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July 25 ,2009
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Click here for a last word from Eric before he heads back home.
June 25 ,2009
Just thinkin about everything. we are about in the middle of this mission trip now. little things are becoming small agitators. we knew things like this would happen but you don't really think about it until frustrations come into play. i know that through prayer we as a team can get through any issues that may arise and be stronger for it. aside from that i have been having a blast hangin out with God on the rim, in the apartment, and anywhere/everywhere else. my ability to trust Him is growing more and more and that makes me so happy. last week was a huge step in that progression. i was told a week before i was to teach sunday school. nervous was a small understatement for how i felt. i am used to when i have taught using the life words sunday school book. this time i had just one book. .....just THE book... so all week i was asking God to reveal to me what he would have me teach. right about wed. He revealed to me what it was. i taught on John 14. it focused on comfort and how we need to rely on Him for our comfort instead of tangible or worldly thing to comfort ourselves. i suppose the lesson went well. everyone participated and i really enjoyed that aspect. it made the lesson more engaging in my eyes. i pray that my home class will do that more. myself included. we have an awesome teacher and i respect him a lot. i feel that i owe it to him to know the lesson and to comment when i feel. so God giving me that lesson and helping me prepare it really helped with my trust issue. like i said this makes me happy due to the youth ministry call( possibly....not sure yet). as for prayer requests i have a few. pray for the team as awhole as we are now getting into the tough part of the summer. teammates are getting tired. coworkers are wearing on us. and several other things as well. just pray that we grow through these times and our focus will remain on God's work. i have onw request for my brother. as many know he is home from Germany and is stationed in the states for a while. i know he is saved but i am not sure about his relationship. i just pray now that he is home his walk with the Lord wil grow into an amazing love relationship and that he can be a light in the military. there are not that many people in the army who are shining lights( frommy personal experience). i just want to see my brother grow in his relationship with Christ. hopefully me and my dad and our church can be a part of helping him in that. continue to pray for me and the youth thing. i am still not sure if God is calling or not. i just kind of feel it. who knows. last but not least pray for the people and relationships here. several doors are slowly opening and we are starting to see God work in places. it is a beautiful sight. like i have said before this type of ministry is different from most. it is relational. and i am absolutely enjoying it. there is a lot of moving rocks and planting seeds here. maybe we will see a harvest, maybe not. just pray that we will continue to form relationships and build on the existing ones. thanks to all for the comments and prayers. laters
June 9 ,2009
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June 9 ,2009
Stupid Allergies...this title may give a small hint to my frustration. myself as well as a few others have had a cold for a little bit now and it is very frustrating to have here. you wanna go do so much but at the same time you want to rest and get better. i personally have used my sickness as an excuse to neglect my Bible study for the past few days. the whole time i felt like something was missing and i knew what it was but i still chose to claim i was sick and needed to go to bed. i started to feel better as of today. tonight i did my 3:16 study and it talked about God's love. it's amazing how we as humans screw up A LOT and yet He still loves us the same. UNCONDITIONALLY!! this made me think. i have felt the youth ministry thing a little stronger here lately. i am still terrified of the thought of teaching such an important age group. there is the fear of confusing them, misguiding them, and flat out not knowing how to respond to questions of issues that may arise. i am the type of person who wants to have everything together so that if a situation arises it can be handled on the spot. this is not one of those situations and i think that is the biggest part that i am afraid of. as i have said before i know God will equip the called but i am still struggling with trusting that. i am getting a little closer to understanding how to do so but there is still hesitation. for those of you that are praying for us i guess that is a request from me. that i will be able to flat out trust in Him on this and obey. also please pray that we can get over these colds so we can be back at 100%. Pray for the many relationships that are being built and that they may turn into an opportunity to share our faith. this trip is a lot of moving rocks and planting seeds (stephanie). so pray that as we plant these seeds that the Holy Spirit will move in these people and that their hearts will open up to the message. Thanks for all the prayers. later
June 6 ,2009
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June 3 ,2009
He keeps reminding me that He will get me through. I am still struggling with trusting my convictions and what i feel God calling me to. Partially because i worry about it being my own desires. Partially because i do not feel prepared or capable enough to do the job completely. Mainly with the youth ministry deal. It seems like i feel God more and more urging me that way but at the same time i wonder if it's just me wanting to work them. I had the chance to get off by myself today and again God showed up in a great way!! I began reading Hebrews today. My little spot i found was just off the trail but i was completely by myself. It was a perfect setting in my mind. Partly cloudy, wind blowing, and just me and God. Reading through the first chapter of Hebrews I prayed that God would allow me to percieve what He would have me to and that i would be able to apply it in some way to my immediate situation. Verses 10 through 12 really stood out to me. It revealed to me God's "staying power". He is there with me through anything no matter what. I sometimes find myself putting Him on the back burner and trying to handle everything on my own. It never fails that I end up running back to Him in a sort of ashamed attitude that I didnt just go to Him at first. So....with the youth ministry and missions thing i ask that you continue to pray for me to be able to listen to God and trust in the fact that He is going to supply me with the skills, resources, and anything else i may need. I am absolutely loving this place. I find it super easy to find myself alone with God here due to the vastness. I have already decided that when i get home i am going to go out and find myself several places where i can completely escape for however long i need ot desire. I am truly understanding the meaning of "quiet time" here more than i have anywhere else. as for an update the relationships we are building here are strengthining and new ones are foreming day by day. It is so awesome to watch God make people more and more comfortable around us and that we can hang out with them and let our lights shine without being overbearing. I dont want to give names but i ask that you pray for these people that we have already talked to and for those we will run into each day. Thanks for all the prayers and comments. Have a blessed day!!
