Shake it off and Step up.

Its amazing how God teaches us lessons. This past week I started school, this new school I am going to is huge and confusing to just give you an idea of how confusing it is I got lost 10 times today. In English yesterday we had to copy a quote on the board and the quote really caught my attention because it really hit home with me.  It talked about how when you are in a tough spot in life you have the potential to open your eyes and open your heart.  Than today we read a parable about a mule stuck in a well and the farmer decided to that neither the mule or the well were worth saving so he got some of his neighbors to help him bury his mule alive in the well.  So they start putting the dirt in the well and the mule shakes it off and the light bulb goes off in his head, if I shake off the dirt and than step up I can get out of this well. My English teacher gave us this speech about how if we fail or do poorly on a test or just mess up in live it is up to us to shake it off and try harder.  In another one of my classes I am the only girl I knew I would be considering I am taking a construction.
This is just like what God has been showing me this summer, He has taught me to overcome my weakness to exceed I think I can do and to glorify his name by my thoughts and actions.  He has been teaching me to how to be bold and stand out so that I can go out into the world and spread his name and do his work.

I can do it, I CAN climb this wall!

This picture is proof of the big step I made this summer.  I know all it looks like is me on  a rock wall, but for those who really know me this is a HUGE accomplishment for me and my self esteem.  Just 2 weeks before this  picture was taken I had cried climbing another wall because it scared me to death.  It scared me because I saw all the what ifs, like what if I slip and fall and get hurt, what if the people around me think I am weak, what if I can't do it.  These are what held me back, I was scared of something that could happen, I didn't think on the bright side what will happen.  What will happen if I get over this wall I will be able to go home and tell my family I climbed a wall made of logs covered in mud, I accomplished this with the help, and encouraging support of my dear leader Jordan and one of the Bolivians.  In this picture I am climbing a rock wall something I have refused to do since I was in grade school when I last tried and couldn't get any father than a foot off the ground, It hurt my self esteem.  Looking back now I realize that I have a good reason to not want to climb things, I have no upper body strength, I usually do end up getting hurt, or feeling depressed when I can't climb the obstacle in my way.   I however climbed this wall with no tears, a high self esteem, and learned that I can do it.  In fact I can do anything I put my mind to with God on my side. 
 God gave me the determination to conquer the obstacle in my life.  He does this every day he gives us the tools, power, determination, and a team of supporters, to help us over that wall in our life.  The next time you feel scared because of the what ifs remember that only God can control what happens over the wall and it will strength us in him.

I am the strongest person on Earth!

This summer my strength has been tested, at the beginning of the summer if you asked me if I thought I had any strength at all I would have very timidly told you that I had a little.  Which is still true, by myself  I am one of the weakest people I know, but with the Lord I am the strongest person on Earth.
I have had this song going through my head these past few days and I wanted to share some of it with you:

Be strong in the lord and never give up hope

your gonna do great things I already know

Gods got his hand on you so don't live life in fear,

Forgive and forget, but don't forget why your hear

Take your time and pray.

These are the words I would say.

"These are the words I would say"

by: Sidewalk Prophets

I am not the type of person who likes to climb anything, yet this summer I have had to keep climbing over walls literally.  It scared me so badly, I was in tears, because I was so scared. Looking back now I know why I was scared, it's because I didn't trust myself to keep me safe,and not fall or lose my balance.  Which is understandable because I do not have some of the best balance in the world, in fact I probably have some of the worst balance in the world.  Through all the walls I climed I learned that while I do not trust my feet to keep me safe I have to trust God to keep me safe, sometimes he does this by simply sending someone to walk in front of me and show me that I can do it, or he just makes me so determined to get over the wall that I don't think about all the what ifs that scare me.

  Another way my strength has been tested this summer was last week, I praticitaped in an intense theatre camp  where we did hard dancing all day for a week.  In a week time my lovely knee problem started acting up and I brusied the bottem of my foot, for those of you who are not performers you may not of ever heard of the phrase "the show must go on".  That is exactly what I had to do I had to persever with a knee that hurt every time we moved and even when we were not moving, and a foot that hurt so badly everytime I put it down, did I metion that both of my injuries are on my right knee/foot.  It took all my strength to keep chugging along. 

