Busy and Blessed...

Psalm 90:12 instructs us, "So teach us to number our days, that we might apply our hearts unto wisdom." Wisdom is an outlet we all need to tap into. There are many sources of wisdom, but not all wisdom is true wisdom. The wisdom that will never disappoint, that will never mislead, that will always be attainable, is from above. The God of wisdom is rich to give this wisdom to us if we but ask. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)

Sometimes it is essential to choose between what is good and what is best, and that is the quandary I am currently facing. What is a girl to do when there are so many tasks to accomplish yet not enough time to do it all? Seek wisdom. Seek God.

God's wisdom is what I am seeking as I number my days and minutes, ticking away one by one as I near the time of yet another departure. Forty-eight days remain before I return to Oklahoma: city living, dorm life, classes, assignments, and masses of people. And enriching ministry opportunities, precious friends and mentors, Spirit-filled preaching, new learning experiences, and so much more.

It is a difficult transition, traveling from my home in Alaska, secluded, isolated, and familiar, to my new life in the Lower 48, brimming with new experiences and people who are becoming ever more dear to me. Living in two completely different worlds is not easy, but God's grace is all-sufficient! Wherever He chooses to place me at whatever time, I want to be all there. Like Jim Elliot, I want to live to the hilt every situation that I know to be God's will for me. This is the key to a truly fulfilled and successful life for God -- not sighing for the future nor longing after the past but embracing today and God's sweet will with ultimate joy! With God, my friends, it is a wonderful life, indeed.

I don't know what the future holds: what I will be doing after I graduate, exactly what type of ministry God will place me in, how long my season of singleness will last, who I will someday marry, where I will be living, and other large-ish questions many people approach me with. Naturally, people are curious about my future. Guess what? So am I! (chuckle) God hasn't given me the answers to those questions. If I had those answers, I would have no reason to trust in Him. And, if given the choice, I would rather keep step with my God while leaning upon my Beloved's strong arm than to know every step that lies before me.

I am content. My life is rich! My days abound with new opportunities and people to invest in. Today is more than enough. I know that the Lord has hallmarked "one day" on my path with the hope of a joyful union of my life with a man of God, but marriage is not my ultimate goal; that is not what my eyes are fixed upon. I have huge desires to serve God in big ways, to make my life truly count in eternity, but how I serve God with my life is not my decision to make; it is His.

All I know is that right now, I am called to be single and to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. He is to be the chief expression of all that I am and the all-consuming passion for all that I do. I am patiently running this race with eternity, entrusting my weighty cares to God, and I am ever "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [my] faith," who gives me joy as He endured with joy.

The Lord has given me a wonderful family; I am loving every moment I get to spend with them this summer, for I realize that our remaining time to be a family is very brief. God has blessed me with an incredibly busy and fulfilled summer to the brim with opportunities to be salt and light, to share the Gospel with boldness and compassion, to live out Christ's life in me. I couldn't ask for more than what God has already given me. And why He has given me so much, I'll never know. All I can do is return to Him a very small portion of the love and life He has lavished on me... all the day, every day, as long as I live!

Heartland Update

Greetings from Oklahoma! My sister Emily and I have been at Heartland Baptist Bible College for over a month now. I can't even begin to express how good God has been to us. I have absolutely no question that this is where we are supposed to be. The Lord has been teaching me so many amazing things in the past month -- in the classroom, of course, but especially in my heart. I can't wait to see how He will lead me in the steps ahead.

The following is from a post I wrote last week on the blog my sister and I are updating during our time here at Heartland. If you would like to stay current with us, visit our blog at emilynaomihbbc.blogspot.com.

Here is a list of the classes Emily and I have this semester. Emily's major is Church Education and mine is Missions. All of our classes are the same this semester except I have a Cults class while Emily is in her Ladies class. 

