Endless Ocean

Endless Ocean

by Jonathan David Helser

Our God really is like an endless ocean and bottomless sea.  There is always more of Him.  There is always more to learn, more ways to grow, more ways to experience His love.

The Lord gives us endless possibilities and options.

Because He is endless it means our dreams can be endless.

The impossible can be done.

Regurgitated Thoughts

At a time I don't remember and by a person I cannot recall, I heard insightful words eerily similar to these-

It is easy to believe God is good.  It is hard to see how God is good in your own life.

It is so much easier for me to see the goodness God has done in someone else's life.  Sometimes I even look at a subject receiving goodness and wonder why they aren't shouting praise to the Lord at that very moment.

And then I realize I am looking a mirror.  I am the subject receiving the goodness, yet I fail to recognize it.  I have become blind to God moving in my own life.  As much as I wish I could say I was the only person suffering from this ailment, I have become quite certain that I am not.

I have several theories as to why I might have become unable to see His goodness in my own life; most of my theories revolve around either pride or insecurity (which in-and-of itself might be pride- who am I to think I am anything beside who the Lord says that I am?)

Regardless of the cause, this is something I have been convicted of lately, and something I am trying to pray through.  I need a shift in thinking (is that a term?) and several head-smacks, I am sure.

As long as there is no time like the present, then today I see the goodness God has given to me in His using me to speak life into my friends.

That is a start. :)

The Thankful Game

  This is the thankful game.  If anyone has taken part in a trip with Adventures in Missions, you have probably played the thankful game at some point in time.  It's when you don't want to be thankful or you feel like you have nothing to be thankful for, but you thank God anyway because He is good!  Since I really need to be thankful right now (and don't feel like I have much to be thankful for), I am going to scream on the internet until I lose my internet voice.

Thank you papa for two jobs

thank you for making me able to pay my bills

thank you for having a plan for me

thank you for knowing my heart's desire

thank you for wanting to give me my heart's desire

thank you for knowing what is best for me

thank you for building a community around me

thank you for the Holy Spirit

and for Holy Spirit worship

thank you for loving me regardless of what I do

or what I don't do

or how I feel about my own self

or how I don't feel about my own self

thank you for not letting me have malaria again

thank you for giving me time to rest

thank you for new tires for my car

thank you not letting my old tires blow up

thank you for not letting me get in car accidents

thank you that you are still molding me into a more wonderful woman of You

thank you that you give me new determination every day

thank you that you are teaching me what beauty is

thank you for the unconditional-ity of your grace

thank you for speaking to me

thank you for guiding me

thank you for never having hurt me

thank you for your promises

thank you for your faithfulness

thank you for your own desire in chasing after my heart

thank you for restlessness

thank you for the desires you place in my heart

thank you for your sacrifice

thank you for never giving up

thank you for being a warrior

thank you for not letting me be defeated

thank you for setting me apart

thank you for making me in your likeness

thank you for technology

thank you for books

thank you for music

and harmonies

and dissonance

thank you for putting songs on the radio that we need to hear when we need to hear them

The list could (and should) keep going on forever.  Maybe I'll play the thankful game via blog again a later.

Home

I can't tell you how excited I am to be home.

How nice it is to have my bed,

my family,

my dogs,

my car.

Everything about home has been amazing and I rest in knowing I am exactly where I am meant to be.

When I came home from Uganda, all I could think about was when I was going on another trip again.

This time, all I can think about is how God is going to use me in my present situation.

What is my present situation?

I was unable to get enough financial aid to cover this semester at North Hennepin Community College, where I have spent the last year working toward my Associate of Science in business management, so I am not attending at this time.

Instead...

I have just gotten hired for two part time jobs, one at a local grocery store and one at a drugstore.

Other than that, I'm still waiting to see what awesome opportunities God has come my way...

I have no idea what they are yet, but I can only guarantee they will be amazing.

As my life back home begins to pick up speed again, I'll keep you filled in on the progression and the events of my adventures.

