I am seeing this become more and more evident in my life. I have noticed a change in my private prayer life, I have noticed that I am taking more time to listen to the Holy Spirit. For those times that I am walking around, be it at the mall or going to or from the beach I am praying, I am listening more. I realize that I can not do this by myself. I really need the power of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life.

As the title says, 2015 will be a year of growing, it will be a year of learning. It will also be a year of growing closer to God. I know God has placed me here for a purpose, I know God has great plans here, I know the God is is control of everything. 

My Bible app has this devotion called Leading Like Jesus. I was drawn to it as I am a leader now and I want to be able to Lead like the best leader we have available. Jesus was the ultimate example of a leader. It is a nice little 21 day plan that I was able to start on New Years day. To help me grow more I will be doing a new Bible study that the church I go to will be starting next Sunday. Along with that I have joined a small group. 

I look forward to this year of growing more in God’s presence. I am sure there will be challenging days ahead. There already has been some challenging days but God is in control and everything has a purpose. Everything has a time. I look forward to being a part of this Bible study and small group as I know it will help me grow, I know it will put me in a community of other believers so that we can help each other grow and be the best that God has created us to be. 

I am ready for more learning and growing this year, are you with me?