I am now back in the States and adjusting to what life looks like here. It is a great feeling to be at home with my family and being able to serve them in the little things. I pray that God will continue to show me the path He wants me to take.
I have learned this past year to trust in Him with each step that I take and He will allow me to walk along His path. God has always remained faithful and there is no doubt in my mind that He will continue to do the same.
I am living in a new States and adjusting to the things around me here. God has placed me right in the middle of all the local school and the church. My prayer is that I can be a Godly example to the youth around me and that He will use me in whatever way He see fit.
I will continue to pray for His leading in the mist of this time. I know He is calling me to Greece but I have to wait on His timing. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord." So right now that is what I have to do; I have to wait on Him.
But I also want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me this past year; in prayers and financially. Both were greatly needed and such a blessing to me. I just pray that you would know what an impact your support has been in my life and those I was so honored to serve. You are a major part of the ministry that is going on half way around the world.
Please be praying for me as I make the commitment to return to Greece to continue the ministry I was a part of.
I love each of you and you all are in my prayers also.
In God's Grace,
Courtney Anding
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Near the End
As time nears to the end my heart is full of mixed emotions. I am overjoyed to return home to my family and the new season God has laid before me, but at the same time sadened by the many people I will be leaving here. God has been molding me into a true woman of God and it is just the beginning of this long process that will shape me into the woman He wants me to be.
I have to live each day ready to learn and focused on Christ being the center of my life. I can not go on in life and try to make things happen in my way and in my time but allow God to be God.
God is drawing my heart to woman and leading women to take the roles that God has given us and to embrace them; not allowing the world to tell us who we are but remembering who God says we are. He created us to be man's helper and to submit to the men in our lives. This word submission is not a negative word like the world tells us, but it is a honor and a blessing to be able to have a Godly man in your life to submit to. I think it is a beautiful thing to see woman being lead by the men. Seeing a woman be able to go to her husband in humility and ask the hard questions. Having a husband who is ready and willing to teach his wife what the Word says. In a marriage I feel that God should be the center not only in their individual lives but also in the union of husband and wife. Christ must be the conerstone, the capstone, the foundation, the mere glue that holds our lives together.
I think God for the men He has put in my life this past year; and allowing me to see that in them. I am surrounded by men who care about the well being of the women around them, who are ready and willing at anytime to talk about Christ with us. I love when they come and ask us what we got out of class or what we think on the topics discussed in class. Conservation here is so meaningful and intentional. Christ centered and Christ focused.
I have learned a lot about who I am and where God is leading me. I do not have all the answers but I have a Father who is leading my path; so there is no reason to worry. He has ordained my steps and paved my walking path. He has went before me to prepare for me and has now returned to guide me. Praise God for His love and grace.
Δοξα στο Θεο
I have to live each day ready to learn and focused on Christ being the center of my life. I can not go on in life and try to make things happen in my way and in my time but allow God to be God.
God is drawing my heart to woman and leading women to take the roles that God has given us and to embrace them; not allowing the world to tell us who we are but remembering who God says we are. He created us to be man's helper and to submit to the men in our lives. This word submission is not a negative word like the world tells us, but it is a honor and a blessing to be able to have a Godly man in your life to submit to. I think it is a beautiful thing to see woman being lead by the men. Seeing a woman be able to go to her husband in humility and ask the hard questions. Having a husband who is ready and willing to teach his wife what the Word says. In a marriage I feel that God should be the center not only in their individual lives but also in the union of husband and wife. Christ must be the conerstone, the capstone, the foundation, the mere glue that holds our lives together.
I think God for the men He has put in my life this past year; and allowing me to see that in them. I am surrounded by men who care about the well being of the women around them, who are ready and willing at anytime to talk about Christ with us. I love when they come and ask us what we got out of class or what we think on the topics discussed in class. Conservation here is so meaningful and intentional. Christ centered and Christ focused.
I have learned a lot about who I am and where God is leading me. I do not have all the answers but I have a Father who is leading my path; so there is no reason to worry. He has ordained my steps and paved my walking path. He has went before me to prepare for me and has now returned to guide me. Praise God for His love and grace.
Δοξα στο Θεο
Monday, April 27, 2009
God Transforming my Life
New adventures in my life have been amazing. God is truly transforming my life in ways I could never have imagined. He is placing things on my heart that I have never even though about.
I have always had a passion for sports and training individuals to become better athletes. God has used athletics in many areas to bless my life and to allow His gospel to be spread.
God is now also placing women on my heart and pushing me to invest in the lives of the women around me. I have learned so much this semester from the women around me and have been blessed to open up to them. God has called me to open up about me life and share the blessing and struggles with these ladies. I have had so many opportunities to share what Chirst is doing in my life with them.
