Thursday, April 16, 2015
Grace
Sometimes we view God's grace as a slot machine. You put something in, (your time, your prayers, some goodwill) and you might get something back.
The truth is, God's grace is more like the bank calling you up to say, "Hey, you know that 150,000 dollar debt you owe? It's been paid." God's grace keeps you questioning, "Is a kindness like this even possible?" (hint: yes) and "Why me"? (hint: You are a child of God and He paid the debt for all those who believe. He has loved you before you knew Him).
Other times, we view God's grace as a well. When we are running dry, burnt out and plagued with thirst, we return to the well with our bucket and fill up. We try to get by on that bucket of water until our next trip.
And instead of a well, imagine Niagara Falls...a mighty, unending flow of powerful water that if you were to stand under it, it would surely crush you with it's intensity. That is the type of grace and love God offers to us all.
How do you imagine God's grace? Is your perspective shocking and overwhelming or is it limiting?
Our perspective has a lot to do with the grace we give others.
***Side note!!! I had JUST finished the last sentence of this post and a co-worker comes to my desk to talk with me...within a few minutes of conversation he brings up God's grace in His life and how it works, and we sit and talk about God's grace. AHH! One of those "I see you, God" moments :) ***
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Easter Update
I hope you had a great Easter weekend. Mine was really good. Our church had a community block party on Saturday and Sunday was church and family time. I pray that it was a time of celebration, reflection, and joy for you as it was for me! Given that the cross and the tomb are the cornerstone of all ministry, it's an amazing time for me say THANK YOU to those who are walking through this with me.
It's also a great time for new beginnings. These past few months have presented some obstacles in my personal/family life that have made dedicating my time to fundraising difficult. I want to assure you that your prayers and dedication to this ministry have not gone wasted! My heart has never doubted the call to Club Beyond. God has worked out all of the situations for good (He's pretty much the master at doing that). I am so excited to write you and announce that I have a new target deployment date!
The goal is to be at 100% in the next 4 months. On April 1st I was 1/3 of the way there - hoping to be at 2/3 by June 1 and in full by August 1.
Basically, It's all hands on deck for my prayer warriors. What can you be praying for?
- The place God is preparing to send me
- The kids I will meet there
- That my fundraising ministry will reach people for Christ and raise support
Love, Liv
Hello.
HELLO :)
and good day to you.
My prayer for this blog is that through it I may:
-reach my friends near and far
-share my story (for His glory)
-meet new friends
-have some sort of a release/way to process life (literally* ha...ha.)
-tell bad jokes
-make someone think and/or smile
okay, off we go! --->
First off, I have titled this blog Going Beyond to represent the inspiration for creating this blog, which is going on staff with Club Beyond. Club Beyond is a part of Young Life - an organization that wants to reach EVERY kid by earning the right to be heard and giving them a chance to respond to who Jesus is. I feel called to pursue youth ministry in the military community.
Most people know that I am a military brat myself, and have dealt with several deployments in which we said goodbye to my father for anywhere from a year to 15 months at a time. It was during the height of these deployments that I drifted away from my church and started the descent into living for myself -- which led me to my inevitable breaking point during my sophomore year of college (more on that later).
My heart especially goes out to those kids who are saying goodbye to a parent while simultaneously moving thousands of miles away from home to a country they've never been to with a language they don't speak. While there are many advantages to living abroad and it may seem glamorous to others at times, the life of a military teen is one few people understand. As they bounce around from place to place, they can become accustomed to detachment and uncertainty. With the stress of a parent away from home and in possible danger, they deal with the feeling that their life is completely out of their control...that they are just an involuntary nomad whose identity is free to change with every three year change-of-station. And so many fall into the same trap that I did - years of searching for what or who their real identity lies in...looking for it in the world...and coming up empty and disillusioned.
Here's where Club Beyond comes in: the vision is that we will provide a safe and fun place for all military kids to be introduced to their creator and just be who they were created to be. It's a place for those with no background in the church, to those who have walked away from their faith, to those who have read the Bible cover-to-cover, to those who have never heard of who Jesus really is. Club Beyond is present at bases in the US and abroad. I love Young Life's mission on a whole: to be incarnational...In the same way God sent his son to live among His people and walk beside the overlooked, they send us out to where the need is. And the need is great.
How do I get started?
First off, I need a group of people who, along with my mentors in Military Community Youth Ministry (MCYM), are dedicated to praying for me. My vision for this is that through prayer we will be diligent in lifting each other up, and celebrating life's blessings together. I heard recently that your "ministry responsibility should never exceed your prayer life." My core group has been an INVALUABLE part of this journey and I am excited to see it grow.
In order to deploy, I need to raise the funds necessary in order to run the program and support myself in another country - namely a country in Europe that has yet to be determined (the selection is based on openings when I am ready to go). Seven months ago, I had 0% of my budget raised. Today, I have 35%. My goal is to launch before the end of this year (Lord, give me patience!)
I'll leave it there for my first entry.
Love, Liv
Most people know that I am a military brat myself, and have dealt with several deployments in which we said goodbye to my father for anywhere from a year to 15 months at a time. It was during the height of these deployments that I drifted away from my church and started the descent into living for myself -- which led me to my inevitable breaking point during my sophomore year of college (more on that later).
My heart especially goes out to those kids who are saying goodbye to a parent while simultaneously moving thousands of miles away from home to a country they've never been to with a language they don't speak. While there are many advantages to living abroad and it may seem glamorous to others at times, the life of a military teen is one few people understand. As they bounce around from place to place, they can become accustomed to detachment and uncertainty. With the stress of a parent away from home and in possible danger, they deal with the feeling that their life is completely out of their control...that they are just an involuntary nomad whose identity is free to change with every three year change-of-station. And so many fall into the same trap that I did - years of searching for what or who their real identity lies in...looking for it in the world...and coming up empty and disillusioned.
Here's where Club Beyond comes in: the vision is that we will provide a safe and fun place for all military kids to be introduced to their creator and just be who they were created to be. It's a place for those with no background in the church, to those who have walked away from their faith, to those who have read the Bible cover-to-cover, to those who have never heard of who Jesus really is. Club Beyond is present at bases in the US and abroad. I love Young Life's mission on a whole: to be incarnational...In the same way God sent his son to live among His people and walk beside the overlooked, they send us out to where the need is. And the need is great.
How do I get started?
First off, I need a group of people who, along with my mentors in Military Community Youth Ministry (MCYM), are dedicated to praying for me. My vision for this is that through prayer we will be diligent in lifting each other up, and celebrating life's blessings together. I heard recently that your "ministry responsibility should never exceed your prayer life." My core group has been an INVALUABLE part of this journey and I am excited to see it grow.
In order to deploy, I need to raise the funds necessary in order to run the program and support myself in another country - namely a country in Europe that has yet to be determined (the selection is based on openings when I am ready to go). Seven months ago, I had 0% of my budget raised. Today, I have 35%. My goal is to launch before the end of this year (Lord, give me patience!)
I'll leave it there for my first entry.
Love, Liv
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