See you soon, Goodbye, and Hello

Wow, so I have three and half days until I am in the car driving to Memphis, Tennessee. I never thought that I would move to Tennessee. The surprises God has for us are, well, epic usually. I was meeting with my mentor in January/Feburary and I told her that I wanted to start praying for God to rock my world. Well, He will definitely do just that if you ask for it. :) This past week I finally got really excited about moving because it finally seems real. I have been seeing friends and family that it will be the last time to see for a while. Some people in my life I am blessed to say see you soon and others I am saying goodbye to them. I think that life is kind of crazy in the sense that really there are people in my life now that I may not ever see or speak to again. Luckily I have gone to college in Norman, my hometown, but there are people here that will also be moving away. I have been so blessed in the past couple years to build relationships with people that invested in me and that I was able to invest in, grow in Christ together, and make lasting memories. I have started shedding tears with the see you soons and goodbyes. I know that most of the tears will be shed when my mom gets in her car and leaves me in Memphis. These will not just be tears of sadness but tears of joy, excitement, and some for being scared. I know I should not have fear but it is kind of scarey thinking that I will be alone seven hours away from home. Following these tears will probably be a lot of laughter and hugs and the next step will begin. The hellos... I will be making a lot of new friends in less than a week. I believe we will be more than friends though we will be a family. The environment provided by Memphis Teacher Residency is one that will cultivate lasting life long relationships. I get butterflies thinking about this because I get so shy when I first meet people. As most know I do not stay shy for long, I do like to talk hahaha. David Montague the director of MTR told us during the Spring Selection Weekend "embrace the butterflies". So that is what I am trying to do now with the anticipation of the move. Embrace my butterflies, and enjoy the adventure and surprises set before me. :)

Blessings

My God is such a good God. I feel as though the Lord has been showering me in blessings over the past week. I am so thankful and want to share what He has been doing for my life. (I will start with most recent).

I was lying in bed reading the Bible the other night when I felt directed to go to Philemon. I honestly have never paid much attention to this particular book of the Bible but I turned to it to read. I have found myself taken back with the passage : Philemon 1:4-7

 ⁴ I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. ⁶ I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. ⁷ Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

I have never struggled with having faith in God, but with so many events making moving to Memphis a struggle I was beginning to have doubts and a lot of worries. God knew just how to encourage me at the right time and remind that I have to have faith in Him.

I was struggling with paying my bursar off before moving to Memphis as well. I have talked to a few people in the Bursar's office several times and they seemed reluctant to help. I understood that they deal with a lot of students and a lot of people trying to pay off their schooling. I talked to Janice and she told me she would not be able to release a transcript until my entire bursar was paid off. I told her thank you and hung up. Five minutes later she called me back. She was able to remove service fees and charges from my account lowering the balance to $62! This was such a blessing I can not describe the thankfulness I have for this blessing.

Someone so sweet and generously left an envelope outside my apartment on Tuesday. This envelope had money in it that has helped me tremendously during a time of need. I do not know who it was and cannot thank them enough. I just pray that God will shower them with blessings for their kindness.

Last Monday I found out about being scammed. After a lot of freaking out I went to see my mom at home. She was incredibly calm about the whole situation. She was the most loving and supportive mother ever! She started to laugh and told me she had been given a raise at work that would be effective that paycheck. I cannot help but smile, because God has known from the beginning of time that this would happen. Often we need to experience events to remind us that we cannot walk through this life without Him. He is a powerful God that loves us so much and we need Him.

Overall of these blessings He has given me so much peace. I can only describe as a peace from God. I know without a doubt that moving to Memphis is the right choice and I am beyond thrilled and excited to see all that awaits in Memphis!!!!! All praise and glory be to God my Father!

Praise During the Good and Bad

God is so faithful, good, and constant. I know that no matter what situation in life good or bad He is with me and loves me. I am so blessed to have family and friends that support me in this life. I graduated from OU this past Saturday. It was such a great day where I got to sit next to girls that I have grown close to in the past two and half years. I have been greatly effected by those girls and two guys. They were a group that constantly supported and encouraged one another. A group that during ridiculous class assignments pushed on and completed professor expectations. A group that made themselves available when another was going through a hard time or celebrated with others in the good times. I am truly going to miss everyone so much!

I am finally getting really excited about moving to Memphis. Two weeks from today and I will be making that wonderful 7 hour drive with my mom, little brother, Allison, and Carissa (two of the greatest friends I have ever had). I know that this is where God is called me to be. I have encountered several road blocks along the way that have made me question whether it was the right time for Memphis but I know that Satan will try his hardest to keep us from doing God's will. I will not let Him step in the way. God is the ultimate victor and I will praise His name.

My latest road block has been that I was scammed out of $3,000. I thought I had a girl that would take over my apartment lease since it does not end until May 2012. Well in the process of doing logistical things she sent me a check and asked for the excess amount (after 2 months rent was taken out) to be wired to a person that would be doing the shipping of her things. I tend to be a trusting person and think that all people are doing good. This all happened and three days later my bank called to inform me that the check was not able to be cleared from the other bank. Thus all the money that I had taken out of my account to be wired was not really in my bank and now my account is being charged for all of that money. I was sent into an immediate state of distress because I do not have that kind of money. Then my mom and Carissa brought me back to reality and told me to talk to God. I went through every kind of situation and circumstance I could imagine praying to God but decided I will praise His name! He is my provider and He knew from the beginning of time that this was going to happen. My mom was so good to me when I went to see her. She reminded me that money is just money. I am not going to die, nobody else will die, nor is anyone hurt. Money is just something that comes and goes it is not a relationship that we have any person or God. I am not really sure what is going to happen now. I do know that God will take care of me though. I will still be moving to Memphis. I will have to pay that $3,000 to the bank somehow and look for a new person to take over my lease, but God will help me. I am His daughter and these silly antics that are trying to distract me from moving have no weight in my decision.

