Chels For China

Please keep my mom and her family in you prayers. Her oldest brother, Scott Slaybaugh, has pancreatic cancer and he is not expected to live much longer. Praise God that my Uncle Stan was able to lead Scott, his wife, Yvonne, and their two kids, Cory and Shannon, to the Lord a few months ago. Although we have joy and hope in knowing that we will see him again, it is still a time of loss and grieving. Also, keep my Uncle Stan in prayer as he will be most likely be preforming the memorial service and there will be many unsaved in the service. Pray that Stan will be able to present a clear presentation of the Gospel and that peoples hearts with be soft and their ears open.

So now as I have officially applied for the World Race, I thought I would post a couple videos so you could get a better idea what it's all about!


A Word from the World Race Director from Adventures In Missions on Vimeo.





The World Race from Adventures In Missions on Vimeo.

Well...after many months of prayer and seeking God's will...I have made the decision....I have applied for the World Race January 2011! I am jumping off the ledge of the comfortable and into the unknown. It's amazing to me how at times I am frustrated because God's timing seems sooo slow and then other times He starts moving so quickly I find myself saying..."Now wait...slow down...surely you need me to pray about this a bit longer." There are a lot of things that are still up in the air at the moment but one thing I do know is that I have applied and although I am feeling a mix of about 100 different emotions right now....peace is by far the strongest. So I now ask that you pray with me as I take this next step or leap into the future. Pray for wisdom and discernment as I seek God's will for the next 8 months as I prepare myself for this amazing journey.

OK...now with that said...I would like to share more from my time in Denver. This is big thing for me right now:

"being missional" as opposed to "doing missions"

My intention is not to just spend the next 8 months preparing to do missions in January and the 10 months to follow...my desire is to be missional in all that I do. And that starts right here in Amarillo. The people I live with, work with, interact with everyday...I want my life "to BE to the praise of His glory"

Have you heard the Relient K song "Forward Motion", it goes something like this...."I struggle with forward motion..we all struggle with forward motion..." This very fitting song was playing on my iPod as I stuggled for the finish line today...Dad and I ran our first 5k together. It was freezing cold...Spring hasn't quite made it to the mountains yet. I had alot of fun...but I know I can do better...my time was 34:03..Dad finished in 35:41. But this race was just the first of many more to come..but I better get to work or Dad is going to beat me next time!

Our time in Denver is over...we are getting ready to get some lunch and then head back to the airport. Despite the short time that we were here God did some amazing things. I can't put into words the impact that yesterday had on my life. But now I feel challenged to do something with what I heard, learned, and experienced yesterday. The book of James tells us not to just listen...but to do something with what we have heard!

There will be more to come about the conference...but for now...hunger calls and I am going to savor my final hours here with my Dad!

I'm sitting in a hotel room going over the events of the last 15 hours and I am utterly amazed. When I boarded the plane for Denver I thought I knew what I was in for. I was coming to this conference to get some questions answered and to get a feel for Adventures in Missions as an organization. What I got was so much more. I can't put into just one post all the things that God showed me here today, so for now I will just share one....with more to follow.

"Shut up and listen."

God's been dealing with me for the past couple of weeks on this, but today I experienced more of God and heard his gentle whisper, sweet and small for the first time in a while. I realized that I have been sitting on the throne of my heart shouting out my desires and my plans for life and ministry. In the midst of my own voice and add to that the noise of the world, it's no surprise that I wasn't able to hear the still small voice of God.
So, as of today this girl has renounced her position upon the throne of her heart and has given it over to the rightful Prince.

We were taught the concept of "listening prayer"
Deliberate
Intentional
Alert
Listening

DIAL into God.

If I had gotten no more out of this trip, I would have been satisfied...but the day was young...and God had only just begun....

I've been learning alot the past few days. In my last post I talked about being quiet and listening for God, having a conversation with Him as opposed to talking at him and then not waiting for a reply or listening for what He has to say. Well, what I have realized in the past few days is that I have been limiting God, even in my attempts to open up to Him and let Him speak. It's not just about hearing Him speak to me in my quiet time or through my scripture reading, it's about seeing him through out my day and letting Him speak to me through many different channels.

One such way is music. I love music. I love to sing. (I'm terrible and I know it.) But I still love to sing out at the top of my lungs and know that my Father delights in my feeble attempts at praise, my neighbor my not love it, but I'm not worried about that. Worship is a time of letting go and opening your heart to God.
As I said I like music, I have a few songs on my iPod, just a couple thousand of my favorites. As I was getting ready for work this morning a song by Matthew West started to play "Out of My Hands" I'm sure I've heard this song many times before, but this morning I listened. God meet with me this morning through a simple song.