About two weekends ago I attened a sports conference up in Northern Greece where I was invited to play in a sports tournament. This is a huge conference in Greece where all the churches come together to play sports and worship God. I played with a soccer and volleyball team and through this God was teaching me humility. I have never really played soccer and really do not know much about it but God was using this time to teach me many lessons. I have never been on a team and not been one of the top players; and never have I had to sit the bench until that weekend. I was playing next to a girl who played for the national team here in Greece. I learned a lot about soccer and got a lot better but was not a starter by no means. It was so hard to stand on the side and watch my team play and through this time God was continuing to show me what is truly important in my life. I love sports but that does not get me into eternality with my Savior. God has to be my focus and many times in life He came after sports. I have been learning who to use sports to glorify Him and to also stay focused on Him.
God has also been using His word to transform my life. I am working on taking what I have read and learned about the Bible and write it on the tablets of my heart. Once you take the word and place it in your heart then God can use it to combat Satan in your life and also to encourage yourself and others.
Praise God for His redempitve work and continual love.
I have always had a passion for sports and training individuals to become better athletes. God has used athletics in many areas to bless my life and to allow His gospel to be spread.
God is now also placing women on my heart and pushing me to invest in the lives of the women around me. I have learned so much this semester from the women around me and have been blessed to open up to them. God has called me to open up about me life and share the blessing and struggles with these ladies. I have had so many opportunities to share what Chirst is doing in my life with them.
About two weekends ago I attened a sports conference up in Northern Greece where I was invited to play in a sports tournament. This is a huge conference in Greece where all the churches come together to play sports and worship God. I played with a soccer and volleyball team and through this God was teaching me humility. I have never really played soccer and really do not know much about it but God was using this time to teach me many lessons. I have never been on a team and not been one of the top players; and never have I had to sit the bench until that weekend. I was playing next to a girl who played for the national team here in Greece. I learned a lot about soccer and got a lot better but was not a starter by no means. It was so hard to stand on the side and watch my team play and through this time God was continuing to show me what is truly important in my life. I love sports but that does not get me into eternality with my Savior. God has to be my focus and many times in life He came after sports. I have been learning who to use sports to glorify Him and to also stay focused on Him.
God has also been using His word to transform my life. I am working on taking what I have read and learned about the Bible and write it on the tablets of my heart. Once you take the word and place it in your heart then God can use it to combat Satan in your life and also to encourage yourself and others.
Praise God for His redempitve work and continual love.
Monday, March 9, 2009
God's Grace and Intervention in my Life
Throughout this time in my life I have seen over and over God's grace and intervention in my life. He is taking me to a new level of an intimate relationship. Do you know what it means to have a real change in your life. With all the problems we face day in and day out we wonder why things happen to us. Why do we have to suffer and have heartache?
Well my friends that is a great question but the answer is not what you want to hear. Often I have sat and thought about this question and have come to realize that the struggles in my life and the hardships I have encountered are not as bad as I once thought. I am beginning to see real hardships in peoples lives that I never knew existed. I never knew was straight reality. I have been reading some emails from countries in Asia and India. Now these people are facing persecution and I mean real
persecution. They are being bombed in "safe zones"; young kids are gathering their family member's remains and putting them in body bags. They are huddled in ditches hiding from the government. I read these emails and think how selfish I have been wondering way small insuficiant things are happening to me.
I read two articles on the internet; one about a church shooting and another about an 11 year old killing his step mother. What is this world coming to and what are we doing to make a difference? I can not pose what I think is best for us to do but I do know that it is time to really pray about these matters. We need to look beyond ourselves and our lives. We need to look at these countries where there is hunger, depression, and mass killing.
We can even look just outside our own homes and see the evil that is rampant. The devil is alive and working in the lives of those around us. He is trying to work in our lives also. He knows our weaknesses and will come full attack the moment we let our shield down. He feeds us these lies about who we are not and pounds them into our head. Our job is to keep Christ the focus of our life and allow Him to gurad our hearts from allowing these lies into our hearts. Once they get to our hearts we are fulling believing them and have lost all understanding of who we are to Christ; the author and perfecter or our lives.
You may be struggling with your call in life and where you will be in the next season of your walk but one thing will never change. God called us to proclaim the Gospel to all around us. He called us to lift His name up and live our lives in His footsteps.
In Deut. 31:8 it says that God has already went before us, therefore we don't have to be afraid or scared. We should go out with confidence knowing that God has already prepared the way.
Now this has become my prayer that I can be this woman of God that professes His truth and offers His gift with boldness. I need to take Jeremiah 20:9 and make it reality in my life.
Christ came to earth to become a servant and to become like us in all likeness. He did not come with high honors; He came to a lowly manger to live a life of perfection. He suffered in all He did and still reamined faithful to God. Christ gave His life up for us and God raised Him from the dead so that we might have eternal life.
I want to encourage each of you to search your hearts and find your passions. Then use those passions to serve God with great vigor. Use the work He has offer up on your behalf and allow those who have never heard about this miracle maker to experience Him face to face.
