Oh the Places You'll Go: Something Beautiful

Where to begin….This is it…The end has come.

14 weeks has come and gone, and tomorrow morning I will be boarding a plane, along with 47 other APU students, back to the U.S. I want to thank all of you who have prayed, read my blog, left a note of encouragement, and walked with me along this journey, even if only for a short time.

Even though going home feels like the end, with every end there is a new beginning.

There are so many things I could say about the last week here. I could talk about the way Lindsey and I felt so welcomed and loved by our homestay family. I could talk about the Christmas dinner we made (homemade Egg Nogg included). I could talk about our family’s church we went to on Sunday (and I had the privilege of singing my Aaronic Benediction and leading worship for a couple of songs). Or I could talk about the fun our group had when we all dressed up as 80’s teenagers and went bowling in Cape Town (with a McDonald’s ice cream cone run afterwards and a huge medley of Christmas carols sung at the top of our lungs on the bus ride back).

I could talk about the last day of class we had when we were given a chance to share our favorite pictures from the semester and reflect on the things we’ve learned and what the Lord has done in our lives. I could talk about all of these things (and I guess I kind of just did because I couldn’t help myself), but I want to talk about one thing, specifically, and that is the power of Yeshua in us, the hope of glory.

Without Him this semester would have meant nothing, and that’s not an understatement because without Him…there is nothing. That’s just the reality. Apart from Jesus, there is no life at all, but in Him there is LIFE, and life more abundantly than we could ever imagine.

A small yet significantly important detail that goes along with all of this is the fact that, a lot of the time, we don’t choose life. Every morning, every day, every moment, we are given a choice. That choice is life or death, and depending on the choice I make, my moments will either be filled with His spirit or they will filled with my own fleshly thoughts and desires. Life is hard, but God is good, and being in South Africa has revealed that truth like no other situation or setting could have. A life lived for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of others is the only kind of life worth living. My life is not my own and my time here is short…Who knows if I even have tomorrow?

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” How am I supposed to walk in any of those works if I’m not walking with Him? For within myself nothing good dwells, but in Him I am made righteous and transformed with a new mind and a new self (Eph. 4:17-24).

As I bring my last blog to a close, I want to leave all of you with the same encouragement left to us this morning by Reg. Our God is a God of second chances. Not only of second chances, but of third, fourth, fifth…well, you get the picture. His compassions fail not, and His mercies are new every morning. No matter the struggle, no matter the stumbling, no matter how far we wander, He is always there calling us back to Himself.

Jeremiah 15:19 says, “If you return, then I will restore you.” That is a promise, and God is faithful to keep His promises. He is a God of restoration and healing, and only He has the power to take what’s been broken and make it into something beautiful. So what are you waiting for? Give your life to Him—entirely. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it” (Luke 9:24).

“Like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hand” (Jer. 18:6) Shape me. Mold me, Jesus. Make me more like you. Leaving South Africa that is my prayer for myself and for all of you, both now and forever.

May the God of all peace be with you.

Shalom ya’ll!!

Misha