Welcome (back) to Georgia

"Welcome to Georgia!"  I saw these signs everywhere as I arrived back in the US with the 21 other people I just spent the last two months in Kenya with.

This was my second time in East Africa.

It was not anything like the first time I was there.

My team was completely new.

The ministries were completely new.

The church was completely new.

The entire experience was completely new.

And that's what I needed.

The Lord gave me newness in all areas this summer in order to break expectations I didn't even know I had.

So long I have been living under the rule of expectations, constantly trying to live up to what I think or what others think is required of me.

The Lord asked me to go on this trip not to continue to live under the rule of expectations, but to experience freedom from them and relish in knowing the Lord has made me sufficient.

As long as I do what God has asked of me, I have done enough.

It took me a while to realize this, and not without the wise words of my co-leaders, but I was able to step into this with confidence through the course of the summer.

I ended this last semester in the freedom God has given me, without expectations, and in anticipation of what He has next.  This ending transfers over as the beginning of this upcoming semester, and I cannot wait to see what else the Lord will walk me into if this beginning is already so good.

Not in a Spirit of Fear

The other night my entire bedroom was uproariously laughing at a super lame joke.  There was snorting, honking, gasping for air, and cackles.  Even in our over-tired state there was so much joy filling the room, and I was sure God was laughing with us.

All of a sudden our laughter stopped and every head turned toward the window.  We heard a scary noise.  There was a bit of rustling and some heavy footsteps.  Every heart in the room started racing, eyes wide open in the dark, ears perked to hear what might happen next.  Our spirits froze.

But we have not been created in a spirit of fear.  We are not meant to fear anything.  We are meant to rest in the peace our Lord gives us, knowing that we have been created in His image, knowing that we have authority because of how we were created.

But I couldn't help it.  The Enemy placed some fear around me, and instead of fighting against it, I succumbed to it.  My mind raced through all the horrible possibilities of what might happen.  I was making up a thousand what if circumstances, deciding how to make a run for it rather than stand up and fight.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to choke out the words "in the name of Jesus Christ, there is no fear, and in the name of Jesus Christ, we are protected."  Within five minutes of this declaration, all the girls in my bedroom were sleeping, including myself.  God dropped a divine rest upon my room, and we all woke up feeling more refreshed and joyful than the day before.

When I woke up in the morning, after recounting the terrifying noise, I went to examine the compound to see what it could have been.  Turns out it was the guard dog bumping his food dish around the driveway, and the footsteps was the security guard trying to make the dog stop.

There was nothing to fear afterall.  What amazes me is how we allow the Enemy to take a dog's food dish and turn it into a murderous prison escapee breaking into our room.

All this to say, we ought to stand in the authority and strength we have as children of God, knowing we are protected and can cast out fear in Jesus's name.  If I had remembered to do this in the first place I would have saved a lot of adrenaline from pumping vigorously and unneccesarily through my veins.

New... Again, and Again, and Again

The other day God gave me an incredible revelation:


Just because you are struggling today with something you struggled with one year ago does not mean you are taking steps backwards.

It means He is making you new... again.

He is always making you new.

You were new a year ago.

You were new six months ago.

You were new last month.

And yesterday.

And now you are new today.

God always has something more for us.
A deeper intimacy.
A greater mercy.
Bigger eyes to see.
More words to speak.

God takes us to places where He knows we will be stretched and where He knows we will grow.
Shouldn't we be happy we have struggles?  Even if they are the same as they were a year ago or a decade ago, it means the Lord loves us enough to bring us closer to Him, to make us more like Him, and to make us newer than we were a minute ago.

Blogs in Kenya

I leave the states tomorrow to go to Kenya!

I am so excited it's crazy.  I will soon be reunited with my beloved Africa.

I told you all I would continue to blog while I'm out on the mission field, and I will.  But I'm gonna try to keep this as simple as possible.

AIM, the organization I work with, gives us a site to blog off of.  This is where I'll be posting the next couple months.

http://kenya.adventures.org/

Click that link, then my name, and you will see a list of blogs I have posted from that website.

