Saint Patrick's Prayer... and Mine!!

Christ be with me

Christ before me

Christ behind me

Christ in me

Christ beneath me

Christ above me

Christ on my right

Christ on my left

Christ where I lie

Christ where I sit

Christ where I arise

Christ in the heart of every man

who thinks of me

Christ in the mouth of every man

who speaks of me

Christ in every eye that sees me

Christ in every ear that hears me

Salvation is of the Lord.

What is your Paralysis?

A couple of days ago I read Matthew 9:1-8 which talks about how Jesus healed a paralytic man.  We all know the story and focus many times on the faith of the man's friends in bringing him before Jesus.  What God really spoke to me about, though, was the two things that Jesus granted the man: spiritual healing and physical healing.  The teachers of the law were furious at first when Jesus forgave the man's sins.  It wasn't until Jesus said, "Get up, take your mat, and go home" that everyone was "filled with awe and praised God."

It is easy to look at that story and criticize the onlookers lack of faith, their shallowness; but I wonder what that man was happier about: forgiven sins or being able to walk?  Now, the text really says nothing on the matter, so we can't know.  But the question isn't so much, "What mattered most to him?" as "What would matter most to us in the same situation?"  If we could only have one thing, would we wish to have our deepest dreams fulfilled, a new lease on life?  Or would we run home rejoicing that our sins were forgiven and our relationship with God restored?  Now, for those who are reading this and have already had Christ cleanse them from their sin, I think that the same reasoning still applies.  Do we seek Christ for what He can do for us or for who He is to us?  Food for thought.

Resolved

Thinking about New Year's resolutions can either be a scary undertaking or a reason to hope.  Or, if you're like me, it can be a little of both.  Taking on some of my biggest challenges, giving myself freedom to dream, and holding myself to a higher standard are exciting; things I look forward to with anticipation of gaining more ground and growth.  However, they are also scary as I consider the past, littered with broken resolutions, and wonder why I could hope that this year will be any different.  But I'm sure going to try.

Here are a few resources that are encouraging me:

-Reading through Jonathan Edwards resolutions (talk about a high standard!!)  -- http://www.apuritansmind.com/the-christian-walk/jonathan-edwards-resolutions/
-Continuing the process of creating a "Rule of Life", or set of ideals by which I wish to live (made attainable by being divided into practical, measurable goals)
- Reading Jon Acuff's blog posts about what he has termed the "Finish Year"  http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/
- The blessing of being surrounded by many like-minded people who also want to see me succeed and grow.  Based in Mexico as well as the States, these dear friends and family pray for me and keep me accountable.
- And most importantly, I know that God gives second chances.  His mercies are new every morning and every new year.  Since He wants me to mature, God will also give me the strength and encouragement I need along the way... and He is patient and forgiving when I am not perfect.  :-)

Writing is not so hard...

Dear anyone who is still reading this dusty old thing,

I am going to try to start writing here again at least once every 2 weeks.  I might write more... but we're going to start small and manageable.  I am going to try to keep my posts between 5-250 words so that they aren't overwhelming for me (yet still are long enough to say something).

So, there's the first blog post of hopefully many to come.  Feel free to keep me accountable to this.  I know of one friend who most certainly will and does.  I don't have a half a doubt that she knows who shes...

Sincerely,
Carolyn

A Ministry for This Year

Please forgive the extremely long break in posting.  I expect that this post will be sufficiently long to make up for the wait though...  :-)

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Another factor that gave me more peace about staying in Mexico was that my potential ministry options for this year were really developing while on the other hand, I didn't have any definite stateside plans.

Here is a glimpse of what my ministry looks like for this year:

Discipleship groups-- One of my main ministries this year will be working with evangelism and descipleship on Mexico's "UNAM" university campus.  The organization I will be working with is called "Compa" (companerismo estudiantil) and it is the Mexican counterpart of InterVarsity in the US. (http://www.intervarsity.org/)  I am looking forward to developing relationships through this group and by God's grace, having the opportunity to strengthen them in their faith and get them connected with the local church where I am serving as well.
Please pray that God would guide me in my involvement here so that I can come as a learner and aide, not eclipse the work that Christian students are doing already.

My church is called "La Fuente" and in addition to my involvement on Sundays, I am also attending a Thursday-night "Alpha" course.  It focuses on the basics of the Christian faith and is geared towards new believers and seekers.  Many people in this group got involved because of student outreaches on the campus!  :-)  One such outreach is another ministry I am involved in: an English conversation group on Friday afternoons at the university.  This is a very enjoyable ministry as it gives me a chance to put my English to good use!  :-)  Just being on such an enormous campus is exciting in and of itself, but to be a small part of the work that God is doing here is even more thrilling!

Please pray that God would bring more people to Himself as a result of this outreach and that I would be an encouragement to this wonderful church!

Outside of my college ministry involvement, my time is mostly consumed with being a leader for this year's YearOut team.  It has been so exciting to get to walk with them through a process I have recently experienced!  I loved being a facilitator this summer and am really looking forward to the opportunity to do the same thing in this upcoming year.  It is certainly proving to be a lot of work, but God is sustaining me and teaching me so many new things!
Please pray that God would develop in my the leadership skills that this role requires... and that I would be a blessing to others as a facilitator.

A surprise when I arrived in Mexico a few weeks ago is that I have been chosen to be a leader for this year's Honduras trip.  We had our first meeting this past Saturday and it is exciting and slightly overwhelming looking ahead to this upcoming year.
Please pray that God would assemble the team He wants to have in Honduras and that we would also be able to make plans with the Honduran pastors we will be serving alongside.

I am NOT a nudist!!

I couldn't resist that title, after a conversation that I had with a friend about what my life was like in Mexico.  I was saying how my life wasn't as glamorous, new and exciting as people would like to make missionary life out to be.  I still do mundane things: I eat meals, I travel from one place to another on public transportation and I sleep.  I would say that although the setting of my life may make things, ehem, interesting at times, I really am a normal person and do the same kind of daily activities that you do.  Oh, and I also go through the boring routine of dressing myself daily.  Hence the blog title offered by my friend: I am not a nudist.  ;-)

P.S.  I am still going to continue my series of blog posts recording my decision to stay in Mexico next year.  This was just a tangent.

Let the Nations Be Glad

As I was reading through the Bible during this time of seeking God's will for next year, I kept on encountering lots of references to "going to the nations" or "all the earth worshiping the Lord" all throughout.

To quote from John Piper's book Let the Nations Be Glad, "Missions exists because worship doesn't." One need only read the Bible for a short time to discover that the purpose of missions is to spread God's worship to all corners of the earth.

Now, this doesn't mean that I will necessarily be on the field for the rest of my life, but it did seem meaningful that I kept encountering these passages as I was in the process of seeking what God might have me do for next year.

This is an idea of some of the passages I encountered just in a few books of the Old Testament:

Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.

-2 Sam. 22:50

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

-1 Chron. 16:24

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”

-1 Chron. 16:31

Here is a sampling from the Psalms alone:

Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

-Ps. 9:11

Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. --Ps. 18:49

All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

--Ps. 22:27-28

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

--Ps. 46:10

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

--Ps. 47:1

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

--Ps. 57:9

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

--Ps. 67:4

All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

--Ps. 86:9

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

--Ps. 96:3

Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

--Ps. 96:7

The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

--Ps. 102:15

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

--Ps. 105:1

I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

--Ps. 108:3

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Staying for a second year will allow me to be part of spreading the Lord's fame so that He might be exalted among the nations.