What an Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the last day of 2010.

What an adventure this has been.

In this year I have seen many mountain highs and just as many valley lows; metaphorically speaking as well as physically.

The song “o how he loves us” is playing as I write and it is ringing true in my heart now because it is truly a testimony of what this year has been: an out pouring of God’s love and grace. Through the songs, skits, and scriptures that the Lord has placed on my live I have seen the love of God. In India as well as Africa I had the chance to narrate for the skit done for children about the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15. God is relentlessly pursuing us and will do anything to be with us and have us understand that we are loved my him.

I have seen the love and touch of our Abba, Father, Creator God in many diverse ways this 2010. I have seen him in….

• · The eyes of a slum children in the streets of Kolkata, India who had a joy in the LORD that was contagious
• · The worship of Nepali speaking northern Indians in Darjeeling who are willing to do anything for the gospel and to further the name of Jesus
• · The home of a HIV+ Zulu family who physically was ailing but was strengthened in their inner being to grasp the LOVE that God had for them
• · The sharing of a meal and partaking in communion with a persecuted Christians in the Himalayas
• · The beauty of true friendship that is such an example of the LOVE of God because they KNOW me, the good and bad, and still love me
• · The majesty, power, and untainted beauty of the Himalayan, Draakensburg, and Yosemite mountains
• · The many patients that have I have worked with in the diverse nursing setting that I have been placed in
• · The diversity of people and gifts as well as ways to worship in the global and large body of Christ
• · The thousands of small answers to prayers that God has so faithfully answered in the mundane, daily, and routine life lived day to day

My final Sunday in Cape Town South Africa I had the chance to attend church with a dear friend Victor. The theme of the church for 2010 was a year of “Great Things”. This statement and motto rang true for my year. This truly is what 2010 has been: GREAT. I said to the LORD “Here I am, Send Me.” And he sure did take me up on that offer. I am so humbled that I have been able to be part of the ministry of God drawing his people back into a relationship with him. God is truly moving my friends. He is alive and he is active. The grace of God was overflowing to me this past year and I cannot believe the things that I have been able to see and be a part of all over this world. I am so thankful to my friends and family who were so incredibly supportive of all the things that God was doing in my life and allowed me to wrestle with issues, cry at things that seemed silly, complain about things in America that don’t make sense any more, process the interaction with the glory of the LORD that happened in India and Africa, pray and be pray for me, and tell stories over and over again and say “this one time in india/south Africa” =) couldn’t have done it without you all. Thank you. =) would have died with you! =)

It is interesting because this past year I have asked many believers the question “why are you a Christian?” An extremely common response to this question is “oh because I get to go to heaven”, but one response that I have heard and that I have claimed as my own is that I am a Christian because of the HOPE that I receive today. I have hope today, but I also have a hope for tomorrow and find forgiveness from my past. The Holy Spirit gives a joy that is unmatchable. The God of the universe is madly in love with his people here and now TODAY! I know that heaven is real and that it is a place that I will go when I die, BUT hypothetically speaking, if heaven was NOT real, I would still be a Christian. I say this because the God of Heaven and Earth has a kingdom agenda that does not start when we die. It starts now. My dear friend Holly said that many people are willing to DIE for Jesus, but far less are truly willing to LIVE for Jesus. May 2011 be a time of truly living: living with purpose, living with hope, living with joy, living with love. As I sat in the beautiful African Church that last Sunday, I turned to my friend and asked him, “2010 was truly the year of great things, so what is 2011 going to be?” and he responded “Megan, it is going to be the year of GREATER things.” I claim this promise in the name of Jesus.

2011 holds many exciting things and many unknowns. I am entering my last semester of nursing school. After May 8 when I receive my degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I will stay in Los Angeles and study for my nursing boards (NCLEX). After that it is pretty unknown. I know that I will be a nurse, a pediatric one most likely. I am going to be applying to a couple children hospitals in northern California and a few in southern California. =) I do not know where I will be but I do know that God has a plan for me. I know that I am his and that he is going to put me where he wants me. This is comforting because it takes the pressure off. I am going to do my best and do all I can to stay faithful to the call that he has placed on my life, but the LORD will place me where he wants me to be and will open the doors that he wants to and close the ones that he does not want.

This picture was taken the last day in South Africa, when we woke up at 4:45 to watch the sunrise over the Indian ocean; today as i drove my friend to the airport, I was blessed with a beautiful sunrise. These are little reminders that the sun (and son;) ) is rising on a new chapter in my life. A newness is coming. "Here we go again" is the the name of this blog and a truth as we enter into this year. So, Here we go again. =) By the Grace of God, Let us make the year 2011 a year of GREATER things.

Happy New Year Everyone. =)

Psalm 103

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

Who forgives all your sins

And heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit

And crowns you with LOVE and COMPASSION,

Who satisfies your desires with good things

So that your youth is RENEWED like the eagle’s

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, ABOUNDING in love.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

SO GREAT IS HIS LOVE for those who fear him!