Thanks for keeping up, and I look forward to seeing your comments :)

I Hate Packing

A pile of clothes, shoes, shampoo, and deodorant has exploded itself all over my bedroom, waiting to be nicely reorganized and shoved back into a 70 liter pack.

The shampoo stares at me with destructive eyes.

The bottle threatens to explode soapy bubbles onto my newly laundered clothes.

I shake a heavy-duty, gallon-sized Ziploc bag at the shampoo, but it stares back, eyes cold with malice.

The deodorant feigns unpracticed protection.

I ask, "will you guard my underarms from stench, dear friend?"

"I've never been to Africa before.  I don't know if I can withstand such heat," some fluttering eyelashes and fabricated naivety accompany this reply.  It desires more from our relationship, perhaps more recognition for it's mediocre work.

I flash the deodorant a mean glare, but it seems not to notice.

My shoes threaten to be clunky and awkward, too big to fit in my pack.

My shoes do not like going to Africa.  They have tried to escape from my sight numerous times.

They, like the deodorant, feel under-appreciated, I am sure.

The only allies I have are my skirts.

The unlikeliest of all friends, they willingly fold, twist, and maneuver into the cramped spaces of my pack.  Perhaps they are so willing to work with my limited vacancy because of their utter excitement.  My skirts will see the sun each and every day in Africa.  They will be worn for the first time in months.  I imagine they feel like puppies waiting to be adopted and loved.

I guess now it is time to conquer this battle zone rather than personify inanimate objects.

On to packing...

Goodbye Minnesota

Well, friends, I am excited to say I am leaving Minnesota for the summer TOMORROW!

Yep, these are my last few hours in the state I call home.

In less than 24 hours I will arrive in Atlanta, Georgia to start my wonderful summer adventures.

My summer schedule is confusing, and you are probably already scratching your head because you thought I was going to Kenya.  Fret not!  I am still going to Africa, just not tomorrow.

This is what my summer schedule looks like:

Georgia

North Carolina

Georgia

Kenya (June 5- July 28 (don't bother trying to reach me by phone these months))

Georgia

and alas, on August 18 I fly back into Minnesota just in time for the state fair and the new school year to begin.

If you still want to support me in this Kenyan mission trip I am going on, it's not too late!  I need about $400 more in order for this trip to be paid!  You can still support me with a tax deductible gift by clicking here, putting "Kiersten Smith" into the participant name box and following the directions from there.  Or you can send a check made out to "Adventures in Missions" in the mail with "Kiersten Smith- Passport" in the memo line to this address:

Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470 

And don't worry, I'll keep updating my blog while I'm overseas, so keep checkin' back!

Round Two: More Information

If you know me or follow my blog, you've probably caught on that I'm leading a mission trip this summer for college-aged pupils (ages 18-22).  If you've been keeping up, you also know that I did not know where I would be going this summer.  Well, guess what.

I found out where I am going this summer.

Do you want to know?

Okay, I'll tell you.

I am going to....

KENYA!

Wanna know some things about Kenya?

This is a map of Kenya.  It's in Africa on the East coast on the Indian Ocean.

Kenya is bordered by Uganda (where I went on a mission trip fall 2011), Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

This is what their flag looks like:

Bantu Swahili and English are the two official languages of Kenya.

Kenya gained full independence on December 12, 1963.

Nairobi is the capitol of Kenya.

During the trip I will be walking alongside the participants on my team, encouraging them on the way, and also doing logistical things like making sure the team is where they need to be, keeping a budget, etc.  The ministries offered to us in Kenya can be anything like hospital ministry (including but not excluded to praying, assisting nurses, volunteering in the kitchen), hanging out and befriending the locals, or volunteering in children's homes.

The trip will cost me $1500.  If you are interested in supporting me in these ministries over the summer, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com

or

click here, enter "The Passport" in the program box, and enter "Kiersten Smith" in the participant box

or

mail a check with "Kiersten Smith- The Passport" in the memo line to this address:

Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470 

Keep reading my blog to stay updated on what I'll be doing this summer and what's going on in my life right now!

The Box

 Consider the box.

