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| our students dancing in Gulu |
A lot of times when I think of "men and women of faith" I think of those that sold everything they owned and moved across the world after kissing their family goodbye, unsure if they would ever see them again. And there have been a few times now when I have said goodbye to my family and ventured into the unknown of Africa... but this year I feel like the biggest step of faith that God is asking me to do is to stay in my own country for most of the year! I have been desiring to do School of Dance Studies (SODS)since I did my first school with YWAM back in 2008... and by the time that I had finally laid it down when it seemed like that wasn't going to happen at the beginning of this year...that was the time the Lord spoke to me and said "okay, next year is the year that you are supposed to do it." And honestly...I feel that out of the last 3 years...this is the worst possible time to do SODS. I got to see God move and do so much in Uganda this year, and so much of me wants to be a part of what He is going to continue to do there in this next year. But over and over the Lord just keeps confirming to me that He wants me to do SODS this next year.
So here it goes! I am holding my breath and taking a step of faith. I am trying to commit Uganda and SOC into the hands of God for these next 9 months as I go to Montana for further training and then I go on outreach. Afterall...I know that it is nothing that I do in Uganda that makes any difference, but it is the Lord that is moving and working, and He has blessed me with the privelage to be able to partner with Him in His work there for the last 3 years. And this is year that I need to remember it is just that- HIS work.
One of the pictures I felt like the Lord gave me as I was praying about doing school of dance about 7 months ago... was that I was driving a car. As I was driving in front of me I could see Uganda...so I automatically assumed that Uganda was where I was going. But as I zoomed out a bit I saw that Uganda was one of those little hula dancers that people have on their dashboard, and the Lord was in front of the car. and I felt like God reminded me "I am your destination, Uganda is not your destination."
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| dancing again :) |
So in these next 10 months that is what my aim is: To make God my focus and to let everything else grow strangely dim as I know that HE will be working all things together for good and that I can trust him to continue to be the good Father that He is. I am very excited and feel very blessed for this season to be able to focus on God through what I love to do. I have had a passion for dancing for as long as I can remember. And I know that dance is a part of the future that God has for me...but honestly in this time I am not even really worried about how it is going to work out for the future...because I want to focus on Him and Him alone- and trust that He will take care of the rest. I know that this is a time of "resting" in the Lord so that He can better equip me and raise me up for the work that He has for me in the future.
"I feel a burning desire to preach the Gospel, but I know in my heart that now is the time to pray, to read, to meditate, to be quiet, and to wait…. It makes no sense to preach the Gospel when I have allowed no time for my own conversion. I feel a tension within me. I have only a limited number of years left for active ministry. Why not use them well? Yet one word spoken with a pure heart is worth thousands spoken in a state of spiritual turmoil. Time given to inner renewal is never wasted. God is not in a hurry." --Henry Nouwen
If you had asked me three years ago if I would be here in Montana doing School of Dance right now, I would have said no. If you had asked me two years ago, I would have told you I was probably going to do it last year. And if you had asked me last year, I would have said “possibly…” with a doubtful hope. Yet it is amazing to me how God knows just the perfect time and place that He wants us. I had thought I was going to do School of Dance last year, but God told me it wasn’t the right time. So I stayed home, and because of that I was blessed to be in Uganda for 6 months with two teams last year. And I saw even more of His plan for calling me to Montana for “such a time as this” as soon as I arrived. It was my first full day here and I was talking to a very dear girl, Kelly, who is on staff with YWAM Montana. She had been staff here back when I was doing my Discipleship Training School (DTS) and I have always admired her! She is staffing this current DTS and told me that she is leading an outreach team but their outreach location had fallen through because there were more students than they expected and the location could not cater for all of them. So I just threw out in the conversation “well just go to Gulu!!” Then that led into a longer conversation about what God is doing in Uganda, and a few days of prayer, and… to make a long story short, she is now taking the DTS to Uganda to work with Soldiers of Christ for two months!! It was such an answer to prayer! We had been praying for another team to be able to come to Gulu and serve and help out while I am away and the staff in Gulu is furthering their training… and only God could have orchestrated it in such a way! If I had come last year, we wouldn’t have had such an answer to prayer, and the DTS wouldn’t have had an outreach location! 
Besides that beautiful treat (which would have been enough in itself!) Montana has just been such a gift from the Lord! I never could have expected that I would have an opportunity to dance this much again, and with such incredible people, and for the Lord! He is showing me more and more every day about what it means to focus on Him and utilize the giftings and abilities he has given me. It does make me laugh that the main correction I get in dance class is that my moves look “too African”… I guess that is just a what happens when you live in Africa for two years J haha and although it may not be exactly what my teachers are looking for… hopefully it’ll give me some advantage in the future for our training with the students in Gulu! Although going from the 85 degree weather in Uganda to the two feet of snow we have gotten in the last three days has been an adjustment… I wouldn’t change being here for the world! It has been such a great reminder that Uganda (and my life) is in GOD’S hands, and HE is the one orchestrating everything. And it has been such a wonderful time to get to spend with my Daddy! As it is said “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him” I am learning what it means to be content in ALL situations and know that my value is in my identity…and not my performance. God is so good!! 
