Michael and I are finally home. We raced home yesterday so that we could meet my brother-in-law and his wife (who is quickly becoming one of my best friends) at our house to watch the Razorback game. Michael and I spent much of our time unpacking the past two weeks on our drive home. We visited so many people, we talked to so many lost souls, and we were given so much wisdom to those way more intelligent that I am. We watched God move... literally move. My opinions on so many things are changed. My opinion of salvation, the Holy Spirit, and then finally my opinion on mission works is completley changed! A dear friend of ours attended the Passion conference with us, and she cried when the realization that millions of people were dying each day and going to hell because they had not heard the word of God.
It is always interesting when you come back from a trip like the one that Michael and I just took. You always come back searching, and I am thankful that our searching has sent us back to the word of God. The last time I went on a trip of this magnitude, I came back home and was by myself. I had been gone for a month and now I was alone. I remember that night clearly. I laid on the floor and cried. I cried for hours for reasons I am not sure of. Last night, when I came home, I didn't have to come home alone. I am so thankful for that. It took me forever to be okay with getting married because I was too afraid that marriage was going to take away freedom, but God has shown me so many blessings in marriage, and last night I didn't cry. I sat with my husband in hope as we discussed what God was going to do in our lives next.
When you come back from a trip like this, there is also a balance to be found. I remember the last time I came from being away from home. I was gone for two and a half months, and when I got home I couldn't figure out how to adjust back into this life. This life is the reality, so what do we do with what God has given us? Michael and I are cleaning our house today, fixing cars, and getting ready for Monday. We are officially finding a balance. However, we are not changed. We have already made some decisions about how life is going to look for us in 2012.
I am quitting my job. I told my principal that Michael and I wanted to focus more on me staying at home next year. Michael works, and he works hard. He wanted to make sure that our family had the free
dom to minister to the world, so we decided that the best bet was for me to quit. I will be returning to school on Monday and begin telling people that I will not be returning next year. I have no idea how to do this. I want them to know God is the reason for our paths in life. I want them to know that there is a reckless abadonment that is occuring in our household, and I want them to know that it doesn't matter how many things you have when you die. Stuff will perish, so our family will never have the stuff that other families have.... so what. We have more than enough. Actually, I am in the process right now of seeing what we can get rid of because we have too much stuff. The sad thing about me quitting my job is not that we will not have the money to buy the most expensive stuff, but I will miss my students. I want to tell them each day that there is a God that loves them. I want each of them to see daily that God is real, heaven is real, hell is real, and there is freedom in the name of the Lord. I will miss their beautiful faces.
dom to minister to the world, so we decided that the best bet was for me to quit. I will be returning to school on Monday and begin telling people that I will not be returning next year. I have no idea how to do this. I want them to know God is the reason for our paths in life. I want them to know that there is a reckless abadonment that is occuring in our household, and I want them to know that it doesn't matter how many things you have when you die. Stuff will perish, so our family will never have the stuff that other families have.... so what. We have more than enough. Actually, I am in the process right now of seeing what we can get rid of because we have too much stuff. The sad thing about me quitting my job is not that we will not have the money to buy the most expensive stuff, but I will miss my students. I want to tell them each day that there is a God that loves them. I want each of them to see daily that God is real, heaven is real, hell is real, and there is freedom in the name of the Lord. I will miss their beautiful faces. I won't be able to just stay at home next year though. I have to find some sort of job. I have tossed around working at a hotel of some sort or working for Starbucks. I will only have to work part time, so I don't want to find something that is going to keep me just as busy as teaching. I have no clue where God is going to lead me, but I do know that in the last week, He has given me two visions. The first vision is a book that I am going to write and sell. A book that He is going to give me words for, and I really don't know anything about the book. The book will be used to buy land so that we can finally open a camp, home, restoration house, safe house or something for children, women, or something. We are still drawn to the fight against human trafficking because there is a battle. I don't want to miss out on this battle.
There is an academy every year for people who are interested in becoming unofficial government investigators for cases concering human trafficking. It isn't too expensive, and I think that my husband and I will be sending me there this summer. I am really hoping that someone will be able to attend with me because Michael cannot go. I will ask my church soon and see if anyone is also passionate about helping the women, men and children in bondage. This way while Michael and I are still trying to figure stuff out about the home/camp that has been laid on our hearts, I can be of service to the local police. It is so cool to remember that God is bigger than me! I am so excited that God does inmeasureably more than I could ever imagine.
The second vision is of me, pregnant, holding a beautiful brown baby. I remember the brown babies that would run up to me when we did the Christmas party in downtown Atlanta. They would outstretch their arms and beg for attention. Sadly, (I promise I am not racisis
t) there were many brown people in the city of Atlanta that were trapped in spiritual bondage. Everyone we met in the clubs, etc. were brown. I pray for revival among the brown people of America, and I pray for men and women to stand up and love people in these areas. I pray the Holy Spirit bring on something crazy cool for them and open their eyes. It broke my heart. We were in Atlanta for so long, and we met so many amazing people on trains etc. God even sent us an angel who was brown and couldn't speak. We were on the wrong train, and he stopped the train and pointed to the correct train. There were so many brown people in such deppression, and then all the Passion people showed up, and there were more white people than brown people. Actually, there were hardly any brown people. We do not serve a God of white people. We serve a God who is for all people! We serve a God who is for all languages. I do miss the people of Atlanta.
t) there were many brown people in the city of Atlanta that were trapped in spiritual bondage. Everyone we met in the clubs, etc. were brown. I pray for revival among the brown people of America, and I pray for men and women to stand up and love people in these areas. I pray the Holy Spirit bring on something crazy cool for them and open their eyes. It broke my heart. We were in Atlanta for so long, and we met so many amazing people on trains etc. God even sent us an angel who was brown and couldn't speak. We were on the wrong train, and he stopped the train and pointed to the correct train. There were so many brown people in such deppression, and then all the Passion people showed up, and there were more white people than brown people. Actually, there were hardly any brown people. We do not serve a God of white people. We serve a God who is for all people! We serve a God who is for all languages. I do miss the people of Atlanta. We are home.
We are changing.
We are growing.
We are called to go make disciples of ALL NATIONS.
We have our vision.
We have God's will in our hands through His word.
We have the Holy Spirit.
Hell is real.
People are going to hell everyday.
It is now time to Go! Right Now, Right Here!
May all of our eyes be open like our dear friend who was with us.
I will leave you with one of the hundreds of stories that has stuck with me in the past couple of weeks. There was a story of this human trafficking ring. It was a pretty big one; there were like eleven girls. One day there was something strange posted on twitter that led authorities to the place where the girls were being kept. Three days later, the girls were saved. They told the A21 campaign after they were saved that since the day they were in bondage, they prayed to Allah everyday for him to come and save them. They remained in bondage. Three days before they were rescued (when the twitter post went out), one of the girls remembered another God that her grandmother had spoken about. His name was Jesus. They decided then to pray to Jesus and ask Him to save them. Three days later they were taken out of bondage.
There is freedom in the name of the Lord.
I know that God will bless you both in whatever you undertake because you've put him first. I pray that all goes well for your plans and most especially for you both.
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Barbara