It's a New Season!!!

I haven't blogged in quite a while, so I thought I should share about the new adventure the Lord has me on.

In two weeks I will be moving from Eugene, Oregon where I have been for the past five years, and move to Tacoma, Washington. This is quite a new adventure. I have one good friend there, plus I'll be close to my boyfriend Hoshi and his family. The real reason though is to be near the man of my dreams!

Hoshi and I have been dating for seven months. He's just finishing his last two weeks at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland. He decided to move back home to Tacoma once he graduates. That would take us from being two hours apart to about four hours. The plan God has for us in the future is marriage, we are just waiting for Hoshi to graduate, pass the bar exam, and find a job.

A few months ago I began praying, asking God to show me what was next in my life. I felt like my time in Eugene was coming to a close (so bittersweet) and he was leading me somewhere new. I never thought I'd be moving to Tacoma, but I happily accepted the new season. When I began praying I worried that the Lord would move me further from Hoshi, I had no clue that His plan was to move us closer.

We are so excited for this new season in our lives together. The Lord has taught us patience as we've had a long distance relationship and we're grateful that he's bringing us closer together. I know that there will be trials ahead and probably loneliness since I'm leaving my close friends, but I trust that the Lord will provide new relationships for me.

Please pray that God provides a job for me and covers me as I move to Washington:)

Peace

I know the plans I have for Lindsay, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you Lindsay will call on me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you do it with all of your heart. You will find me and I'll bring you back from captivity!
Jeremiah 29:11-14

This is the answer that the Lord gave me. This is the peace that I stand on today:)

Fear----->Faith......Sin------>Spirit

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship and by him we cry, ABBA FATHER!
Romans 8:15

These two verses are huge for me right now. I have allowed myself to be controlled by fear and sin in the past few months. I finally realized tonight while reading that God doesn't want me to sit in this complacent spot of being afraid. He doesn't want me to be a slave to fear. He wants me to step into a place of trusting him and having complete faith that he will take care of me and for me to do that I need to step back into the power of the spirit.

So I say, Live by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Galatians 5:16

I have been really angry lately. I've allowed myself to let others hurt me and then I've chosen not to forgive them. I would never have said I was an angry person until yesterday. I was shocked when it even came out of my mouth. So, the Lord has lead me into a place of peace with him. I'm spending a lot of time just listening, praying, reading and worshiping. As the Lord has taken me away from friends right now he is teaching me to fully rely on him.

My desire is to go from a place of sin: gossip, anger, resentment, idolatry, discord, selfish ambition and dissension(Galatians 5:19-21)......to living in the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control(Galatians 5:22&23)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.
Galatians 5:24&25

Freedom

"If you're tired and thirsty, there is freedom. Give your all to Jesus, there is freedom. Freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace, falling on every face, there is freedom."

Freedom Reigns- Jesus Culture

A couple weeks ago I went on a weekend retreat with the women from The Fathers House. I really wasn't looking forward to this retreat. I waited last minute to prepare for it and spend time seeking the Lord. I was just feeling tired and confused. The morning I left didn't go well as usual when trying to leave for a retreat (Satan loves throwing stuff at us) but I felt the peace of God when we were finally on the freeway leaving Eugene.

The first night was just fun! We had worship time, played games and laughed so hard we cried! The second day was the beginning of a new freedom.

We did what seemed to be a silly all day exercise on mapping out our lives. I wasn't really sure what the reason for the exercise was but as I began the process the Lord started speaking. I had all these colored sticky notes of good and bad names and events in my life. It was amazing to see how God brought me through each season in my life!

At the end of the night we had a chance to share our testimonies. I didn't plan on sharing for fear of judgement, but of course the Lord started speaking and I knew it was Him because it wasn't my idea:) He wanted me to share the deepest darkest secret of my past that most people know nothing about. I was so nervous but the word freedom kept coming to mind.

I shared what the Lord asked me to and while speaking I could feel this weight of fear, anxiety, judgement and shame literally lift off of me. I felt real freedom.

I now know why the Lord wanted me to share that specific part of my testimony. It wasn't about me or anyone else, it was about Him. He wanted the glory and he wanted to give me a new freedom.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Galatians 5:1

Exalt

Exalt:
1. To raise in rank, character or status; elevate.
2. To glorify, praise or honor.

Biblical meaning of exalt:
In Jesus' kingdom, those who exalt themselves will eventually find themselves humbled, and those that humble themselves will eventually be exalted. To be first we must be last.

As church started tonight the first two worship songs were about exalting the Lord. I began to wonder what the meaning of exalt was. So many times I throw around "christian" words and have no clue what their real meaning is. So, I googled exalt and found the definitions above. I then searched biblegateway.com for verses with exalt and there were tons. They all used the word exalt when talking about the Lord. When reading the meanings I realized exalt isn't just a word to use for anyone. Even the dictionary says glorify, praise or honor. The only person I should glorify is the Lord. I began went back to the song we sang in church tonight:

"He is exalted the king is exalted on high, I will praise him. He is exalted, forever exalted and I will praise his name. He is the Lord, forever his truth shall reign, heaven and earth, rejoice in his holy name. He is exalted the king is exalted on high."

I realized that I don't always exalt the Lord. Sometimes I get lazy and I don't speak about the Lord or talk to him in a way that exalts him (elevates, glorifies, praises, honors). And many times I find me exalting myself, and not practicing humility which is another topic the Lord has been working on me in.

So, my prayer is that I find myself exalting Jesus more, and in doing that I become humble.

Endurance

God has been talking to me a lot lately. I have been seeking him daily and it's always worth it. I just wanted to share something that I got out of journaling and reading the other day. I was having a breakdown the other night. I felt so defeated. School work was overwhelming and I ended up in my bed crying out to the Lord. It was getting really late but I knew God had work to do on me. I was honestly ready to quit school. The devil kept feeding me lies and I felt like I had no energy left to fight. After a long cry session on the phone with my mom, the Lord gave me peace. The next morning I went to journal and noticed a word that my friend Victoria had shared with me the day before. Endurance. That was it! My rhema word for the day. I began to look up scripture with that word and I found this:

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation." Romans 5:3

What the Lord showed me through this verse and some others is this:
Gods Strength=endurance=perseverance=stability

Wow! I knew exactly what to ask God for, His strength. Throughout the day I continued to trade in my lack for his strength. That night didn't end in a crawl across the finish line like I had expected it to, but I was running and full of joy and peace. He is so faithful to meet us exactly where we are. If my faith is lacking, he knows, and he will make up the difference.

This World...

I had a quick glimpse of the daily life of a non christian today. I was helping a friend move when the cops were called on us. long story short, I was almost punched in the face and was accused of stealing. Of course the police let us get the stuff she owned. We left unharmed. Praise God! After it ended I felt so sad that this is peoples normal life. These things happen everyday to people who don't know Jesus. I know that He was protecting me, but those not in His will aren't protected. With the crazy drama of today I don't know how people can live without the Lord. I am now committing to praying fervently for the women in my life that don't know Him. I want these women to know that Jesus loves them. That they are worth dignity and respect. There is nothing more important for me to do than pray.