As I get ready to go to Denver this weekend, as I prepare for what could be the next step in my life and ministry, I have come to the realization that it's out of my hands. Despite my plans and my desires and my practicalities and my reasoning, God was just asking for my surrender. Let's make that my complete surrender. I have "surrendered" to the point of agreeing that ministry and missions was my "calling" if you will. But I hadn't given God the complete control and direction of my choices. So, he finally knocked me upside the head with my iPod and said "let go!"(It makes me think of the V8 commercials where the person gets smaked in the head: "should have had a V8")  So here it is, God's divine slap to the back of my head:
 Matthew West "Out of My Hands"

There you go changing my plans again
There you go shifting my sands again
For reasons I don't understand again
Lately I don't have a clue

Just when I start liking what I see
There you go changing my scenery
I never know where you're taking me
But I'm trying just to follow you

It's out of my hands
It's out of my reach
It's over my head And it's out of my league
There's too many things
That I don't understand
So it's into your will
And it's out of my hands

There you go healing these scars again
Showing me right where you are again
I'm helpless, and that's where I start again
I'm giving it all up to you

It's out of my hands
It's out of my reach
It's over my head
And it's out of my league
There's too many things
That I don't understan
So it's into your will
And it's out of my hands

Move me, make me
Choose me, change me
Send me, shake me
Find me, remind me
The past is behind me
Take it all away
Take it all from me, I pray

It's out of my hands
It's out of my reach
It's over my head
And it's out of my league
There's too many things
That I don't understand
So it's into your will
And it's out of my hands

I had a great night last night. I've been going to Family Life Fellowship for the past few weeks now and last night was my first small group meeting. It was amazing...I meet some great people and as we got into the Word I knew that I had found my place in Amarillo. Here's the thing I've come to realize in the past few years...church is a completly different experience when you aren't the pastors kid. I grew up where everyone new who I was, but now I find myself in a place where I have to put myself out there and meet people. Which, let's be honest, isn't all that difficult for me but it can be overwhelming at times. Anyhow, I'm very excited about the group I have found and the people I am meeting.

I wanted to share this blog post with ya'll...I thinks its great and really speaks to things I've been hashing out in my own mind and life.

Lottie Moons or Ex-Pimps: We're All Missionaries

About six weeks ago my Dad and I decided to read Crazy Love by Francis Chan together. We would read a two chapters during the week and then call each other on Friday (or saturday...or like this past week...tuesday) and discuss the chapters and share the most impactful and challenging parts. I never expected it to be as awesome as it turned out...and I'm pretty sure it had very little to do with the book and more to do with the fact that our relationship was growing and changing. I love the place we are now, I think we have made the transition from parent/child to parent/adult child very well. It's nice to know that my dad respects me and trusts my decisions...even though I still would like him to tell me what's right and what I should do sometimes. I look forward every week to the time that I get to spend with him. It's amazing how much our relationship has grown, it's awesome.

As I began our next book (Come Thirsty) today, I thought back on the past month and the time I've spent with my Dad I began to compare it to my time with my heavenly Father. He wants the same kind of relationship, time, and growth. How can I expect my relationship with God to grow and be strong if I'm not spending time with him or studying His word? Every week I was prepared for my discussion with Dad, I had read and sometimes re-read the material and highlighted specific paragraphs or sentences.

I'm going to be real honest right now, lately my prayer time and Bible time has been mediocre at best. I've been reading the Word sporadically and not really engaging in it. I've been checking off chapters from my reading plan but I haven't been "in it" I've been talk at God and not listening and talking with him. I have been rushing into his presence with words. But I am challenged this week to "let my words be few" and to stop and listen.

I am preparing to go to a confrence with my Dad next week that could potentially mean some major huge life altering decisions will be headed my way in the not so distant future. Please pray with me as I quiet myself and seek God's voice in this.

This song has been in my head and on my heart since the Easter service at Family Life Fellowship...

Hillsong United "Lead me to the Cross"

Savior I come
Quiet my soul, remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
Human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin in death
Now you're risen
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost
Lead me to the cross

wow....so remember the time I didn't post anything for 7 months...yeah that was a good time =]

well...today is a new day...a new month...and I have committed to being consistent and I am really going to get into this whole blogging thing =]

Update: I am home from China =[ I have been for 6 months now...in summary this past summer changed my life. My prayer on the plane somewhere between Tokyo and Manila when this whole adventure started was, "God do something great this summer...rock my world"

Ephesians 3:20 "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infintely more than we could ask or think."

Well God came through...and in a huge way...basically I was a business major that gave God 4 months of my life and then I planned to move to Texas and start a life in the business world. But God did more than I could ask or think...he took four months and put a fire in my heart for China.

Right now I am living in Texas and I am working for a business man as a personal assistant. But I know that this isn't long term...I see that God is preparing me with skills I will be able to use in the future. I will say that I get frustrated and discontent at times. I want to be back in China....not here in Texas, but God keeps saying..."wait, my timing is perfect, you're not ready."
So for now my field is Amarillo....and I'm just learning to love people....I figure if I can love Texans I can love anyone!

Future Plans:

Well for now, and the foreseeable future I will be right here serving God in A-town...I am looking forward to helping out Dan Elliott and SkyWord Sports Ministries this summer with a basketball camp in New Mexico.
I am also taking Chinese language lessons...they've been sporadic at best so far, but it should be getting much better this next month.
I have a few more opportunities that are opening up for me and as I know more and pray more I will share them with you all.

So that is a ridiculously summarized evaluation of the past 7 months of my life and now that we are all caught up...we can continue fresh tomorrow =]

Have a great Thursday!