Vacation and Lessons Learned

Hey everybody,

  I am going to do an update for the last two months.  I stink at keeping up on my blog but I am working on being better.

  In July,  I lost a few people who were very important to me.  I had seen the Lord change them and use them in amazing ways.  I had a hard time understanding why God would take two people in the same week.  I spent quite a bit of time in prayer and thought trying to understand how God was going to use their deaths for his glory.

My friend Derek drowned after saving his son.  He died a hero but I couldn't understand why God would take someone so young from this world.  However in the events that followed his death, I was able to see how God would use it.  Derek accepted Jesus into his heart about a month before he died and is now spending eternity with his Heavenly Father.  I was able to see how God would bring people together after such a tragedy and how people are working to help his family.

The Athletic Director from high school passed away from cancer.  Now this man had an impact on my life while I was in high school and it was hard to hear he had passed away.  I was able to see how the Lord would bless a community and take care of the family through this event.  He is saved and spending eternity in heaven with no pain anymore.

I have also been working on finding full-time employment for the summer, but have been blessed with two part-time jobs that help with everything.  I have been working on trusting the Lord to provide the perfect job in HIS TIMING and not my own.  I have also been working on being thankful for the positions I do have currently.

  On August 4, 2012 my world and my family's world was rocked after we lost someone very close to us.  My cousin Tony died in a motorcycle accident.  He was a great man, father, husband, son, cousin and many other roles.  He was a great demolition derby driver and always provided a show at any of the derbys we went to.  I am still working on being strong and getting back to everything being normal but it is taking time.  It has been only a month since he passed so everyone is still healing and working on being there for one another at all times.

This past weekend was my family reunion.  It was the first reunion and derby without Tony.  I was so blessed to have the weekend off from work to go home.  I had a blast and learned so many things over the weekend.
   On Friday night, my mom and I headed out for Blairstown, IA for the derby.  It was about a 2 hour drive to go watch and for me that meant time to talk with my mom.  It has been a while since we have been able to have long conversations so it was really good.  We made it to Blairstown with maybe 15 minutes to spare before the race began.  We parked, paid general admission, then found my family in the pit so paid to sit there which I would not change for anything.  This was my first derby since 2007 so I did not know what to expect for the night.  I brought my camera to take as many photos as I could.  Sitting in the pits gave me a front seat to all the heats of the derby.  My cousins did very well throughout the entire derby.  After the derby we went back and saw everyone which was good because I hadn't seen them in awhile.
   On Saturday we packed the car full and headed to the campground to set up for the next couple days.  My dad and brother are the pros at setting up the tent so I let them do their work.  We hung out on Saturday and shared a meal together.  Saturday was extremely hard because of all the memories flooding back from prior years with Tony at the reunion.  It was hard so I spent some time processing.  We sat around the fire later that night and shared stories and funny memories.
   On Sunday, we had breakfast together and then did our own thing for a while.  I worked on a project for the auction later on that day.  I also spent time just talking to people and getting to know them better.  Most of us had been camping so we were there for lunch already but others usually come for lunch and the auction, so people started slowly arriving at 11:30ish or so and continued to show up throughout the day.  We had lunch together, chatted for a bit, and then got the auction under way.  Each year we have the auction to raise money for next year's reunion.  My dad and brother spent quite a bit that day but it was worth it and they both got something for me.  My brother and I were having bidding wars over pocket knives and he won both times.  At the end of the night however, he gave me the knife I wanted as an early birthday present.  That is very rare in my family because my siblings tend to forget my birthday, however it was a great surprise from him.  My mom and I stayed overnight again, but my dad, brother and his girlfriend went home.
   Sunday night was a night to remember.  We spent time around the fire talking about some of the craziest snake stories and memories that my family had.  My family loves to pull pranks on each other so there were plenty of stories about them.  Later on we let off lanterns into the sky.  It was so fun because I had been wanting to let lanterns off for awhile but hadn't had a chance.  We talked about lighting them off for Tony's birthday which is only a couple weeks before mine so I'm excited for that.
   Monday we packed up and headed back to Pella.  I spent some time with my family before heading back to Des Moines.  I love spending time with family, but I always miss MY FAMILY in Des Moines when I'm gone.

Thanks for reading.

Dottie

Give Me Faith

Hey all!

