For me

In the midst of learning about having faith for God to do the supernatural or miraculous, I'm seriously being tested to trust Him in some seemingly "smaller" things. In case I haven't been clear on this blogger thing or in case you just recently started to read, I'm moving to Minnesota the second week in June. I have this wonderful boyfriend who lives out there that I'd really like to be around more often, so he's flying in May 26th and we're driving me and all my stuff to Minnesota. I'm really excited about all of this and can't wait to see what opportunities come about in this next season. There are 3 'big' things that I've been praying a lot about for this transitional time;

• A car
• A job
• An apartment/place to live

Some people think I'm crazy for not having all of these things lined up ahead of time, but I keep feeling like I'm supposed to trust God to provide. Even if I was scurrying around trying to ensure that all of these things fall into place, it's ultimately God who makes it all possible. So, Sunday night God came through for one of the items in an awesome way! Initially I was planning on living in Minneapolis. That's where Jake would be living, and it's such a unique city that I'd really love to experience. My 'last resort' would be to live back on my college campus in Bloomington which is a suburb of Minneapolis, but I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. About two weeks ago I was thinking about how blessed I am to live so near to a House of Prayer. I felt incredibly thankful that I could jump in my car and be in an atmosphere of worship and prayer whenever I wanted. It made me sad to think that I would be leaving that when I moved to Minneapolis. Then, I remembered that my college campus has a house of prayer that is open almost 24/7. For the first time the thought of moving back to Bloomington sounded really good. Over the next few days following that moment my desire to be connected to a House of Prayer grew and grew and I was almost decided that I would move back to campus. Then, an amazing gift fell into my lap. Some friends of mine who live in Minnesota found out about a 3 bedroom fully furnished house in Bloomington that was open to be 'rented' out. Within a week of finding out about this opportunity, my dear friends Ryan and Noelle returned to America from their 16 month internship in Azerbaijan, called up the owners of the house, and settled an agreement for the 3 of us to live together! I couldn't be more excited about this! The rent will be extremely cheap, the house is filled with almost everything we need, it's only a few minutes from my campus, and I'll be living with two of my closest friends in the whole world who I miss terribly. It's going to be awesome!

 I'm still waiting on God for the car and the job but feel even more full of faith to believe that He is for me and is a good Father. He's on our side! Our hearts can be at rest when we trust Him and that's the best place to be. I'd still love some prayer for these things though if you have a moment. God's timing is always right, I just want to be patient with His timing :)

Oh and by the way, I finally finished a scarf for myself. Too bad that the temperatures have been in the high 70s and low 80s the past couple days. I guess it will be all the more exciting to wear next fall.

Why not!?!

Why not? This simple phrase has been on my mind and repeated out of my mouth very often in the past months. This question might be asked in an atmosphere of liberty, such as a "do whatever you want" mindset or you might here it coming out of the mouth of a thwarted child after being told "nope." But for me, this expression has popped up in a very different setting. Being a part of this House of Prayer internship has stretched me in many ways. I've heard so many testimonies in the past few months, either from books, speakers, sermons, class settings, peers etc. of God coming through in miraculous ways. Whether it be some sort of healing of their body, a divine dream or encounter with an angel, raising people from the dead, or supernatural provisions, I've heard a little bit of everything. At the end of the story, as I'm about to shake my head in disbelief mixed with amusement, a nagging voice inside of me says these words: "Why not!?!" "Why not, Lindy? Why wouldn't I do those things? Is my arm too short? Have I changed?" That little voice from God has become stronger lately and less and less 'polite' for lack of a better word. I sort of feel the frustration that Jesus showed in Mark when His disciples couldn't cast a demon out of a boy. He says to them “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?"  They had seen miracle after miracle from Jesus before this point. They had been sent out two by two healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons with great success! The disciples' lack of faith grieved Jesus. Why would God be willing to do all those amazing things during Bible times but not now? He hasn't changed!  In fact, we should expect even greater things to happen! (John 14:12-13 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.) So why don't we see those things? If God hasn't changed, then I have a feeling it has to do with us. The gospels tell us that faith hindered Jesus in doing the work He wished to do (Matthew 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.) We also read that over and over again Jesus was moved by the person's faith and thus healed them. I'm starting to realize that the sin of unbelief is a really big deal to God and He has some pretty strong feelings about it (Revelation 21:8 "...But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”) So then, how do we grow our faith? I feel like such an infant in the area of faith and am aware of my lack in a way that has left me sober and desperate for change. I'm going to start by devouring the Word of God and allowing that to renew my mind and change my 'lean' off of my own understanding and on to God's all powerful awesomeness. I want faith to pour out of my mouth and cease to 'curse' myself with doubt and unbelief. Faith is an active and intentional thing that I need to stop being lazy about but instead walk in faith even when it seems dangerous, illogical, foolish and unreasonable.
This only seems to touch the surface of why I feel so desperate for an increased faith. Here are some other brief snippets of why it is crucial
We are justified by faith (Romans 1:27-28)
We receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14)
We walk by faith and not by sight aka your 5 senses really don't cut it (2 Cor. 5:7)
We overcome the world by faith (1 John 5:4)
And that's just to name a few! Why aren't we seeing mountains being moved, trees being uprooted, dead being raised, sickness being healed, oppression being defeated, abundant provision being lavished, and the Kingdom of Light taking it's rightful place where the Kingdom of darkness once resided?? Doesn't that disturb you at all??
 Oh Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!

