Sunday, October 19, 2014

Celebrating new life in Jesus

One more week down and time is flying! Despite our busy schedule I enjoyed some good rest and sweet times in the Lord's presence this week. I've taken up painting with watercolor and I find it very relaxing and a good way to be creative and process my thoughts and the things the Lord is saying to me. And at times it's even a way for me to bless other people.

  
 
Once a week Johnny Gillespie comes in to do training days. We go through core truths of the Gospel and practice sharing the good news with each other. It's been such a practical, necessary tool and I've loved getting to think through different ways to share what Jesus has done in my life. One thing we focused on was sharing what our life looked like before and after meeting Jesus. And I realized something about my own story... 

I've always been a person who has loved people deeply. I grew up feeling like this was a weakness, because I would always end up getting hurt. I experienced a lot of pain and loss due to people I loved dying or moving away. I was constantly looking for people to love me back the way that I loved them. But once I experienced the perfect love of Jesus, my need to be loved changed. Rather than offering my heart and waiting for someone to give love back I was able to love freely from an overflow of Jesus' love. There was no longer a need to measure the love people were giving me because I had already received what I needed from the Lord. And since then he has been showering me with love through his presence, his word, his blessings, and the people around me. Walking in love is so much better than searching for it. And I've come to accept my ability to love people deeply as a gift from the Lord!



On Thursday, we went down to the pier as a class and celebrated as 7 of my classmates were baptized in the ocean. It was so exciting to hear their testimonies and the ways the Lord is moving in their hearts. Does it ever get old getting to see people choose life over death? Jesus is so good!



And Ken and Bonnie Keller came to Kona! I was so blessed by them. They took me to Splashers and as you can see by the picture above, the burgers are a bit out of this world :) We visited and talked about what the Lord is doing in Hawaii and Arroyo Grande. My heart was encouraged for sure :) Who's coming to visit next?!
Love you all!!

1 comment:

Debra said...

Thanks for your update, Tamara! I really rejoice that you have discovered the secret of loving people freely. GOD IS GOOD! Thank you for expressing these truths in words as well as your life. Love you so much,
Mom