R U READY?

Yes, that is a real license plate. And what's better about it is that it was the license plate of the truck we road tripped it in up to Ely, MN for our Boundary Waters experience. With primarily Boundary Waters on my brain, I  was so excited when I got there and saw that and thought, "Oh yeah, I'm ready for this!!"How could I not be? I would traveling with a great group into some of God's most beautiful creation. I was more than ready for that. But, last night as I was thinking about some recent changes in my life, "R U READY?" took on a different meaning and probably a more accurate meaning of what the driver had in mind when he chose that for his plates.

One of my prayers for preparing is that God really challenges me. I want to be completely broken and humbled. I am about to serve in a country with widespread unemployment and the second lowest per capita income in the Americas. I want to connect with these people. I want to show them I can relate to their struggles on some level and the Savior brought me through them all. But, with if my greatest struggle in life was that I couldn't find my socks one day? That's not much to share. So, the Lord being awesome, has answered my prayer and put this into action. I'm going on Day 4 of unemployment. I was let go from my job Monday without any warning and with not much reason either. To be honest I couldn't help but almost smile because I knew God his hand in it and He's got a plan up the road that I can't see yet...but I trust He has something in the works. I was a little bummed becasue I was banking on this job for savings and support for the next 5 months but I know He will provide and He already has through babysitting jobs. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him ~ Romans 8:28 but I am sure things will get tight eventually and being that I am human, I will be tempted to be upset, impatient, and discouraged and forget God's promises. So I ask please for your prayers that I will stay patient and  faithful to God's plan for me, that He will provide support for this missions trip, and that I will use this "free time" wisely to grow, prepare, and just talk more with God and others.

So, AM I READY?

Am I ready to FULLY trust and rely on the Lord? Am I ready to be patient? Am I ready to suffer? Am I ready to live my life for Him? Am I ready for His return?

Yes, I am Ready!  And with the Holy Spirit living in my I will  continue to grow and  desire to become more ready...because the Lord knows I'm no where near perfect. I don't just get to sit around and wait until he comes. So bring on the growth because it's been awhile since I've had a growth spurt and growing pains!! ;)

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. ~ Romans 7:18-20. But, if God is for us, who can be against us? ~ Romans 8:31    No one. No one and no struggle is too big or too hard for God to handle. Give all your pain, sufferings, and worries to Him. Let's live our lives (that He gave us) for Him. He will provide!

R U READY?

Love,

Teani

Prayer Request:

1. I will stay patient and  faithful to God's plan for me
2.  He will provide support for this missions trip
3. That I will use this "free time" wisely to grow, prepare (for Nicaragua and the Lord's return), and talk more with God and others.

 To partner with me and help support my trip in January visit https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund&desc=For Teani Gildenzoph

or by mail You can send a check payable to Adventures In Missions and return the response card (the link for the response card can be found at the bottom) with your donation to Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA, 30353-4470. The response card will provide AIM with the information necessary to send you a receipt for your donation

Support Card Link https://www.adventures.org/mystuff/mobilization/documents/support_card.asp?AIMBB_Accounts_ID=22066 please print, multiple will print, only one is necessary, though you can share them with others who would like to give as well.

THANK YOU! :)

Acknowledge me!

God has certainly blessed the last 10 days of my life! Actually everyday is a blessing...he keeps me breathing and he doesn't even have to do that. But, he gave me an incredible opportunity and gift to go up to the Boundary Waters to enjoy His Creation with a group of brothers and sisters in Christ. Out of the 6 others on the trip, I kind of knew one. God really used that time to allow us to get to know each other and become so close..I feel like I've known them forever now and I love having these new friends in my life! They are definitely an answer to my prayers and I can't wait to see how the Lord plans to use us in each others lives. Spending time with them was definitely the highlight of my trip. Thank you guys! :)

We had so many good times and memories and laughs!!! Oh my goodness, I've never laughed so hard, so often!! (Thank you AP ;)  ...haha love you)  One of our reoccurring jokes was "acknowledge me!" You know when, most likely, your mom or dad says something to you that doesn't necessarily require a response so you don't? And then next thing you know they're yelling "Acknowledge me!" Yeah...we've all been there and at least heard it, if not said it ourselves. Well ours came about jokingly as we were talking across the lakes paddling in our canoes. We would be trying to give directions, ask questions, or just get another canoe's attention and then...nothing. Not even a head turn. So us 3 girls in the canoe turned to each other and said, "Huh, I kind of feel like my mom." (Not that moms are the only ones that do it) So, next thing you know we were yelling out "Acknowledge me!" with a laugh and smile behind it, of course. And that usually did work and we'd get a "Huh?" or a "What?"

