The Netherlands

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to travel overseas with a small group from my church in order to do ministry alongside a sister church of ours in Hilversum in The Netherlands. I jumped on the opportunity when it came up for a lot of reasons, but mainly because I want to continue to discover my passions in ministry through obedience to God's word. Also, I'm half Dutch and I had a strong desire to go and see where my ancestors came from. As our flight entered the airspace above The Netherlands I was overcome with emotions. It was such a huge blessing to have the opportunity to return somewhere where my ancestors had lived their lives and followed the same God I was going back to proclaim.

Most of our time was spent painting areas of the church. They had an interior decorator that attended their church who went through and discussed with them how to make the church look more inviting. Every day the team would paint and I would be given all the random handyman jobs around the church. There were some awesome people there that we were able to work alongside. There are two American missionaries that are part of the church who took care of us every day. The wife made sure our stomachs were always filled with the most amazing foods, and the husband was able to spend quality time with many people on our trip building into them. The facility dude, Rudy, was always around to encourage us and make sure we were doing everything the way it needed to get done. And, the intern, Floris, made every job I had to do so much easier by knowing the answers to every question I could think to ask about what I was supposed to do and where to find certain tools. The pastor, Sebastian, was really encouraging to our entire team with his passion and his vision for Thousand Hills International Church. So many other great people supported us while we were there.

We also spent some time working alongside the children's ministry. We helped with a Christmas story night where parents from the surrounding area brought their children to church to walk through multiple scenes of the Christmas story. We also got together with the children's ministry volunteers one night and we were able to brainstorm with them about ways to improve the children's ministry for the church, the parents, and the children.

I was cutting drywall on the second day and ended up slicing my thumb open pretty badly. It was quickly decided that I needed to go to the hospital, so I got to experience the Dutch ER first hand! It was very similar to the American ER, except that due to the absence of an Urgent Care, there are a lot more emergencies.

I felt like we were really able to help the church accomplish some things that would've taken a lot longer without us, but even more-so, I realized the importance for our church to build a deeper relationship with their church. I've always been very passionate about the way churches communicate and live together. I've never agreed with the fact that Christian churches, who all serve the same God and are asked to be obedient in the same ways, fail to come together in community. It was awesome to spend time with a family that loves the Lord as much as I do, that I didn't even know existed.

God really used this trip to deepen my passion for international ministries and relational evangelism. I'm sure that at some point in my life God is going to call me to be a part of something large in ministry. I could honestly sit here for hours in awe of how amazing it felt to be a part of the church service at Thousand Hills. I literally feel like I met family members in that church, and after only a couple hours I felt like I was a part of what was going on over there. Thank you so much for praying and for those who were able to financially support the trip! I hope that not only through this trip, but through my future, you'll be able to see the fruits of your gifts.

THANKSGIVING / CHRISTMAS

I just wanted to quickly tell the story of how God maneuvered my plans to get me home to Wisconsin for both holidays with hardly any money out of my pocket! I had originally decided it was going to be too expensive to come home for the holidays so I was trying to figure out what I could do to get home at some point when my boss came up to me and mentioned a work trip to Chicago. It took me a few minutes before it hit me, but I ended up making it work out that I could go home for the weekend after finishing the job on Friday. My business trip ended up switching to Monday, so I changed my plans around a little, then came home and the entire trip actually got cancelled Monday morning after I was able to spend the weekend with my family!

On the way back from the Netherlands, we missed our flight from DC to Charleston due to weather delays coming out of Amsterdam. As we were trying to reschedule flights and get back home I decided it would be worth pursuing the option of switching my flight to Chicago instead of Charleston. A couple strings had to get pulled but I ended up being able to fly home for a few days for Christmas and I was able to see my parents and some really close friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I also got to go snowboarding, but my body is still telling me that that was actually a bad thing.

But, God had plans that were greater than mine and far above mine which allowed me to go home and see my parents twice in this season when I had no idea that it was going to happen at all!

Thank you for all your prayers! There are a lot more pictures from Holland posted on my facebook page for you to look at. And please, ask me any questions you might have about my trip! If it's a good question, I might even just write another blog to answer it!

Love y'all!

Mission Trip to Holland

In a few days I'll be on an airplane travelling to The Netherlands. It's approached so quickly!

