It's All His Money

 

Surprisingly this has been one of my favorite weeks of the School of Evangelism so far. This week we explored the topic of finances. I struggled at first to stay focused. I thought I knew pretty much what was going to be taught and didn't need this teaching, but I was wrong. I was reminded that it all belongs to God. We are merely stewards of His resources. We cannot choose what God will give us, but we can choose how we will steward what we've been given. I was convicted that I need to more diligently steward what has been given to me. I want to make a budget for what has been given to me and stick to it.  

I love how our teacher this week kept emphasizing obedience to God over every plan, creative strategy, and clever speech. "It's not about what you can get out of it. It's about obeying God in whatever He tells you to do." She reminded us often. Ultimately we have to realize that it's not about us. It's all about Jesus and His kingdom. Money is just another servant in the kingdom of God. Through stories, sound teaching, and student engagement our teacher invested a lot in us. I was surprised at how much I learned and relearned. 

On Tuesday we had a teaching on mission statements. There was a lot of probing questions, prayer, and soul searching. Our teacher spent special time with me to find out what makes me tick. She asked a lot of questions and helped me come up with a mission statement. When I read it I cried. One sentence summed up so much of my heart. Here's what we wrote:

I'm still in the process of trying this on so to speak and asking God if there's anything I need to tweak, but I love this. I'm so thankful for people that can help sort through my thoughts and get to the heart. 

I have some news on the missions trip front. We were told this week that we each need to raise $3,900 to go to Tanzania. This will cover airfare, housing, and transportation costs. They also want to raise money to build a church, a greenhouse, and some bathrooms which will be an additional $11,500. The more I learn about this trip, the more excited I get. I'm so excited that I get to go to Tanzania and share the Gospel with an unreached people group. Wow! Who would have thought that God would use this country girl  to shine His light to the nations?! That's the amazing God I serve. 

Thank you to all of you who prayed for my film shoot on Monday.  It was so fun to use really nice cameras, pray, film an awesome testimony, and be a director. I loved getting to capture this story and am in the process of editing. When I finish it, I'll post a link. 

There's something about filmmaking that makes me come alive. When I'm doing it, I feel like I'm doing what I was born to do. That makes me so happy.

And today I'm doing homeless ministry again and hanging out with friends. I'm so glad for the opportunity to serve and to hang out with the people I love. 

This week has been very packed as far as class time, assignments, filmmaking, and normal life. But for every moment when I was overwhelmed, God's presence calmed me. For every time that I was running to class, I always made it on time. For every moment that I didn't know what to work on, God gave me clarity. 

It's a crazy, fun, and wild ride. I wouldn't miss it for the world. 

Crunching numbers and editing, Rose