Be Still

Still is not a word that has crossed my mind nor an action that my body has engaged in over the last several months. Tonight I finally crashed, I am still. My mind is slowly quieting down and my body has no choice but to be still, as I am exhausted. Over the year my life has changed dramatically, and I have had little time to process it all, beginning with getting engaged last September, graduating, beginning post-graduate life, planning a wedding, getting married, making major life decisions 3 weeks after being married, finding jobs, starting jobs, moving to a "new" town, starting another new job, moving into another new house. I'm exhausted. I don't care that my house is packed in boxes and my car, I don't care that my closet isn't organized neatly, I just want to rest and savor the fact that my house is quiet, and I have nothing to do tonight that can't wait until tomorrow.

The last year seems like a blur, and here I sit, married, in a new house, living next door to my relatives who lived in Seattle for the past 5 years, graduated from college, my best friends gone all over the US, and it seems so surreal. But tonight I am enjoying being still and soaking in all the changes that have taken place in the past year of my life. Its hard to believe things I dreamed of for so many years have finally taken place, and yet I know there are more to come.

Freedom

I'm sure that this is going to be a common blog theme for today, seeing as how it is July 4, Independence Day. However, I don't think that our freedom in Christ can ever be overstated. Today I have been in awe of the fact that all the freedoms I enjoy are ones that I have not fought for or done anything to recieve. My freedom in Christ was paid for by the blood of Jesus, and my American freedoms were fought for by brave men. So often I fail to remember the price that has been paid for the daily freedoms that I enjoy, so here's my remembering the blood that has been shed for us to enjoy freedom on so many levels. Thank you sweet Jesus.

"What are you doing in the world?"-Dax Isbell

My two and half year old nephew, Dax Isbell, who is learning how to talk got his words mixed up one day and instead of saying, "What in the world are you doing?", he said "What are you doing in the world?". Well when my sister-in-law told me this story immediately the phrase went straight to my heart and I have pondered it since she told me.

Bryan and I are in a place of waiting. We don't know what the futureholds, we only have glimpses and the next immediate step. However, the question resonates in my heart because as I go through out my day it keeps my focus on glorifying the Lord. I know that He has a plan and a purpose in this time of preperation for the things to come, but I don't want to be so caught up in the things to come that I miss those divine appointments to minister His love and grace to those around me. We are looking forward to our move "home" in August to be closer to family and to begin this season of preperation as the Lord continues to mold in us the plans He has for us.

I thought I would share the profound thought of my nephew with you because its a good question to ask ourselves..."what are we doing in the world?" to minister grace and love to the lost? Are we spending our days glorifying our creator or magnifying ourselves?

Blessed

The last few weeks have been full and not without there moments, however, through every day I have seen how tremendously blessed I am. There is no way the negative can out weigh the blessings in my life!

TOP 12
1. David and Farah, Dax and Cole are home
2. I got to spend the weekend in NC in the beautiful Blueridge Mountains
3. I made a new friend who lives in CA
4. I got to worship with 200 amazing godly women, be encouraged, inspired, humbled
5. I got some rest and rich fellowship with Jesus
6. I got to see my newest nephew several times in one week
7. I got to drive 10 hours with my mom and have good conversation
8. I have an amazing husband
9. I got to drive a Jeep Wrangler
10. My mom and I made it home from NC safely, and on Sunday
11. The Lord provided faithfully everything we needed this week
12. Mine and Bryan's car repairs were cheaper than we thought

Bottom 4
1. My car died on the way home from NC Sunday afternoon
2. The mechanics at Sears and Firestone argued for 2 hours about the problem
3. I cried while standing in the rain because they wouldn't listen to me about the problem
4. Bryan's car had to go to the shop the day after mine had to have a new battery and alternator

war eagle
These are a little late, but we can't upload pictures off our computer at home. But this is my handsome nephew who grows cuter everyday!

Life!

Wow! I can't believe its been over a month since I posted. Life is full and wonderful right! Bryan and I are growing a lot spiritually, personally, and together. We are excited about whats to come. This weekend has been a full one, refreshing and encouraging.

Thursday I left for the drive to Birmingham to see my best friend Julia compete for the title of Miss Alabama. The drive was a nice break to think and pray. The evening was great, minus some sour talent, Julia was incredible in her evening wear dress! Friday I got to spend the day with my second mom and my surrogate grandmother. We shoe shopped and had lunch! It was a great day, relaxing, and refreshing. A true blessing from the Lord. Friday night I got to catch up with Mer and Jared over dinner, it was great fellowship. Julia stole the show with her amazing piano performance. Saturday was a great day hanging out with my family and playing with my adorable nephew and the back to Birmingham for Miss Alabama finals. Julia did amazing and placed 2nd runner up for the second year in a row. She was so excited!

