Smile, Jesus loves you!

"Smile, Jesus loves you!" That's what Grandma always says. Ever since I can remember, this short and compelling saying has been a phrase that I've heard my grandma say over and over again. Growing up, my cousins, my sister, and I got to spend a lot of time with Grandma. She used to watch all of us while our parents were at work. My grandma is the most faithful and loving woman I have ever known. She continually pursues her family and cares so much about the people she loves. Boy, are we lucky, getting to share life with Grandma!

Every holiday or family time we share with each other, Grandma and her mannerisms always come into discussion :) "Smile, Jesus loves you" is always at the top of the list! I am so grateful for my grandma and the love that she shares with me. Even if as a child I didn't fully comprehend how much Jesus loves me, at least I heard it every single day, from someone who meant the world to me.

Grandma is one of my biggest role models. A child after God's own heart, and an amazing woman who continues to seek Him in everything she says and does. Her faithfulness is incredible, and her love is never ending. Grandma looks more and more like Jesus everyday, and I only hope to be even a small part of the woman she is today. She gives me something to smile about :)

Smile, Jesus loves YOU!

Give until there's nothing left, and then give some more

So I just spent a week in Mexico where my team and I had the opportunity and privilege of loving on the people of Monterrey the way that Jesus loves on us. We got to be the hands and feet of Jesus and pour our hearts out onto God's children. God showed up big time down in Mexico and changed my heart forever. I've learned so much from this trip and grown even deeper on my journey with Christ. I'd like to share just a part of what I learned from a very special friend I made in Monterrey.

On Thursday, we got to take some kids from a couple different children's homes on a field trip to Kidzania, which is basically an indoor amusement park. Each of us were given a check to be cashed, and then we could either spend the money, work for more money, or both. I got to be paired up with the most adorable kid ever, his name was Joel. He was so excited to go have a fun day with all of his buddies and the rest of the team, as was I! Joel had the most heart-melting smile I'd ever seen, and this child was filled with Jesus, I could see it in his eyes. As we were waiting in line for one of the activities, Joel noticed that one of my twenty dollar bills was ripped from earlier in the day. He immediately started searching through his money, looking for another twenty dollar bill. As soon as he found one in his stack, he picked it out and handed it to me, offereing me his because mine had ripped. In that very moment, God broke my heart for what breaks His. My heart broke for Joel as I thought about his life and realized he had nothing, he had grown up with no money of his own, no family to take care of him. This little boy had nothing, but this beautiful little child of God had everything, and all he wanted to do was keep on giving, just like his Heavenly Father.

Joel has been a huge inspiration to me and I am so grateful for his friendship. Joel has a huge heart and God's love just pours from his big eyes. He has given me strength to move forward and keep doing the next right thing. I know his story isn't over yet, and neither is mine.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Worship

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to worship with GCC-Elkhart. Let me just start off by telling you about the amazing crowd at the Elkhart Campus. All of the volunteers and staff work extremely hard to make each and every weekend an experience you won't forget. So much work and time is put into preparing for service each weekend, and let me tell you, the volunteers could not be more thrilled to welcome you there! God is doing amazing things at the Elkhart Campus!

It really was a great privilege to be able to worship with everyone there. Don Reynolds led us in worship, with Gary Jenswold on the base, and Rory Leitch rockin' out on the drums. Such an amazing group of people! My favorite part about the whole weekend was watching the crowd, arms lifted high, eyes looking up to Jesus, spirits moving...it gives me chills every time! God's never-ending love was in that room, no doubt. I'm so glad I got to be a part of such an amazing weekend, it's one I'll never forget!

God, all glory and honor and praise is Yours. May we do whatever it takes to advance Your Kingdom. Let us not forget that it's all for You, my King.

P.S. This post is in orange especially for my very good friend Tia Morgan Brown because she's totally awesome and I love her lots! I'll tell you why she's so awesome in an upcoming post :)

