Day 6: Bigger Than Myself

In the 11:00 service at church, Pastor Ben is currently sharing a series of sermons called "Bigger Than Myself." It is a great reminder of our call to join God in what He is doing, to be a part of His bigger story rather than focusing on our own small story. In the midst of daily details, it is so easy for me to temporarily lose sight of the grand mission and instead focus on "mini missions." My prayer today is that I will continuously, intentionally, let go of my plans and dreams and instead cling to and invest in His infinitely greater plans. There is something that I've heard Ben say more than once that I just love:

"What God puts in us, He longs to bring out of us or draw out of us." - Ben Pilgreen

That gives me such a picture of God. It makes me think about how often He is pleased with the way I use what He has given me and how often He is saddened by it. May I become increasingly aware of how much I am allowing Him to draw out of me so that I can remove any restrictions I am placing on the ways He desires to work through me.

Day 5: My Students

I work with around 100 students on a regular basis, and I strongly believe that God brought me here for a reason. I am both honored by the privilege and overwhelmed by the responsibility of my role in their life. I have an opportunity to make an impact on their lives, but I am also accountable for what I make of that opportunity. How often do they see Jesus through me? How often do I allow thoughtless words to pass from my lips? How often am I reactive instead of proactive? I pray that God will continue to mold me and to work through me to touch the lives of my students. I also pray for each of these students individually. Some are strong believers. Some have been raised in church but are heavily influenced by the world. Some come from very troubled homes. Some have made many bad choices and are now facing the consequences of those choices. Some are very open; some very closed and guarded. All are precious to Him and therefore precious to me. I pray that God will draw them each closer to Him through whatever means He chooses to use.

Day 4: Time Management

Wednesdays are always busy days for me, which reminds me of how important it is for me to use my time wisely. (Ironically, I think I am better at this on busy days like Wednesday than on more flexible days like Saturdays.) I know that God provides sufficient time to do what He has appointed for me to do, but I often find myself either A) wasting time through laziness or B) using the time for "good" things rather than the "right" things. I pray that God will grant me discernment about how to invest my time and the discipline to follow through. I am becoming more and more aware of how much more I could be learning from and about Him if I would give Him more of "my" time.

Day 3: IMB Personnel

Today I am praying for the IMB Personnel who are reviewing my application. My prayer is that God will give them wisdom and guidance as they review applications and determine which people should continue in the process. I have confidence that God's plans for me will be evident in His timing.

Day 2: Abiding Continued

Through my recent study and reflection on abiding, one thing that has become apparent to me is how easily we allow ourselves to fall or fail in certain areas of our lives. While we may be strongly committed and growing in some aspects of our walk with Christ, there are other areas that we allow to fade into the dark where a "small" sin can quietly grow. What may have started innocently and harmlessly transforms into something ugly and impure. These things don't happen overnight. If we are vigilant and open and honest enough to allow God to regularly search our hearts and reveal these things to us, His light can prevent the decay of darkness from creating a sinful situation or attitude. This is where I am right now. Please pray that I will have the relationship with Him that allows Him to bring potential problems to light immediately. When He reveals things that have grown in the dark, I pray that He will give me the strength to acknowledge and change them. I don't want to allow things in my life that will hurt my relationship with Christ or compromise the work He wants to do through me.

A song I have listened to often lately deals with this very subject. The chorus says:

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

(Slow Fade by Casting Crowns)

30 Days of Prayer

As I continue to wait for news on my IMB application, I feel strongly led to focus my prayers and to call on loved ones to pray with me for 30 days. At the end of those 30 days, I should know whether or not I will be continuing this process with the IMB. So, I am inviting you now to join me. Each day I hope to post another specific prayer topic. Some will be directly related to the IMB process, some related to my preparation for service and spiritual growth, and some related to my current "mission field" and the lives of those with whom I currently have the honor of sharing mine. Feel free on any day to post comments or prayers anytime the topic hits home or you feel led to do so.

Day 1: Abiding. Please pray for me as I strive to abide with Christ. I have learned a lot about what it means to truly abide in Christ through a discipleship class I have been taking at church, and my need for a deeper level of abiding has never been so apparent to me as it is now.

Good News!

