For every piece of me that wants you...

...another piece backs away. Its a James Morrison song. I would like to address choices. I've come to realize that when people say "life is all about choices" its true. Whether you choose to believe it or not. :) Yes there is a God with a perfect, eternal plan. There is also a Devil who wants nothing more than to sabotage that plan. But there are 2 other elements we often overlook (sometimes intentionally). There is life and there is us. God says "witness to your friend". The devil says "leave her alone she'll think you're a Jesus Freak". Life says "You're going to see her at school or work every day for the next year". You say "She gets on my nerves".

So many times I get caught up in the different "voices" or opinions I hear. And get frustrated over the fact that they exist...but that doesn't change the fact that they do. So once again I am left with a choice. This brings us to a very important question "why do I choose what I choose?" Is it based on my opinion? On my wisdom? On the truth of the "voice"? Although those are all factors, my choices should be based on my love and commitment to the one who gave me the means to have a choice in the first place. My opinion is fallible (although I don't always think so). My wisdom is lacking and tainted by my determination to do what I want to do. And there is the reality that all 4 influences may hold truth. I need to witness to her. She may think I'm a Jesus freak. I will see her on a regular basis and she gets on my nerves. As a Christian I choose to make Jesus' priorities my priorities. When I accepted Him I died to myself and rejected the Devil so that knocks out 2 voices leaving God and Life. Accepting the fact that All things (including life) were created by Him and for His purposes, God trumps life!

This doesn't necessarily make choosing easier, but it makes the Godly choice clearer. So my advice (in my infinite wisdom lol) is to accept the fact that you will be torn in two. You will mess up. You will make wrong choices. You will have conflicting voices, feelings and opinions. But those are perfect moments to acknowledge and accept God's grace and wisdom. He will give it.

I wish I were still there

Here are some pics from my trip...

Taylor (my musical partner in crime) & Lisan (Our adopted Jamaican child). Things move quickly in their country :)

This is a shot of the North Coast of the Island from Ocho Rios...so beautiful! :)

We ran a week long camp and these girls sat at my dinner table the first night!

The most awesome group...group 4-after our tug-of-war victory during sports day!!

Ja-makin-me-crazy

There will soon be pictures...but for now all I have are stories.
This past week has been one of the most amazing experiences ever. For those of you who don't know, I went to Jamaica for 9 days on a mission trip and I wish I could have stayed longer. We stayed in a small area called Constant Springs its right outside of Kingston. The mission runs a summer camp for kids that live in more rural areas. This year we worked with kids 12 and under. They were awesome. I got to lead praise and worship and they all had so much energy. I loved every minute of it. I know that I want to be used by God like that for the rest of my life. We had about 12 out of the 35 kids commit their lives to Christ and 5 were baptized. You have to have your parents permission to be baptized fyi. I didn't want to leave... hopefully I'll have pics on here by tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you all know where I've been. :)