Humility in a World of Narcissism

Humility

Have you ever thought about the word humility? It is interesting to think of a life filled with an attitude that is not  proud or arrogant, but having a spirit of submission or deferences. I find this hard when I live in a world that preaches narcissism (focused on one self). 


Did you know that there is actually a disease called Narcissistic Personality Disorder? According to Wikipedia, it is "is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity."

I didn't think that this could possibly be me, but when I really thought about it, it became evident that even a drop of narcissism and pride, is not a humble personality. The Bible says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6). God desires us to have a humble spirit.


Moses was considered a humble person by his faithful actions. He was able to have a face to face relationship with God where the other prophets were given dreams and visions. God desires to use people that are humble.


So the question, "What does this look like?" 


I am not sure yet, but when God answers, I will be sure to let you know.

Counting Our Blessings

Blessings

I have to share with you some of the blessings God has sent my way.

One is that I am learning in church about the importance of tithing on the gross income. I realized that I have not been hitting the mark these last couple of years so I began a 90 day challenge of tithing plus giving an offering. This was a stretch sense I don't work more than 15 hrs a week and the nanny job is a set amount, but I felt that God was asking me to trust him.

So this last week, Nicholas got moved from day shift to evening which opened my mornings. I quickly let work know incase they had any extra hours available. They called the very next day to see if I wanted to work at another one of their facilities. Several of their teachers had called out sick. I was like, for sure!!! It turned into working an extra 55hrs over the next two weeks. Praise God!! He blessed me right back!!

The second things is that I went shopping last Sunday (March 10) for supplies at Good Will. I found not only clothes, but a carry on suitcase (a very girlly one, I should add). Now I am all about deals and I noticed that they were going to have a 50% off sale this Saturday (March 17). I had this idea of seeing if I could return everything I just bought and re-buy it at the discounted price. Ya I know. Kind of cheating the system, but I figured, what would it hurt if I try. I was telling this story to my Bible study group and they got a kick out so much so that one of the guys asked, "How much would you be saving?" I was like $25. Now for me that is a lot. I can buy a lot with that money. LOL. The guy pulled out his wallet and handed me the $25. What a blessing!! I got talking to my sister-in-law and she says he probably was just kidding about me keeping the money. Oh well, I kept it!! He shouldn't have offered it to me in the first place if he didn't mean for me to keep it.

The last blessing it that this last week my service engine light came on. Thinking it may be in need of an oil change, I asked a friend of she know of any mechanic in the area. She said her husband would love to do it. I told him that I didn't want him to feel like he had to do it for free. I was more than willing to pay for his time.

I want to his house today (March 17). He found that it was not the oil, but a plug had come off (don't ask me what it was for) and he did a something else (which I am not sure exactly). During that time, I was able to hear stories of his life, talk with his son and daughter, and drink some really good coffee. By the end, he fixed it and said, I didn't owe him anything sense I was going to the Philippines, giving of myself to them, he was giving of himself to me by fixing my car. What a blessing!! I felt loved by his family.

I hope that you were blessed reading these. I want to hear how God is blessing you these days.

Have an amazing day,
Natasha

Ps. It has been like 75F here these last couple of day!! Loving it!!

Visa Update

Guess What!!!!!

My visa has arrived!!! God has answered my prayer. It is amazing how He works. 


I submitted it about the first part of March. Someone told me that it was going to take 6-8 weeks. 6-8 weeks!!! I did not have that much time. I only had 4-5 weeks. This started to make me worried. The Philippines 4:4-8 kept coming to mind to not worry, but to pray and ask God. So I prayed. I had my small group pray. I payed the extra to rush it. I prayed so more (just to remind God....not that He needed reminding). 


Well the visa company contacted me a few days later to tell me that I did not have the paperwork certified.  What!! I rushed to the bank to certified it (thank the Lord it was free). Then rushed back to Fed-ex to send it priority overnight (another $35). And then I prayed!!


God kept reminding me that if I was to go, He would come through with the visa. It is a hard thing to trust when it is out of my hands. And then today, March 12, 2012, I was informed that my visa has ARRIVED!!!!!!!! 


God truly answers prayer!!


Have you any answer prayers? I would love to hear.

Philippines

Hello Friends and Family,

I am excited to report that I am officially leaving for the Philippines April 4th, 2012. I will be traveling to Cebu, Philippines. It has been amazing to see how God has worked out the details. The plan is to stay for a year, but I have one of those changeable tickets if I need to come home.

I will be working with Glory Reborn for April and May. They are a maternity clinic that was founded by Hilary & David Overton. In July 2003, they moved to Cebu City, Philippines to start a small clinic that would provide a much needed service to the community. On August 1, 2003 the first baby was born in the spare bedroom of their small apartment. They quickly moved a clinic to an adjacent apartment and began full operations in September 2003. Five years later, they have seen close to 1,500 deliveries in the facility! We are just getting started! 

Glory Reborn's mission is to build the community through relationships with pregnant women. 

Here is a short video of Hilary and the clinic. It really gives you good idea of where I will be.

The summer has not yet been determined where I will be serving. I have been looking into Children's Shelter of Cebu. It is an orphanage started by Marlys Healy and several woman from her church. She visited the Philippines in 1978 and she was astonished at the amount of children on the streats. This started her journey to meeting with pastors and missionaries and discussing how she wanted to help. She returned home talked with family and friends. Her vision inspired several of her friends to want to help. They were able to start a facility that now house many children and staff. You can go on the link listed below and see pictures and videos.

http://www.cscshelter.org/shared/search.php?searchTxt=video#ov.comp_vids/Fitzgerald_video_2010_d81b0f887ad0cbe5.mp4

Funding? You may ask. Have you heard of George Mueller? He is this gentleman who lived in England in the 1800. Mueller saw a need for the children living on the streets and orphans. He had this idea to start orphanages and schools on faith. He would only ask God for their needs and would not accept anything from anyone unless the Lord directed them. Some days they did not know where their next meal would come from. They would get on their knees and pray. The Lord would answered. Some times in the strange ways. Once, a milk wagon broke down right out front of the orphanages. His faith allowed him to start the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England and cared for over 10,000 children as well as started over 117 schools. 

This kind of faith inspired me to pray for my needs for this mission trip to the Philippines. One person asked me what is on my list (there is a lot), but I want people to pray and ask God to see what they are to donate. The Lord knows my list. He knows my needs even better than I do.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to posting up dates.

Natasha

Welcome

Hi you all. Welcome to my blog. Let me know if you were able to find this.