Lessons!

Baaaa! When I heard that word as a kid I usually ran. Haha. I never liked going to school because I always wanted to be outside playing. In school we are taught lessons upon lessons but when God is your teacher ... well then it is best you pay close attention, after all He is the best teacher and can use things you enjoy to teach you! This summer, as you might imagine, God taught me quite a few lessons. Today I would like to review a few of those lessons with you.


1. He will provide and take care of me. I learned this through raising support for the summer and also during the whole summer. There were times while raising support, I thought "There's no way He is going to do this", then He would show off and surprise me with a wonderful gift. Also during the summer I was so tired, spiritually, mentally and emotionally but then He would graciously give me strength, give me rest or send some one to help me. In those moments I could not be more thankful, like a weight lifted from my shoulders and cold drink put in my hand.

Me and Maddy (a intern & best friend)

2. Give freely. During the summer I met a woman who gave freely as the Lord has given to her. The woman's husband told us a story of when they were first married. She gives away her things as she sees the Lord leading her. Well her husband asked her about this and tried to tell her that she cannot keep giving away all of her things because he is going to have to replace them. The woman kindly informed her husband that God will always replaced the things He lead her to give away. And sure enough over time the items she gave away God gave back to her.
The Lord reminded me that all of my things are not mine but His and He desires to use them for His glory.

Meylin, Brittany & Me

3. Leadership comes with sacrifice. Oh there were so many times when I had an agenda and was going to get it done. But then I began to realize that it is not about me or my silly agenda. I needed to lay it down and look out for the group's interest, not my own. I had ample opportunities to do this, whether I was looking out for a short term team or for the interns. And interestingly enough I learned it from the other interns who would bring it up during morning devotionals and where doing just that, they would sacrifice in order to serve one another.

Top left: John, Matt, Gideon, Lisa. Bottom Left: Catie, Marion, Brittany, me & Natalie (All the Interns minus Maddy & plus Lisa Merritt

4. Servant Leadership really just means SERVANT. For so long I've tried to be a leader, to take charge, state my opinion and often led in pride. However being a leader looks nothing like I thought. I have decided to stop calling it "leadership" or being a "leader" but start calling it being a "servant". As I read John 13:1-17 (Jesus washing the disciples feet) & 16:17 (Jesus telling the disciples about what is to come) - 17:26 (Jesus praying before He dies) I saw my Lord acting out how we should live and doing so in such humility. If we are wanting to know how to be leaders, we should consult the One who was the best leader, rather Servant. As simple as that may sound, it was rather profound to me because I have never thought of it this way before.

The Asian Canadians