We are now looking forward with much anticipation to the arrival of David and Farah, Dax and Cole and the rest of the fam that is traveling across the country and will arrive on Sunday! It will be exciting and wonderful to have the entire Isbell clan in the same state and within 45 minutes of each other

ITS A BOY!!

Well the suspense is over...my sister and her husband had a boy! Early monday morning at 1:22 am, Davis Andrew Brewer was welcomed into this world. It was such an amazing experience to be a part of! The Lord blessed my sister with a fairly mild labor and with a beautiful and healthy baby! I became an aunt of 4 nephews and 1 niece, when Bryan and I got married, but I am so excited to be an "official" aunt of my own sisters little boy!!

you can view pictures at:
www.lorimercer.com/brewer

I love my job

Don't ask me why because most people would hate it, but I love it! Today I spent my entire 5 hours at work typing data into a computer. I spent the last week hauling 1400 patient files up and down a ladder from the attic, putting the numbers into a database. I know the reason I love this job and not because of the actual work...although I don't mind it and it doesn't bore me. I love that I get to spend a lot of time in prayer, I love that I get to pray over each patient by name...even though I don't know who they are or anything about them except they have arthritis. But how cool is it that I prayed for 1400 people that I don't know by name. I love that I get to be a light in a dark place! Today it was very clear to me why I love working in this type of environment. This is the second doctors office job I have had and in every case it was the same....the staff gripes and complains about the doctor and each other. My first day at work I overheard one of the head nurses saying she wished we were more like a family...the Lord pricked my heart and I have since been praying certain things over the office. The ladies I work with all come from difficult situations and don't appear to be walking with the Lord, however, they are hurting and just want someone to genuinely care about them.

I told Bryan that the reason I think I have wanted/like to work in this type of environment is because I have the ability to make the place one of encouragement rather than discouragement and negativity. The doctor needs a supportive staff not one that gripes behind her back....and they all need one another to help them not only through the day but through life. I realize as a believer the power I posses through prayer to change the atmosphere of the office. I look forward to seeing what the Lord does in my time there as He continues to show me how to pray for them and how to be an encouragement to them!

Oh and by the way...I am no longer just a full-time file-clerk I am the medical records person...I like that it sounds more professional than file-clerk!!

Scrubs

So you go into a doctor's office and think to yourself "Man I would love to wear scrubs everyday".
Well, having had this thought many times before...I was excited when I got a job at a daycare and the "uniform" was scrubs. After having worked there for 3 weeks, I hate wearing scrubs everyday. So just in case you thought it would be great to wear scrubs everyday, let me set the record straight...its not as glorious as it looks. I got a new job at a doctor's office and they give me the option of wearing them if I want too since I own 3 sets now. It will be nice on those lazy days when I don't want to spend time picking something out...but for the most part I'm enjoying getting to look "cute" everyday! So just in case you were wondering...scrubs aren't what they appear to be!

Nepal

I miss Nepal...bad. I'm craving Nepali food, to speak Nepali, to wear Nepali clothes, to see the mountains, to get lost because the taxi driver doesn't understand english, to hold my nose so I can't smell the foul smells. I miss it. But more than missing Nepal and its culture...my heart hurts. There are so many lost people there, Nepal remains 1 % christian. I have a friend going this summer and I'm so jealous, I'm ready to pack into her suitcase. There has been such an urgency in my spirit lately about reaching the lost and praying for the lost and unreached. The other night I couldn't stop crying as I tried to fall asleep thinking about the sweet Nepali people who don't know Jesus and serve false gods so devoutly out of fear of them. I'm praying the Lord will open the doors for me and now my husband to return soon. Thanks for listening to me over the last six years tell my stories of Nepal.

The Million Dollar Question

Since making the decision about a month ago not to go on staff with GCM, Bryan and I found ourseleves bombarded by the million dollar question of "what are you going to do now". Deffinately not a bad question, we just didn't have an answer and we might could have gotten at least 100 dollars if we got a dollar for every person who asked us the question =)!! So anyway, if you have been talking to us over the last month, you would know that just about everyday changes the "plan". We walked away from our decision not to go on staff with general direction from the Lord, and peace that specific direction would come, and amazing peace that we were where we were supposed to be! We really felt the Lord wanting us to move away from the Montgomery/Auburn area since this is all we've ever known and have a "fresh" start. So we began looking with what little direction we had. In the past month, Nashville, Colorado, Seattle, and Kentucky have all be considered...we got excited about all of them but yet no peace. A simple phone call changed a lot and we think the lucky state is North Carolina. Since so much of the planning is still in the praying and planning stages, I will leave it at we have peace about moving to North Carolina and the Lord is showing us what He has for us there and we are extremely excited! He is deffinately leading us to places and areas of ministry we never saw ourselves being used! More details will come as I feel that the Lord gives me freedom to share with you! We will remain in Auburn at least until August! So come party at the Payne St. house this summer!!

