He Provides

God is good. And He knows stuff, a lot of stuff, not just mentally but also practically as well. Praise His holy name. He's so good, and His love is a powerful thing. Like water, it cannot be stopped when made into a waterfall, and cannot be held onto with the hand, and cannot be contained, and it fills every crack.

Below: Pics of Wells, BC...

I just got back from living up north in a little community called Wells, BC, and God's been teaching me all about trusting Him, and looking to Him for everything. Like right now I'm waiting on him for a place to live, and am at total peace about it. Cause over the past few months He's been providing everything for me, left and right, and I've been learning how to hear Him, and trust Him, and ask Him for things, and He provides!

And you know what? The most important thing is that I chilled out with Him!

Out of everything that I could have been doing to learn about Him, and living on my own etc.... it was this: Just going to Him, and being in His presence. Letting my mind rest on Him... and His thoughts. Letting His, and my thoughts become one. Then, when I looked at things in my world, like the person next to me, I'd see them more like how He sees them – because our minds were melded - and I'd just really be able to operate from HIS point of view.

I also learned of the awesome affects when we set ourselves up for success.

Living in Wells, I was surrounded with people that loved what they did in their lives, that enjoyed living, that let themselves be free, and express themselves with the tools of the all the arts.

Dancing till the cows come home during
Arts Wells - festival of all things arts.

And I chose, as well as God provided for me, to be with people that made me feel good, that appreciated me (and I them), and of kindred spirits that I could connect with. What a wonderful, beautiful gift. Words cannot express how thankful I am for the overflowing power, and amount of LOVE that God, my best friend and King has freely and lavishly given to me.

He gave me all the exact things I needed. He really did.

Possessions as well as amazing awesome friends, and people who wanted to talk about God's awesomeness. People who weren't afraid to dance, and sing impromptu, and who were passionate about life, art, dance, music, dance, dance, and colour, and dancing until you couldn't dance anymore.

Any you know what I realized?
The biggest thing I learned was that I can really do things.

I can accomplish things – on my own.
There had always been this nagging thought telling me that I really couldn't do anything, that all I was good for was just following orders, and that I was a sloppy, messy good for nothing blob taking up space on the planet. And when people would tell me otherwise, I'd consider them being polite and telling me things that weren't really true....

And living, really living outside of myself and my own little bubble world, was a far off dream, a place where I could go to only through virtual reality, music, and movies etc... and only imagined a different version of myself where I could someday be FREE.

But then I moved out.

And I lived in a little town up north for the summer, and suddenly everything changed. Life became something I could actually control. It became an actual reality where I could actually change the course of my own future?! Wow, what a concept. And I could make decisions that would affect my feelings and outcomes in my life, and there would be no one there who'd object and set me off in a disheartening direction.

And whenever I'd feel sad or alone, I'd look to Him, and He'd fill me up to overflowing and give me power, and direction, and wisdom.

I think this past two months have been a time period where I have gained the most wisdom than I have ever gained before in that same amount of time. And all of it has come from Him.

So what do I want to say to all of you?
I don't know where you're at with God or what you think of Him right now, or how close your relationship is with Him, but what I DO know, is that HE IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU, and He'll do anything to show His love to you, if you'd just open up to Him, and let Him.

And if I've ever learned anything in this short span of my life so far, I've learned, and really learned this this summer:

Open your hands, lift up your arms, raise your face, receive His Love,

and just be. With. Him.

That's it.

I used to think that idea was a phase and that I'd have to learn to deal with the real world and get with reality later on. HA!
But nope! Now I know for certain, that all His people need, is Him. His love, and to be with Him. The details will actually literally fill themselves in – and He'll fill in the rest!

He taught me all I have to do sometimes, is ask. So, for example, I needed veggies, God gave me a job (which I LOVED) where they let me buy veggies from, for REAL cheap, and exactly when, and where it was PERFECTLY convenient for me!

Me and my sisters in Christ that God
connected me with...

Another example, I was struggling and sad cause I wanted to have some friends there who I could talk about His awesomeness with, and who'd understand. He taught me to ASK Him for things, “Ask and you shall receive...”, so I did, and learned to do that a lot, and there He was, promptly after that, He provided me with a whole pile of people, one by one, who loved Him too. :) And I got to have all these really interesting convos with people about spirituality and stuff too after that.

Then I realized if I'm finding something too hard, and I'm really struggling with it, just ask God for it!!!!! :D I'm not saying this in a nasty attitude of 'gimme gimme', and never give, it's just if you don't ask Him, how can He give it?

And if He doesn't give it, that doesn't mean He won't give other things! He's a GOOD father.

If you know Him, and know His heart, then you'll know what He's saying for your life in the moment, and concerning the things you're asking for. Yet another reason why being close with Him, and being filled with His love is the core, cause then you can trust Him no matter what happens.