May 27,2009
So with this note i am pretty much gonna write my journal entry for the day. It was a good second day at work. i was nervous about all the service standards that we have to use but that has long gone. i got a gold ticket today which means i was caught by a supervisor doing what i was supposed to do. this means i could get my name drawn for prizes such as helicopter tours, tents, equipment, etc. so that's pretty awesome. but all day today i have been more excited to get off. last night i was reading in Psalms 119. when i finished and was getting ready to go to bed i felt God telling me to go to Isaiah. i didnt feel a certain chapter or verse. just the book. So all day at work i was looking forward to going and grabbing a cappucino and finding myself a nice quiet place on the edge of the canyon. i opened up my 3:16 Bible study book and low and behold the focal passage was Isaiah 40:18-31!!! How amazing that passage is! I really liked v.28-29. They talked about God not growing weary or fainting and how he gives the weak power and strength to those who have no might. It also says that His understanding is unsearchable. The weakness part really hit home for me right now. There are a couple of guys at work that i have overheard talking about the party that night or last weekend. i recall that being my life at one point and i feel somewhat weak as a witness. but knowing that God will strengthen me in my weakest times really helps out. i also believe this verse will help me out with the youth ministry thing. i honestly do not feel capable in any way to teach them in a way that they will see God and not just me.i know that God equips the called but i am finding it difficult to trust in that. i want to but it is just difficult. i pray that He will give me the confidence to trust Him if He calls me that way and that i will be obedient. this has been yet another GLORIOUS day. until next time.
May 21,2009
I have never been one to write these notes but i feel like i have so much i want to share and this is a great way. today was another day of training so i wont bore anyone with that. i went on a 5 mile rim hike by myself today and it was FANtastic (inside joke). i listened to music sometime and sometime just listened to God breath (the wind/breeze). I found this one spot and decided to stop and relax. i ended up doing my quiet time there. i am in the process of reading Psalm 119. I read some of that and i felt odd. i didnt really feel God leading me to anything from that passage. so i sat there longer and prayed and just sat. I felt lead to look up the word majestic in the back o my bible and the first verse was Psalm 8. there is no doubt that that is where God wanted me to spend time this evening. It spoke about how God is so majestic and who is man that He should care so much for him. It talked about how God put the stars and the universe in the air and the birds and gave them flight. shortly after i noticed a bird flying pretty low in the canyon. i started thinking more about that verse and how awesome it was that He created every single little thing to make just this moment happen. the bird was pretty much cruising up the canyon on the drafts coming up from the bottom. it ended up like four feet directly above me and then just soared off to do his thing. the first thing i thought was THAT WAS A GOD THING!!!!! i hope that this experience will forever stay in my mind to be a reminder of just who God is and how small i am. Yet he still wants me to be a part of His plan.
Oh, i almost forgot i found out today that i am going to be working with Jeremy. that is pastor rick's son. i am totally excited about this. i have kind of sort of faintly felt God telling me to get involved with our youth. i am still unsure about it and Jeremy was a youth pastor in phoenix for several years and i look forward to possible talking to him about it. maybe God intends for me to hear Him through Jeremy. This is my prayer for today. That God will show me more of His plan for me whether it be missions, youth, both, or anything else. And that the relationships we are building here will become opportunities for us to share our faith boldly and confidently. Good night.
May 20,2009
So....i got to go on my first real hike into the canyon today. Elizabeth joined me because we were the only two off from training today. We went down to the three mile rest house on the bright angel trail. We stayed there for a while. I took this opportunity to do the first day of my 3:16 bible study. It talked about Nicodemus and how he didnt understand God works or the born again concept. He had studied and knew who jesus was but he had not "experienced" Him. I think this can apply to many of us. Often times we are able to study the bible but do not intend or expect to experience God through that or anything els that God may be trying to show Himself to us through. As i sat there it was nice to just sit and think about that. It makes me look at my quiet time differently and in a way i havent before. I hope now that i dont do it just to get it done but to hear, see, feel, and completely experience God each and every time. I also hope that i will be able to look at everything around me and do the same. That and the hike were the highlight of the day. Coming back up was another oportunity for me to feel my strength through prayer as i struggled at points on the trail. It felt so amazing to finish it and to thank God for allowing and helping me to do so. My prayer continues to be for God to give me His ees as brandon heath says. I have already felt Him allowing me to do so in the past couple days. Each person i see i want to say hi and just listen to them tell their story of how, why, or what they are doing here. It feels so amazing to be in a place like this as a christian and to have that point of view on things. I honestly feel i would miss out on so much if i wasnt. Thanks all of you for your prayers and i will try to keep you posted on everything as often as possible.
May 18,2009
So, here I am. I am officially here in the Grand Canyon for the duration of the summer. I am still finding it hard to see it as my whole summer. I am so used to going somewhere for around a week and trying to accomplish so so much in that one week. I am working to get that mentality out of my head and truly enjoy this experience day by day. It is amazing to come here and view the place from a christian point of view. To look out over the vastness of the canyon and know that my God is so so so so much bigger and more powerful than anything in or around the canyon. One thing i have already felt God dealing with me on is judgment. There are people from all walks of life here at the canyon. I pray that i can see these people as valuable individuals to God. I ask God to help me be able to show them unconditional LOVE and not to look at them as just another sinful or lost person. As the summer goes on i know that God is going to show us all amazing things in our walk with Him and in our ministry here. If i were to ask anyone to pray for anything right now i guess it would be for God to break our hearts for the lost people we come into contact and that we will show them the Love of Christ. I'm going to close this one of by thanking all of you who have and are praying for us here this summer. The power of prayer can move people in a powerful way. Thank you for all of them. Goodbye for now.
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