To Know Him and Make Him Known

Over the last two weeks I have been asking the Lord to give me a mission/vision statement to be kind of my banner or mindset for each day. The other night He spoke this one to me..."to know Him and make Him known". It has been so exciting to see how each day takes on a different form when this is my mindset. I was telling a friend the other day, that I love that it encompasses all of life and not just one facet of ministry. That I can know Him in every second of life and that I have the opportunity to make Him known in every aspect of life. It also helps me from finding my identity in "ministry" which I sometimes do, but instead I long to make Jesus known in any way form or fashion. Over the last two weeks the Lord has begun to stretch me as He is slowly revealing bits of His plan for us. There are ways that He is leading me that I never thought He would use me, but yet I am so excited about the adventure ahead of us.

The other day I was at Target on a hunt for some brown flip flops. I had a pair of brown flip flops for about three years, and last fall when we gave our shoes for hurricane relief, I had those on, needless to say it was a bittersweet experience as they were my most favorite pair of shoes. However, the Lord spoke gently to my heart that the shoes that would replace those would be ones with a neat story. Well, now that its summer time, my need for my brown flip flops has come. Granted I was being very picky, but I wanted brown flips flops exactly like my old ones. Well, I was at target just glancing, hoping they might have something that was similar and what would you know, they did! I was trying them on, and untangling them from other shoes when the lady next to me asked if I liked her shoes and if they fit. We proceeded to talk while looking at shoes and this woman began to pour her heart to me about loosing her husband a year ago and how these last few weeks had been so hard. I walked away from that moment so full of joy that in the middle of target, while looking for shoes I was able to minister the grace, love, and compassion of Jesus to that woman. She was clearly hurting if she poured her heart out to a complete stranger in target. This is the kind of life I want to lead, that on a daily basis, in the midst of daily life, I can make Jesus known to complete strangers in Target! I was also so blessed that in giving my favorite shoes, someones feet were covered, and in finding a new pair of favorite shoes, someones life was ministered too!

Not my will be done, but Your will be done

I have found such freedom and peace in praying such a simple prayer. It is so freeing to place your hands before the Lord and let go of your dreams and desires and whole heartly submit yourself to Him and His plans no matter what they are! As I have walked through this process recently I realized how strong-willed I am. However, at the end of this process after fulling surrendering myself and my dreams to the Lord I couldn't be more at peace and more excited about what He has in store for me and my husband!!! I have more peace now not knowing what the road ahead will hold, but knowing that I am where He wants me, rather than knowing what the road ahead holds and not being where He wants me!

Wedding Pictures

Here's the link to our wedding pictures for those of you who would like to see!

www.johnanderson.com/corwin

Mr. and Mrs. Isbell

So its kinda wierd that I have a different last name now and that a boy lives with me...but i'm getting used to it and deffinately not complaining! I love not having to say goodnight and then good-bye. I'm glad when we say goodnight he stays with me. The honeymoon was great! The smokey mountains are so beautiful! We went hiking and took lots of pictures of rivers and the mountains. For his birthday we went to see the Biltmore Estate...that thing is unreal! It was amazing! Our cabin was awesome! The view was incredible, and it was nice to have a whole week to spend together just the two of us! The wedding was perfect, thanks to all of you who came and blessed us by being there. And those of you who helped clean up all the chairs! We couldn't have asked for a better day! Now the fun is over and I have thank-you notes to write, but I shouldn't be complaining because that means that we got gifts!!! I'm enjoying this being married thing!

4 Days!

Hey guys! Here are the directions for this weekend! If you are coming from Auburn its and hour and a half drive. From Montgomery about 30/45 minutes. I can't wait to see ya'll!

DIRECTIONS:From Auburn take I-85 to Montgomery
Follow I-85 all the way through Montgomery
I-85 will split into I-65Take I-65 south to MobileFollow I-65 South to exit #167(Hgwy80/Selma/Mont.airport)
Follow Hgwy 80 pass the airport-once you pass the airport its 12.9 miles
You will turn RIGHT at the SECOND flashing light(DO NOT TURN AT THE GE PLANT!!)
Turn RIGHT onto Broad Street and follow it until you see the sign for MARENGO PLANTATIONIt's set off the road so you will need to look for the sign
Call if you get lost, however, cell phones don't always work! 334-224-6213

Here comes the bride...

