surprise visitors!

this weeks tour...the countdown begins, and remembering my inspiration
*17 days until departure...
My life took a turn after my mission trip to Haiti.
I was at a point in my life when I was not sure of my next step.
I thought I had a plan. 
I asked God to move in me in a big way. (be careful what you ask for, or at least be ready for any answer He will give)
He did!
Haiti was a stepping stone for what God had planned for my next step.
I was so blessed by my friends in Haiti, they have left an unforgettable impact on my life. 
The leaders (Dan and Irene) from Faith Missions International and the parents (Smith and Katia) of the orphanage came for a visit this week at church!! I was so excited to see them! (it was like opening a present on Christmas morning)
I was so glad that I had the chance to see them before my journey, and to thank them for the impact they left on me.
Smith and Katia's testimony is so amazing, and their faith is incredible!
Hearing their story was just what I needed in my last few days here.
Smith talked about how when we follow the Lord, the road is not always easy.
I know that I will have good days and bad days on my journey, but I need to remember to keep my faith and trust in the Lord. He will always be with me and bring me through the ups and downs.
Each little step I take is a blessing from Jesus.
I am forever grateful for meeting and knowing Dan, Irene, Smith, and Katia.
Thank you Jesus for everything, even surprise visits from my friends from Haiti!

Holy Week

this weeks tour...love and sacrifice
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Happy Easter everyone!
I find great joy in this day more than any other day of the year, why?
He is Risen!
It is so amazing (and sometimes a hard concept as humans to grasp) that God loves us so much He would sacrifice His Only Son...
I have not always put God first in my life. Over the last year and a half, something in my heart has been awakened. 
Love...more specifically Agape love (agape is the Greek word for love, the essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. It is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself) 
I have tried to make God a priority, but trying is not always enough...only in the last few months have I been pursuing God with all my heart. (and what an amazing journey it has been!)
Many times, as a Christian, I have felt it is my duty to do certain things...read the Bible, pray, help others, etc.
That is not what a relationship with Jesus is all about. He wants us to want to be with Him, because we genuinely want to.
"Duty will never take you where love will" (Feel by Matthew Elliott)
I now have a passion and deep desire to want to grow my relationship with Jesus.
"His demand is for extravagant love, passion coming from the heart."(Feel by Matthew Elliott)
God has opened my heart to feel and know Agape love...I no longer think of those things as a duty (well truthfully sometimes I still do-but it is becoming less and less), but I passionately long to do those things with all my heart to become closer with Him.
"God had converted my little duty-driven pity party into a spontaneous act of real love."(Feel by Matthew Elliott)
There is never a right time or a wrong time, just God's time. In His perfect timing, I have become more of who I am in Christ. A passion in my heart has been released, it was always there, God was just waiting for me to realize and respond to it.
That is what happened to me in Haiti...Agape love.
Through this experience I have grown to know the Lord more each day, and I can not contain my excitement!
I want to live my life fully for Him.
I have always had a heart for others, I just never knew what God wanted me to do with it.
He asked me to follow Him. I accepted. 
I have Agape love in my heart...what more could He ask of me? 
Then...He asked me to follow Him to another country. I accepted. (I am afraid, but I accepted and know that obeying Him is what I want to do)
He asked me to sacrifice my life to Him, just as He sacrificed His Son for me. (whoa! really!? that is what you want me to do!? after many prayers...I knew in my heart that I was going to be obedient and accepted) 
Now my life has been turned upside down (or is it right side up?) 
I am sacrificing my current 'life', for the life God intended for me. 
Of course some of those things are material-like the comfort of my home, bed, shower, food...and all I know as of now that I currently call 'my life.'
'My life' has never been mine, it has always been God's. It has taken me 26 years to give it back to its Creator. (after all...it is all I have to give Him)
I now have a tangible connection with sacrifice. (I will never fully understand the sacrifice God made with His Son, but at least I can relate it to something) I am giving up all I have ever known my life to be...for the unknown future-God's plan for my life.
I am so over joyed that all I ever want to do is be in constant communion with God. I pray more than I ever have, I read the Bible, I do daily devotions...everything I do is to create a stronger relationship with my Creator...I love Him so much I can not get enough!
I pray this Holy Week that everyone would know and feel the love (Agape) that God has for us, His creation.

"In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissues; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole being consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free."..."It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for the joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God." (The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer)

Remember the cross and what it stands for, God's Agape love.