Every morning, after breakfast, we also went to our own quiet spots to spend some time praying and listening to God and spending time in His Word. It was so awesome to be in the wilderness with the sun shining, a light breeze, blue skies and big white clouds, birds chirping and eagles flying overhead (*disclaimer: this weak description is a poor representation of the beauty I just spent so much time in). There were no interruptions, no "pressing" matters, no distractions (phone, Facebook, etc.). It was AWESOME! I really looked forward to what I was going to hear from God each day without worrying about  a million other things that were on my mind and that I have to do today.  Unfortunately, that isn't something I can say that I do daily here at home. For instance, as I right this and I am preparing to go spend some time with the Lord in a few minutes, I am thinking about all that I have to get done yet today (shower, look presentable, get to work on time, take care of my smelly wet clothes and gear from the trip, be kind to my brother as he is talking to me at slightly inconvenient times and about to leave in less than a month for the Marines [I'm super proud of him and love him so I try to make time for him when he has time for me ~ please pray for him as he prepares to leave on Aug. 8th ] and other things). On our car ride home, our trip leader really challenged and encouraged us to make that time for the Lord.  To make that time to spend in His Word. So, I am prayerfully starting this daily journey to make and protect my time with the Lord. I will have to work at it because I know Satan will do what he can to disturb my time with the Lord. But with the Lord's help it is do-able and I am prepared to sacrifice some of my worldly things to spend time with a loving, ever-lasting God.

During the week, he also challenged us to go to the Lord for everything...even the little things. He told us that he was working on a job and couldn't find a tool that he really needed ( I believe. Hopefully I don't butcher this story too much). He looked all over the job site and asked another guy if he had seen it. The guy working on the job said he had not seen it but said, " Did you ask the Lord?" So he said alright, "Lord, where is (such-and-such) tool?" He turned his head and there it was. He spent all that time searching for it himself and when he acknowledged he was unable to find this tool himself and he acknowledged his need for the Lord, the Lord provided!! Amen. 

That is all the Lord wants. He was us to acknowledge Him. Acknowledge Him as our Savior, our Creator, acknowledge our need for Him, accept His gift of grace. He is reaching out to every one of us everyday through His creation, His Word, answered prayers, friends in our lives, providing our basic needs and providing much more than we need. Acknowledge Him!! Go to Him...in hard times, good times, for the big things and all the more for the little things! Don't limit yourself to only acknowledging Him some of the time, when you need somethings, things are hard, or only once a week. Acknowledge Him all of the time! Because he always acknowledges you.

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

...A righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. (Psalm 112:6-8)

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:5-6)
 
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)

Sunset on Lac La Croix, Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area - What an awesome gift from The Creator! And He let me bring it home to share in picture form. :) 

How awesome and reassuring. So why not acknowledge our Savior, our Creator, our God? All he wants is to give us His love. He is acknowledging each one of us everyday before even begin to speak. What do you have to lose?! What more we have to gain!

Good News!!! (not THEE Good News..but still, I've got good news)

Finally, here it is...my first post! I'm really excited to get this going and start writing so that I can share the good news and work that God has given to me. Then I can keep you informed throughout this journey! So, without further ado.....

Well maybe a little more ado so just I can get everyone up to speed on how I got here.

Once, about 20 years ago, I was born!! YAY! Okay, just kidding, I won't go into details about that so please keep reading. Hopefully I haven't scared anyone. This is a family-friendly blog. :) (But, really I was born 20 years ago...so I am a real person on the other end of this post)

So, for real now.

Where to really begin?? The last year or so has just been crazy. God has put this intense FIRE in me to serve Him. And since December I have been really thinking about missions. I just really wanted an opportunity to be completely broken and humbled. I wanted to  see and experience a different part of the world where God is less known, less available.

Now let me clarify "available" because God is always with us as He tells us in Matt. 28:20 "....And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". So anytime, day or night he is with us and there for us. So, here in America God and His Word are available to us 24/7 on the internet, tv channels, the radio, and libraries are filled with books on Christian topics. In our towns and cities, I think you would easily find 5 or more churches within walking distance with Bible studies offered most days. And on top of that, (1) we can afford Bibles and (2) we can buy them day and night from the internet, book stores, Dollar General, and even Walmart!!!! So for us Americans, we are EXTREMELY blessed and priveleged. Our God has provided an incredible amout of availability and accessiblity and FREEDOM to Him, His Word, His people. The resources are endless here. And to be honest, with all of that readily available to us, its a shame we don't walk a little straighter (me included, I'm not here to put you all down). It's a shame we aren't burning with intense passion to share His Good News, especially with those who don't know the Lord at all!!!        Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.   Think about it, think about how different and more wonderful your life is with Jesus. Think about all the hard times where He was with you every step of the way, pulling you through, pulling you closer to Him, where He just held you. Now think about all the good times in your life where He has just blessed you when you needed and even when you didn't. When He just wanted to say, " I love you." Okay, so I think we get. We in America, are extremely blessed.

Now,  imagine for a minute having NONE of that. Not knowing God...He who is the most loving, righteous, trustworthy, caring, perfect, etc. What if you didn't know your creator? You didn't know who to turn to for real comfort? For real answers? For real purpose? Imagine having no safe place to worship with other believers. Imagine not even having access to Bible on your own because (a) you can't afford it, (b) its not offered in your language, (c) you can't read, (d) its just not sold in your stores,(e) you don't have a library or church that offers them. Imagine having none of what we have. Sad. And we have an abudance of it all. Sure we share and we give...but lets be honest we all have more to give.