Think about it's edges, limitations, corners.

Boxes are dreadful things.

Whether it be physical or metaphorical, they are difficult to work with.

Lift with your legs, not your back!  How many times has a heavy cardboard moving box pulled a muscle?

So many times we are told to "think outside the box," meaning break out of traditional thinking, straining our brains and causing endless hours of stress trying to be original.

See?

Pesky.

Difficult.

Dreadful.

If boxes have edges, corners, and limitations, then God certainly does not fit inside a box.  I have been telling myself and others not to put God in a box for a while now.  It is one of my favorite things to tell people, because God has no limits.  There is nothing God can't do.  How could our omniscient, omnipotent God fit into a box?

I have been trying so hard to not put limits on God.  I have tried to keep all the doors, windows, and pathways in my life open to how God moves by not planning anything anymore.  I had decided that making plans causes me to get stuck in a single tunnel-like mindset.  So I decided to stop planning.  No planning = no limiting God.  Fool proof.

"But what if God wants you to plan," a dear friend asked me.

Crap.

You mean God might want me to plan?  You mean by trying not to limit God I have limited Him?  You mean that because our God is omnipotent He can make plans happen if He tells me to make them?
Crap.I guess I put God so far outside the box that I accidentally captured Him inside another.

PS I am leading a mission trip this summer with Adventures in Missions.  It costs me $1500 for two months out of the country (I will know which country I am going to soon).  If you are interested in supporting me, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com or go here.  Be sure to select "The Passport" and to put "Kiersten Smith" in the participant name box.

Stop Being Lazy

Stop being lazy.

God shook me awake to the reality of how I have been treating my time since being back from Uganda.

I have been viewing this semester at school as a transition time.

I have been looking forward to the future so much that I have been absent in the present.

I have been asking God to show up, wondering where He was.

This entire time He was asking me to move.  To do something.  Anything.  To give Him an opening to show up and do wonderful things.

I've gotten bored because my days blend together and I perform the same monotonous tasks each week.

I have asked for adventure, but haven't even looked out the window to find it.

I have wanted God to do all the work.

You can lead Kiersten to water, but until she decides to stop looking past the horizon, she becomes stuck in the same spot.

In my looking forward to the future I have been lazy in the present.

But now, after God shook me a bit, I have resolved to stop being lazy.  I will work to put myself far enough out of my comfort zone that I lose myself and act solely as God asks me to.  I will stop thinking that this time at home is for me to wait on God to do something.  I will create windows in my conversations for the Lord to come through, giving Him the opportunities He needs.

PS I am leading a mission trip this summer with Adventures in Missions.  It costs me $1500 for two months out of the country (I will know which country I am going to soon).  If you are interested in supporting me, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com or go here.  Be sure to select "The Passport" and to put "Kiersten Smith" in the participant name box.

Curious Coincidence

First of all, happy Easter weekend!  It is finished!  In my opinion, this is a wonderfully appropriate song to celebrate and praise God with.  It's another one of my favorites.  You can listen to it while you read my blog.  :)

As many of you know, I am currently enrolled as a student at a local community college.  Because of my full time status I spend entirely too many hours in class.  Luckily, to avoid a terribly monotonous semester, God has placed next to me a woman with whom I am all too similar.  We are both hilariously funny (I'll prove it to you; ask me to tell you a joke), we both drive Avalons, and we are both crazily in love with Jesus.

But that is not where the similarities end.

One Wednesday, weeks ago, we both were having a rough day.  No, that's an understatement; We were having a painfully awful week, our faith being tested.  While we were both struggling, neither had any idea the other was also having a tough week.  One night toward the end of that miserable string of days, while communicating about an upcoming class project, we started talking about life.

We inquired about each other's majors, plans, aspirations, etc.
This conversation we had was 100% planned by God.
Absolutely on purpose.

Without meaning to, and without careful consideration of the words we were saying, we were able to speak truth into each others' lives about the difficulties we face, and to have faith in God through it all.  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  It was a big hug from God, only in person form and word form, and not to my physical self, but to my heart.