May you feel the agape love of God on this beautiful Easter!

what would you bring?

this weeks tour...random thoughts (well maybe not so random)
my mind is in constant thought...about what to bring or not bring, what things will be like, what i am supposed to learn from this experience...(the list grows everyday)
you know the question:
'if you were stranded on an island and could only bring one thing, what would it be?'
it popped into my mind the other day (among a million other things.) 
while i may not be stranded and can bring more than one thing...i will be on an island and will be limited in what i can bring.
without a doubt in my mind i am bringing this...

my favorite item i will be packing

i am so thankful to my dear friends, beth and dawn, for sharing it on our trip to Haiti last year (this daily devotional has been the best and most important addition to my life this past year.)
it is so amazing how each day Jesus is speaking into my life in such a dramatic and particular way. after reading it i usually say to myself 'that is so true, how did You know!?' (His whispers can be really quiet sometimes, but you have to learn to listen)
the truth is that Jesus always knows! He knows what i need at that moment and how to speak to me through this devotional.
just like maybe this weeks tour was not really random, but that Jesus was using the Holy Spirit to lay on my heart (or whisper to me) that He will always be with me.
i know with all my heart that i will never be alone in my new home...my Best Friend will always be with me!
ans so with all that being said...
devotion theme for february
"look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Psalm 105:4 
everyday i am being gently reminded that i only need to look to the Lord for the answers to all my questions. when i read todays devotional i had a rather large duh moment!

february 5

"seek My face, and you will find not only My Presence but also My Peace. to receive My Peace, you must change your grasping, controlling stance to one of openness and trust. the only thing you can grasp without damaging your soul is My hand. ask My Spirit within you to order your day and control your thoughts. for the mind controlled by the Spirit is Life and Peace.

you can have as much of Me and My Peace as you want, through thousands of correct choices each day. the most persistent choice you face is whether to trust Me or to worry. you will never run out of things to worry about, but you can choose to trust Me no matter what. I am an ever-present help in trouble. trust Me, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."

by sarah young

who knew all this? GOD DID! 

how it all began...one year ago

one year ago, i stepped out of my comfort bubble on a journey that changed my life. i went on a mission trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
this is my story...

WHO KNEW?

Haiti has forever changed me, and has a special place in my heart.  I was excited to step out of my comfort zone, and let God work in my life in a HUGE way, but I never imagined how much He would change me in one week, who knew?  GOD DID! 

This was my first mission trip.  I knew before I left that God was huge but to see firsthand how HUGE He is, has strengthened my relationship with Him that much more.  I planned on going to Haiti to change the lives of those around me and I did but, in the end it was those around me that changed my life forever.  Who knew?  GOD DID!

The thought of traveling to a third world country was scary, but I never felt fear; I knew that God was with me every step of the way.  I had never been out of the country, nor had I flown over the ocean.  I knew that going to Haiti was exactly where He needed and wanted me at this point in my life.  I will be completing a bachelor’s degree this year and I am not sure which path God is leading me down.  I am at a crossroads in my life right now, and ready to take the next step-what could have been a better way than to let God stretch me by placing me in Haiti?  Who knew He was going to use this trip to show me how BIG He really is, by placing me in the middle of His creation?  GOD DID! 

Dan, our leader from Faith Missions International, asked each one of us to window shop for what it is that God wants to give us on this trip.  I looked at each child’s face as a window, and asked God ‘what is it that you want to show me through this child?’  Who knew I would window shop in Haiti and find the best deals in the world?  GOD DID!

Here are a few of my souvenirs…

JOY - Jesus is so alive in all the children at the orphanage!  It made my heart melt to see how much joy, love, and happiness each child had.  Jesus used each child to show me how much He loves each one of us.  To see them happy to be alive and able to praise Jesus each day was inspiring, and reminded me to take joy in the smallest of things.  One experience I will always remember and hold close to my heart was how mesmerized the children were with my feet.  The humidity and heat had made my feet swollen.  When the children would touch my feet they would turn white, and they were able to ‘draw’ on my feet and they thought it was the coolest thing in the world!  Who knew my feet would bring them joy and smiles to their faces?  GOD DID!

