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