I just wanted to quickly thank everyone who has walked alongside me so far on this trip by either financially supporting me or praying for me. I was blessed by friends and family and was able to raise all of the financial support necessary for the trip. Thank you all for your loving hearts and your missional passion! I love that my passion to go out to the world in Jesus' name was accompanied by the passion of many to send someone out in Jesus' name.

I have learned more about what we might be doing over there since I was last able to update everyone. The church we are going to visit wants to function the same exact way my church in Charleston functions. We're going to walk alongside them and share ministry ideas with them, along with encouraging them as a church, and directing staff/volunteers on how our church in Charleston does certain things to improve the weekly worship experience.

I'll be part of our team's Construction team. I'm not sure what we'll be doing yet, but I can't wait to get my hands on some tools and go to work!

I'm really going to value the time away to really reflect on where God is leading me and "pause" from everything that life is continually throwing at me. The places I've always heard best from God are the times where I'm uncomfortable and surrounded by things that are unknown, similar to when I first moved to Charleston. I know that God is going to use this time to break me, to build me back up in His mission.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please pray for great communication and growth within the team.

Pray for personal growth. That I would experience God in a new way and that our relationship would grow to a deeper level.

Pray that my life would be open to where God wants me to go.

Love you all and cannot wait to tell you how things go!

The Road Ahead

When I sit back and look at where I am and where I've been, it's hard to believe. I'm sure there are times in your life when you have felt the same way. Maybe there were some rough areas you went through and after you escaped from them you looked back and could not believe you managed to get out of them. Or, maybe like me, you just had a completely different plan for your life than the one that unfolded. I didn't ever think I'd be where I am today, but as I look at the possibilities ahead of me because of where I am right now, I can't help but be filled with so much excitement for the adventure God has in store for me!

PREFACE

When I originally went to school for Communication my thought process was that I had two choices. I could either go to school for something that could make me a lot of money, or I could go to college and do whatever I needed to do to go into full time ministry. As I was thinking about that decision I ended up reading a passage in the Bible that discusses how difficult it is for a rich man to get into the kingdom of Heaven. The passage compares the difficulty to that of a camel going through the eye of a needle. I don't want greed and the idol of money to blur my vision of God, so I chose a degree in Communication, believing that it was going to be the first step into full-time ministry. I had dreams of going to remote villages and living life with the people there in order to tell them about Jesus. Well, I got diagnosed with diabetes when I was 19, which made me completely dependent on insulin, putting an end to any dreams of being anywhere away from doctors and pharmacies for an extended amount of time. I thought the dream was behind me and ended up moving into an engineering degree a few years later, assuming that God had shut the door on a paid position in ministry.

RECENT REVELATIONS

Ever since I settled into the working world I've felt distanced from ministry. Even though most of my spare time goes into it, I haven't been able to feel like I'm fulfilling the passion God has put in my heart for it. I've been thinking and praying about what God might have for me. I know there must be a way to serve Him in greater amounts, but so far I've failed to figure out what that might be. Well, for the last two weeks I've been trying to decide whether it was God's desire for me to go on a mission's trip to Holland or if it was my own desire. Most of the time when I receive a support letter or know a friend raising support for something, I judge whether to give and how much to give based on their passion for what they're doing and whether I think they're doing it for the right reasons. I understand that has a lot to do with how I feel, which could easily involve human error, but I figure it's the best thing I can do to keep from emptying the bank account every time I know someone that goes on a mission trip. Well, I wanted to make sure that the people I am asking for financial assistance were being asked by someone who was being led to go on this trip by the Lord and not choosing to go on it out of his own will.

The more I prayed about the trip and thought about why I was going, the more I realized that this is a great opportunity for God to speak to me about my future in ministry. The ability to go to another country on a mission's trip always opens up your eyes a lot more to what's going on around you and gives a much clearer vision of what God's plan might be for your life. Someone shared with me a few weeks ago that short-term mission trips are more beneficial in bringing change in the lives of the people going than the lives of the people being served, and I believe that that's probably true most of the time. I definitely hope to go on this mission's trip to serve the people of Holland, but I also have a strong feeling that God will give me direction during this trip into how I can shape my life now in order to devote myself to ministry better in the future. At some point I would love to do full-time ministry, but I'm completely lost as to how that might happen right now.