PRAYER - The power of prayer is one thing that I have learned from this trip.  I had an average prayer life before I left.  I have never prayed so much in my life, as I did in Haiti.  We prayed about everything, and so did the children.  To see, feel, and experience the power of prayer was amazing!  I have never felt so close to Jesus as I did when we prayed.  It was an unforgettable feeling to FEEL His power all around us.  I was also reminded to have a childlike faith.  The children are so close to God and know Him so well.  When they pray, you can see in their faces how much faith they have in Him and how convicted they are by His love.  They were definitely in the throne room and meeting with Jesus, their faith is so large and strong.  The first time I felt the power of the Holy Spirit in me was a prayer session we had as a group when we prayed over the backpacks for the children.  I knew that God was using us to bless the children.  I felt tingles from my head to toes knowing that angels were standing guard and protecting us to be able to share God’s love with the children.  To be the witness of an answered prayer for the children was a blessing.  They were not able to have Christmas, so they began to pray, all they prayed for were backpacks for their things and school.  They were so happy when that is what we brought them. God used us to answer their prayer and that is a blessing and feeling that is indescribable and unforgettable.  Who knew that a prayer for something as simple as a backpack would make their day?  GOD DID!

TIME - Serving and spending time with children is a passion of mine.  I was so blessed and humbled to spend time and serve them daily.  There are a few things in life that will always remind me of my time in Haiti.  I will never again eat a hamburger or macaroni and cheese without thinking of the children, nor will listening to Michael Jackson ever be the same.  There really is a first time for everything!  Being a part of the children’s first hamburger was amazing.  Cooking 80 boxes of macaroni and cheese-that is correct I said 80 boxes!-over a coal fire was an experience all in itself.  Everyday experiences in Haiti have become life altering memories.  Food and dancing were some of the best times I had on this trip.  Who knew ‘there is a first time for everything’ would touch me the way it did?  GOD DID!

PEACE - God used this mission trip to remind and instill in me to have a genuine relationship with Him.  To seek Him every day, and in everything I do.  To look at day to day adventures as His way of speaking into my life, and to take the time to listen to His whispers.  To slow down and take each day one at a time.  That plans change and to look at them with thanksgiving instead of irritation.  I know that when things get tough I turn away from God when in reality I NEED Him more than ever.  He showed me that true peace can only come from Him, when we hand all our troubles over.  Who knew I would experience the feeling of true peace?  GOD DID!

FAITH - Having a child preach, was a humbling feeling.  To see his passion and know in his heart that what he was speaking was coming from the lips of Jesus through him-gives me goose bumps.  The faith of a child is so amazing, I was shown the childlike faith I need to have in my life; to reach my hands up to my daddy and trust Him in everything.  Who knew I would long to be like a child again in my faith?  GOD DID!

LOVE – God LOVES us and He showed that by sending His only son to save us.  I am very blessed to be able to have taken this journey with my dad.  To see his love for me and understand that he would do anything for me, gave me a better understanding of God’s love for us.  This will be something that we can share forever and remember the fun, difficult, and happy memories.  It is a great feeling to know that I have someone to talk to everyday who will understand everything I experienced on this adventure, because he was right there with me every step of the way.  Who knew this would bring me and my dad closer together?  GOD DID!

HUMBLED - I have never seen poverty like I did in Haiti and it broke my heart.  I know that God has blessed me and my life by placing me where He did.  I will never again take that for granted.  I know that He has given me all that I have so that I may be able to share and spread His love to those less fortunate in the world.  I am grateful for all He has done and will do in my life.  Who knew I would be happy with my life the way it is?  GOD DID!

On the flight from Port-au-Prince to Miami, I was able to sit in a window seat, and God spoke to me in this time.  I was in awe at the beauty of the ocean.  It was His last little reminder, from the trip, to me that He is the biggest thing in this world and to remember this experience for a lifetime.  Some of the best memories I will have from Haiti are the gifts that God has given me through my window shopping experience with the children.  I will continue to seek Him daily through JOY, PRAYER, TIME, PEACE, FAITH, LOVE, and HUMBLENESS.  I will listen to His whispers, and be open to the path He is leading me down.

I will always remember Haiti as a turning point in my life, and that God will continue to use me daily whether it is in my own backyard or across the ocean. 

Who knew all this? GOD DID!

Elana Meitler, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2011

that was only the beginning...

through this experience God showed me a part of who i am that i never really knew what to do with. i have always had a heart for people, but i never imagined that it would take me around the world. 

so...i began my journey to apply to the Peace Corps. 10 months later...

I WAS ACCEPTED!

with a new year ahead of me, a new journey is in store. Peace Corps Micronesia and Palau. i will be an ESL teacher and community development worker. my journey will begin in June 2012!

i am so super excited for a new experience. with Jesus as my tour guide!