A lot of you probably know this song already.  Brandon Heath's "Give Me Your Eyes."  On hearing it the first couple of times, I thought awe, that's a cool song.  But it has such a good meaning to it!  

I think that one of the main ways Christians can reach out to other non believers is just by living their lives as an example.  Being "different from the norm," as we've all heard.  You've also always heard that this entails "being good."  Not doing bad things.  That means you're different.  I have a slight problem with this statement.  Don't get me wrong.  We shouldn't do "bad things,"  but that is not all!  Christians get so caught up in rules and regulations.  "This is bad.  Don't do this, don't do that."  That's not what it's about!  

We draw a line.  One side of the line contains the "bad things" we COULD be doing.  On the other side are the things we should be doing.  Christians love to just plant themselves and get 

comfortable ON the line.  We're not bad but we're kinda just chillin.  Cruising through life.  We should all be extremely bothered by this.  But we're not because we justify ourselves by saying "Well, we could be worse."  False!  We are no better than anyone else...just needed to get that out there.  We need to get over that line.  And this means we have to do 2 things that most Americans don't like to do.  

1) We have to put forth EFFORT!

2) We have to get out of our comfort zones!

No one wants to work and everyone likes to be comfortable.  Opportunities come up for Christians to try to make a difference in someone's life or I'll even go as far as saying opportunities to go on missions or other similar trips.  To do that requires stepping out of your comfort zone and making effort.  It doesn't just fall into your lap.  You have to GO FOR IT! People justify it by saying "I just don't feel called to go or I don't think that's God telling me too.  It's just in my head."  Wrong.  We should jump at opportunities to serve!  And guess what!  (Here's the good part)  If we're not supposed to be there, God won't let it happen!  He'll close the door!  It works!  Trust Him!  The fact is, everyone is called for the harvest.  To reach others and tell them about how much God loves them and what Jesus did for them on the cross.  Can you imagine your life NOT knowing about Jesus???  Think about that for a second.  No purpose.  No goal.  When you die, your body becomes fertilizer.  Can you even imagine!?!  I can't.  

Anyways, I got off on a little tangent there.  But back to the song and my main point.  The main way to reach out to others here is through our lives and our actions.  But here's the catch.  There's nothing, NOTHING we can do.  The only way God's glory is going to shine through and the only way He will be revealed is if we somehow attempt to really view the world through God's eyes.  Stop judging people at first glance.  Even the ones you've never met and never will meet.  It's only then that we'll be able to do God's mission for us successfully.  It's only then that people will see the love of God.  We have to view them like God does...as if He were walking in physical presence beside us.  So in the end, it's not about lines or "bad things" and "good things."  It's not about mission trips and getting your good deeds in the for the day.  It all comes down to viewing the world from a new perspective and showing the world God's love.  Just loving people. :]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihvG607W-c

I'm so over worrying about my future...

So tonight, I had a lovely heart to heart talk with my mom.  Most of you know the trouble I've been having in that area with the whole her not supporting my missions and bla bla bla so I won't waste time on that.  But I basically asked her: "what would you say if I went to Bible college and majored in missions?"  She then proceeded to get that disapproving look on her face that I know all to well.  It's not a straight forward "I disapprove look."  It's more of a "I hate that she's bringing this up again and I'm worried she's going to do something stupid and end up not being able to take care of herself" kind of look.  From there I just told her in a very respectful way that I felt like she just didn't support the idea of me doing missions at all which really hurts me because she is the one person that I care the most what her opinion is of me.  She then told me: "Hanna, I want you to get that idea out of your head.  I love you and I will support whatever you do.  And I've known since you were young that you had a heart for people and would end up doing something to help others."  So that made me feel better.  I then told her "I'm glad you feel that way...because I really don't want to be a doctor."  Now, the next sentence she said...I'm not going to lie.  I was quite surprised.  I would even go so far as to say I was shocked to the point of being speechless for a few seconds.  She said: "Praise God!!!"  Apparently, she never wanted me to be a doctor.  She works in a hospital and she said she would never wish that stress level and those call hours on me for anything in the world.  So that made me feel better as well. (Because now, I don't have to take organic chemistry!)

