The Most Important Thing

This week at G42 was packed with wisdom beyond my understanding. Ted Hanson came from Washington State to speak with us here in Spain. He is a man who truly lives and breathes the gospel, in fact it is hard to have a conversation with him that isn’t about God. Ted would admit to you himself that he lives in a whole different realm. He has regular encounters with Angels has the gift of prophesy which makes him stereotypically… weird, which he embraces!

His topic this week was on “New Covenant Realities,” which proved to be a mentally challenging subject. The bare bones of the teaching was that we are currently living in New Covenant times (after Jesus was crucified and raise from the dead) but hold onto Old Covenant ways of thinking (practices from before Jesus died on the cross so we could be closer to the Father.) The basis of the New Covenant time is to be loved and to love, where the Old Covenant is a works based system. Jesus came to the earth in an old covenant time with a new covenant theology.

The New Covenant that we are intended to be living in is a genuine intervention with God. He wants to simply love us and for us to understand that He sees us as a beloved child. We hear the term “beloved child” too often that it has since become well… cliche. I challenge you to bring meaning back to the term and imagine having a child that you loved more than anything. How would you react to them walking in the room or making them smile? Our Father gets just as giddy and even more with each one of us. He wants to be in relationship with us over anything else. He never stops desiring more of our hearts.

Since He never stops pursuing us when we mess up He doesn’t hold sin against us. He IS Mercy and He IS Love. They are not just characteristics of God they are God. So every single time you see love in the world that IS God. God is love and He wants to love us. Now since we are loved and if we choose to walk in that love as a result we will empower others to be loved.

New Covenant is about what will be passed onto the next generation, our legacy. How will our grandchildren walk in Christ’s love, what is the 100 year plan. To do this we need to be dependent on Rema, or what God is currently doing in our lives not what He has done. Having a personal relationship with Him is what is core. The Bible is a tool to understanding God’s character, but be careful to not make the Bible your God. “The Author is far better than the book.”

I have only touched the tip of the “Ted Ice Burg.” I appreciate his willingness to challenge the common theologies and respect the amount of effort he has put into researching the Bible. Ted is the author of 11 published books, has build two very successful businesses, is the pastor of a growing church and most importantly is a native of the great state of Wisconsin :). Our motto here at G42 is “The Hungry get Filled,” and I know my cup is overflowing as I am trying to wrap my head around his teachings from the week. Praise God for strong men of faith like Ted who live a hungry life.

“You don’t know who you are grasshopper”

-Ted Hanson (Pertaining to how special we are to God)

If you would like to watch pod casts by Ted, or the G42 founder Andrew Sherman, you may do so at this web address: http://rimnetwork.org

Lets Fly Away

     Something I do not do enough of is celebrate. I find myself working hard toward goals and when I achieve them I am already onto the next one. Celebration is not only a time to do something fun, but a time of rest, relaxation and reflection. When planning a large trip there are a lot of small mile stones that can easily be passed by that should be celebrated. The past few months I have been working hard to pull together details of the trip and I have forgotten to celebrate them.

I would like to dedicate this blog to sharing some of my work and celebrate with you!

1. I surrendered my old passport and successfully achieved a new one! My old passport simply ran out of room and I am thankful that my new passport comes with extended pages for frequent travelers. I had to some problems getting my new passport processed due to the picture not meeting the requirements. My new photo was accepted, but the printer that day at the store was low on ink so I look like I am suffering from jaundice…

2. My international medical insurance has been secured. As you may know insurance can be quite pricy, but praise God I found a great program to go through called International Volunteer Card where my insurance was extremely affordable. I also get travel insurance with the program which is something I have never had before!

3. I have been in contact with new friends at the academy in Spain. Traveling to a new country is difficult, especially when you do not know what to expect. Thankfully Skype and e-mail have both allowed me to connect with people who are Interns in Spain right now. This is a huge praise, because their wisdom and insight have allowed me to build excitement and decrease worry. No one likes to feel unprepared, especially a Type A personality :).

4. This is my newest celebration and my BIG announcement!  My fight is booked! I will be leaving the country January 2nd and will arrive in Spain January 3rd. I am so very thankful to World Hopper Travel for helping me book my flight to Spain. With their help I have an easy itinerary which departs from Chicago at a reasonable time, lands in Germany for a short layover and then one final small three hour flight to Malaga, Spain where a staff member will meet me. Booking my ticket makes the whole trip feel real!

  Looking back it has been neat to see God’s provision thus far of my journey. I still have more details to plan out, but thankfully the progress is adding up! One thing I could use prayer for is finances. I still need to raise $7,000 and would like to have it all raise before I leave January 2nd. Our God is bigger than $7,000 and I trust in His provision. “If He calls you to it, He will pull you through it!” I have seen unfathomable provision from God before and I believe that He will do it again.

Forward and Upward!

Susan

*If you feel called to donate you may do so by going to G42leadershipacademy.org, clicking “Donate” click “Leadership Academy Intern” enter in the amount and fill my name (Susan Debolt) in the blank space provided. If you do not put my name in the money will not go to me. Blessings!

 

Second Guessing This Thing…

 Here we go again with the doubt. Is it ever ending? Will I ever learn to trust and then be content? Why do I put up a fight sometimes like a three year old? These past few months of being home have been quite luxurious compared to the Race. I have enjoyed telling people that I will be going to Spain, but now that life is developing here in America it is getting hard to imagine leaving these comforts. What is even harder is putting my nursing career on hold until I am back in the States again, because I badly want to begin that phase of my life.

     All in all, I love America and I think it is the best country in the world and where I want to settle down. We are spoiled daily. I am safe, I can understand the language, I can eat Mexican food and I have eight different flavors of K-cups to choose from each morning (not to mention the Pumpkin Spice and Mocha creamers chilling in the fridge!) Our health care is reliable and hospitals are not places people simply come to die.

So MY new reality is that I now live in comfort, I have a secure Christian bubble, I am back to living on a schedule that I control and I don’t want to give that up even for a place as nice sounding as Southern Spain where adult nap time is a real thing. Call me selfish, but I think if we all examine our own hearts we will find pieces in there that are shouting the same chant.

     Really, who wants to be uncomfortable? Who wants to be immersed in an environment where everything is foreign and on top of that to have your deepest beliefs challenged daily? Who wants to live in a community with accountability and have feedback regularly? Bueller… Bueller…

     Although I may not want to leave my comforts and security that is exactly what God at times calls me to do. This is not a pity party, this is a call of obedience. Will I go when God calls or pretend to not hear Him? This is what shapes our walk with Christ, Trust. Ironically enough Trust is also the word I chose to rely on coming home from the Race. I trusted Him to provide a job and I got two, I trusted Him to give me a Christian friend or two and I got a community, I trusted Him to provide for my family and now we own our own shop and I trusted Him with the direction of my future and… I got G42.

     This past week in a half has been impactful for many reasons, but the largest is because I was awoken from a closed hand to laying it all out before the Lord again. What an important frame of mind to live in. God is merciful and will forgive me for kicking and screaming along the way (although, I am not condoning this, it’s robbing me of joy!), but what ultimately matters is if I answer the calling. God spoke to me through Proverbs 3:5-6.

I encourage you to write it on your hearts as well.

Stay tuned because in two months we are headed to Spain!

Photo Credit: http://xiphos71.deviantart.com/art/Proverbs-3-5-6-372467622