I pray that we will stop denying others the opportunity to hear the greatest most transforming news ever spoken. The only changing truth is in the name of Jesus Christ.
Well my friends that is a great question but the answer is not what you want to hear. Often I have sat and thought about this question and have come to realize that the struggles in my life and the hardships I have encountered are not as bad as I once thought. I am beginning to see real hardships in peoples lives that I never knew existed. I never knew was straight reality. I have been reading some emails from countries in Asia and India. Now these people are facing persecution and I mean real
persecution. They are being bombed in "safe zones"; young kids are gathering their family member's remains and putting them in body bags. They are huddled in ditches hiding from the government. I read these emails and think how selfish I have been wondering way small insuficiant things are happening to me.
I read two articles on the internet; one about a church shooting and another about an 11 year old killing his step mother. What is this world coming to and what are we doing to make a difference? I can not pose what I think is best for us to do but I do know that it is time to really pray about these matters. We need to look beyond ourselves and our lives. We need to look at these countries where there is hunger, depression, and mass killing.
We can even look just outside our own homes and see the evil that is rampant. The devil is alive and working in the lives of those around us. He is trying to work in our lives also. He knows our weaknesses and will come full attack the moment we let our shield down. He feeds us these lies about who we are not and pounds them into our head. Our job is to keep Christ the focus of our life and allow Him to gurad our hearts from allowing these lies into our hearts. Once they get to our hearts we are fulling believing them and have lost all understanding of who we are to Christ; the author and perfecter or our lives.
You may be struggling with your call in life and where you will be in the next season of your walk but one thing will never change. God called us to proclaim the Gospel to all around us. He called us to lift His name up and live our lives in His footsteps.
In Deut. 31:8 it says that God has already went before us, therefore we don't have to be afraid or scared. We should go out with confidence knowing that God has already prepared the way.
Now this has become my prayer that I can be this woman of God that professes His truth and offers His gift with boldness. I need to take Jeremiah 20:9 and make it reality in my life.
Christ came to earth to become a servant and to become like us in all likeness. He did not come with high honors; He came to a lowly manger to live a life of perfection. He suffered in all He did and still reamined faithful to God. Christ gave His life up for us and God raised Him from the dead so that we might have eternal life.
I want to encourage each of you to search your hearts and find your passions. Then use those passions to serve God with great vigor. Use the work He has offer up on your behalf and allow those who have never heard about this miracle maker to experience Him face to face.
I pray that we will stop denying others the opportunity to hear the greatest most transforming news ever spoken. The only changing truth is in the name of Jesus Christ.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lessons learned... application in progress...
I am in the process of leaning many lessons from God. He is teaching me truth in this life I live. Many times we think we already know what we are doing and how to do it; but in reality we have know clue. Also we think some concepts are so simple but when we have to apply them we are confronted with great distress. The reality of our life is we see ideas with such a distorted lens. The lies of this world and desires of our heart draw us away from the truths of our mighty and gracious God.
I have been living my life thinking I was doing good and that I was really on fire for God; but how can this be when the fear of telling others about the one true God and the greatest gift one can receive is lurking all around me. I should be on top of the mountain shouting the word of God to all who will hear. I am reminded of this each time I see Mars Hill and think of the message of the unknown God.
Then last night at Bible Study we were studying 1 Peter 1:13-16 which says...
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do ; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. "
These verses are amazing to me because it has great truth and need for application. As children of God we must be obedient; we must prepare our minds for action. So often we conform to the evil in the world and our evil desires; and we forget the one true God.
I pray that I will continue to learn these important lessons in my life and allow God to form and mold me into the woman of God he wants me to be.
I have been living my life thinking I was doing good and that I was really on fire for God; but how can this be when the fear of telling others about the one true God and the greatest gift one can receive is lurking all around me. I should be on top of the mountain shouting the word of God to all who will hear. I am reminded of this each time I see Mars Hill and think of the message of the unknown God.
Then last night at Bible Study we were studying 1 Peter 1:13-16 which says...
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do ; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. "
These verses are amazing to me because it has great truth and need for application. As children of God we must be obedient; we must prepare our minds for action. So often we conform to the evil in the world and our evil desires; and we forget the one true God.
I pray that I will continue to learn these important lessons in my life and allow God to form and mold me into the woman of God he wants me to be.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
In Need
I am getting close to the time I will be back in Greece for my next semester of school and ministry. I have a huge need for the financial support and ask for prayer in this matter. I have many people who have supported me for last semester and made so many things possible for me. God did a huge work in my life and is still working every moment. He is doing some mighty wonders in Greece and I just ask for much needed prayer. First prayer for the people in Greece that they will be open to the word of God. Next for the people ministring to the Greeks that they may have patience and understanding. For my classmates and I that we will be bold in doing God's work. Finally that the money I need to make it through this year will come. I love each of you and I pray for God's blessing on you.
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