So, I've pretty much realized that I don't really want your support to go aid a church in a different country for a week, but I ask for your support to help me discover the vision for a ministry for the rest of my life. I love that I will have the opportunity to work alongside a church, and I'm sure we will do some great things! But, I also know that there are probably people there capable of doing those things as well. I want to develop the passion I have for ministry and allow God to feed wisdom to me on how to develop my life into one of full time ministry.

What I need from you guys is a lot of prayer. I need advice and wisdom. I need financial assistance. God can teach us a lot through the Bible. I consider it my manual on how to love God, my playbook, and my owner's manual on life. It definitely has a lot of answers and gives a lot of direction, but God created the church to create community, and I need the benefits of that community. I really don't know what I would do for full time ministry or how to transition into full time ministry from where I am right now. Or, maybe my life and my schedule just need some rearranging and I just need to get myself into a different type of ministry. There are things people on the outside see about my passion and my skills that I can't see about myself, and I need to know those things in order to determine what direction to go.

Financial assistance is always a hard thing to ask for, but that's why I wanted to share my heart. It's easy for some people to see giving money for someone to go on a mission's trip as giving money for someone to go on a glorified vacation, and that's what I've spent the last two weeks praying about. I didn't want to go on this trip if it was just going to be a glorified vacation. I want to show God my obedience in the small things, in hopes that He will trust me with the big things, which in this case would be a glimpse at the future and vision for my ministry. As of right now I've raised $75 out of $2000, and it's been about a month. That's a long way to go! Based on my blogs from the past, I know there are going to be about 100 people that at least open this page, and just $5 from everyone would make a huge difference. No gift is too small. Please pray about it and consider helping me develop a vision. God is going to put it on some people's hearts to support me in this way, and He won't with others. I trust that He will supply for my financial needs if He truly wants me on this trip.

Cut and paste this link if you would like to give. seacoa.st/thewellholland

I truly love everyone who takes time to read these posts. If there is any way I can share more about my life or any questions that have come up, please ask. I'm an open book!

Love you all!

The Valley - Desolation Transforming into Wells of Life

I went to the beach after work today. I found a raised area of sand to sit on because I hadn't thought to bring a chair. I began to read the book "Love Does" that a friend let me borrow after I agreed to read it as quickly as possible. I paused shortly after beginning to read. I'd allowed myself to get so busy and caught up in life and the activities taking place that I completely forgot why the beach had so often been my safe haven, my mountain top.

I looked out over the water and remembered a time God had spoken to me letting me know that just as the waves appear out of the sea without ceasing, so is His presence in my life. 

I looked up to the sky to see some terns fly over my head and remembered when God had told me that with Him I can fly on wings like an eagle. I've wanted to fly away so badly lately. If I could just launch myself in the air and remove myself from life I would feel so free!

I looked at the children playing in the water, the old man and his wife walking through the surf, and the teenage boy learning how to boogie board. These are the people that I'm living for. God didn't reveal Himself to me so that I could live a great and successful life for myself. God revealed Himself to me so that I could live a great life for those around me.

I started to feel refreshed. The more I read the book, the more I felt the problems that entered my life last weekend slowly fade to mere raindrops from the hurricane that they seemed. God has this awesome quality that whenever we seek Him earnestly, He grants us comfort and shows us that He's in control.

Last Wednesday I was boarding an airplane to Jackson, MS for a two day work trip and I got a call from Wells Fargo telling me that they wanted to review some potential fraudulent charges on my account. She began to read off charges in the hundreds of dollars for online game sites, non-profits, hotel rooms, and all sorts of stuff. It sounded like someone had emptied my bank account overnight! Fortunately, Wells Fargo was able to keep the bank from processing a lot of the payments and refunded me for the few that they couldn't stop, all in the few minutes before I boarded!

