Well, I'm glad you asked!
Before I explain anything... I should probably make it clear that all of these blog posts are not going to be pretty. When I say pretty, I mean that I wont necessarily be spell chking everything or making sure that I follow all the punctuation rules to a T (Sorry Mom and Gramma...) While I'll try to keep my flow of thought coherent... I can't promise that either! One of the most serious things I want to keep in mind when writing this, is that I don't want to be so concerned with what YOU the reader are thinking to the point that I change what I would write or how I would say it. Being a selfish human, that will be a struggle because *gulp* I will get too caught up with what you think. Sigh* Oh the fall of man.... But in order to help counteract that way of thinking, I'm going to write these posts in journal format. Im going to try to be very open and clear with what is going on around me almost like its just me and me. It may sound a little schriztophrinc at times. But, I'm hoping that it will allow me to convey my surroundings and experiences more personably.
Alright after that tangent, back to your (my) original question. Why did I start a blog? Mm summarization time. For some time, I have had a passion to see people change. What kind of change? I'm glad you asked. The hope and change that is only possibly through the transforming power of Jesus Christ's blood. The 2 Corinthians 5:17 new creation change. I am convinced that one of the greatest joys for humans on earth is to see a person who who was "dead in their trespasses to sin," become alive in Christ. What a privilege we have to be able to see that! First, we can see that transforming power in our own lives when we recognize/receive Christ as our savior, and then we can see that change in others peoples lives! I would love to spend the rest of my life seeing, observing and being a part of that. Wouldn't you? I'm not sure of the details, whether God would use that passion in Birmingham, AL, in another part of the US or in another part of the world.
As I seek to determine where God wants me, some opportunities came up that would allow me to learn about various types of ministries that have the goal of bringing people to Christ and discipling them. One of those opportunities is to go to Thailand, live with some missionaries there, and learn from them. Hence the name obSERVE. This trip is not necessarily a "go to different country, wear yourself out from helping as many people as possible and then return and sleep for a week." The goal of this trip is for me to be able to experience the daily life of a group of people serving Christ, seeing their ministry, and seeing how they interact with the culture they are in. Why? So that I can have a sweet vacation? No, so that I can have a better idea of what and where God would possibly have me later in life. The goal is to identify certain passions God has given me so that I have a better idea of maybe where he wants me to use them. I'll obSERVE in Thailand with the ultimate goal of eventually serving wherever God places me.
So, if you have made it past the previous three paragraphs, I congratulate and thank you for bearing with me! If I am honest, I'm not exactly sure what the trip to to Thailand holds. Im hoping it holds 5 weeks of asking a lot of questions. I'm hoping I'll be interacting with a lot of different people and ministries. I'm hoping to learn. But, I'm trusting God that he knows what I will ultimately learn from this experience and that it is what's best. With that being said... the ultimate purpose of this blog is for prayer. I believe in the power of prayer and one of my biggest fears for this trip is that I will go and only return from "vacation." I don't want to go on senior vacation. I want to learn, grow, and redeem the time. Will you pray with me during this trip? Will you pray that I'd ask the right questions? Will you pray that my eyes will be open to what I need to see? Will you pray that I would redeem the time and not waste it? Will you pray that ultimately my agenda and will for this trip and my life will be set aside as I honestly seek what God wants? Your prayers are greatly valued and appreciated and I hope that through this blog, you'll know how to better pray for what God is doing in Thailand in my life, in the campus outreach missionaries' lives, and in the ministry of Campus Outreach. Thanks for reading through to the end. Thanks for supporting/praying for a sister in Christ as we all seek to glorify Yahweh!