Atleast, I really feel the need to give more. And that's not just sitting comfortably in my house giving money. I want to give more effort, time, energy, love. I want to use my talents more for the Lord. So, many people have given me more and helped led me to the Lord. They are incredible, incredible people. Some have done studies with me, invited me to church, just spent time with me (lunch, dinner, walking, fires), saying "Hi" and asking me genuinely how I am doing and all the while sharing the love of Jesus with me and just being awesome friends. I am incredibly moved by them and grateful for their love and time. So, I want to go and share the Gospel and love others like I have been loved.

So with all that going on inside me and the Lord drawing me closer, I really felt I was being called to the mission field. I just felt that this stuff was too good to keep to myself! I didn't know what kind of mission or where it would be but I felt pretty certain about going into missions ...and if you know anything about me, I'm not to certain about too many things. So it was a very peaceful place to be for me. And not knowing right away where I'd be going or the type really has challenged me and shown me my need to be more patient and faithful to the plan God has for me. Because if you know anything else about me...well I'm impatient too. Areas in which to grow, everyone has them :) ..right??! So after months of praying, learning to be MORE patient (still a work in progress), looking at applications for different colleges and mission organizations, talking with friends and family and waiting......God faithfully answered my prayers and is leading me to Jinotepe, Nicaragua.

I came across an organization online - Adventures in Missions. I will be heading down with a group of about 25-30 college age with Adventures in Missions: Real Life (adventures.org) . The trip is 4 months from January 13th to May 9th. http://www.adventures.org/trips/mission-trips.asp?locID=193&tripid=4257   <--------Check this site out. It will take you directly to my trip page. The first 4 days of the trip, we will spending in Gainsville, GA at the AIM headquarters for training and team building. Then from there we will fly down to Nica and be meeting up with a missionary family (Glenn and Lynne Schweitzer, pastors and missionaries from Maryland) that lives in Nica and runs a Hotel (Casa Mateo http://www.hotelcasamateo.com/english/home.html). We will be assisting them with their ministry in Jinotepe and the surrounding slums and staying at their hotel. The total cost for this missions opportunity is $4400 (covers airfare, food, lodging and transportation and gives you a ministry budget)  plus additional expenses (passport renewal, flight to and from GA, international insurance).

So I would love your prayers! My prayer needs will be changing over the next 6 months as I prepare...but what I need now (and some of these will be ever constant needs) are:

1. An increase in understanding of the character of God and a growing love for Him
2. To ween myself from the world and its values and prepare myself and live only for what will last for eternity.
3. Faith that God will provide financially
4. Self discipline to spend time in the Word.
5. Preparation culturally (I'm attempting to become a decent spanish speaker and learn about their culture so that I can connect with them and build better relationships).

God has promised to answer prayers If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.Matt. 21:22 so I have faith that he will provide for me for this trip (though I'm also looking forward to how he will test and grow my faith along the way).

I would love for you to be apart of my prayer team and by following my blog, this is a great way to keep up on prayer needs and also be apart of this trip with me. You can actually subscribe by email to my blog ....there is a blank bar with a button after it that says "submit" at the top of my blog page. If you have facebook, I'll try to keep them posted there too. Share this with your friends and family too!! The more the merrier :) Friend me on Facebook (if we aren't already) and I'd be happy to talk more about the trip with anyone and answer any questions and give you my personal phone and email address if you'd rather talk that way.

I don't have all the trip details nor have I met any of my teammates yet. That should be coming within a month or so. It is kind of early for this trip. And eventually I'll be added to a team blog that I'll start using in January so I'll be able to keep everyone posted while I am there.

Wow, this is becoming a far longer post than expected. Sorry I'll try to trim them down after this ..I just have so much to say!

Finally, please read this and then pray about it! Because I would appreciate your financial support as well. If you feel the Lord  is moving you  to partner financially with me, awesome...if not, that is just as awesome. There are many ways to be apart of this journey with me and financially isn't the only way! This financial support can be given as a one-time gift or as monthly donation, wherein you choose the amount and beginning and end date. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

You can send a check payable to Adventures In Missions and return the response card (the link for the response card can be found at the bottom) with your donation to Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA, 30353-4470. The response card will provide AIM with the information necessary to send you a receipt for your donation.

You may also choose to donate online at https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund&desc=For Teani Gildenzoph   It'll ask for participants full name, so please put "For Teani Gildenzoph". And then you can also choose the start date and reaccurance.

If you have made it this far, Thank you for sticking with me!! I really appreciate it. I look forward to being able to continue to share with you. I can't wait to see how God will work in my life and use me to work in the lives of others. I hope to be a blessing to those I will serve in Nicaragua and also to you! Thank you in advance for your support as I am truely honored to be a representative for this area to share Jesus Christ with Nicaragua. May God bless you as you prayerfully consider partnering with me in this ministry.

Love,

Teani

*Support Card Link https://www.adventures.org/mystuff/mobilization/documents/support_card.asp?AIMBB_Accounts_ID=22066     please print, multiple will print, only one is necessary, though you can share them with others who would like to give as well.

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