   Than I heard this song on my i-pod, and it really hit me that I have no reason to struggle or be afraid or think that I am not strong enough to do this, because I have God on my side and he is my strength, I can turn to him when I am weak and he will give strength.  When I am afraid he will comfort me, he will hold me in his righteous right hand and say do not fear for I am with you. 

  Thank you god for giving me the strength and determination to cimb over the obsticles in my life.  I could not do it with out you.

Week 1/2

So in attempt to learn scripture, my mother and I have decided to learn a new verse or set of verses each week.  I will post the verse as we learn them.

Week 1

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!5Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The lord is near.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your request to the Lord.

Philippians

4:4-6

Week 2

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians

4:7-8

Shut up and Listen.

Those couple of words have so much meaning. I have spent these last few weeks being taught how to listen to god, and now that I am home that is one of the things I have to remember to do some times we get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to take time to just listen to god.  We may pray everyday, but do we actually take the time to see what he has to tell us.  I personally have been struggling with as I have been home, I can't always figure out if it is me or God talking.  sometimes I just have to go to my room, close the door, and sit in the silence. When I open my ears and my heart to what God is telling me it is so amazing how much we can be told.  All we have to do is shut-up and listen.

Superhero or sidekick

Sidekick-a follower who accompanies another
Superhero-a hero possessing extraordinary powers

This past week I was working a kindermusic camp for kids ages 4-7, when the leader was introducing me she said that my name is Noelle can you guess when I was born.  I told the kids I was born at Christmas time, and Drew who is 6 years old said "Jesus was born at Christmas time you must be Jesus's sidekick."  I laughed so hard my side hurt.  It is so amazing how kids say some of the funniest things. 
The dictionary defines sidekick as a follower who accompanies another.  We as Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. Therefore we are his sidekicks. He is the superhero, and when we become his followers we become sidekicks.  Now that doesn't mean that we should all wear tights and our underwear on the outside, however it does mean that we should let Christ lead us in everything that we do.  We are HIS followers and he is our leader. 
  When ever we are in trouble we should use the Jesus signal and ask for help.  Even though we are not attacked by real villains we are still attacked by Satan, and that is when we use the Jesus signal(pray) for help he will come. Jesus is our strength, he is our rock, sword, and shield.

I have a voice!

Thanks for being my light, and showing me how to use my voice.

One of the things I have been learning lately is that God gave me a voice.  He gave me a voice so I could use it. There is a reason that I am not shy, or timid or even easily frightened.  When given the courage needed my voice will be a light in this dark world.  Recently while I was in bolivia I was attacked by satan with lies, I felt hopeless, unloved, I felt like I was a peice of trash.  God knew exatly what I was feeling and why, he sent one of my leaders to pray over me which helped for about 1minute.  Than I felt hopeless and like a peice of trash all over again just 10 times stronger.  I didn't want anything to do with anybody. At this point in time it was family worship time which is just where we worshiped as a family.  After we were through I really just wanted to bolt, but God had other plans he used my leader Hannah's voice to show me that what I felt was not true, it was all lies.  Through Hannah voice God was able to teach me I have one and even though I am hearing lies about myself it is my job to use my voice to find the light.



  Through knowing this I can use my voice to do what Hannah did for me, I can be the light for this dark world.



Bolivia pictures

our team flag in progress

team flag

My Bolivia teammates



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One of the kitchen ladies got me with machine oil



I taught some of the Bolivia children how to make fish faces

this is what greeted me when i came home

learning through watching

While i was in Bolivia i had the chance to learn so many things. I learned by listening and watching.  When you are leading a trip or in any leadership position be aware that you are being watched and people are learning through everything you do. 

 My leaders for Bolivia were some of the best leaders ever.  They were calm and acted in control when we were trying to get to Bolivia, even thought they were tired because they got a total of 3 hours maybe of sleep in 61 hours of traveling. When we were afraid they would help us, they would guide us and take the first step to show us it was safe.

Through there guidance my entire team grew not only in ourselves but we grew as a family.  I will never forget all that these leaders have done in my life.  They have helped shape me into the woman of God I am growing to be.