It astonishes me that God would take such a coincidence- a woman sitting next to me in class who is also having a bad day- and use it to comfort my soul.

But then again, I don't really believe in coincidence...



PS I am leading a college-aged mission trip with Adventures in Missions this summer.  The trip costs $1500 and lasts two months.  If you are interested in supporting me, you can either do it here (make sure to select "Passport" and put Kiersten Smith in the name box), mail a check to 
Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470 
With my name in the memo line
Or email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com to find out more info.

It's All for My Good

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

"You make all things work together for my good." -Your Love Never Fails by Jesus Culture Feat. Chris Quilala

God has been using this verse and this song the last two and a half weeks to reassure me that He has everything under control, and that whatever obstacles I face, I will come out better for the glory of God than when I was introduced to it.

God is in the process of transforming me with this idea.
I am being forced to look at my heart to see if I trust God enough to believe this.
I am having to decide if I believe this enough to live it.


I was once told "There are new depths to walk into.  Depths of God, who He is, His spirit.  But the deeper you go, the less you can take with you, surrendering everything."


I feel God is asking me to follow Him into these new depths, and He is asking me to surrender my expectations.  Expectations of what I think I need to do, of what I think my relationship with God needs to look like, of what I think my future needs to hold.  He is asking me to believe that He will make all things work together for my good, to believe that He will see me through to the end, and to believe that I can throw my back-up plans out the window.


This is absolutely terrifying.  But I have decided I believe that God makes all things work together for my good.  I have decided I believe it enough to start living it.


This is a new chapter in my life.  I don't know what it looks like yet, but I am excited to see where God takes me.

It Looks Like Rain

These are the nights I praise God most.

The breeze slowly starts working it's way to a howl,
there is just enough heat and humidity to break a sweat on a short walk,
and the clouds hang so low and dark you can smell the oncoming rain.

These are the signs of a nighttime thunderstorm.
Soon lightning will break across the sky,
branches will fall off trees,
and buildings will shake with thunder.

God takes nights like these to remind me what goodness He can bring from the turmoil of a thunderstorm.

That chilly rain washes away the dirt from the air and the heat from the sun the same way His presence washes the soot from my mind.  Rain bathes the day with a fresh beginning for tomorrow the same way God has made me new.  Rain gives the earth the opportunity to produce growth the same way God equips me and gives me opportunity to grow.

Even though while in the storm things look very ominous and the wind whipping the debris through the streets seems violent, the impressive part is what can happen as a result of the storm.

I Looked Crazy

Life update:

Still stressed out.

Still in school.

Still working at Perkins.

Still relying solely on God to provide (trying, anyway.  Some days I seem to think I can provide better than God).

I've been faced with many challenges these past few weeks.  It's been rough.  There were numerous times when it felt like Satan crushed me and there was nothing that could be done.  I have felt completely defeated.

I know, I should have told you sooner.  I wish I had so that you could have been praying with me, but my pride and stubbornness got in the way of me sharing this with you.  I apologize for not being completely honest about my struggles.

BUT

I have good news :)

Today started off like the past several days.  I woke up feeling like I had already lost, so why put forth any effort?  Satan overwhelmed me and drowned me in lies.

While I was at work, which tends to be the most taxing part of my days, Satan pushed me further into the lies.

And then God pulled me out of the gloom that I was engulfed in, and He said, "choose to be joyful."

I find this particularly funny because this is something my boyfriend says to me a lot.  I always pretended like I knew what it meant, but I really had no idea until tonight.

I know I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I started with a smile.  It was the cheesiest, most insincere smile I have ever worn, but I had to start somewhere.  So I started here:

I told you.  I looked crazy.  I actually look like one of those clowns from the horror movies.  Throw some extra makeup on my face and I might be chasing you in your nightmares.

Despite how crazy I looked, it worked.  The smile started becoming real instead of fake, and before I knew it I was singing, giving praises and thanks to God, and laughing.

Because today was the first time I have successfully chosen joy, I don't yet know the inner-workings of it, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll let you all know :)

Life update complete!

