Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Orlando

     I'm in Washington, D.C. now, but before I write about my time here, I want to catch up on my time in Orlando. Orlando was so amazing! Every single day was so full and I met so many awesome, loving people!
     Thursday was probably my busiest day. I headed out to the parks early and my sandwiches ran out super fast. After the parks I had lunch with a girl who is a worship/intern at the church that my host family goes to. It was a really good time! We got to share our stories with each other and just talk about God, which is always fun! At lunch she invited me to go to a college age worship night at her church. She also invited me to speak for a little bit.
     My hosts had connections, so I got to go to Universal Studios after lunch and get my roller coaster fix! It was such a good time!
     Then I went to the worship night. It was so good, I love corporate worship! In the middle of the service I got to go up and share a little bit about what God's done in my life and things He's taught me through this year. After I finished I thought to myself, "That was fun! But I'm not very eloquent." And God said to me, "Neither was Moses." Haha isn't that awesome? We don't have to have a ton of great skills or qualifications in order for God to move through us. We just have to be obedient! And in our weaknesses, God is strong. And when we aren't qualified, yet God moves through us, that just makes sure that all the glory goes where it belongs. Because we can't do anything on our own, it's all Him! It's so beautiful the way that God wants to touch people through every single one of us, whether "qualified" or not. And really, all though not always from the world's perspective, we are all qualified in the Kingdom. Because the only qualification in the Kingdom is being covered by the blood of Jesus and having a surrendered heart. We don't have to try to measure up, Jesus did that for us. And now we just get to live in the freely given purity and righteousness in Jesus, not scrambling to be good enough or worthy of His love, because we already are and that was proven on the cross. Because even though we didn't earn His love, He still thought we worth dying for. And the Bible proves that God loves working through seemingly unqualified people. Moses, who first of all most Christians would disqualify from ever being a leader of God's people due to the whole murder thing, was also not an eloquent person, yet He led God's people out of slavery. David was the smallest and wasn't even "qualified" to fight, yet he was the one who slayed Goliath. Jesus' disciples, the guys who healed the sick and cast out demons, were just a bunch of young guys who were fisherman and such, not trained in the temple with Pharisees or anything like that. Yet Jesus picked them. Because He knew that its not about how "qualified" we are. It's about how powerful God is.
     On Friday, I went back to the parks all day. It was a super fun day! I got to meet some new friends. One was Greg. He was such a sweet guy! He talked to me about his struggle with alcohol and how he was trying to wean himself off. I could tell that there were a couple people in the park that cared about him and supported him. But I just got to encourage Greg and listen to him and love him. Another new friend I made was Kimberly. She was so funny! Her and Tyrell were full of advice for me, they were hilarious. And they were so excited when I gave them Bibles! I only got to see Greg and Kimberly that once, but meeting them was such a blessing! After I was done talking with Kimberly a couple of people that I met at worship night came out to the park and joined me! While they were there we were talking to a group and a guy walked up that didn't speak English, but he wanted to pray. So we got in a circle and prayed and then he prayed in his language. It was sweet!
      Saturday was my last day out in Orlando. I saw Donna that morning and she was in a great mood because she got the news that her friend got her a bus ticket to New Orleans. I was so happy for her, and I'm so glad I got to hear the news before I left so I know Donna's going home and she's going to be well taken care of. My time with Donna was so sweet! She told me about how she's a people person and feels kind of down when she doesn't have anyone to talk to. And in the park that she hangs out at she doesn't have many people to talk to, she just greets people as they walk by, but she doesn't really get to have a lot of conversations. I'm so glad I got to talk to her a couple hours a day while I was in Orlando and get to meet that for her. She's such a sweet woman, the way she talks about God's love unashamedly as people walk by, whether they respond or even listen or not, is so encouraging. After I left Donna, I went to the other park. I got to talk to Elaine some more! Elaine is just awesome! Everything she says is so powerful because most of what she says are just things God has told her or testimonies of what He's done in her life. She's so great! She just hangs out with God all day and reads the word and then when people come and talk with her, she shares what He's shown her with them. Elaine is such a bright reflection of Gods light!

This is Elaine! I think she was talking about feeling Holy Spirit like electricity when I took this picture haha. She's so great!


This is something that she wrote that she showed me that was pretty cool. If you can't read it, it's mostly about how God wants the ones He's called to do great things (everyone who gives their life to Him) to believe that He can do all that He says He can. That with Him all things are possible.



After I left Elaine, I went and sat alone and read for a while. After a little bit, a guy was riding his bike by, and said hello, then put down his bike and came and sat with me to talk. His name was Angel. He said he didn't really know why he came and talked to me because he normally doesn't talk to people, but for some reason he just stopped! We had a good conversation! He talked about his job his love for Jesus. It was really good and sweet!
After I left the park, I went to a thing at my hosts church called Joy Prom. It's a prom for people with special needs. It was so sweet! Before the dance, everyone was introduced as they walked into the prom on a red carpet and everyone cheered for them. It was such a sweet, joyful night!









My time in Orlando was SO good! Every day was filled with joy and love and new friends! I left the park every day with my heart feeling so full! God is so good and His children are so precious!

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