On Friday I called my doctor's office to ask whether or not they had received results from my diabetic testing yet. They told me they hadn't but they'd call the lab and see if they had finished them yet. While I was waiting I drove to a fairly secluded beach about an hour away and just sat there reflecting on everything going on in my life- from my job, to volunteering with the college and 20s ministry at church, to the dreams I had for my life that I still hadn't accomplished. While sitting on the beach I got a phone call letting me know that they got my results and that all three tests came back negative. I had originally had testing done to see if I was producing my own insulin, and because I was producing some in small amounts I was eligible for the genetic testing. The doctor had made it sound like I was going to be one of three types of type MODY. Well, I guess I misunderstood because the tests came back negative and the nurse told me that I am a type 1 diabetic and will have to continue taking insulin injections. That was tough to hear. I had been running all kinds of scenarios through my mind of new possibilities that could present themselves if I could take an oral medication.

On Saturday morning I drove out to a sod farm halfway to Columbia in hopes of finding a bird that I hadn't seen yet this year. I'm not sure if I've discussed this yet, but I have been trying to see 300 species of birds in South Carolina this year. For those of you who have seen The Big Year, it's very similar. I like to think of it like one of the I Spy books that I used to read as a kid. I'm at 280, but the birds I still need to see can only be seen during migration. As I was driving down the dirt roads of the sod farm I almost got stuck in a few areas where the road was soft because of the recent storms we've been having. I never found the bird and right before I was going to leave I hit a pothole and my front shock started making a lot of noise. My car air conditioning hasn't been working, but I've been hoping to keep it running for a while in order to get through all the traveling necessary for my goal of 300. Toyota Corollas get much better gas mileage than trucks! I've decided not to drive it until I can determine what's wrong with the shock, then hopefully I can fix it on my own.

Sunday morning I woke up shivering as one of our house guests enjoyed sleeping with a lot of blankets on and I wasn't prepared. I decided that instead of going back to sleep I'd take advantage of the 5:30 wake-up time and take a trip to a new location where a different bird I needed had been seen on Saturday evening. I ended up having a potty attack and had to drive down the first dirt road that I came across. The dirt turned to mud very quickly and I was sliding all over the road before I could react. I ended up stuck perpendicular to the road. I guess God was trying to show me that they make 4-wheel drive for a reason! First, a visit to the woods, then I started trying to rock the truck in and out of the muddy rut that my back tires were in, but I only seemed to make it worse. I began to collect branches and sticks to jab under my tires in hopes of gaining some sort of traction, but it wasn't enough to overcome the 6 inches of mud I had sunk into. My phone didn't have any service, so I walked in prayer a mile back to the gas station. I had only asked God that getting out would be easier than it seemed it would be. My original intent was to enter the gas station and ask for the phone book and if I could borrow the phone. I was going to break the bank calling for a tow truck in that area of the state at 7 am on a Sunday, but it's the only option that came to mind. I was on my way to the door when I saw some older men talking and hanging out on the side of the building. I approached them and asked if they knew anyone with the ability to tow someone out of 6" of mud. I explained what happened and that I didn't have 4-wheel drive. God answered my prayer as they got a strap out and we all loaded into a mid-sized SUV. I finally figured out the definition of the word emasculated.... it describes the way you feel when your tough truck gets pulled out of the mud by the vehicle of a middle-class soccer mom! 

I proceeded to my destination where I spent 4 hours looking but missed the bird. During the drive back the truck started beeping with a low-pressure tire alert. I stopped every half hour to try to figure out what tire it was, but everything looked fine the entire drive home. I took a nap when I got home and woke up to my truck being 4" lower in the front than I left it.

All this happened on top of the fact that we're losing a couple employees at work and my work load feels like it has tripled over the last week. All I could think was that I was getting punished for something I had done. How did all that happen in the matter of a few days? I learned that my health was not going to improve. I nearly lost all the money I had saved. And I broke both of my vehicles. On top of that, I could've gotten up to 282 birds, but I was still stuck at a lousy 280!

Well, nothing great has happened to suddenly overwrite everything that happened. God has done a lot of teaching over the last few days, and reminding me how critical it is to let Him carry my burdens for me. I'm continually trying to work on the idea that it's selfish to not let Him help, but the man in me wants to do everything without the help of others. I was fortunate enough to get the tire fixed for free, but the solution to everything else will have to come in time. 