PS I am leading a college age mission trip this summer with Adventures in Missions, and would love for you to prayerfully consider supporting me in this ministry.  I am very excited for this trip, but I cannot do it without your help.  If you would like to know how to best support me, shoot me an email at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com and I can give you any info you are looking for and answer any questions you have.

The Importance of June 1st

June 1, 1933: Aviator Roger Williams announces plans to fly round trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

June 1, 1935: A compulsory driving test is introduced in England for all drivers.

June 1, 1938: Superman makes his first appearance in D.C. Comics.

June 1, 1967: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released.

June 1, 1979: Rhodesia ends the nearly 100 years of white minority rule and changes its name to Zimbabwe

June 1, 1980: CNN launches in Atlanta, GA. 

June 1, 1990: President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign an agreement to end production of chemical weapons.

June 1, 2005: Sweden shut down the Barseback 2 nuclear reactor.

June 1, 2010: Homer Simpson was named the best TV and Film character of the past 20 years.

June 1, 2012: Kiersten Smith meets her Passport summer mission team in Georgia.

I am leading a college age mission trip this summer (in 94 days!) with Adventures in Missions, the same organization I went to Uganda with.  The cost of my trip is $1500.  If you are interested in supporting me, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com and I can answer any questions you have and let you know how to best support me.

Happy Presidents' Day!

Happy Presidents' Day!

I got you a present.

It's a new blog!

This is the "get to know Kiersten through pictures" blog.

This is the view outside my window.

It is February 20th.  I live in Minnesota.  There is no snow.  This is the kind of winter I don't mind.

This is my deaf puppy, Luna.

This is my old but adorable dog, Zoie.

I collect postcards.  This is about 3/4 of my current collection.

I love Harry Potter.

I am entertained by silly things.

I spent hours doing this...

I really like to color my hair.  I have had 18 different colors in my hair the past 21 years of my life.  Here are a few.

black and white

brown

black hair

blonde highlights

blonde on top, black on bottom

black and purple

black and red

black, pink and blonde

I'm kind of a nerd.

I know how to ice skate.  See?  I would blend in really well with Olympic figure skaters ('cause I'm in camouflage.  Get it? :P)

This is the day I learned how to swim and kayak.

I was a really cute baby!

I have rafted the Nile.

I am usually a zombie for Halloween.  I also double as Kurt Cobain most years (happy birthday today Kurt!).

This is my family.

Thanks for getting to know me!

p.s. I'm leading a college age mission trip this summer with Adventures in Missions.  It will be two months long, and if you're interested in supporting me and want to know how to do it, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com

Round Two

To my dearest supporters, friends, family, and fans-

I have some very exciting news!  You know how I just spent three and a half months in Uganda?  Well, I now have the opportunity to spend two months in another country!

I will be going on another mission trip this summer, but I do not know where to yet, and it doesn't really matter.  The place doesn't matter this time because this time I am going as a leader, and my ministry is the students on the team.

The trip dates are June 1st to July 29th, but as a leader I will need to be at the training camp in Georgia (where we meet the team and do a briefing of what the trip might look like) a few days early and stay a few days late at debrief (where we say goodbye to the team and talk about what happened on the trip).  I personally will be spending some extra time before and after my trip in Georgia to visit some friends and my boyfriend.  I am not exactly sure of when I will be leaving or returning to Minnesota yet- there are some details that still need to be worked out.

I am super excited for the trip that I will be leading.  God has been giving me so much joy in my life as I follow Him in obedience, letting Him shape me and stretch me, and He has asked me to help lead others into the same freedom I have found in Him.  God has given me a strength that is not my own, and He wants me to use it for the Kingdom.  I have told God I will.

The trip will only cost $1500 this time because I am leading.  Even though the trip is less money now than my trip to Uganda was, I still have a huge financial burden to face.  I have bills that need paying, loans with interest, and large medical expenses that I will need to have paid off soon.  After all my visiting and traveling is said and I done, I will be away from home for approximately 3 months, which is three months in which I will have no income.  I am asking you to prayerfully consider helping me with the obvious expenses of the trip, and the hidden expenses of the trip that await for me here in the states.  If you are interested in supporting me, you can send me an email at: kiersten.smith@hotmail.com for information on how to best support me, or just give a quick call to talk to me.

