Blessed Easter

I have been so overwhelmed with emotion since the start of the day (and that's only 2.5hours ago!), I hope I will be able to capture all my thoughts.

This Easter I will be going to Romania with Youth Compass and will be building with Habitat for Humanity. The Lord is truly full of Grace. I have been involved with Habitat since March 2005 after the tsunami of Dec2004. The experience has left me firmly believe that the Lord is leading me to fulfill His purpose for me with Habitat. When the converation was struck with Julia about what Youth Compass can do for their Project Compassion this Easter, Habitat seemed like the perfect option. With that faithful moment, the Lord is now leading me down another path, one that will see me working with young people. I have been agonizing about this ever since I agreed to come on the project and the anxiety became stronger and stronger with each passing day. But I can see our God is good. After our Tuesday evening small group with prayers for the project, my anxiety started to subside. This morning as I was praying, I realized that all the Lord really wants me to do is to surrender myself completely to Him. To simply love Him and trust Him with all my heart and all my soul. To not depend on my strength but depend solely on His.

This then lead me to other thoughts. The most amazing thing is that all these thoughts occur within my 20minutes drive to the office. Two Easter ago I was baptized and from that moment onward, Easter Sunday has a very special meaning to me. However, I am not proud of how I spent my Easter last year. I did not celebrate it with the Lord but celebrate it in my old selfish ways. I had a "wonderful" time in a "of this world" manner but that has sown the seed of sinful thoughts in my mind ever since. When I signed up for Project Compassion earlier, the memory of last Easter was still lurking in the back of my mind. I believe this is what contributed to my anxiety. But this morning, through out my prayer then my drive to work, I felt the Holy Spirit stirring so strongly in me. I am so happy to be doing something that reflects the Glory of God. I feel blessed that I will be fulfilling God's purpose this Easter. I can "see" my old sinful thoughts being wiped from my mind. Then I once again realize how amazing the Lord is for He has forgiven my sin and now He wants me to forgive my sin as well!

And in the last 3minutes of my drive, I realize that Project Compassion is exactly what the Lord has planned for me. I started to recall time and time again how I depend on my own strength and my own wisdom to get things done in the office. It's very automatic because I believe I know how to do them and I don't need to "bother" the Lord. However, with this trip to Romania, I will be spending time with teenagers and sharing with them about Christ. I worried about how I may appear to them and whether I have all the answers. Will I look "uncool" in front of them and will I not be reflecting God's love. A revelation hit me as I was about to enter the garage that this is exactly why the Lord wants me to do Project Compassion, is so that I learn to surrender myself completely to Him. That I should not try to use my own knowledge but His wisdom. And this is not only for "new" things but for ALL things that I encounter in my life.

Our God is truly an awesome God! And I know now with ABSOLUTE certainty that this Easter will be a truly Blessed Easter! Praise our Lord!