It's Been a Weekend

It's been quite the weekend. I came down with something on Friday and am just now getting over it here on Sunday night. I'm pretty sure it was 80% food poisoning and 20% my body being like "Yo, slow down, chill out, and sleep at some point in your life!" But boy, am I glad it's almost over. Just in time for finals week. I finally was able to eat my first meal tonight, chicken and mashed potatoes, after 3 days of Fruit Punch Gatorade. (Shout out to my roomie Areshia for being awesome and bringing me drinks and Goldfish.)

Anywho, I was pretty bummed out because I missed out on Twilight, a huge bike race and festival that happens annually in downtown Athens. I had planned on going with a pretty large sized group, but obviously, I spent pretty much all of yesterday sleeping and watching HGTV and Psych. But honestly, I really did need that sleep.

Tonight, I was afraid I was going to miss a dinner for a leadership team I've been a part of this year, but thankfully I felt well enough by 6 tonight to still go. And now, I'm going to kind of transition this post to talk a little bit about ISM (the International Student Ministry) I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of this year.

To start, I'm going to go back to the end of my freshman year when I first put in my application for leadership at Wesley. I had applied to be a part of Freshley, the ministry that the Wesley Foundation has specifically geared for freshmen, but I had also put ISM as one of my choices simply because I thought it looked cool. But I was mostly hoping to get a spot somewhere with Freshley if for nothing else than because that was what I had grown to be familiar with over the past year. But God had other plans.

I still remember getting that phone call telling me that I was going to be on the ISM leadership team as I was walking through Tate Plaza. So much for staying in the comfort zone.

But, let me tell you, it has been one of the best things that could have happened in my life. Not only have I made life-long international and American friends, but I have had the tremendous opportunity to be a part of international students' lives in America. (Another shout out to all of the leaders, interns, and people who give so much time to the ministry! I love all of you so much.) Also, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I got to be a part of the ISM Restoration dance. I would love to write out everything God has done through this ministry this past year, but that simply wouldn't be possible.

One of the coolest things for me that I've learned through ISM is God's heart for the nations. It's always been  right in front of me in John 3:16, you know, that verse a lot of us learn before we even learn how to walk. But God's brought that verse to life for me this year. Another really amazing thing I've learnt over this year is that God wants to talk to His children. I guess that's another thing I've heard a good bit in church, but I never thought it was for me.

I remember back in August when we had our first ISM leadership retreat overnight at the church downtown, and Ms. Lynn told us to pray and listen for God to speak a word to us about the ministry for the coming year. I remember thinking to myself, This is crazy. He's not going to say anything to me. I was looking back today at that paper where I wrote everything down. Let me jut set one thing straight: God speaks. We just need to take the time and listen. Essentially I heard a lot about growth and learning more about God's heart for the ministry. He's definitely done both of those things extensively. He's pretty much doubled the  ministry in all areas, and I know that, for me at least, He's given a deeper understanding of His heart, and it's beautiful.

One other thing I wrote down that day that I had forgotten about until I look at that paper again today was the following: "...let Me have control of and let My will be done in your life." I also wrote down my response to that which was "...I need to truly find God's calling for my life," to which His response was "...trust fully in My plan." (I'm just paraphrasing here, but you get the idea.)

And here's where I take another step out of the comfort zone. Every bit of my logical brain told me to sign up again for ISM leadership next year, but God kept telling me that something in the fall is going to require a lot of my time and lead to great opportunity, and I just need to trust Him.

People kept asking me what I was going to do next year, and telling them I wasn't doing leadership again hurt my heart a little each time because that's where my heart has been for this past year. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be involved with ISM as much as I can, but in the meantime, God is starting to reveal to me what exactly this next year is going to look like for me.

Well, it's looking like He wants me to start leading in other areas on campus. I was appointed treasurer for the Italian Club that was just started and I'm now the official photographer and a committee chair for the Pencils of Promise chapter that just began at UGA. I'm so grateful for both of these wonderful opportunities and looking forward to what else is in store for the semester! I realize they're going to be huge time commitments, but I could not be more excited to start this new chapter of my college life.

In summary, this is pretty much my motto right now -
"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders /
Let me walk upon the waters /
Wherever You would call me /
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander /
And my faith will be made stronger /
In the presence of my Savior"     - "Oceans" Hillsong United

Peace and love,
Megan

Australia and New Zealand Bound!