I have no lack of need for prayer, either.  This is my prayer list while preparing for the trip taking place this summer:

-for God to put His hand in selecting the team I will be going onto the mission field with
-for God to give me wisdom and discernment in knowing how to approach leading the team
-for God to gift me with spiritual authority and strength
-for endless joy in my daily school-work-study life as I eagerly wait to go on a mission trip again
-for God to meet all my financial, physical, and spiritual needs

Thanks so much for everything you have already done in supporting me and helping me make sure I was taken care of!  I appreciate all contributions, prayers, and encouragement sent my way.  I will continue to keep you updated on how the Lord is moving in my life!

Kiersten
kiersten.smith@hotmail.com

Divine Provision

You all must have prayed really hard for God to provide and for me to trust Him to do that.  Well thank you.  They worked! :)

Yesterday, before I went to work, I posted "A Prayer Post" on asked for your prayers (it's still on here if you want to view it and continue to pray for me).  While I was driving to work I was praying so, so hard for it to get busy while I was serving so I could make lots of tips.  Wanna know what happened?

Within three minutes of me walking through the door we got busy.  I made over 2 times the amount of money I would have any other Tuesday.  Praise God!

But it gets better.

I had today off of work, and have still been kind of worried about my financial situation.  I was praying on my way to and from school that God would provide all that I need, and that I would know that what He does provide is all that I need (i.e. I don't need chocolate milk, candy, movies, etc.).  I asked Him again to just make sure I have all my financial needs met (right now my situation is looking pretty grim so I keep getting stuck on the money thing) and I got a phone call from a neighboring Perkins who was short a server tonight and was hoping I would be able to pick up the extra shift.  You best believe I took that wonderful gift from God!

Moral of the story:  I need to keep believing God will provide for me, knowing that He hears all of my prayers and knows all of my needs.

It would be phenomenal if you could keep praying for me.  The list is only one blog back!  And again, if there is anything I can be praying about for you, don't be afraid to let me know!

A Prayer Post

Okay, it's been over a week since I last posted.  You might be wondering how I'm doing.  Let me tell you how I'm doing.

I am stressed out.

Yup, I sure am.

Now, I don't mean to make this a post complaining about my life, please don't take it as that, but I'm just gonna make a list of things I would like prayer for in my own life.  It would make a huge difference if you could pray for these things even once while you're reading.  I would appreciate it so much!

So here's the list:

-please pray that I continue to put all my faith in God, that He will provide everything I need (especially financially).
-please pray that I manage my time well, dividing it between homework, family time, God time, etc.
-please pray for energy!  I haven't been sleeping all too well, and it's starting to affect me.
-please pray for my neck and back to stop hurting.  I am seeing a chiropractor, which is helping, but if God could just heal me so I can stop paying the chiropractor to realign my spine, that would be nice. :)
-and last but most definitely not least, please pray that I look to God for all my worth, that I love Him above all else, and that He can keep shaping me into who He wants me to be.

Thank you all so much!  Also, I am super willing to pray for you, too.  If you have something you want prayer for, leave it in a comment or feel free to email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com

Missionary in America

Hi, my name is Kiersten and I’m a missionary.  “Hi Kiersten,” the crowd replies, then we move on to the next person who has taken God’s command of “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) to heart.

I have been feeling slightly out of place ever since coming back from Africa.  Anyone who has been on a mission trip to a place they fell in love with will probably tell you that home no longer feels exactly like home.  Africa stole my heart and affections, and I will be back there someday, but for now I am in the U.S. doing God’s will here.  But I am stuck on one question that I cannot seem to answer; what is God’s will for me here?

