God is Good! He has brought me through another year in His Victory and Grace. Here are some of my defining moments of 2012:
– Unlike any other year, I started this one in Seoul, South Korea. It was clear from the beginning that God brought me to Korea for His Purpose and it’s been an incredible year watching His Hand weave a beautiful tapestry of friendship, memories, triumphs and adventures.
– I completed my first 15 month contract with a Korean private school. Living and working in Korea was the most challenging experience I’ve had in a long time. Residing in a foreign country, not knowing the language, not understanding the culture, not being familiar with the food and the people and the traditions and the expectations was often inexplicably overwhelming. At times I would feel completely defeated when the simplest task (such as ordering food in a restaurant) became a complicated, frustrating ordeal. But God used each and every challenge to teach me about patience and humility and grace.
– Through making a lot of mistakes, stumbling and letting God help me back to my feet time and again, my year in Korea became an exceptionally rewarding experience. I was stretched emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally more than ever before in my life. It seemed oddly contradictory that I would experience deep loneliness and incredible fulfillment all at the same time. There would be stretches of missing home so badly I wanted to quit my job and fly back to Toronto on the next plane, interspersed with periods of feeling like I had accomplished something incredible and that Korea was becoming a second home.
– I became an active member of an AMAZING church in Seoul (Onnuri English Ministry) where God blessed me in profound ways with loving friends, wise mentors, inspiring pastors and an encouraging community of brothers and sisters in Christ. I was able to grow in leadership and in servant hood as God worked on my heart; refining and shaping me.
– After my first contract was done, God blessed me with the incredible opportunity to work at a Christian International School as a Kindergarten and Gr. 1 teacher. I currently work with people I truly admire and respect and I feel SO grateful every day for where God has brought me because I chose to trust in Him and His Plan for my life.
– After stubbornly defying God and trying to live life on my own terms in 2010 and facing the devastating consequences of my selfish choices in 2011, I can confidently say that God lifted my feet out of the miry clay and has set my feet upon a solid rock. Back in 2011 I wrote a contract to God. It said that I would follow Him anywhere, any time, for any reason, at any cost. Less than 2 months later, I was on a plane to Korea for 4 weeks which turned into 17 months. God sure has a sense of humour! When we lay down our own stubborn plans and trade the ashes of our will for the Beauty of His, our lives are completely transformed. Trusting Him has brought me on an epic adventure and though I honestly don’t know what this next year will bring, I am not afraid because I know He holds my future in the palm of His very competent Hand.
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Nothing brings a more complete peace than the knowledge that the God of the universe, your Heavenly Daddy has a perfect plan for your life. A plan to prosper you and give you a future filled with of hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Even if 2012 was filled with shattering disappointments and bitter defeats, know that God isn’t done with your story yet. Will you trust the Author of Salvation today to pen the hope-filled pages of your tomorrow?
Stand with me in anticipation of the showers of blessing that God longs to rain down on His children. Allow Abba to take your hand and lead you into 2013 with hope, expectation, joy and trust. God is Good!
“Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” Psalm 34:8
A Girl After God's Heart 