Quirk

Why do girls do the things they do? Why is it that we seem to have these funny quirks that we can't explain, but seem to affect a large portion of us? Maybe this one in particular, that I'm about to discuss, isn't as wide spread as I would like to think, but I know for certain I'm not alone. The oddity I'm talking about is girls who like to own/wear an article of their boyfriends clothing. (Now, please understand me, I'm only talking shirts, jackets, sweatshirts and the like). The last time I was in Minnesota for a visit it was very snowy and cold (surprise!). Jake's younger brother wanted us to go outside and play in the snow, but I was a bit hesitant of becoming frosty, chilly, cold. After some coaxing, Jake offered me one of his sweatshirts to wear, along with my many other layers, and for some odd reason it made all the difference. When it was time for me to head back to PA, he kindly allowed me to keep the sweatshirt while we were apart. I think I wore it to sleep every single night for at least the first 2 months of our pen pal period. After dropping some big time hints that it was getting too warm to wear his sweatshirt to sleep he kindly sent me this lovely package.

Now I have a new sleeping shirt, dove chocolates, a mix cd, and other thoughtful knick knacks. He's a pretty cool boyfriend.

Harvest

One of the requirements of my internship is that you complete a 7 day liquids only fast. A bunch of the interns, along with the staff at Gateway, decided to do it together. I came into the fast a little confused as to why I was doing it and desperate for some kind of vision to grab hold of when my belly rumbled and the fatigue set in. I had a few inklings of what God had in mind, but mostly I reminded myself over and over that you reap what you sow. Galatians 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Harvests don't come right away in the farming business, and it's the same way in the 'fields' of my life. So, I went into the fast putting my faith and trust in the Lord's character and promises and a low expectation level to protect myself from disappointment. Turns out God had other things in mind. The fast was the easiest one I've ever done in the sense of my physical body. I had an incredible amount of energy most of the time and felt very few cravings for food. And to top it all off, God answered so many prayers. It really was incredible. In less than 48 hours I saw God answer prayer in 7 very specific ways. I felt so full of faith I was ready to ask for anything! I noticed that I was much more aware of what God was doing, rather than simply chocking it up to good luck or being thankful that things just happened to work out just right. I was looking for Him to move, so when He did, even ever so slightly, I was all over it! I want to see God for who He is and what He's doing and give Him the credit He's due. I want that sensitivity to be a constant in my life and am believing for God to accomplish that work in me. I think He's pretty willing, I need only to wait.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, spring is coming!

Visit

It was so good having my friend Laura in town. Our friendship has definitely been a unique journey. We met during a 2 week mission trip to South Africa back in 2006. Both of us a few weeks later arrived in Garden Valley Texas for a year long internship with Teen Mania. We didn't see a lot of each other during this year, but when we found out we both were headed to Bethany College of Missions in Minnesota, we decided to be roommates. She was such a good fit for a roommate for me. You couldn't put two more different people together, but somehow it just worked! Then when it came time for our global internship, she headed for Kenya and I flew off to Austria. We stayed in touch as well as we could during this time and watched one another grow and bloom. Then we came back for our senior semester and decided to be roommates again. She was such a valuable friend to have around. Now she's getting ready to venture back to Kenya for an indefinite amount of time and we're not sure when our paths will cross again. I guess such is the life of friends who have committed to serve God wherever He leads. I'm pretty sure this is one of those friendships that can withstand the test of time zones and skype calls.

Quick

Poor April. You don't have any posts yet! Well my dear friend April, you came quick. You caught me by surprise even though you were the month I was longing for. You brought a conversation with a boyfriend, some rainy cloudy days, and a visit from an old pal (my roommate Laura from Bethany is currently in PA with me). What else do you have in store??

Laura and I, with a partially buzzed head, in 2008