I am currently reading Radical by David Platt.  It is an amazing book about “Taking back your faith from the American Dream,” (as it says on the cover) and I would encourage any of you interested to read it.  As I was reading through the chapter “The Great Why of God,” I was doing a lot of underlining and circling of phrases when I came upon this little passage;

“Among Christians in Birmingham (where I [David Platt] pastor), I [Platt] often hear this statement phrased something like this: “I don’t need to go to all nations, because God has given me a heart for the United States.”

My first reaction was to be proud that I was listening to the great commission and going to the nations.  And then I realized that I have been saying the exact opposite thing.  “I don’t belong in the U.S. because God has given me a heart for Africa.”  …. Really, Kiersten?  Is the United States not a country of the world that needs to know God’s love?

Then I re-remembered all the people I come into contact with every day, every week, and every year.  Now, I do not believe in making any person a project, I do not think you should look at a person and think, ‘by the end of the year I’ll get them to love Jesus,' because:

1.       It is not you and I who could ever give anyone salvation, only God can do that and

2.       It makes the person feel like an object rather than someone so worthy of being loved.

But I do believe in loving every person to the best of your abilities.

Love is a choice, by the way.  You can choose to love someone, or you can choose to hate them.  I have spent years trying to convince myself that I had no control over this, but I do.  That is not to say that loving someone who does not love you back is easy.  Heck, it’s not always easy to love someone who does love you back.  But loving all other people is fundamental to life, especially a Christian life (read the Bible and you’ll see how we are commanded to love, you’ll even see God and Jesus being our examples in this).

I look at my life and think, ‘can I make loving the people I come into contact with every  day, every week, every year a mission trip right here where I live?’  Of course I can.  That’s exactly what a mission trip is, anyway.  You would not travel halfway around the world if you did not love.  You would not tear down and rebuild a lunchroom for children at a school if you did not love.  You would not spend years upon years in medical school to help others if you did not love.

Again, I am not making anyone a project.  I am not looking at any single person and saying, ‘I will choose to love you today because God told me I have to,’ or ‘I will choose to care about you today because it makes me feel like I accomplished something,’ but I will do my best to love everyone to the best of my abilities.

God has not given me a heart of America.  He has not given me a heart for Africa, or Asia, or South America or Europe or the Antarctic or the ocean or an urban area or a rural area.  No, God has given me a heart to love, and that is how I am a missionary in America- with love.

Welcome to My Life

Hey!  So, this is my blog.  I started this while I was preparing to head out to Uganda on a mission trip Sept.-Dec. 2011, but I never kept up with it.  So I'm restarting!  Welcome to my restart. :)

The main reason I'm getting this guy restarted is because I want people who want to be involved in my life through prayer and support to have the opportunity to do so.  I will be posting on new things going on in my life, things I am pondering, things I want prayer for, etc.  I'm gonna try to post as often as I can, but we all know how life can get :P


Speaking of life, let me tell you about mine.

My name is Kiersten.  I am 21 and currently live with my family in Minneapolis, MN while going to school at North Hennepin Community College, where I am hoping to get my Associate's in business management.  I go to school full time.  I also work part time at Perkins Restaurant and Bakery as a server and a shift leader.

I got back from a 3 1/2 month long mission trip from Uganda a little more than a month ago where I made some best friends, learned some amazing lessons, and got to be closer to God than I ever have been.  The trip was incredible and, up to the this point, the best thing I've experienced.  I expect to experience many more incredible, awesome, exciting things.

All of these future expectations revolve around God.  He has big, big plans for this world, and He wants me to play a part in those plans.

Some of His plans for me involve leading a trip with Adventures in Missions, which I have applied for and am currently waiting to be interviewed for the position.  Some other plans include getting (at least) my Associate's Degree (maybe even my Bachelor's, I'm not clear on that point yet).

Even though I've been back in the states a little longer than a month, I'm still trying to get used to it.  Adjusting back to the cold, the food, and the business that are here has been somewhat difficult, but God is teaching me how to be joyful in all situations and seasons of life.

That being said, I must now return to my business and get ready for a shift at Perkins.  Thanks for reading, and I'll keep you as updated as I can!

In Christ,
Kiersten