Tonight I had the opportunity to meet some of the people who I'm going to be going to Australia with in 16 DAYS! Ya'll - I'm SO EXCITED! I've been looking at pictures of some of the places we're going to be, and I have to say that they are absolutely breathtaking even in pictures: I can't imagine what they're like to see in person.

Now this isn't my first journey down to this part of the southern hemisphere. I had the opportunity 2 years ago to venture to Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney with some of my family. I had one of the best times of my life! And, as you can imagine, I can't wait to explore new parts of the wonderful continent of Australia. Not only is this study abroad program in parts of AU, but we're also spending some time in New Zealand. As much as I would love to list out some of the places we're going with pictures, I think I'm going to save that for when I actually go.

So, in the meantime and between time, here's a couple of pictures from my trip 2 years ago:

Atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Kaola

Sunset over the Sydney Harbour from Mrs. Macquarie's Chair

View of the Sydney Opera House from the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon

Dingo

View of Melbourne from the Eureka Skydeck

Back to the thing happening in 16 days...I'm not going to lie, I was a little terrified walking into that place tonight not knowing a single other person going on this trip with me. But after tonight I can say that I'm so glad I get to experience this journey with these people and many others. So far, I love this group! 

I still have a ton of stuff left to get, and then I have to make it all fit in one 44lb suitcase...fun, fun, but I'll make it work somehow. 

Oh, and fun fact for the day: Wombat dung is square-shaped. (Click here for a wonderful picture.) Look at me, already learning things about animals even before the study abroad starts!

Cheers!
Megan

These Past Couple of Days

Ok, since, I'd say, Saturday, God's really been letting one idea/concept/whatever you want to call it be impressed upon my heart. Hopefully I'm going to reveal that idea through this post; at least, that's my intention.

On Saturday, I got to be a part of a dance called Restoration. Essentially, Restoration is a dance put on yearly by the Wesley Foundation and BCM to restore dance back to it's original intention - to worship God. The overall theme this year was "Rebuild." But each dance has its own theme in a sense too. The dance I was in was called "All Around the World." The theme of our dance embraces the idea of the verse in Revelation that talks about people from every nation worshiping God around the throne (Revelation 7:9). The chance to be in this dance was only a small glimpse into what that might look like, and I have to say that it makes me pretty excited. Personally, by being in this dance, I got to meet and become friends with so many people from all around the world! As being a part of Restoration, when we meet each week, we don't just dance, but we also have small group time where we get to share with each other and talk about God's word (and, specifically for our dance, God's heart and love for all of the nations). If I learned anything by being in Restoration, it would have to be that I can't put a cap or any limits on to what I think God can do. The second I start to think that God is "done" working in a situation, so to speak, He reminds me that it's only the beginning. Then, He comes back and does something even more powerful or even more great just because He's God and He can. I can truly say that my heart was fully in this dance, and it was a blessing to fully devote myself to this ministry this semester. When we performed, we were dancing for an audience of one as a way to bless Him through the gift of dance that He has given us (and to ultimately bless others).

"All Around the World" Dance (credit: Joshua Truitt)

I went to bed on Saturday night exhausted and with every intention to just sleep through most of Sunday. However, I live in apartment, and my sleep is partially determined by the person upstairs. (Like, literately, the girl who lives above me.) I guess they had a sleepover or something because by 9am Sunday morning, it sounded like a dance party or something was going down. I tried throwing a pillow over my head to get some more sleep, but, of course, that didn't work, so I just went ahead and got up so I could at least be productive and do some work. I looked at the clock after a while and noticed that it was 11. The service that I usually go to on Sundays starts at noon. I texted some people just to see if they were going. At 11:40, one of the girls that lives in the same apartment complex as me said she was going and offered to drive. I was already up and dressed, so I figured "Why not?" I go to Athens Church, which is kind of a branch off from North Point in Atlanta. Andy Stanley is our teaching pastor (via video recorded feed), and we are in the middle of a series called "It's Personal." Sunday's teaching focused on the explainable vs. the undeniable. He talked a lot about the miracle of the blind man (John 9), and allowing God to work in (our) lives without limiting Him to a "God box." Often times, we like to put a limit on what we think God can do, and we want Him to work in the specific way we think He should. But that's not how He works: He's God and He's good and He's all powerful. 

