<![CDATA[A Servant Heart - Blog]]>Thu, 09 Apr 2020 09:13:16 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Through the Eyes of Youth]]>Fri, 01 Jul 2016 07:42:13 GMThttps://www.galatians513.com/blog/through-the-eyes-of-youthHard work, perseverance, and dedication pay off, just ask Nelutu and Sezer.  They completed their school year and passed so they will be moving on to their next levels come September!  Big hand clap and praise to God and the boys for their hard work!  It was such a learning experience for me as well.  I've learned where my strengths are and my weaknesses are when being the hands and feet of Christ, especially with these two boys.  But that's for a different post on a different day (I really need to get better with prioritizing my time so I can blog more often since it's something I really enjoy and hopefully you enjoy it too!) since this post is to show you the reward these two experienced for the first time!

When I started working with these two, I asked them what they would want to do as an incentive to keep them in school, keep them honest and motivated.  They had options that ranged from a trip to Bucharest, a soccer match, a day at the Black Sea or a trip to the Carpathian Mountains.  They both very quickly agreed to the mountains, which made me especially pleased since the mountains are my "happy place".  I could not wait for them to experience something that brings me such joy.  It wasn't an easy task to get them to this trip though, we definitely hit some lows throughout the school year.  I had a "3 strikes your out" rule and both boys ended with 2 strikes...close call, but ultimately they made it.

I've been to both places before, Bran and Sinaia, but seeing them experience it for the first time is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.  The awe and wonder of seeing some of their cultural history outside of a text book was priceless.  What seemed like a simple day trip to some was so much more to Sezer, Nelutu and me.  
When I began working with them, God really began to transform my heart.  I began to have dreams and aspirations for them outside of just completing school, a desire for them to be counter cultural and on fire for Christ.   
Seeing their reactions to what they were experiencing makes me dream bigger for them.  I dream of a day (hopefully someday soon) they can see and experience America for the first time, a place they've dreamed about and think they will probably never see.  I want them to truly know the world is bigger than the neighborhood they grew up in.  I want them to know that there's a Gospel to be preached and disciples to preach it and why not them.  
To see things through their eyes made me think of how God must feel when He sees us begin to experience our lives the way He intended for us.  The gratitude Sezer and Nelutu expressed to me every opportunity they had reminded me of the gratitude I need to have for my Savior.  I'm also grateful the Lord has entrusted me with being a Godly example to teach, love and encourage these two boys.  God's love for them, for me, for you is infinitely more than comprehension and then multiplied!  And that is a reminder that's much needed during this valley season I'm in.

Below you will see some highlights of the trip!  Enjoy!

XX,
Becky 
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If y'all could take some time to continue to pray for Sezer and Nelutu!  
Sezer was baptized on Sunday, so if you could pray that he would allow the Lord to lead and direct his life.
Pray that Nelutu would allow God into his heart and profess Jesus as his Savior.  Right now I know he's only going through the motions, but I know he has a good heart and I'm believing that God will transform him!  His mom, Mariana, was baptized on Sunday as well! :) 
]]><![CDATA[Worthy.]]>Thu, 26 May 2016 15:58:08 GMThttps://www.galatians513.com/blog/worthyI've surpassed the 6 month mark (almost 7 months now) of being in Romania, which brings my total time of living here (including the 6 months in 2014) to 1 year!  It's been a beautiful challenge, full of magnificent valleys and vast peaks, all shaping my identity in Christ.  

When you're surrounded by ministry daily, you can sometimes put your personal relationship with God at a lower importance than it ever should be.  I began to make this mistake.  In the beginning of 2016, I knew something needed to change in my schedule.  I didn't feel right walking away from any of the ministries I work with, so waking up early became a priority for me - Time specifically set aside to build and further my relationship with Christ.  This is imperative for me spiritually.  
About a month ago I became pretty sick, pneumonia or something of the sort, so I was (and still am) sleeping a lot more.  Physically, I almost always feel exhausted (the last couple weeks have been a little better, Praise God!).  Because of that, I haven't been waking up at 5 to have my daily time with God and I can tell spiritually it's having an impact...There's a restlessness inside of me, things distracting me that wouldn't normally distract me, and things/habits of "Becky Past" that are taunting me in the distance. Blah.  No thank you!

As I began to prepare to write this, I was reflecting on a conversation I had with someone back in April.  It was about my worth and how I see myself and most importantly, how God sees me.  I was thinking about using the conversation as a base for this blog post and over the course of the next couple weeks prior to writing this, some things transpired and I put posting this on hold...and I'm so glad I did.  
​A few weekends ago, I listened to a sermon series on Ephesians chapter 1 and it's about your identity in Christ.  I've heard sermons on this before and I even finished reading Ephesians the week before and reflected on each chapter, but something about how it focused on just chapter one and dissected it, made me question how I've been allowing(or limiting) God to work in my life.  

It talked about what/who defines us: Words spoken over us, seasons we are in or have experienced, our past, our ability in different areas of life, our things, our jobs, ect.  All these things are variables.  I need to make sure that I'm rooted in something that's not going to change...God.  When my identity or worth is found in a variable it's a very dangerous place to be; a place that I find myself in more than I care to admit.  But the beautiful thing is God gets the last word about me.  I'm His chosen daughter.  As I was listening to the poetic words, I began to realize that I can't comprehend the idea of being chosen by God if I don't see my undeniable worth in Him.  When God speaks chosen over my life it breaks any hurt, any abandonment, or any lies this world tries to sell me.  

If I can be transparent for a moment, this is extremely hard for me...especially breaking the lies that have been spoken over my life.  I'm in a season of deep healing from some thing(s) I've kept suppressed for so long and I'm finally (slowly) allowing God to break the hurt, abandonment, and lies on the deepest level.  It was during my time in Celebrate Recovery the last few years that I began my healing process, and silly me, assumed that addressing some of my issues was "good enough".  God wants to heal all of me...the deepest parts, not just the superficial parts.  He wants to take all of my brokenness and make me whole in His Son.  It's finally time for me to allow Him in and allow myself to fully trust Him.  If I can simply do that, I will see my undeniable worth in Him and truly know that I'm His chosen daughter.  

This post I decided to make more personal and less ministry based.  In a few weeks I'll do another post of The Faces of Hope so make sure you check back!  
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this, pray for me and for being a part of missions with me!  I wouldn't be able to do all of this if it wasn't for the army of support God has provided me with! I'm so grateful for each and every one of you!
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xx,
Becky

***I'd like to take this opportunity to ask my readers to pray for me.  Since listening to the sermons a few weeks ago, I've been challenged in a few different ways on all fronts; Spiritually, emotionally and physically.  I won't go into details, but among other things, I'm noticing walls I've worked so hard to tear down I have begun to build back up...Trust being a big part of that.   I see a direct correlation between God's movement in my life and the devil's distractions these last couple months.***

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