We are all His people

It has been such a long time since I last posted, and so much has happened already. Since in my last post, I talked about my winter break, and how much God had blessed me with a job and giving me time to rest and be with my family, it only seems to make sense that I start my update from there.

I have been working for about 6 weeks now, and I have learned so much. I went into my job knowing nothing, and half the term isn't over yet but I already feel like I belong as an employee at my company, and am comfortable talking with my coworkers. The work they give me isn't too difficult or too easy, and there is always something new to learn or discover. I usually wake up an hour before I have to take the bus but lately I have been sleeping late and feeling so exhausted that I pretty much snooze until 30 minutes before the bus comes. At first it seemed like perhaps I wasn't adapting well to my new environment (I moved into a house) and new to work,  but it's been almost two months now and I still feel so exhausted. Although this may seem like a bad thing, I think this is actually helping me to sleep at night. I pretty much just wipe out when my head touches the pillow.

I went to a winter retreat with my Christian fellowship at school a couple weeks ago (when it was much colder and there was more snow around) and although I wasn't even thinking about going at first, I am glad I did. Since the theme of the retreat was about finding your identity in Christ through your culture, I thought that it wasn't really important, and I just assumed it was about how to love other cultures - which was something that I thought I was already fine with (as in not racist). But what I ended up learning was that God always has a purpose for me where ever I am. During the last night there, I experienced something that is hard for me to explain in words, but I will try my best. To give a bit of background, we were split up in to little groups with people from different campuses as well as our own (this was a retreat across many university fellowships), and there was a girl in my group that was having a hard time with something, but she refused to share what was bothering her. This was totally fine - no one is forced to share, but when I looked at her I could feel the sadness flowing from her. That night, we had worship and something called "overflow" - which was just extended worship and prayer time. During this time, I felt God tugging at my heart for the girl, and I was filled with so much sadness for her that I went over to her and we cried together. This was the strangest feeling for me because I didn't know why I was crying, or why she was so sad. I think that God was trying to teach me that I could show love to people even if I have no idea what their situation is, and that sometimes, the most you can do for someone is to pray for them, and that I could help someone feel better just by crying with them. I know this sounds really vague but I still can't comprehend everything that happened that night. I can only quote this verse from Romans 12:15:

 "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."

I felt God's presence that night, and although I was scared to obey His tugging at my heart - as I am a shy person and she was a stranger - I am glad that I obeyed. God didn't need me to comfort her, but He to give me the opportunity to learn more about His love, and to understand through experience what He means in Romans 12:15. God works in such awesome and complex ways, that I can only look back in amazement and admire His ways.

God, you are all knowing, and so loving. I can barely start to comprehend what it means to love unconditionally and to love your neighbour. Sometimes it feels like I'm so detached from everyone else, but You always remind me that You have a plan for me and I just need to let go of my worries and obey. Thank you for teaching me about community at the retreat, thank you for including me in Your plans for her and for giving me the opportunity to comfort someone in need. Thank you for giving me the strength and courage to overcome my shyness and fear of rejection to go over to her during overflow. God, I want to know more about Your love, and I want you to show me how I can love others just as You love me. I pray that my friend from the retreat is doing well now, and that You heal her heart. Thank you for being who You are God, and may Your will be done, for it is good. Amen.


http://youtu.be/SKy5WXEu8lY
Promise of a Lifetime - Kutless