To continue, Monday night, I had an amazing opportunity. The Passion: Let the Future Begin tour was coming to my home church in Augusta, and I was going. I wasn't really expecting anything from that night, but I figured I'd go and see my family for a little, support the ministry, and worship God. After driving for 2 hours after my Monday classes, I got back to Augusta at 4:30, and went on in the church (because a lot of my family is on staff there, and I was staff for the night since I was going to help tear down afterwards). I sat up in the sound booth and studied for a test I had the next day while they worked on getting the last lighting and sound things in order for the night. I watched people line up outside and Kristian Stanfill skateboard around with his Bible. (Yeah, you read that right.) The doors opened at 6, and the sanctuary was flooded with people who had come from all over the surrounding area. The people I was sitting with finally arrived, and we went up to our seats I had saved us. The worship set began a little after 7. I went to Passion 2013 back in January, so I pretty much knew all of the songs Kristian, Brett, and the band were playing. The worship was great, and you could really feel the presence of God moving. And then it came time for the midpoint message. And by this point, you've probably caught on to the theme of this post and could guess what this message was about. That's right, Brad talked about God blowing off limits on our lives and how He wants to use us for great and mighty things. Now, this might be a message I expected from this night because I know a lot of worship nights give the message about how God wants to use that night as a springboard for the future, but I feel like God might be trying to tell me something here.

Kristian Stanfill leading worship at The Sanctuary

I don't think I would have given it too much thought with only hearing it once, but I believe God put me in each of these 3 positions 3 days in a row to hear that same message from 3 different people 3 different times. With each of these situations, I would not have been in those places had something else not happened for me to be there. For Restoration, an event that was supposed to take place on the same day got moved, and I was able to miss a mandatory meeting I was supposed to be at. For the church service, I was woken up by the people on the floor above me. And finally, for the worship night, I made a decision knowing that I would only get 2 hours of sleep in a night, drive a total of 4 hours, and take a test the next day. Looking back, it's crazy to see how much God has worked in my life just in these past 3 days. And even on a broader level, it's crazy to see how certain little decisions and choices I've made have led me to where I am today.

In summary, the concept that's been so impressed upon my heart these past few days has been that God has no limits. In no way am I saying that I fully grasp that or that I've fully stepped into that, but I think that that truth is what He wants me to grasp onto over the coming days, weeks, and months.

Megan

Having a Go...

So, I've been hearing a lot about blogging lately from my friends, so I thought about it a little. Then I did what any logical person would do and Googled "Why should I blog?" I actually found a lot more answers to this question than I anticipated, but, by far, the top reason always related to expressing yourself in some way. So that's exactly what this blog is going to be - an expression of myself. Some days I might post a recipe, some days I might just talk about life or travels, and other days might be focused on photography. I guess just whatever I'm in the mood for.

Well, to begin, I guess I'll just say a little bit about who I am...First and foremost, I'm a follower of Jesus. He is and will always be numero uno in my life. I love my family and friends and would do almost anything for any one of them. I attend school at UGA and study Animal Science; I'm currently a 2nd year. (Wow, I just felt like I was typing out one of those awkward, first conversations with someone at the dinning hall my freshman year.)

Let's see; I absolutely love photography and pretty much anything outdoors. Give me a kayak and some water, with a few rapids of course, and I'm one happy girl. Also, I speak a little bit of Italian, but I am hoping to get better and one day travel over to Italia. One other thing that I adore is travel: I love the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and get immersed into another culture and lifestyle and embrace this wonderful world we live in. And the cool thing about different cultures is that you don't even have to leave the US to be exposed to so many of them. That's one thing I really like about this country is our diversity! I've had the opportunity to serve on ISM (International Student Ministry) leadership with the Wesley Foundation this year, and it has been a tremendous blessing on my life. I'm sure I'll probably do another post later just about that!

Right now I'm in my last week of classes heading into finals. And then after finals, it's off to the Land Down Under, and I could not be more excited! Sorry, I had to throw that link in there. I can't even believe how quickly time is going by; I feel like it just goes by faster each year.

Alrighty, so I think this pretty much going to sum up my first blog post. I'm thinking about doing my next one on what I've learned over the last 3 days because I think its something that has impacted my life (and could have huge implications in your life).