Freedom in the year of our Lord.

In 6 days I will be boarding a plane for Paris, France! I am beyond excited. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you need some background.
Let me start off by saying that from a very young age I have been obsessed with Asian children. I know that sounds weird, just hang with me. I think they are the cutest things on the face of the earth - I am just drawn to them! If I'm in a group of kids and there's one that's asian, you bet they'll be my favorite. It's come to the point that my family and friends will even point them out to me when we see them in public. They're just so cute! The only explanation I can come up with is that the Lord decided to give me a special heart for them.
Next thing: I have always wanted to go to Paris. My room has been decked out in eiffel tower decor for years. So much so that now when I bring stuff to school my roommates go, "Really? MORE Paris stuff?" Yeah. More. I've always wanted to go so bad.
Next thing: The Lord used Passion conferences this year to open my eyes up to the horrors of human trafficking. As I sat in session after session hearing about modern day slavery I felt the impression that I needed to do more. More than give money. More than pray. I needed to DO something. I didn't know what. So I asked the Lord to reveal that to me in His time.
Shortly after Passion, I felt the need to pray for China. I had no idea why. It just kept coming up. I would meet international students from China, hear about it in random conversations, hear about trips that my friends were going on to China. It was everywhere. So I just prayed.
In February I went back home to work my home-church's Disciple Now weekend. Before our last night session I told my girls, "Hey. Let's pray for China. I don't know why, and you probably think I'm crazy, but let's pray for China today." Thankfully, they agreed and prayed with me.
That night during the session the Lord blew me away with His power. All weekend at the D-now we had been doing a spin-off of Passion, educating the kids about human trafficking and raising money for a project to help the victims. That night, they showed a video explaining what the money was going towards.
My dad is the missions pastor at my home-church and his face filled the screen that night. I knew he was currently in Paris, France planning a mission trip but I didn't know the details. I started crying as he shared that he was in Paris planning a trip to help the Hahn Chinese people group that has migrated to Paris, France. A lot of them are living terrible lives in China, and are promised by the mafia that if they pay them money and move to France they will have a better life there. Once they arrive, the men are forced to work in restaurants, the women are forced into prostitution and the kids are often neglected or forced to work as well until the family pays off their "debt". The debt does not exist. They are slaves.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized that as I was praying for the people of China, I was praying for the people my dad was in contact with that week. I ran over to my girls after the service who immediately started freaaaaking out the same way I was with several exclamations of, "IT WAS CHINA! WHAT THE HECK?!?" I love when God blows our minds with how He orchestrates things. I think he sits back and laughs as we see how He's carried us to this point.
With all that said, I had only 2 weeks available the whole summer as I had already committed to work and be a part of my dance team's camps this summer. I called my dad to find out when the trip was, praying, "Okay God, if you want me to go on this trip, it's gonna have to be one of these." And guess what? It was option 1 of 2. My plans < God's.
With alllll of that said, in 6 days I will be boarding a plane for Paris, France! I am beyond excited. My dad and our team will be working with a church plant that has started in an apartment in China Town, Paris. We will be having VBS for the kids in the mornings, training the church leaders in the afternoons and having an outreach service for all the people we can squeeze into our limited space each evening. I am so excited to get to love on so many precious asian babies and speak truth into the lives of these people. Even though they are physically not free, I pray that they would become spiritually free through  the power of Christ.
 Frederick Buechner writes, "The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I am absolutely blown away at the way the Lord has orchestrated petty desires of mine like wanting to travel to Paris and combined them with His work. Please pray for me as I go to "bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim freedom for the captives in the year of our Lord." (Isaiah 61:1). I know God's got something big planned, can't wait to share it when I get back!

She is clothed with strength and dignity.

I just finished reading "So long, Insecurity" by Beth Moore. I had never read anything by her before and I went in expecting great things from it. What I didn't expect was for the Lord to reveal almost a half a journal's worth of insight. But He DID. And man am I thankful.
Let me start off by saying that I am loving being at a point in my relationship with Christ where He can nit pick at the details of my life. He is showing me so many little things that have such great impact on my life and circle of influence.
"I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Vine Dresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
 ~John 15:1-2
When we bear fruit, Christ is glorified. When he removes strongholds or sin patterns from our lives, we are able to bear even more fruit. That part of us is now free and surrendered to Christ, and there is room to bear more fruit. Praise the Lord that He is pruning me into who He's called me to be!
Now that that little rabbit trail's done...
I did not realize how many decisions I've made, foolish actions I've performed or even relationships I've entered into were because of my insecurity. It is the root of so many things that I regret, and at the very bottom of all of my greatest fears. Through this book I have had so many "aha!" moments where I realize why I did this or that and why I seek out this and that. I have had so many tearful, joyous conversations with sweet friends throughout this book where I get to go, "Oh my gosh! I had no idea! How cool is this?!" Blessed, ya'll. So so blessed.
When we act out of insecurity, a lot of time we lose our dignity. We feel weak.
Proverbs 31:25 (the theme verse for this book) says that we are clothed with strength and dignity and have no fear of the future. The Lord your God has clothed you with strength and dignity, without any fear of the future. No one can take what the Lord has granted. He has clothed you. Walk in that.
I wish I could share every single one of my sweet revelations but let's face it: Ya'll would stop reading after the 10th page. So I'll close with the most recent one.
At the end of the book, Beth Moore shares that every insecurity is a fear. During her prayer time, she felt led to share every one of her greatest fears with the Lord. Then He said, "Okay. So let's say that happens." What would happen if my greatest fears became realities? The same thing that happens every single time I've walked through a valley. I hurt, I cry, I figure out a way to deal with it, and eventually, by the grace of God, I heal. And no matter what, God is still God at the end of it. 
"We agonize over how we'll possibly make it, yet all the while we can glance over our shoulders and see where God has carried us." ~Beth Moore.
We tend to trust God if x and y happen. Not trust Him period. I love this quote from Louie Giglio, "Believe that God is working for your good and His glory." Trust Him. Period. Trust Him, even if all of your worst fears become realities.  Don't all of your fears seem absolutely ridiculous now? Mine do. Because at the end of it all, God is God and He is good.

Proverbs 31:25
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
and laughs without any fear of the future.