I don't know why all this happened, but I do know that God has a plan. I was once again comforted with the image of me walking behind God, staring at His back, knowing that as long as I didn't stray from the path He was leading me on, everything was going to be greater than I could imagine! Sometimes God allows us to be attacked as He did Job, and in those times He promises to never leave us or forsake us. So, I'm resting on those promises. I'm giving my burdens to Him to carry, and I'm blindly following where He leads, knowing that life is an adventure and God is my trail guide.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please pray that I would not get discouraged, but that I would continue to seek God and His will for my life right now.

Pray for the opportunity I've recently been given to be a leader at theWELL ministry at church. That I would effectively reach people by planning community events and that those people would be led into relationships with churches and Christians because of the events.

Pray that my vision would be a reflection of God's vision.

Pray that my heart and mind would be prepared for what ends up taking place during my trip to Holland in December. Pray that I would be in a state of mind that allows the Holy Spirit to speak through me as He promises. More information about this trip can be read about in an event I recently created on facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/432200530232227/

Love you all!

What is Diabetes MODY?

I've always felt as if I had a different type of Diabetes. For those of you who do not know, I got diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 19 after a mission trip to Mexico. I got very sick down there after drinking some of the water, and after coming back my vision got horrible very quickly. I was also waking up late at night to to go to the bathroom followed by drinking 1/2 - 1 gallon of water before I went back to sleep. My parents noticed something was not right when my dad and I were out to eat one day after work and I drank 4 large glasses of lemonade at Texas Roadhouse. After one of the half dozen nurses in the family suggested we go to the emergency room, I ended up on a table with a blood sugar of 740, fortunate to not be comatose.

I was initially diagnosed and treated as a Type 1 diabetic, later to attempt oral medication for Type 2 diabetes, which did not work, then resorted to just going to the family doctor and treating it as Type 1. I did that for 4-5 years until I moved to SC and saw a doctor at the Medical University of SC. During my first visit she brought up type MODY and suggested that it may be what I have. I had suggested this to doctors before, but they didn't have any knowledge of it. The new doctor said that there are multiple strands of type MODY, and although one or two of them have to be treated with injections, there are others that can be treated with oral medication.

She ordered a test to see if I was still producing antibodies that would show I was a type MODY candidate and the test came back positive. The next test I would have to take to determine how to treat my type of diabetes would have to be a genetic test. I had heard that the testing was very expensive, but as I was going through the process of determining how much it would cost, a nurse told me that I would most likely qualify for a patient assistance program that would cover all of the bill except for $500, so I told them I wanted to get the testing done. Well, it turns out I did not qualify for the program. I called the medical lab conducting the test and they told me I could cancel at any time before the tests were complete, but upon completion I was going to be billed $5000.

I was scared and immediately wanted to cancel the tests. I've been trying so hard to save amidst piles of student loan bills, and that was a large chunk of everything I had saved. The more I thought about it, I realized how awesome it would be to not have to take injections anymore, along with an opportunity at a longer lifetime and less medical cost down the road, so I decided to go through with it.

I'm still concerned about the cost, but I know that God will provide. I've been thinking about fundraising opportunities for it, and thought maybe it would be best to "ask a friend". I know that sometimes people will hold benefits to help pay for medical bills, and also that there are walks and runs for certain medical conditions where people just give blindly to help strangers going through medical trials. I thought maybe there could be an opportunity in this situation that I could use to raise awareness and, in turn, raise donations.

I was wondering if any of my readers have any ideas of how I could raise money to help fund medical research into my own condition? I've considered asking for a certain amount of money per mile I bike or run, but that's about all I can think of. Any ideas would be great. Maybe this is just a time in my life that God is calling me to trust Him financially and give it all over. If that's the case, I'm completely open to it, but I first thought I'd look into what other doors may open.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please pray about the testing and pray a prayer of healing over the disease that I have. Please pray that God would do financially what He chooses in this situation, and that my faith and trust would be wholly in Him.

Please pray as well for the future mission trip I am going on to Holland. Pray that God would provide the means to go, along with opportunities here and abroad to talk to others about Him during the training time and week long mission trip.

Love you all.

