God Is With Us Always.. Even Those Stressful Days

Colossians 1:29 "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."

Have you ever woken up knowing it's going to be a stressful day?

Well, I recently had a day just like that. My day started off with a volunteer's phone call waking me up asking for instruction. This got me out of bed and I quickly got on the road to start taking tools around to the sites. That day I had a team coming in around noon so I tried to settle my other teams before then. All morning I checked on the other teams and ran tools around to make sure they were good to go so I could dedicate all my time to this large team coming in. I thought I had succeeded and even had time to grab lunch, but when I checked my phone after the orientation I had 4 missed calls from my other team. As I ran my new team around and got my other team supplies I anxiously glanced at my watch making sure I wouldn't miss my 4:30 appointment with a homeowner. The day was hectic and stressful, but as I carried tools to a site I prayed that God give me the patience and strength to keep going. I prayed that he refocus my eyes on his will and not to get frustrated with all the tasks that seemed to overwhelm me that day. God rewarded my efforts when I got to hear a homeowner's story. As, I listened to her proclaim God's love and grace in her life I thanked God for allowing me to witness how much he had worked in her life. He showed me that even during the most stressful days he is there giving us the strength to go on. He is there to give us the patience we need. He is there to open our eyes to see his greater plan and not to focus on the plan we have created. He is there to reassure us and allow us to give up our trials and worries for him to carry. God is always there to be the support we need. He is the only one who can give us the strength to get through anything.

High on God

Have you ever done something or been somewhere when you felt totally surrounded by God's presence. That's what I felt this last week when I was able to be a counselor at Summer Games University. I came back from that camp feeling loved and ready to keep worshiping. The atmosphere was amazing!! For those of you who don't know Summer Games is a church camp that for the past couple of years has taken place on a college campus. It centers around teaching youth about Jesus and His sacrifice while at the same time having fun playing sports in a christian environment. Being surrounded in a loving Christian environment helps people to feel like they can be who they are and don't have to hide their true self. Sometimes in life I think that we, especially Christians, hide who we are. It may not be on purpose but sometimes it is as if we are ashamed to speak out about our faith. I have always had a problem with being vocal about what I've believed in and instead chose to show my faith by my actions. Now it's not like that isn't a good method but sometimes it just doesn't get the point across. People in the real world might just think you are a good person and doing good works because that's who you are. They don't realize that the reason you are doing good works is to improve the kingdom of God and to show other's the love you've found in the Lord. This last week of being a counselor has really helped me to open up about my faith and to be able to talk about what I believe and I hope I can continue to keep talking through out the rest of the summer and my life after being a flood intern.

"Go and make disciples of every nation baptisizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey all I've commanded and I'll be with you until the end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission)

How time fly--

1 Peter 5:8-9
"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like aroaring lion, looking fo someone to devour. Stand firm agains him , and be strong in you faith. Remeber that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are."
How has the devil been attacking you this summer? Have you had any paradigm switch? I'm not a patient person. But over the past couple years the Lord has been teaching me great patience. And the devil has been testing me in that. When you take a moment to look at the choice you have....whether to be patient or not, or whatever it may be in your case. Do you look at the pro's and con's. Do you take a step back and think how is this choice going to be benefiting me. This was my most recent paradigm switch. It has been a crazy summer working here at the flood office, and I can't believe it's almost over. I've had so many amazing teams. I hear both ends of the spectrum everyday with flood relief. Some people can't believe how much has been done. Some people can't believe how much hasn't been done. We've had over 7,000 people come to Cedar Rapids and help out with the flood. And let me tell you those volunteers have gotten plenty done. Please continue to pray that more volunteers come to Cedar Rapids, because although we have acomplished much...there is still much more to acomplish.
Sarah

Life isn't All About Me

Sometimes it takes a difficult situation to make you grateful for what you have in life. While working in this job I have seen a lot of people struggling with many hardships. Many homeowners have lost their homes to the flood and don't know what do next and now we are hearing of those struggling people facing layoffs because of the economy. Children have lost their toys and many other priceless memories kept in keepsakes are gone. And yet these people are still living and trying to face life one day at a time, making new memories. It is hard to even imagine some of these things in the little bubble I live in. I have learned to live my life in my own world and not really see what is going on around me. When things do happen it doesn't seem real because I wasn't affected by it. This time the disaster has hit my community and although my home was not personally affected I still see the difference the flood made to attitudes and people's daily lives. This job has helped me to remember that life isn't all about what you have, it's about facing life after struggles and surviving. I've seen so much strength in the homeowners that I've had the privilege to work with this summer. They've been such an inspiration to me. This summer has helped to remind me that life isn't all about me. My time is much better suited helping others which is why I'm so glad to be doing what I do!

:) Abby

Accept insturction

As I reflect on the past few weeks with volunteers and working on multiple houses I realize that I have learned WAY more than I thought I would ever know about rebuilding a home. Early in the summer I realized I had to put my pride aside and simply ask when I didn't know how to do something or what to get at the hardware store. Proverbs 19:20 says, "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise." By putting my pride to the side, acknowledging that I don't have all of the answers and listening to advice and accepting instruction I have learned leaps and bounds more than I thought possible.



One thing I didn't expect coming into the summer was how much I would bond with each new group. I have been blessed by a lot of the the volunteer groups I've been working with. Anything from making me a lunch and inviting me to sit down for awhile and eat with them, to joking around while they are working, or just thanking me for all the work I've done for them; it is truly a blessing to work with so many wonderful people each week.

Flexibility and love

This summer our motto has been flexibility and love. Sometimes it isn't easy to be patient and flexible with all the unexpected twists this job brings. Loving can be hard too when a team has hit your last nerve and all you want to do is yell. We need to realize not only in the workplace but in daily life that God has a plan for our lives. It may not go the way we want. We may have to change. BUT God loves us and has only the best plans for our lives. We just have to give Him our trust and put our lives in His hands. Last Thursday we had one of our weekly meetings and every week we do a little devotional. This last week the passage we read repeated many times "things happen." This seemed like a perfect fit for what had been happening lately in our lives. Things do happen and we can't always control them. We have had to learn to be patient and ask our teams to be patient with us in return. God has a plan!!