"Greater things are still to be done in this NATION!"

A few weeks ago I was sitting at church during worship when the song "God of this city" came on. I was struck by the lyrics and felt like God was speaking to me but replacing our city with our nation. It was put on my heart to sing...

"Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this NATION...."

Trevor and I have had several conversations about what our place and calling will be with sharing the gospel with our life in the military. We constantly ask "How will God use our marriage for His glory??"

At that moment, while we both stood and worshipped God together, I felt His presence in a powerful way telling me that He is going to use us to share Jesus with military families that we are surrounded by. I know that God is going to orchestrate every move we make within the military to a specific base for a specific reason. As of now, this is something we are praying through, but I can't shake the idea that God is going to do big things to reveal himself to our nation as a whole!

This morning Amanda and I were driving and kept seeing flags hanging at half-staff...we couldn't figure out why. When we came home, we made chocolate chip pancakes and turned on the news. President Obama was speaking in honor or Dorothy Heights, a leader of the civil rights movement. He started reading out of the gospel of Matthew about the blessing of humbleness.

I feel like God has been working on my heart for our nation over the last month, and I don't know exactly what He is trying to reveal, but I do know one thing... that is that He has a big plan for His name to be known across our nation and within the military culture. The love of Jesus will change lives in military and provide hope to these families who are so sacrificial with their lives and allow them to see an even greater purpose for their sacrifice than just for our country.

There are so many people who sacrifice on a daily basis for everyone in our nation. What greater gift could we give them other than sharing with their family the hope of Jesus?

"Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this NATION!"

Remembering

Last night I was sitting in my DSM class and we were talking about dementia and delirium disorders. We started talking about Alzheimers patients and watched a tear jerking video about one woman's story. It was fascinating to see that even though some people lost most of their memory and communicative abilities, they could still communicate so well with others non-verbally. We watched a woman start singing "Jesus Loves Me" to her and she began tapping her arm to the beat of the woman singing. She would then start tapping harder and faster and the woman would match the tone and volume of her voice to her tapping. It was absolutely incredible. Towards the end of the video the patient actually opened her eyes and started singing with her!! This caregiver knew that singing about Jesus would light up her eyes, so she did and they had such a special moment together!

I was crying (hard!) by this time in class and it made me think of my mama when she was at the stage where she could no longer communicate. She never had Alzheimers, but she did have several of those same communicative difficulties towards her last days. It made me think about one of the last days before she went in Hospice. She was about to go to bed and I was laying next to her praying over her before bed. She hadn't spoken in a couple of days but I knew she still was completely aware of what I was saying. I remember when I finished praying, she kept mumbling something that I couldn't make out at first. A tear came down her face and she kept mumbling it. As I continued to sit and listen, I made out what she was saying. "Jesus" "Jesus" "Jesus" She had been repeating "Jesus" over and over. It was as if since she couldn't necessarily pray out loud anymore, she was still talking her her savior, Jesus. That was a huge testimony to my own life! What will be some of the last words I say? Will they be about the Lord and King of my life?

As much as crying in the middle of class is never fun, I appreciate the moments in my life that help me remember some of those sweet times my mom and I shared that I will never forget!

Tension of time

This week has been CRAZY! I feel like every aspect of my life has felt like it's on steroids... grad school, grant writing for SELAH, medical appts, wedding planning, etc! There has been some amazing praises that have happened but I am also just physically exhausted!

I am also starting to feel the tension of time again in my life. I think the reality that I am not going to be living in Austin in September after Trevor and I get married is starting to set in. It's making me realize that I want to spend as much time as possible with all my church family and people I love here before I move in 5 months! It has also been slightly overwhelming to realize because I don't feel like there is much I can do about it right now because there are not enough hours in the day! I am trying to balance school in San Marcos, family in Buda, my church community in Austin, and start spending a couple days a month in my future city (Killeen) with my fiance. Ahhhhhh :/

During the week I spend almost everyday either on campus or writing papers and that only leaves two days on the weekends to spend with everyone. Several of my friends work on the weekends and these are also the only days I am able to see Trevor on a weekly basis. I'm trying to balance spending time on the wknds with people because even though I absolutely LOVE spending time with my fiance, I also realize that in 5 short months I will have the rest of my life with him & may not have as much time with these friends on a regular basis!

I'm actually really excited about this weekend because I tried to make it a point to spend more time with people! On Friday I'm spending the morning with Audrey which I am thrilled about because we have both been in and out of town almost the entire month and Friday evening I'll be with Trevor just spending time in Killeen. On Saturday I'm super excited to have breakfast with three of my favorite girls which is so long over due! I actually think the last time the four of us had a meal together was after Chelsea got back from her honeymoon! That's NUTS! I think we also have plans with Trevor's family sometime this weekend, and an Easter Sunday BBQ after church and then dinner with the Church's! It's gonna be a great weekend and I can't wait to spend time with all the people I love!

I guess I am balancing things better than I think, I have just had a heavy heart about making time for everyone lately and just wish there were more hours in the week!

Love you guys, thanks for reading!