Thoughts from the Wilderness

Over the last year and a half my blogs have consisted of my adventure in following God's calling to Charleston and developing a mission and community in this city. I've developed relationships with young and old, secured multiple places to live, and found a job to financially sustain me during this time. The last few months have been trying as many friends have moved away, many moving to Denver to start a church plant in one of the most unchurched cities in the US. I was able to go back to Wisconsin for a short stay about a month ago when friends who have relocated to multiple cities around the states were also home. I was reminded of the many great friendships I once had, and I've realized how difficult it's been for me to be separated from that for so long. So, I've spent a lot of time the last few weekends reflecting on that and why I haven't been able to find these kinds of friendships in Charleston. What did my friends possess that I haven't been able to find?

I often share my beliefs with those around me, through this blog, through facebook, and through conversation. The reason I do that is because I believe with everything that I am that my Father in Heaven sent His Son as a Savior for a people who could not manage to live a life without committing sins worthy of death. I believe that believing in Jesus and accepting Him as a Savior is the only way into the glory of Heaven, and because I have such a great love for people I continually want to share that with everyone I encounter. There are two things that leads me to do: attempt to show the people around me that a life committed to Jesus is the best way to live, and correcting and building up the other Christians around me to effectively do the same.

When I say things to correct and build up the Christians around me, that's exactly who it is meant for. There is no reason for someone who does not believe what the Bible says to follow anything in it, and I don't expect them to. But, for someone who claims to be a Christian, I expect the respect and love of God to lead them to be obedient to the things asked and expected of them through the Bible. If you consider yourself a Christian, please read this and other things that I post and take whatever you can from them to help apply your beliefs into your life. If you do not consider yourself a Christian, then please read these things as a way to better understand me and the people that I surround myself with.

GROWTH

Growth is so important in all areas of life. Initially I was going to refer to this section with the title of Spiritual Growth, but there's so many other places where one can work to grow. I've realized that there is a lack of desire in a lot of people to put the time into growth. I'm not sure what it is that keeps them from wanting to see an increase in areas of their life, but they seem to have grown content with their current situations. I was once told the analogy, referring to the Christian "walk", that it's like going up the down escalator - if you ever stop growing and moving forward, you go right back to where you started. I think that applies to many more aspects of life than faith. As a Christian, we are at war every day. I just got done watching the movie 300. The men in this movie serve the city of Sparta exactly how we should serve our God. They are always training and learning. They love their king and the people around them enough to live and die for them. Although they all have careers within their city, they do not consider themselves workers in the land, but warriors for their king. I don't want to fight alongside a bunch of warriors who don't practice. I don't want to be protected by a warrior who doesn't care to continually perfect their skill. I need everyone I fight alongside to be continually growing and learning how to look out for me and protect me in battle. The battle can happen at any time and in any circumstance, and I need the people surrounding me in my life to be ready to protect and defend in those times.

ADVENTURE

The American society and culture has taught Generation Y to fear everything. We have "learned" from so many of our experiences that we've concluded the only safe thing to do is avoid everything. Don't drink that. Don't eat that. Don't go there. Avoid these activities. People have learned to chase after comforts rather than finding ways to be comfortable in their current situations. I go on a lot of adventures. I love seeing new things and spending time away from the busyness of life to admire God's creation and the things around me. There is a desire deep down in my heart to experience and learn about new things. So many people had that adventurous spirit stolen from them in their youth by the message of "don't". I hope that those people around me can really learn to put their lives in the hands of God and trust Him to take them through the terrors of the don'ts of life in order to experience the adventure that is involved in following an all-powerful God through the unknowns of blind faith.

RESPECT

I guess I've been watching a few man movies recently, as I also just watched Braveheart. This movie touches on so many different aspects of respect that I see a lack of in the culture surrounding me at this time in my life. William Wallace is respected by all of his followers, whether they've met him or not. They respect him because of his passion, his leadership, and his actions. He had such passion for his wife that after she was killed he spent the rest of his life fighting in remembrance of that action. He led in the manner of servant leadership by being the first person onto the battle field. He acted in ways that showed he was going to continue in the direction he had planned and he was going to give it 110%. It's not how to gain respect that I think needs to be addressed, but how to show it. The men that followed William Wallace believed in him and showed him that by adopting his style of battle. That showed that they trusted him. They listened to his ideas and either agreed or disagreed in a conversational way. They learned about his leadership style and his passions and made sure to shape their roles to compliment his rather than come up against his. They actively pursued a relationship of respect rather than casually trying to be a part of something without putting any work into it. By giving respect to the men and women around us in life, we are able to form much deeper and more meaningful relationships. It all comes back to the Biblical teaching, love others as you want to be loved. Treat them in ways you would want to be treated. Respect them in the ways you hope to be respected.

