How to Have Joy

This is long over due.
I've been meaning to get this somewhere that was more easily accessible than a binder tucked away on my bookshelf.
This past semester, my friend Chelsea and I did a bible study on Philippians. We did Kay Arthur's In & Out abbreviated Precept study entitled "How to Have Joy."
And let me tell you, it is GOOD.
The last two lessons have Bible verses to dwell on when you're feeling nervous or anxious or really anything because they're just that good.
And I needed to get them somewhere where when I needed to read over them I could just pull out my phone and look at this post. And maybe for you, you can also go to this post and read over it when you're anxious or worried or aren't feeling very joyful.

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Isaiah 26:3
The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.

Matthew 6:24-34
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. you cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, What will we eat? or What will we drink? or What will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hebrews 13:5-6
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you, so that we confidently say, "The lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what will man do to me?"

1 Peter 5:6-7
Therefore humble yourselves under the might hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Daniel 4:35
All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to him "what have you done?"

Romans 8:28-29
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of HIs Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.

1 Samuel 2:7-8
The Lord makes poor and rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, and inherit a seat of honor; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he set the world on them.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and you exalt yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

kisses from katie (when did I become an avid reader??)

I know what you're thinking.
Or, at least what my momma is thinking.
"Mary, you've been whining about the MCAT. Why have you been reading books? Why are you blogging?"

Well, first of all, I did a practice test today and needed to de-mcat for a bit. (yes, I'm defending all of my choices to the internets. i have some issues.)
Second, I am not about to get any effective studying done at 10:36 pm. (defending myself again. i promise, I'll work on that.)

So, to the point of this post.
Kisses From Katie.

A book that rocked my happy little world this afternoon. A book that I've only read 60 pages of and cried for about 59.5 of them.
It was like she took my emotions from Honduras and wrote a book about them. And then she took what I dreamed for my life and kept writing.
There's so much that I want to do. So much I want to be a part of.
And so much that I'm scared of. I'm way too comfortable.
WAY. TOO. COMFORTABLE.

And I want to get out of the comfort zone, but I truly feel my calling is to the medical field. And that requires medical school. So I'm focusing on that.

But I need to focus on what I can do here. and do now. because God's kingdom is eternal. It always has been and it always will be. So friends, that means we have to be doing things now. We can't put it off. God didn't put off sending his son for our salvation. So why in the world should we put God on hold until we accomplish the things that we want and we think we need. We shouldn't.

Also, the biggest lesson I learned in Honduras was repeated over. and over. and over. and over again in this book.

I, myself, cannot change the world. But that's not what God requires of me. He requires that I love his children. That I do good to everyone. That I care for the orphans and widows. So that is what I'm going to do. Here. and now. and in the future.

Please, friends, hold me accountable to this. Join with me in this. Let's encourage each other to love. To not look down on people because their different, or dirty, but to embrace them and love them. The way Jesus loved us. The way Jesus loves us. We came to Him broken and filthy and he accepts us, loves us and makes us whole.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this once I actually finish the book, but until then, let's be praying for each other.

Whoever you are, reading this, I'm praying for you. That God would give you the strength to love and care for even the "least of these."

xoxo

Honduras 2014

I'm about to attempt to put the last week into words.
I feel like there aren't enough words to explain it though.
It was incredible, full of God's mercy, but it was hard. So incredibly hard.

Let's start off with a few numbers.
We were there for 8 days.
We did brigade for 4 days.
We had 1 day to rest between the two brigade sites.
We poured 4 concrete floors total, in 3 different homes.
I built 33 incredible relationships with my teammates.
In the 4 brigade days:

• 197 people were seen in Dental
• 1262 people were seen in Medical
• 654 people were seen in Optical
• 329 children were played with, loved on, and were told the story of Jesus
• 2441 total people came in contact with at least one person eager to share the love of Christ with them
• 158 professions of faith
• 96 recommitments to Christ
• 1 life changing week
• 1 tooth I was tricked into pulling (thanks, Dr. Mangan)
• 1 shot given (thanks again, Dr. Mangan)
• 1 shot received (because who doesn't want to let their friend try a sub-cutaneous injection with normal saline???.. you're welcome, Jon)
• 1 sweet note found on my pillow, by one of my sweetest new friends

Personally, I saw 19 people in Evangelism, and 3 of them chose to give their life to Christ. The rest of them were already believers. We got to encourage each other. Pray with them. Hear their testimonies, and share our own.

Love was in abundance and the Holy Spirit was evident in every single moment.

But I'm a fixer.

And I want to fix ALL of their problems, and bring home all of the children who don't know when their next meal will be.

And God taught me that, it's not about me. I can't do much for them. But He can. And I can share His good news, show them His love, and trust Him with their lives.

I'm so thankful for the churches that we were at. That they let us use their facilities. That they were so helpful. I'm thankful to WGO for housing us, and feeding us, praying for us, and teaching us how to minister to the people of Honduras.

There were so many moments that God's sovereign hand was undeniable.

• Raina, a woman who came through our evangelism station, cried as we talked with her and prayed for her. She was losing her sight after a surgery that was intended to help her ended up making it worse. She was depressed. We shared scripture with her. I shared parts of my own story with her. God used some of the worst moments of my life, to encourage her that she can get through this. That it may not necessarily get better, but God can turn it into something that she can use to bring Him glory.
• Sweet, sweet Bobby, who I only knew for about 36 hours, lost his mommy suddenly and unexpectedly on Wednesday morning. But as he was getting ready to leave to head back home on Wednesday, he had all of us laughing and smiling. 
• I got to love on the sweetest girl with cerebral palsy, who would pretend not to like me one second and then squeeze my head so hard with the biggest hug the next. Who couldn't sit still to get her hair washed, so David held her in his arms while we washed her hair.
• Two nights of joyful prayer with some of the girls on the team are memories I will never forget. Ever. Their sincerity and their love for people they had just met was such an example of Christ.

There's so much more that happened.

These are just a few of the highlights.

I'm beyond thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip. This post barely even scratches the surface of what all I experienced. But I hope for you, it depicts some of the qualities of God and how he can work through anyone to bring His good news.