Sarah

I am so excited for the kids to get a glimpse into the life of one of my dearest friends, Sarah. Some of you may remember, she was here late July and as a congregation, we were able to pray for her before she left for Malaysia. Tomorrow night, (EARLY Thursday morning for Sarah) we are going to Skype with her and get a glimpse a little bit into her life in Malaysia; how she is ministering to other people, what her day to day life is like, and how we can be praying for her. I am so excited for the kids to know someone who is so important to me! Please be praying, in all seriousness, that the internet connection between Dalton, Georgia and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia will not cause havoc!


I wish I could share with you more effectively the Sarah that I knew four years ago... shoot, even three years ago. Sarah Derrick is so happy, so fun, loves a monogram (on anything and everything) loves to bake, and loves late night adventures (that's why we became such great friends so quickly). Sarah is one year younger than I am, and walked onto PC's campus planning to be a Biology major and work in the healthcare field. More power to her.

But, after MANY teary conversations, many declared major forms, many, many advisory meetings, she knew she was supposed to be a CE major. And for that, I was thrilled. Through our fabulous advisor, and shared classes I was able to see a complete transformation in Sarah. To which, now looking back, we can all say was the work of the Holy Spirit preparing her for Malaysia. I think her gift of service was deeply rooted, but she wasn't sure how to use it. She wasn't sure if she was to use it helping and aiding others who are sick, or if she was called to service outside of her comfort zone. Which, is what God did.

This morning, as I told the staff about us skyping with Sarah, the comment was made: "I don't know if I could let my child move to Malaysia, a heavily populated Muslim country for a year."

To which spurred this whole post...

I think my parents in their right mind would probably say the same thing. They almost said the same thing about moving across state lines to Dalton. But, if we are to teach and to encourage our children in using their gifts the Holy Spirit has imparted to them, do we do that by keeping a tight reign? OR do we do that by releasing our grips a little bit trusting that God knows exactly what the bigger picture is. It's easy for me to pose that question because I have no children but, as we as a congregation are exploring what our Spiritual giftedness is, consider loosening the reigns. We have a living testimony in Malaysia of the goodness it produces. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's hard to be away from familiar. But, through it, God grows us, encourages us, and causes us to more closely trust in Him.

Isn't that the most foundational piece of information you want your children to know? Trust and love God? Let's model that by how we manage them, how we communicate our tight "fisted-ness" to them and how we model our trust for His plan.

If you're interested, we would love for you to join us tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 as the kids get to talk and interact with Sarah!

Here is her sweet blog when you want to read more about what she's doing and how you can be praying for her. Her writing is so funny and "so sarah". I promise it will make you become more thankful for your comfortable living here... But, at the same time, make you wish you were out traveling the world and meeting new people.  In your care and concern for her, one of my dearest friends, you're serving me as well. So I am so thankful for that and how the Lord interweaves us all together.


http://www.sarahderrick.blogspot.com/