LEADERSHIP

Everyone is a leader. You may have a position over people at work. Maybe you're a pastor or have some other leadership role at a church. It could be that you have children or a wife that you are leading. Maybe some of your peers look up to you, or maybe there are just a few moments here and there in your life where someone sees what you're doing and appreciates it enough that you lead them to change their life a little in order to be more like what they saw from you. Since we're all leaders in some way, we all need to be careful to make our lives reflect what we believe in. I want to make sure that when people look at any aspect of my life, they see that I'm living for Jesus, whether they believe in Him or not. I want them to see my desire for personal growth, adventure, and my desire to show love and respect to the people around me. As I step into deeper leadership roles in different areas of my life, I continue to reflect on the traits of other leaders and my own leadership style. Although there are many different leadership styles, the leadership style most often loved in movies is the same that was shown during Jesus time on earth: a servant leader. Show that what you expect from others is what you're already living out in your own life.

MORE NEWS

I'll be writing again soon to share a couple ministry opportunities I've recently been given, along with what's going on with my diabetes, as well with some opportunities I may have for you to help.

Love you all!

One Year Later

My First Year in Charleston

Wow. I've realized there's a huge difference between trying to see God working in a moment and looking to see how God has worked over a period of time. With the absence of modern day miracles that we experience in the United States, it's very difficult to see God working in the moment. It's much easier to see when you look back over a period of time as I've been doing recently.

Exactly a year ago today I woke up at a rest stop just outside Charleston. I had no idea where I was going to live, work, or who I would meet. I had just driven about 15 hours from Wisconsin in my Toyota Corolla, packed full of everything I would need to comfortably live for a summer in Charleston. After about a year of praying where God wanted me to go after graduating, I felt led to move to a city I had never been to before, with nothing but a car full of belongings.

The first thing I did that day was went to the beach. I always got a larger sense of God at the ocean. It amazes me that the waves never stop, day or night, from crashing onto the sandy beaches. After a morning walk on the beach I headed over to the nearest Starbucks. I wanted to get out of my car and into a more comfortable living situation as quickly as I could. I checked Couchsurfer, craigslist, apartment complexes, and other options around the area and didn't find anything that seemed like the right fit. I search for jobs and applied for as many as I could find, then eventually felt like I had put in all the time I could for the day and made my way back to the beach. I immediately started forming relationships with some of the people on the beach.

The first few days all looked the same. I would sleep in my car in the WalMart parking lot, although, due to the heat and humidity at night I wouldn't sleep very much. Then, the next morning I'd go to Starbucks and search the web, followed by a trip to the beach where I'd catch up on the sleep I didn't get in the car. After my nap I'd hang out with some of the people I'd met the day before, maybe play some basketball, then back to Starbucks at night to check my e-mail and see if I had a place to sleep yet.

After a few days being homeless had taken a toll on me. I had hardly gotten any sleep, and I was constantly having to stop at convenience stores and fast food restaurants in order to get ice so that my 3 month insulin supply would stay cold. I had gone to the beach and just spent some time praying about what the next steps were if I didn't find a place to live. I got a phone call from a friend who had reminded me that there was a church service I had wanted to go to that night at SeaCoast Church.

Before I left Wisconsin I had researched what churches in the area were a good fit and I had made a list of a few that I had hoped to check out until God led me to call one of them home. SeaCoast had a Saturday night service, so it was already in a league of it's own!

I went to church that night expecting something huge. Maybe the pastor would have a vision of someone in the church who needed a place to live, or maybe someone would just approach me to ask me if I needed anything. Well, the church service came and went, and although I had met a few people, I still didn't have a place to live. I went out to my car in the parking lot and took out my laptop. The church ended up having wi-fi, so I hung out for a little while hoping to find something online. I came up empty again, but as I was hanging out in the parking lot, I noticed quite a few people my age hanging out. I packed my stuff up and headed inside to see what was going on. It turns out that the college and 20-somethings ministry was hosting a musicians night to raise money for some of their summer mission trips. I met a few people, then got into a conversation with a woman about what led me to the service.

