Getting Down to Basics

Can you believe it's been 6 months since I got back from Mexico?!!? I can't either; trust me, I just added it up, and it does NOT feel like that much time has passed. So what in the world have I been doing since I got off the mission field? Well, let me just tell you. I've been seeking God's will and trying to serve Him, above all else. I've been waiting. And I've been working.
That's right... WORKING!!! I feel like I got hurled into the real world at 90mph, and things are only recently slowing down to my normal speed of 80 ;-) (that one's for you, Dad).

Now, let me explain to you my definition of the real world in the context of this blog. I don't mean the "now you have to work all day and can't sleep in and skip class or just go when you feel like it and oh no guess what you don't get any vacation time" definition that you think I mean. I am talking... REAL. WORLD. -- American style.
If you've followed my travels on mission, you know I've seen a lot of poverty. People living in houses made of mud and rocks, with outhouses and no running water, walking 7 miles one way just to get fresh drinking water, losing their children to crocodiles, and starving for the gospel and the hope that God's word inspires.

But now I'm an "In-Home Counselor" (I use the term lightly), in the US, and DAILY I walk into run-down government apartments that might be better off if they were made of mud and rocks, where people couldn't pay the bills so maybe their running water or electricity is shut off, and they might have to walk somewhere tomorrow because their car just got repo'ed. Satan is hard at work in their lives, beating them down, but God still wants them to answer His call to a relationship with Him.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I knew it existed. I just wasn't prepared to experience the mission field in which I live in such a different way. And accordingly, I got blown away. Stressed to the max. Completely unprepared. And I actually tried to fight the battle without my armor on!!!
-"Morgan, what were you thinking?!"
-I know, right?


So, long story short...ish, that's what I'm doing now. I'm getting dressed daily, putting my armor on. At least I'm going to try. Just last week, I thought to myself, "What if, for the month of February, I woke up every day and devoted myself to God, seeking some way to bring glory to Him each day, and asking Him to reveal to me some of His perspective?" At first I wondered, is that a lot to ask from God? Then I cringed at my own ignorance and realized that for Him it's probably as simple as something close to brushing your teeth. It's for me that it's a lot to ask -- That my sinful heart could go 28 days without being prideful, self-seeking, envious, eh I could go on, but you get my drift...

I know, I know. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do every day as a Christian? Surrender and glorify my Lord? Well, I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty stinking hard!! And I think Jesus would agree because He never said it would be easy. But it's my desire not to go a day unprepared. I know I cannot battle Satan and sin alone. And if I'm going to make an impact where I am right now, in the midst of the "real world," I'm gonna need the strength of the Almighty.


So to sum it up, for the next 28 days, I'm gonna attempt to get my heart FOCUSED. I'm going to wake up each day expecting God to show me something of His perspective in this world. I'm going to humbly attempt to look to God each new day and find a way to bring glory to Him with this life. I'm laying down my dying, pitiful torch in order to follow the only light bright enough to see by in this sinful world. And I am obeying God's command to Paul in Acts 26:16-18: "Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

Now here's the deal. Your eyes are my accountability. Each day, I'm going to post what God has revealed to me. And because I know you're reading, I will also know you'll be wondering why I missed a day if I don't post something on here.


If you feel led, I'd like to ask you to pray for me. I feel like I've kind of been talking lightly about this. But it really is a big deal for me. I'm trying to focus my heart and develop my relationship with God, and that's no simple task. So here are some ways you can specifically pray for me:
-that my heart will be humble
-that my eyes and ears will be open and tuned to my Lord alone
-that my perspective will be altered to a God perspective, to see the world the way He does
-that I'll remain focused on what He has called me to do this next month
-and that I'll follow His will, driven by love for my King and not purposed by self-will


Why just a month? Short term goal :-)
Why the month of February? Ask God why He put this on my heart for the shortest month of the year! (basics, I tell you, I'm getting down to the basics.)
Why the title 21 days? Because it takes 21 days for the average adult to make or break a habit. And how wonderful it would be if I could form the habit of glorifying my God every day for the rest of my life!