Cultures and Customs 

Bible Doctrines I 

Cults (Naomi) 

Research and Style 

Methods of Teaching 

Fundamentals of Speech

Ladies Class III (Emily)

Choir 

Piano Lessons 

 We have learned so much already. Cultures and Customs is one of my favorite classes as I am gaining so many new insights into the different ways of different peoples. I know it's really going to help me in the future. Of course I'm learning important truths in Bible Doctrines I and Cults. We're writing twenty-page papers in Research and Style! My topic is why we can trust the King James Bible to be the preserved, infallible Word of God. Methods of Teaching has been such a great class. I have so many new ideas for teaching already and, although the class lasts three straight hours on Monday, it goes by so quickly because we're all having so much fun while evaluating each others' teaching methods. It's like going to Sunday School all over again. (chuckle) Fundamentals of Speech is an easier class and has actually been fun. We are divided into smaller groups (all girls or all guys) where we give our speeches on different topics -- so it's not intimidating at all. =) Choir is a blessing! We're learning three different Christmas pieces for a cantata in December. We sing in the choir loft at church each Wednesday. Piano lessons have been a tremendous help to both Emily and myself. Our teacher is such a sweet lady and has helped us in so many areas already. We also have chapel services twice a week which is always such a huge help and uplifter! The Lord always has something especially for me during chapel.

It's a fairly full schedule but we do have days throughout the week that are slower. We're keeping up with our assignments and are making good grades, praise God! Our first month here at Heartland has been so incredible. Everything is completely different from home... and we do miss home terribly. Now that the newness and excitement of being here is wearing off the homesickness is especially keen. I never dreamed I would ever be so busy, but it has been such a blessing and I'm grateful to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to be here. 

If I could use one word to describe my experiences of the past month, it would be opportunities. Of course we had many ways to serve the Lord in our ministry at home, but here we have such a wide outreach. It has been amazing to have so many opportunities to be involved in ministry at our home church here in Oklahoma City, Southwest Baptist, as well as at Heartland. I get to work in the third-to-fifth grade junior church once a month at Southwest and I love it! It is a bit overwhelming as the numbers reach three hundred -- it's what you call an overwhelming blessing. (chuckle) Emily is working with the three-year-olds once a month. We have visitation on Tuesday evenings which has been another incredible opportunity. We have also been going on Saturday morning visitation from the church as our schedules allow us to do more. I also attended Friday night street evangelism last week; it was great and I hope to go again tomorrow! And we also signed up for the monthly Friends of Heartland ministry. We travel on a bus to another church and help them with visitation. Last Saturday was our first trip; we went to Derby, Kansas to be a blessing to North Woodlawn Baptist Church. It was an amazing opportunity. Praise the Lord! 

Another opportunity we have at Heartland is the missionary prayer band. We meet at 6 PM every Saturday to read prayer letters from missionaries around the world and to lift them up before the Lord. There is a great emphasis each week on different unreached people groups. Missionary prayer band is one of the highlights of my week. I'm so grateful so be able to have a part. Yet one more exciting opportunity I have is learning sign language. I've wanted to learn for several years so as soon as I heard the church has classes each Sunday before the evening service, I knew it was something else the Lord wanted me to be involved in. I'm so excited to finally be learning how to sign! It is a beautiful language. I can't wait to be able to communicate with the deaf people in the church. 

Heartland has such a God-glorifying spirit. The students who are attending are here for the right reasons and it is very evident in their daily lives. I am so blessed to be among them as we serve the Lord together! I'm thrilled to see what the Lord will have for us to do throughout our time here! Thank you all so much for your prayers for me and Emily. I know they are making a difference each and every day.

God's Plans for Us

Just five days from today, I will be on my way to Oklahoma.

I have five days left with my family. Five days of memories to be made before we are separated for three months by thousands of miles.

On Wednesday, my sister Emily and I are leaving home to attend Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City. This is a huge step for two girls who have lived most of their lives in isolated Alaskan villages. Whenever we get out of the village it is a bit humorous. We exclaim over riding in a vehicle at 60 MPH, paved roads, trees (ha!), going to Wal-Mart, and other such "marvels." (chuckle) This is going to be a huge change for us. The college campus itself is the size of my village's population. You wouldn't think we would experience culture shock, would you?

Last summer while my family and I were on furlough in the States, we had the opportunity to visit Heartland's campus. As we toured the buildings I had this undeniable sense, This is where God wants me to be. I had such peace. And I loved everything about Heartland. I knew it could easily feel like "home away from home." It wasn't too big or impressive, nor was it too small. My sister and I prayed about the decision for some time and finally came to know that Heartland was indeed where the Lord wanted us to attend.