Hey guys! If ya'll want a sneak peak at my wedding dress you can look at my bridal portraits online! Tell me your favorite and if someone picks the one that I choose for my portrait I'll give you a prize!!!!

www.johnanderson.com/kc

Fulmaya...my other half

The Lord has truly blessed me with wonderful friendships. However, I have decided that in order for someone to be a close friend of mine a prerequisit is that they not live in the same city as me(with the exception of Layne who has lived in the same room with me for 3 years!). Of my closest friends, three of them live far away and three live relatively close. However, my other half lives on the other side of the country. Katie and I met six years ago in Texas while we were preparing to go to Nepal for 4 weeks. One of the first things I remember about Katie was that she asked me point blank "what has the Lord been teaching you" and we had only known each other for several days. Katie and I ended up sitting next to each other on every flight from the US to Nepal. By the time we arrived in Nepal we were inseparable and everyone knew who the crazy duo was. Katie truly brings out a different side of me. We are so much alike and yet different. We complement one another very well. As far as friendships go...she really is my other half. Over the last six years our friendship has grown in ways I never thought possible living on opposite sides of the country. We always seemed to be walking through the same situations in life or one of us was going through something the other had just gone through. I can't put our friendship into words and what a blessing it is to hear her voice on the end of the phone.
In one short week I will be picking Katie(Fulmaya is her nepali name) up at the airport! I cannot wait to see her! I haven't seen her in over a year! I'm so excited to have her come and stand next to me as I get married. I'm also excited for her to come simply because a part of my heart is in Nepal and in Seattle and Katie shares in that with me. I feel that she is bringing Seattle to me in some wierd way. Bryan's brother and sister-in-law will arrive next week as well from Seattle and I feel the same way about them. That they are bringing me a piece of my heart that remains there. I know this is really cheesy...but its so true. They are bringing places my heart longs for to me. The anticipation of next week is killing me! I don't even know what to expect but I know it will be more than I could imagine!

"My God shall supply all your need..."

The last couple of months have been a rich season in my life. Upon graduation in December I was "on my own". I have not been a person who had to worry about money, if I wanted something, I usually bought it. My future hubby has come to notice over the years that my impulsive spending sprees are also a part of my flesh. I myself have also recognized that and wanted to tame the impulse. The Lord graciously did that for me. Over these last few months the Lord has provided exactly what I needed when I needed it. There is such a contentment that comes in having just what you need and nothing more. There have been several desires of my heart that the Lord graciously blessed me with through my generous parents during this time. However, I am thouroughly enjoying this growing time in my life where I am content with what I have, and could even possibly get rid of some of the stuff. (I am little concerned as to where all of Bryan's stuff is going to go when he moves in). Its a wonderful place to be, because then when the Lord blesses you with those desires of your heart, that aren't "needs" they are cherished even more. The Lord has also taught me the importance of being a wise steward of his money and really getting a good price on everything.

I was talking recently to a friend who is like a sister to me. The place the Lord is leading she and her husband really challenged me. They feel that they are holding too tightly to some material things the Lord blessed them with at one time. Those blessings were needed and wonderful at one time, but now they feel the blessings are tying them down. They are downsizing in a hgue way and are going to live a much simpler life. It encouraged me to hold the material blessings that I have from the Lord very loosely and to continue to give them back to Him, for He is the blessed giver of all good gifts. In our society, materialism is one of our main idols. I have been caught up in that trap for a couple of years now. I have found in the last few months that there is so much more peace and life, when you have what you need and nothing more. The rest are blessings from our Heavenly Father.

The Lord blessed Bryan and I greatly and met the desires of our hearts above and beyond with our house! I am so thankful to have such a beautiful and wonderful home to open up and have people over, however, I know that HE must always remain my focus rather than my home and what it looks like. I am enjoying this place that I am in...and I'm getting hitched in 14 days!!!!!!!

Faith

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1

"For we walk by faith, not by sight" 2 Corinthians 5:7

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." 2 John 5:14-15

"Faith is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality"

"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believe" Mark 9:23

"With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible" Mark 10:27

The Lord has been teaching me in a very real and tangible way about faith and trusting Him. Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:7 we are called to walk by faith and not by sight. I have pondered lately, what does that really mean. Well when you look at Heb. 11:1 we see that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In calling us to walk by faith and not by sight the Lord is calling us not to look at the reality of our situation, but the ability that God has to work on our behalf. When we look at the reality of our circumstances they seem impossible, but Jesus says, in Mark 9:23 that all things are possible to him who believe. In Mark 10:27, he says that what is impossible for man, is possible for God, because with God all things are possible. What wonderful promises to rest on, that all things are possible for God to him who believes. Jesus calls us to have faith in Him even when the answer is not in front of our face yet. In 1 John 5:14-15 He says that when we pray ACCORDING to His will, we know that He hears us and that we have what we ask of Him *(when we are praying in accordance with His will, not when we are praying for a million dollars just because we want it, its imperative that we be praying in accordance with His will which is His word)* Walking by faith means seeing that the answer to your prayers are already there, even if you don't see them yet. Because faith is the evidence of things unseen. Abraham believed the Lord's promise that he would have son, even though his wife was barren and was ninety years old-that is walking by faith. Believing the Lord over the reality of your situation, and trusting that what looks impossible with man is always possible with God.