It looks like the additional health information request will not delay the processing of my application! I was definitely hoping this would be true, but I also realize that everything will happen in God's timing. Of the 4 additional things they requested, one item has now reached them. Two of the other ones are in process with my doctor now, and the final one is an updated report from my eye doctor. Since my annual checkup is in a couple of weeks, I thought I might as well wait until them and get a copy of that one instead of last year's information.

Anyway, the good news is that I seem to still be on schedule! Right now my IMB Consultant, Andy, is reviewing applications. This is about a 5 week process. Early in December, they will mail out invitations to those with whom they want to continue the application process at the interview & selection conference January 20-23, 2009. (If you are curious about the conference, click here to read about it on the IMB website.)

Health Information Request

Yesterday I received another request regarding the health aspect of my IMB application. I have to go to a doctor for a couple of things and send a report from that visit, as well as from a recent visit. I also have to request a report from my eye doctor. These reports often take a couple of weeks to process, but I am hoping that they won't put me past the deadline for this round of candidates. I need to make these things happen quickly, but working around school will delay things a bit.

IT IS FINISHED!

Yesterday I managed to get past some technical difficulties and submitted the final section of my IMB application. Definitely an exciting moment! I do still need to respond to a request for more information on one aspect of the health questionnaire, but other than that, I've done all I can do. It is out of my hands. Of course, I like to think that it always has been out of my hands, because I am much better off if things are in God's hands. There is something about being at the end of the part of the process in which I can physically participate that is a relief but yet also a little nerve-wracking. Because it was such a big process and is important to me, there is a part of me that wants to be actively involved in doing everything I can to make it happen. I guess the key words in that sentence are "I Can." The truth is that there is nothing that I can do; it truly is in God's hands.

Our Wednesday night discipleship training course continues to be intense but extremely beneficial. Please pray that God will help me devote more time to the homework and to applying what I am learning this week. It is so easy to let being "busy" distract me from giving it the focus it deserves.

BTW: This is a great week for birthdays! Two of my very dear friends are celebrating birthdays this week. Happy Birthday, Courtney and Paula! I love you both!

I Inspire Them to Pray . . .

Today I had a group of Advanced Multimedia students revise a team project. After they showed me their final video, I sat down to write comments and assign a grade. As I did, the 6 of them formed a circle, held hands, and prayed aloud for me! It was impossible for me NOT to laugh as I heard sentences like, "Please help Ms. McCully to be generous as she grades our project." I must say, as objective as I try to be when grading, it never hurts to have a smile on your face while you decide a grade on a subjective, creative project! How can I help but love teaching when I work with such a fun, creative group of kids? People often ask if teenagers drive me crazy, but it is actually the other way around. They keep me sane through all of the paperwork, administrative issues, etc.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me through my students. Please help me remember to never take them for granted, and help me to recognize the opportunities You give me to point them toward You.

Discipleship Class

Wednesday night I attended the first night of a 10-week discipleship class. I was pretty overwhelmed by the fast-paced, intense nature of the class, but it definitely gave me a lot to think and pray about. The goal of the course, as I understand it, is to be prepared to disciple other believers. In addition to the class each Wednesday night, homework is provided for further study and application.

Today I submitted my health questionnaire and statement of Christian beliefs, so that's 2 more check marks on the list! Submitting the health questionnaire was a huge step for me because of the weight loss issue and also the enormity of the questionnaire.

Slow Progress

Today I am mailing my transcripts and "passport-type" photos, so I can check 2 things off the list! I'm finding it next to impossible to gather specific health-related information from, say, 7 years ago, so I may have to just write something like, "details not available" on a couple of questions.

It's been a crazy week for me, and it has gone by so fast that when I got dressed this morning I thought I was dressing for a Thursday. So, I missed my chance to wear jeans on Friday. :) Some of you know that I had a little scare Tuesday morning and had to take a sick day. I went to a doctor Wednesday, and they sent out some blood for testing. The results today were that all the tests they ran came out normal. Good news, but still leaves me without answers. I guess that is often true with health care; we don't always know what causes things.

This afternoon my student who dropped out last year came back! I've stayed in touch with her and been a support to her in every way I could, and I knew she was planning to come back sometime soon. I can't tell you how excited I was to see her walk through the door! She's one of those people that I really believe God brought into my life for a purpose, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to be there for her; to pray for her, to support her, to teach her, etc. It won't be easy for her, but I think she can still graduate with her class this year.