At this point I am at perfect peace. However, arriving at this point was a struggle. It is true that am very hesitant about these life-altering changes in my life. I dread the thought of saying goodbye to my precious family. Even so, I am absolutely certain that this next step is God's perfect will for me. I want to cling to the familiar, but I know that I must go forward with God.

God's plans for us often take turns that we never expected we'd come to. Two years ago when I graduated from homeschool, we were making plans for my sister and me to leave home for Bible college. However, various situations led us to consider studying at home for a few years via correspondence. At that point I was uncertain about God's will for my life. I questioned whether it was truly right for me as a young lady to leave my home and my father's protection to attend college. To be truthful, I was inwardly bucking against the idea of going away to college because I truly thought it would be the wrong thing to do. And then the Lord led us to study at home through Landmark Baptist College's directed studies. I was immensely relieved and so happy. 

So the Lord allowed my family another two years to be together as my sister and I took our classes. It was a wonderful experience; we both learned and grew so much spiritually. At the same time, we were able to continue helping in our home and serving in the ministry. Looking back now, I can't thank the Lord enough for giving us two extra years at home. They were absolutely essential to my life. It was a time of preparation.

In the past two years, I have learned so many needed homemaking skills that I would have neglected had I left home. I have been given the opportunity of working alongside my parents in our ministry. God has taught me so many valuable lessons in the past two years that I would otherwise never have learned. At 18, I know I would not have been ready to face the many challenges and responsibilities of being on my own. This season of waiting and learning was so important to my life. I don't doubt for a moment that I have been in the center of His will all along, for I have been so blessed and so happy. The center of God's will is the only place where you can be happy.

Perhaps some people have looked at my life during these past two years and questioned my sanity as I told them, "I am so happy here." They believed it was my right to leave the confines of this little Alaskan village and experience "real life" in the States. Were it not for the contentment God has given me in the center of His will, I would probably have thought the very same way!

Thoughts on Shattered Dreams

Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory.

J.R. Miller

This thought encouraged me so much the other day. I've seen the Lord do this incredible thing in so many lives. He raises up the shattered lives of His people and recreates them into something so beautiful. It's what He loves doing. He gets so much glory from it. 

We need to pray that God would break us because only then can He make something in us that will bring Him amazing praise. Right now I see Him doing that in my life. He's broken my hopes for the future, the goals that I believed would be the most glorifying to Him, and instead He's doing things in my life that are so much different than I ever dreamed He would do. And in these things, He is going to get more glory than I ever thought possible... if I will simply trust what He's doing in my life and walk in perfect unity with Him. I want so much to see His plans become true in my life. It is the only thing worth living for. Regardless of my feelings, I can't wait to see what's around the next corner. With my wonderful Lord leading, I have this perfect certainty that it's going to be beautiful.

With the amazing God that we have, shattered dreams are not a bad thing but sometimes the best thing that could ever happen to us. It's when our feeble, even sometimes foolish, plans are destroyed that God leads us into so much better ways than what we could ever have chosen. He is worthy of our trust!

In the photos: 1) Rain-drenched tundra grasses and flowers. It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. The picture simply doesn't do God's handiwork justice! 2) Glowing and shimmering in the late sunlight, rustling grass in which I heard Him pass... He speaks to me everywhere.

Busy but Blessed

Life has become extremely busy and blessed in the recent weeks. My blog might be quiet for some time. There are two longer-type posts (one on the trust you can place in the King James Bible, and another on the importance of dressing like a lady) that I have been wanting so much to finish writing since months ago, but I really can't see when I will be able to share them. That makes me sad because sharing with you, my readers, what the Lord lays on my heart is something I love doing. Even so, I am committed to redeeming every moment of time God has entrusted to my care, and I long to give my best to the responsibilities He has blessed me with. Blogging just happens not to be one of those things right now.

The Lord has been teaching me such precious lessons lately. I have faced some hard trials that I wish I just didn't have to go through, but His everlasting arms are beneath me and His sheltering wings are over me! I am so safe. There is no more wonderful place to be than in the center of His will.

Perhaps next week I will be able to finish a post about some big changes that I will be facing in three weeks... big changes concerning Bible college. God has led me through some stony paths. I have a long way still to travel. But I will follow on! 

I will write as I find time and as the Lord leads. Until then, I pray the Lord is blessing your life as richly as He is mine!