present day adventures

I love a challenge; when someone tells me I can’t do something, I love to put my nose down and plow through it. I’m also one of the few people who likes being refined, I like the tough times, when I can literally watch God chip off the old and transform me into something more Christ-like. I also tend to be a Martha – when I’m in new and uncertain situations, I want to DO something, not just enjoy Jesus’ presence and ask Him what He desires for me. Coming home for summer break came with mixed emotions. I come how to an amazing family and some friends who are still around, but I also come back into a room that represents also everything about my life before Christ. The hardest thing about coming home is that I know I can live my life, in my house, in Mason, Ohio without Jesus – I did for most of my life. My biggest tendency, in school, in Bloomington, in Mason and everywhere for that matter is to think that I can do everything without God.

My first three days at home were a struggle; the girl inside me who loves big challenges, who likes to be used to do the impossible was feeling restless. Something inside me wasn’t feeling satisfied; I wanted a big adventure… Mason, Ohio wasn’t cutting it for me. Monday night, when I was journaling, it hit me. God challenges us everyday with the mundane. I can grow when I’m not in pain. God wants me to invite Him into my everyday life when I’m at home. God wants me to walk closely with Him and teach me huge lessons even through small things. Satan will try to tempt me into thinking that because I don’t have a set ministry in Mason, because I’m not doing anything (or so it would appear), I am not being used or being grown. The truth is, my ministry is wherever I am, with who ever I’m talking to. God is day-by-day transforming me more into the image of His Son, whether I can see the change, that’s my choice.

The mundane may not seem like much of an adventure, but the past three days have demonstrated to me that the adventure is seeing God in everything; the adventure is asking God to see things the way He sees them – those two things I can do wherever I am. Yes, if I place my identity in what I’m doing, or where I am, a part of me dies when I leave Bloomington, but when I place my identity in Christ alone, I always have everything I need. I’ve invited God into my everyday life in Mason, and in the past three days (I know it doesn’t seem that long), I’ve seen a change in the way I view my present circumstances; they are full of hope, full of adventure and full of God.