   The name of this post is one of my favorite songs currently!! I had the privilege of learning it through my church.  I love when a song speaks straight to the core of your being to challenge you! Sometimes it takes me a bit to learn how to practically apply things and even listen.  This song is a great reminder of how the Lord takes care of us regardless.

   I have had the honor of learning to trust God and lean on him through every trial.  Recently I had a sister tell me that no matter what God is always there.  Don't get me wrong, I have known that for a while but it finally completely sank in this past weekend after one of the most difficult trials I have experienced.  This was about a month ago and also late in July.  I lost some people who were extremely important to me and I had a rough time knowing God had a plan through all of it.

New Orleans, LA Trip

This is coming straight from my journal and heart! It may be a bit long!  Here goes:
    The Lord is so good and faithful.  I was able to go on an adventure/experience that changed my life.  I was able to allow Jesus to change my heart, mind, and attitude towards people.  I was able to see how close-minded I was towards things and that allowed for Jesus to come in and break my heart wide open.  In having this happen, I was exposed and could do nothing but run to the Lord.  One night in particular, the Lord really worked on my heart and in my life to show me some areas that I had been letting satan control and hold over me.  I spent some time after the worship and devotion praying for Jesus to break the chains of these sins.  After spending time in prayer and letting go of them, I felt so free and was able to hear the Lord speak to my heart.  The rest of the trip, I was able to see how God was going to use me and change my life forever.  I saw how much I changed on the trip by allowing for people to get to know me better and how my heart opened up to them.  This trip forever changed how I view people, their situation, where I live, who I live with, and ultimately my life.
    So many things happened that have allowed me to learn so much more about who I am and who I am in the eyes of my King.  I see that I am so different than when I left for the trip.  I keep looking for ways to show who Christ is, what he means to me, and what he has done for me.  My life's mission is to show Jesus to people every day of my life.  I am looking more at areas in my life that I need to grow in.
     From start to finish of the trip, I changed and became a different person who was more open and vulnerable about change instead of insecure and super secretive.  God really worked on me and changed me for the better.  I saw so many things that opened my eyes to what was really going on in my life.  I complained so many times about the little things that didn't matter before the trip and now I have become a daughter of the King who thinks more before she complains.  I am still working on it.
    The trip itself was hard, grueling, exhausting, and overwhelming but it was totally worth it to see the Lord use us to help better people's lives and circumstances.  Working at different sites allowed me to build relationships with the people I worked with and the people we were working for.  I spent one of the days investing in people's lives for 6 or 7 hours just talking, asking questions, and sharing my testimony.
    I was able to share my testimony with a man named Nolan.  During the time, I was able to see God work and learn so much about him, the hurricane, what really happened, the devastation, and the Lord opened my eyes to show me how truly blessed I am.  I used to think that I always needed to work for the next best thing and to gain more than I really needed.  It was an eye-opening experience because I was truly humbled by the Lord and everything that happened.
    This trip challenged me in so many ways because I was not used to everything that was happening on the trip.  I saw God answer so many prayers through this trip, He answered in so many unexpected ways, but it was so good and humbling.

What an awesome reminder that we serve such a great and faithful God. 

Life and then some

It's been a long time since I last posted!!! A lot has happened since I last posted, I've graduated, started looking for a job, and many other things.  I started on a journey in January to train to be healthier and it has been so rewarding to see how much of a difference there is in my life.  I am almost at my goal set for a friend's wedding but I plan on continuing to train because I plan on running a 5K in June.  I also am doing it to be healthier so I can be around and work for God's Kingdom for a long time.

These lyrics have changed my life since Faithwalkers:
Even though few may stand and proclaim
Your great name
It's the life I want to live
I'm convinced, there is none like You

I'm not ashamed of the Gospel
I'm not ashamed of Jesus Christ
I will stand and boldly say
This is my life, whoa!!!!

I want this to be who I am for the rest of my life.  I went on two different mission trips in March and the Lord challenged my heart and me.  I went to Louisiana at the beginning of March with some people back in Pella.  I prayed before I left that the Lord would change me and make things clearer to me and He came through in a big way.  I will discuss the trip in a later post.  I also went on a mini mission trip to Des Moines in March with some friends from Grand View and DMACC.  The Lord really challenged me and continued to change who I was through this trip.  More later on this tip as well.

More to come later