Passion

Tonight in our leader's meeting at GSM, DC was talking about being a passionate ministry, building a relationship not only with the students, but also with their families. We want to be a ministry that says, "Hey, you know what? I can take a couple hours out of my day to pour life into this student and cheer them on at a football game!" We want to spread God's love to show our students how much they truly matter, and ultimately, we want to connect with our students for a lifetime commitment. Why do we care so much? Because God has shown us a love greater than any love we could experience elsewhere. We strive to look more like Jesus every day, so we follow in His footsteps, trying to let His never-ending love shine through us into every heart we can possibly love on. It's all about Jesus, and as Christ Followers, it's our job to make known to the world His love and mercy, and to let the world know that they are completely saved by the Grace of God. And yes, His Grace is enough. It's more than enough.
In our tough economy today, sometimes it is hard to reach people in need because we don't have available resources or transportation. It absolutely amazed me when DC mentioned that money issues are not stopping our ministry from reaching people across the world, and even in our own back yard. I seriously get chills when I hear this, because if this doesn't spell out passion, then I don't know what does! Of all movies, I was watching Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and a quote from the movie really stuck with me. One of the characters said, "Our world is broken into a bunch of puzzle pieces, and it's our job to find the pieces and put them back together." Another character replied, "Maybe we are the pieces." Maybe we are the pieces. I believe with all my heart that we are the pieces and that each one of us is made in the image of God, and that when we are all put together, God's beautiful and glorious face is the image of our world, the world that He created for us. We matter, other people matter, and we're not about to let anything stop us from making known His truth, because we worship a very BIG God, and with Him, all things are possible. I choose to make His love known, because I want my heart to beat in sync with His.

God's Grace

God's love and grace is becoming more and more evident in my life every day. He never fails to amaze me and His goodness continues to wash over me when I least expect it. God keeps showing me that He will never give up on me. He keeps showing me how wonderful and glorious He really is. He keeps showing me that when I mess up real bad, He's not just going to leave me where I am. He keeps revealing to me that He is always faithful.

Today, as I was walking to my car, I was singing Our God Is An Awesome God to myself. I get in the car, start up the engine, and this is exactly what I hear on the radio, word for word, "our God is an awesome God..." Coincidence? I think not. I think God was trying to say, "Um hey Megan, I'm bigger than you are, I'm greater than you are, I'm wiser. There's no need to ever doubt me. Put your faith in me, I have never abandoned you. You can trust me." I think I just sat in my car for a few minutes with those thoughts running through my head. God is seriously amazing.

My day only kept getting better. Later in the evening, a song I'd never heard before by Matt Maher came on the radio called Empty and Beautiful. As I was listening to the lyrics and taking it all in, tears of love fell from my eyes as God's grace and mercy filled my heart. He never let me go, He was always fighting for me, and He always will. I'm glad to serve a God that is always faithful. You've got to hear this song...

"Empty and Beautiful" by Matt Maher

My past won't stop haunting me
In this prison there's a fight between
Who I am and who I used to be
This thorn in my side is a grace
For because of it the flesh and blood of God
Was offered in my place, my place

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

Where did my best friends go?
In my defense they disappeared
Just like Your friends did to You, oh Lord
But You were there, You gave me strength
So this little one might come to know
The glory of Your name, Your name

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

Awaiting, set apart like incense to Your heart
A libation I'm pouring out
Empty and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me
Jesus You kept the faith in me
Savior, You kept the faith in me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oX-T8aQFG4.

sisters by chance, friends by choice

Morgan Joy Wotring is my very best friend. My almost 16-year-old little sister is the light of my life. She's absolutely hilarious and can put a smile on my face just about any time! I love spending time with her anywhere, any time. Mostly we like to reminisce about old memories, make home videos, we're known for taking lots of pictures, ya know...the usual. But with her, it's anything but usual...we could just sit and laugh for hours about something so ridiculous, and some things just never get old.

One year for my birthday, she gave me a locket with a picture of us on one side and this little saying on the other, "sisters by chance, friends by choice." I call her my best friend because I know that she would do anything for me, and I know she'll always be there for me whether I need her or not, and I feel the same way about her. We're friends who just so happen to be sisters. Of course we fight, we're siblings, but we usually end up laughing it off within minutes.

Sometimes it makes me sad to see how fast my baby sister is growing up! But, I am so proud of her, and I'm proud to call her my sister. I thank God every day for blessing me with someone to love so much it literally hurts sometimes, and I pray that God strengthens our relationship with every passing day.

I love you Morg =)

my deepest stains now clean

I find that I use my eraser a lot, more often than the other end of my pencil (especially in calculus, but that's a different story). What can I say, I make a lot of mistakes. Something that has become clear to me very recently is the fact that I'm not perfect, and I will continue to make a lot of mistakes in the future. The amazing thing is that God is extremely forgiving, no matter what I do wrong, and He loves me with an undying love. A lot of times I find myself trying to erase my own mistakes, and sometimes I succeed, but more often than not, there's a smudge I've left behind; a dark gray smudge that sticks out on a white surface. And when I think the smudge is all people see, someone comes and washes it away. It's like God is my very own Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. And the most wonderful part is, He does it out of love. Even though we humans are full of sin, God wipes our deepest stains clean. See, God doesn't love us because we're lovable...He loves us because He is love.