aloha.

picture from a trip to maui in 2010.

a little over a year ago i heard a song called "all is for your glory" by cory asbury (that link takes you to the laura hackett version though.) the bridge of that song says this:

"put me anywhere

just put Your glory in me

I'll serve anywhere

just let me see Your beauty"

i think i sang that song at school and church approximately 400 thousand times since then. at least once or twice a week. that and oceans by hillsong, but thats a whole different story. 

anyway, over the last few years, i've learned a lot about the importance of the words that we speak. there is a verse in the Bible that says "the tongue has the power of life and death" which makes me think a lot more about the words that come out of my mouth. because of this, i've become a lot more choosy about the songs that i'll sing. i don't want to declare words, even in song, that i don't agree with or really believe. just because they're singing a song at church doesn't mean i have to sing it too. make sense? (i could go on and on about the power i think words carry, but i'll get to the point...)

so when all is for your glory started being played everywhere i went, i consciously chose to sing those words. i genuinely thought about the words i was singing and the implications they might have. i was, with tears in my eyes, really saying send me literally anywhere. i'll go. i'm literally scared out of my mind to agree to that, but i trust You. send me anywhere as long as You go too." (and duh, obviously, Jesus is going too.)

who knew i'd actually have to put my money where my mouth is. 

over the last year at least 10 people, half of whom i didn't know, asked me in one way or another if i'd ever heard of/thought of going to an organization called Youth With a Mission or YWAM as most people call it. those people popped up over the course of a few months, and it didn't take me long to notice the theme. i had heard of YWAM before, and it was something i had even considered doing, but taking 6 months to go do 3 months of discipleship and 3 months of international outreach was a little too scary for me. but i knew that all these mentions of YWAM were not just coincidental, so i told Jesus okay, i'll do YWAM. sure. knowing that He wasn't asking me to do it right that moment. 

all of that to say, although this may seem for some people like its coming out of left field, i've known about this in my heart for a long time. i just had no idea He'd say "go!" so soon.

SO, in january 2015 i am getting on an airplane to kona, hawaii where i will join people from all over the world to do a 6 month discipleship program. i'll be in kona for 3 months going through the "lecture" phase of the school, and then i'll be going with a team for a 3 month international "outreach" phase where i'll put all the things i learned in lecture to practice. right now i don't know where i will go on outreach as this is something the school leaders determine after all the students arrive. "send me literally anywhere" is beginning to hold a lot more meaning as i could literally be sent anywhere in the entire world. 

i have to be honest and tell you that i am really really nervous. i am 150 thousand percent confident that this is what Jesus has for me in this season, but i am truly so nervous. i am nervous about being gone for 6 months, i'm nervous about not seeing any of my friends, i'm nervous about going to a foreign country, i'm nervous about saying yes to a foreign country before i know which one it is, i'm nervous about what i might have to eat in that foreign country, i'm nervous about raising all the money i need, i'm nervous that i'll hate being in hot weather for 6 months. etc, etc, etc. BUT, this was so completely and totally the Lord's idea and i trust Him 100%. He already knows where i'm going, who i'm gonna meet, where the money is going to come from, what i'm gonna eat, etc etc etc. i have nothing to worry about. He's got it.

i am brainstorming some ways to raise the funds i need to make this happen. i've thought about selling prints or having an instagram auction or maybe going with the trusty old send a letter to people method. i will of course let everyone know once i decide what is the best route to go. :)

please be praying for me as i continue to work out all the details and prepare to head to hawaii in less than 3 months. so much to do, so little time!

for more information on YWAM go here.
xoxo,
ko.