Cedars of Lebanon

All I know is that the Father is undefinable in my life right now! He is revealing His love for me, His love for the Chinese people, and His purpose for life! Today started out like any other... a workout, breakfast.... but.... wow. It ended far different, far greater, far more dramatic than any other night in my entire life.

I almost don't want to ruin it with words... but as His ambassador, I feel it is of the upmost importance to share the life of His Spirit in this corner of the world over here in China. There are hardly words to express the night I've had tonight. So, I will begin with the first portion of the day! Changchun is a blessed city because there are over 40 brothers and sisters working with One purpose on several different campuses with the same organization. Today, I was blessed to spend the day with them! There were several families with kids ranging from all ages... we got to a huge national forest park and hiked our way up a mountain and found a spot to settle for the afternoon! The weather here has been somewhat chilly recently, causing us to throw on our scarves and sweaters, but today was a picturesque day! The sun was bright and shining it's warmth down on us. We played frisbee, ate pb and j sandwiches and simply enjoyed being within the forest and His natural beauty in China! I spent the majority of my day playing with a 3 year old named Josiah. Absolute cutest thing ever! Seriously, I fell in love with this little guy! We began tossing the football with one another and then it turned into a contest of seeing who could throw the ball the highest! While the other kids switched to new games every five minutes, Josiah was completely content to remain with me tossing the football all afternoon. It was a true blessing to be around these families and their little ones today!

After the relaxing, picnic this afternoon, many of us joined for dinner to celebrate one of the guys, Abram's, birthday! We went to a great meal, and then came back to the apartments for a homemade cake! It was so much fun to celebrate! We had a few chinese students around and the evening eventually turned into a dance party! It was so much fun to jump around and be goofy! Then, the mood shifted.

Worship music began to be played, and we began to dance around praising our Savior. I absolutely love dancing for my King, my Beloved. What a joy it is to be just as He made me- full of energy, bouncing around, loving Him with my crazy self! Eventually, the evening winded down and we continued listening and singing along to the music praising our Father. After several of the people had left, there remained about 10 of us and one of the girls, Tannah, asked if anyone needed to be lifted up. I stepped forward because in all honesty, during the worship songs, the Father put it on my heart that I needed to be ready if He called me to stay here in China for a longer time. It was clear that He said, "daughter, if I call you to remain here, you need to be joyfully willing to say, 'yes Father, until you call me elsewhere, I will stay'" I needed to protect this thought and feeling of the heart! I needed to give it all to Him despite my fears, or typical excuses. So, I surrendered it and the Father blessed me with 9 of my teammates lifting me up and 1 Chinese student who is like-minded joining them. His prayer in particular was by far one of the most beautiful I had heard- he also asked to have hands laid on him.  He cried throughout the entire time of laying on of hands. They laid their hands on me and sealed the work of the Father in my life. The night continued, when one by one each of us stood up and responded, " i need to be lifted up for this..." The hands were continually laid on for our brother or sister sitting down and we interceded for His Will to be accomplished in our thoughts. I am truthfully in awe of the way the Spirit met our group. I will be forever in awe of my beautiful Beloved... for He has called me, pursued me, and loved me. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Today during the picnic we had fellowship discussing the Cedars of Lebanon in the Good Word. We talked about their unique purpose to build the temple, and palaces. The cedars of Lebanon are unique because they are planted where He plants them, they flourish their with deep roots facing obscure and outrageous living conditions, and they find strength in number. As we sat their lifting each other up to the Father, I saw the Cedars of Lebanon reflected in the lives of my fellow teammates here in Changchun. What an honor to serve alongside, challenge, and love one another. May we flourish in the same way as the strong cedars of Lebanon, because our Beloved Creator has purposefully planted each of us here in Changchun, China at Hua Qiao.