We started talking about where I moved from and why I moved. Then, she asked the money question. "Where are you staying?". Well, I told her that I didn't know yet but I had been living in my car for a few days. Right then, a girl who had either just been walking by or recently joined the conversation heard me and immediately offered me a room in an apartment she had downtown.

The road wasn't smooth from that point on. The housing situation was always fairly temporary until recently, where I'm finally settled into my third home since moving here. Fourth, if you count my car, or fifth, if you count the week I was homeless in between the first and second houses. God has been great in it though. Times were tough and I never really had a back-up plan, but I knew that all I had to do was keep putting one foot ahead of the other, and God was either going to put something under my foot so I could progress forward, or He was going to put up a road block in order to change my direction.

The job search was not ideal either. It can be read about in some of my earlier blogs, along with the rest of my story, but after spending a summer job searching, I literally felt like I had applied to every job I possibly could. I had networked with everyone I encountered. I just felt like I had to wait. I ended up waiting for a little while between the scare of not having any employment at the end of the summer and getting a job graciously offered by the dad of a friend. It was so good to finally have something to do and finally feel some worth! I worked there for a little while before the company I'm now working for contacted me, for the third time, to finally offer me a position. It started as a contract position, but in January became a full-time salary position. The company is great and I can definitely say that my knowledge is increasing.

I finally found an area of ministry to concentrate in. I didn't really need to choose anything previously, because I had enough free time to volunteer with everything. Now, I have felt led to concentrate on volunteering with the college and 20's ministry at SeaCoast, which is going to be awesome next year. Almost all of the staff have teamed up to go start a church plant in Denver, so the volunteers are working together with the new staff to really figure out how to have the greatest impact on the community of Charleston. By being a part of this community I've been able to build relationships with people that are building into me, as well as seeking out certain relationships where I can build into others.

I've slowly been taking steps toward starting A Helping Hand and Praise Jam as well. I know that they'll happen in God's time, just as everything else has happened in God's time. If you were to look through my prayer requests in all my previous blogs, you would see that God has been showing up SO much over the last year! He has been supplying me with my every need and desire. He is truly taking care of me every step of the way as long as I seek Him first as Matthew 6:33 teaches.

What to Look Forward to in the Future?

So much has already happened in the last year. I have formed so many more relationships than I ever would've expected. I'm involved in my church, in my job, in organizations outside of my job, and with relationships that I started on the beach recently and a year ago.

I can't even imagine what God is going to do for me over the next year. I would love to see A Helping Hand and Praise Jam take off to the point where I'm reaching people with the news of Christ through both of them.  I've always believed that God has developed passions inside everyone with hopes that we take those passions by the reigns and follow them wherever they lead us. If this is true, then I know God is going to use my passion in both these areas to do things that I can't even comprehend right now.

I went to the doctor today for a diabetic check-up. The last time I was in the office the doctor had me do some blood tests that were meant to determine whether I may have a fairly new type of diabetes, type MODY. I found out today that it is very likely that I have type MODY, which is different than type 1 or 2. Some consider it type 1.5, but there are actually 4 types of MODY, so the doctor hopes to do genetic testing on me to determine what type I have. She told me that depending on what type I have, there's a chance I could just take an oral medication instead of taking the injections that have been a daily part of my life over the last 7 years. It's been a prayer of mine for 7 years that there would be a better way, and that I would find a doctor who would believe me when I told them I didn't have type 1 or 2. The day has finally come. As hopeful tears of joy wash down my face right now, I know that God has been there, taking care of me every day, watching me seek Him out, and waiting for His perfect time. I still don't know what is going to become of this. I was told by the doctor that genetic testing is very expensive and not covered very well, if at all, by insurance. I'm not sure how I'll be able to pay for it, or what they'll discover when it happens, but I know that God is in control and I can trust Him to take me through it just as He always has.



To everyone who reads these, I love you all so much. It means the world to me that people are invested in my life enough to follow what's going on in it and what God's doing in me and through me. If you ever need prayer, or have questions about anything I've written about, please talk to me about it.

With Christ's Love,
Kevin