There's NO LACK of anything when you're filled with Him and His perfect love, and He gives you His peace, and reassurance. All-of-the-sudden, you could be up in the air, without a job, or a place to live (like me right now), but you feel OK, cause you know, you KNOW, that He provides.

I'm stronger right now cause I've been able to create a surrounding of people and things to do that support me and build me up, and cause I run to Him as He's my fuel. I prayed long and hard about my future, and what He wants me to do, and He's shown me. He's given me peace on all the things I've asked for, so I can now rest in Him, and trust that He'll provide. :) What a feeling. :)

Feels way different than worrying, and working hard to survive, and just managing to scrape by.

HE PROVIDES. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spirituality, relationally, developmentally, expressively, colourfully and all of everything!!!

You know how we all have some sort of bucket list? Well He can provide fulfillment to that too. - And more. :D HAHAaaa!!!

Praise God. Praise Him because He alone is worthy to be praised. O, let your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as in heaven. 

Poem:

Living Words

There stands a bookshelf

a shelf full of books

with all of the perfect and pure words of God.

The words of God that bring life, healing, peace, and joy

the words that guide, love, and live;

The words of Life.

And He, the son of God in His purity,

takes each book off the shelves

opens them,

and the words flow,

infuse and fill me.

Only because I let Him

only because I'm His

I am made new.

His words of Life are written on my heart

I am free,

His words of Life are written on my heart

I need not worry,

His words of Life are written on my heart

I need not fear,

His words of Life are written on my heart

I need not fear

He lives in me

I need not fear

He lives in me.

I Can Disciple People

So, the last few days have been... amazing to say the least.
I didn't know my life could really look like this. I'm still in a bit of a shock, thinking about it.

Here's the deal:
Sunday night:
Swing Dance (one of my vivid passions).

Monday:
Went out with a close friend who brought to my attention that I am discipling people – and I didn't even realize it until she said it, so that was a revelation to me.

(Discipling is basically just like mentoring – helping someone learn things, and showing them through daily living, not just theory, but real life. If you want to know more of what descipling is, my friend explains it pretty good here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSo1tGbjSTY

Friendship with God

Tuesday:
Went for a walk'n'talk with another friend, and had one of THE BEST talks all about beliefs, and worldviews (how different people view the world), and how hers and mine contrast.

This conversation felt different to me, because I was quite clear-headed, and even though we have differences, I could understand where she was coming from.
We talked of all sorts of things, religion, relationships, evolution vs creation, morals, beliefs, ideas, many ideas, and thoughts. And by the end of it all, I discovered it all boiled down to one VERY *simple* thing: Relationship with Jesus/God; I have it, and she doesn't.

It was really simple, actually. And I was able to articulate it in a simple, and easy way – and she got it too. BECAUSE it was so simple.

See, it's just that I'm friends with this dude named Jesus, we hang out, and we're cool like that. And she just hasn't met him yet, so when I talk about, Him, she doesn't, and can't follow.
Everything I believe in, and my whole life is grounded in Him, including, my worldview, how I look at every detail of the world, from the beginning of the world, to the end, from my purpose in life, to nature, to people, animals, and my values and ethics – it's all based on this one dude, Jesus, and my RELATIONSHIP with Him. Not just a theoretical God out there somewhere, but a real dude who has a name, a face, and a personality.

The other thing is, I only figured this out, because I *listened* to her. I wasn't sitting there talking my face off, telling her what I know, and why and how she should do the same. We both talked, and while doing so, I was listening to God, and His Spirit in me, to understand what He wanted me to say and do, and how He wanted to treat my friend – and mostly, just how He viewed her, not how I view her.

Cause I, as a friend who cares about her, would be all in her face... trying to help her see the awesome gift that's out there for her, and try to convince her to reach out and grab it, and end up getting frustrated with her.

But me, as a child of God and seeing her in HIS viewpoint...

...He just told me to love her (SIMPLE!).

...At one point in the conversation, where I was rather frustrated with her, I asked God,
“Where do I go from here?!”, and He said,
“Just love her”, and it was like I looked at her differently all-of-the-sudden, and saw her as God does, and He gave me a whole whack of His overwhelming Love for her.
Then out of that Love, suddenly an idea came to me of how to share it. I was able to share with her things that God saw in her, like how she was able to be open to talk about these things.

It all boils down to the simple things, really. All the most complex and detailed things can all be brought down to the simplest of answers. And in this case, it was Jesus, and friendship with Him.

Tuesday Evening:
MORE SWING! **HEAVENLY** Hung out with some awesome people afterwards, which made my night. YAY! I prayed for God to make swing extra special this night, and He most definitely did. Thank you God, you're awesome.

Just goes to show he likes to do things for me that make me happy! :)

A Far Green Country: Into the Wild

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