So lovely—so untouched, completely available to be taken in
the direction of your choosing and ready, hoping, to be used for something of
the greater good.
I have this thing where I always carry a notebook with me. I
have even been known to write on sticky notes, and then stick the sticky note
to my cell phone! There’s something about the classic style of pen and paper
that calls out and infects you with inspiration. And needless to say, I don’t
really use my iPhone’s “Notebook” feature to its full potential.
While in the Dominican Republic this summer, I had the
opportunity of working alongside three lovely ladies. We all enjoy stationary
perhaps a tidbit too much so when adorable “No Stress” notebooks were
introduced to a couple of the ladies on a shopping trip, it became a “we all
need matching notebooks!” scenario. They were even all sneaky about it—asking
me which one I liked without me even knowing they were going to get me one.
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| From L to R: myself, Carina, Joy & Kelly. Notebook buddies! |
Aside from the beautiful goodbye letters written by Kelly
and Carina to me in this notebook, it was left untouched until recently. One
main reason is that a notebook such as this, with its history of love and
surprise, needs to be used for something special. Not just any old rambling and
doodling, but something of meaning and as world changing as the lovely ladies
who bought the notebook as a gift.
The contents of this notebook now contain notes from the
epic and life-changing book “Godspeed” by Britt Merrick.
Godspeed is about living out Christ’s mission right now.
It’s filled with brilliant information regarding what our mission is, where our
mission field is (anywhere and everywhere) and how we can actively share the
gospel in proclamation and demonstration each and every day of our lives. It uses stories from the Bible, Britt
Merricks own life (most of which involve his daughter Daisy and her battle with
cancer) and the stories of those he knows personally or who have shared on a
website dedicated to sharing stories at MissioChristi.net.
When I arrived at the very first portion of the book I
deemed necessary to make a point of remembering I had the thought of “should I
highlight this book, or should I take notes?”. Highlighting passages in an actual
book is a very foreign concept to me. I don’t know if, to this day, I have ever
done such a thing other than possibly in a textbook in college. In my short 25
years of life, highlighting a book doesn’t seem to be a thing I do. Call me old
fashioned, but I like to keep a book in pristine condition. I also don’t like
swaying an individual’s perception—imagine myself lending this book to someone
all marked up? They would immediately know my revelations and I would dislike
for my points of high importance to influence what really speaks to them. Highlighting
was out, taking notes was in—The ‘No Stress’ notebook has found its time to
shine.
The very first noteworthy passage is a quote I have come to
absolutely love;
“Yes, God calls us to relieve suffering and bring about justice- absolutely. But God and His glory must be the driving force for this mission, not the plight of humanity.”
This quote was life changing. As a self-described
humanitarian who is dedicated to living a life serving others, this concept in
plain wording made my heart feel challenged and excited about pursuing Christ
more in the way I help people.
Page after page of Godspeed was noteworthy. I almost felt
like I could just re-write the entire book. Have you ever read a book like
that? Where you feel every passage is a golden nugget you need to remember?
Where the turn of every page reveals even more revelations and things that just
make you think? Welcome to Godspeed.
Some of my favourite notes that I find worth sharing with
you (as they may change your life, inspire you, and encourage you to read the
book!) are as follows:
- Expect great things from God; Attempt great things for God.
- Look at the purpose for which Christ called you: He can use your life, your gifts, your talents, your occupation, your likes, and your preferences, even your flaws- the person He made you to be- to bear fruit for His kingdom. God has chosen you to bear fruit for His glory in this world!
- The less opportunity we have to talk about Jesus, the more opportunity we have to be like Jesus!
- Now more than ever, compassion is in fashion.
- God is strategic. And we need to begin to see ourselves as strategically sent by God to our present time, place, context and people. We are God’s mission strategy.
- Every time the Bible mentions prayer, it talks about people, situations, circumstances, forces of wickedness and their influence, cities and even nations Changing!
- The more we pray, the more we gain the heart of God for the world!
These are just a FEW tidbits from the book. Some of these
quotes left me feeling inspired as I wrote them down, others made me think and
question my actions and others I was left feeling like ‘whoa’ (insert
Compassion is in fashion and the passages that followed). I just finished the
book and re-reading the notes makes me want to read the book again. My final
note from the book is this:
"We can do so much more than we even realize."
Let that thought sink in and really think about your life;
your current situations, where you live and work, those you interact with on a
daily basis, the dreams you have and the things you can see yourself doing in
the future. All these things, when partnered with prayer, can lead you to a
place of furthering God’s kingdom in ways bigger than you could ever imagine.
God has bigger plans for you than you could ever have for yourself. Take some
time to pray and seek for your next step. Find a notebook and write down what
you feel God calling you to do. What your next steps are might seem small but
they will lead to great things! Put those steps into action and continue to see
what is next!
God’s plan for your life is a page-turner of a book that
will leave others filling pages of notes and wanting to re-read again and
again. God is waiting—you are guaranteed to live a life that is note-worthy.
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| Pages and pages of notes! |
What books have been especially note-worthy to you and why?
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