From there, we continued to have this (really wonderful) conversation together about my possible options and she said something and it rhymed and I will probably never forget it.  She was very serious when she said it. It kinda made me laugh.  "Follow your heart...but be smart."  Did you just laugh?  It was great.  Anyways, other options...I don't see myself going to Bible College and I do still see me doing something medical because I really do love biology and medicine practices in general.  So I've made up my mind (again I know.)  I think I'm going to do the one thing I swore I would never EVER do in my entire life.  I'm going to nursing school.  There I said it.  I just don't want to spend 15 years of my life in school to be a doctor.  But I'm not just going to be a nurse.  Here's the plan.  I'm going to do my 4 years of nursing but I want to be a nurse anesthetist.  (They make a lot more...starting around 130-140 a year.)  But to do that you go to nursing school, work 2 years, then you have 2 more years of working/anesthetist school.  I figure that during the 2 years working, I can be saving up and preparing for missions (whatever that entails)...go the next 2 years and continue preparing...then jump right into missions!  This way, everyone's happy.  I won't be tied down til I'm 30.  I'll still be doing something in the field of medicine (which I love).  The job market for nursing is HUGE even in a sucky economy so my parents will be happy that I can take care of myself.  And last but not least, nurses are needed EVERYWHERE!  Especially in missions!  If you're a nurse, they'll send you anywhere.  And the best part is, I don't have to take organic chemistry.  :D  Praise God.  

So...my mind is made up!  (again...for now.)  Let me know what you think or if you have any other input.  If you read all this, thanks.  :]

What to do...

Okay.  I haven't posted anything on here in so long I don't even know anyone will read this but I'm going to use it to vent for a bit about a current dilemma.  As everyone knows, my lifetime goal is to be a full time missionary.  I know for sure that's where God is calling me.  Now, the problem is: How the heck do I get there?  As of the moment, I'm on a pre-med path at the College of Charleston and I'd planned on using that in missions but the more I think about it, that is a lot of my life spent in school.  4 years college, 4 years med school, 2-5 year residency.  Do I want to devote that much time to school?  

I could devote that time to school and the return would also be great because there is a wide need for medical professionals in the mission field.  The only thing I'm worried about is that even after all that school, I'll have massive amounts of loans to pay back so I wouldn't be able to jump right into missions.  Another thing is, that's a long time and I'm scared I will have lost momentum by then and I don't want to get to that point.  So what to do?  

My parents (aka my mom) aren't all that excited about the idea of me living in a 3rd world country, not having much money, not getting married and having grandkids and living down the street, and other things of that nature.  Granted, my mom does have only child syndrome.  They want me to graduate, get a job, and have a "normal" life.  However, normal is relative.  For a lot of my friends, that is normal.  And nowhere in the Bible does it say to live a normal life.  They want me to have a stable comfortable life.  But nowhere in the Bible does it say to live comfortably.  As a matter of fact, it says quite the opposite.  So there's the med school thing.

So, I can go to med school and eventually get involved in missions by the time I'm about 35, granted I don't lose steam in the process.  Another option, I can go to a Bible college somewhere.  Jason presented this idea to me today.  I could actually major in missions.  The only thing with this is, my parents may in fact disown me.  They will certainly not approve because I need to do something that will "enable me to take care of myself."  But I don't want to have a lot of money.  I consider that a blessing.  It makes you depend more on God.  

They don't understand the need to do God's work.  I want to spend this life as if I'm preparing for the next one.  I want my life to be one such that if the Bible were still being written, my story would be in it.  This life has a purpose and I just feel like we're running out of time.  There are too many people out there that need to experience God's love and grace and find out what Jesus did for them.  There are so many that don't even know the gospel!  That's so hard for us to imagine but it's out there!

So med school, Bible college, parental approval, alternate major?  That's my dilemma.  Please PLEASE give me some advice.

kThanxBye.