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