Honestly, I think that this makes me more excited about moving to Memphis because I know that God has BIG plans for me or it would all be a breeze moving. Last summer I went to the Philippines for a mission trip. The night before we were supposed to start a youth camp all 11 passports were stolen with $7,000 U.S. dollars. We overcame that situation through Jesus, on the last day of camp all 11 passports were returned to the hostile where we were staying. We had a phenomenal youth camp with those students and Satan was trying to get us down before there was Victory in Jesus' name. I have faith that God will provide for me and I know that He has a plan for me in Memphis.

His love has set me free!

Oh, How He Loves Us

The best feeling in the world is knowing that I have a Father in heaven that loves me unconditionally no matter what I do in life. I have been so blessed to see His unconditional love in my life. There are three different types of love eros commonly known as erotic love strong feelings towards another, philos a love based on friendship, and agape an unconditional love. Some of the best stories I have read in the Bible show God's agape love for his people. He has shown mercy and grace to many because He loved them. I believe He showed this most of all by sending Jesus to save us. His son was handed a life to live that none of us could ever compare to. Then Jesus died on the cross so he could be the sacrifice for our lives. This weekend is Easter thousands of people will go to church that normally do not attend a Sunday service. I believe that God will show people His love through countless sermons this weekend but it is our responsibilty to follow up with His love. What will we do with His love to share it with others?

I have spent a lot of time meditating on His love for me His daughter. I have been through moments within the past week of frustration and stress. Those nights I slept with the feeling of God wrapping his arms around me like I am His precious child that he will take care of.

So, I had the worries about my busar and getting my lease taken over before moving to Memphis in a short five and half weeks. It makes me laugh because I stress and fret as if God did not know how everything would be going for my life. People say His timing is perfect and that is indescribally true. I have been finalizing things with a girl that will be taking over my lease starting the beginning of May. This is a blessing for my lease to be taken over and for me to be able to apply what would be May rent to my bursar. I know that as things are slowly falling into place for me to move my bursar will be paid off before the end of May. I have a test the Praxis II test on April 30th. This test is for Tennessee, I was worried at the beginning of studying for it because it has material from all four main subject areas and I do not remember a lot of the content that is specified to study for the test. This week a peace has resided over me about this test. I know that every move thus far has been of the Lord and He will be with me as I take the test.

He shows His love everyday in the small and big things in life. We just need to take the time to appreciate the small and big. I think that we should take His love and share it with others. We should be selfless with this love it is unconditional and everyone deserves to encounter a love like His.

Listen to this playlist: moriahdendy's Playlist

Bliss in the Battles

I have decided to create a blog because I am on a fast track journey with the Lord to living out my calling. I want friends and family to be able to keep up with me and the life that has been set before me to live. I also want to glorify God is every thing that happens in my life. I want to share all His victories so that people may be encouraged, grow, and be strengthened to share about what the Lord is doing in their lives.

I recently was accepted into a program in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis Teacher Residency (MemphisTR.org) is an organization focused on equipping people to become highly effective teachers in urban areas. I will be living there and getting a Master's degree from June 2011-May 2012. After completion of the Master's program I will be placed into a school to teach. I foresee Memphis becoming my new home. Of course if the Lord calls me to serve Him somewhere I will follow Him.

I learned about the organization after a girl forwarded me an email she received about MTR. I was a little surprised because she knew that I had a heart to serve inner city children but we had not had many conversations about my future. I took time praying over the decision to apply to the program or to finish the full program at OU. I decided I would wait a year to apply because it would be more logical to go in a year. Especially since I was already placed on a mission trip to be an assistant leader to the Philippines. The reality is I was making a decision on my own. I wrestled with this decision because I was not receiving any peace about not applying to MTR. So I finally applied to the program. I was astonished when I had my phone interview I was immediately asked to go to the Spring Selection Weekend in March. I could barely remember the questions in the phone interview and knew the Lord was speaking through me that day. As I took my first trip alone I drove 7 hours to Memphis in March. I am usually a very high strung and stressed out kind of girl. That weekend I can say was  life changing weekend. I have never felt the Lord with me more than I did then. I had so much peace that I cannot describe it nor can I give credit to anything but God. I was extremely calm while I saw other girls going over their lessons again and again. I simply put my headphones in and listened to worship music because I knew I was there for Him that weekend and not me. So within a matter of three days after the weekend I was invited to attend MTR for the class of 2012. This was  a relief just so I knew what I would be doing after graduation. I also knew without a doubt this was the Lord's calling for me to serve him in Memphis.

So, since that phone call I have been in a whirl wind of action preparing for the end of my undergraduate at OU. I had to start sending things to Tennessee for background checks and for enrollment with Union University  which is the University my Masters will come from through MTR.

I hit a small bump earlier this week as I tried to get my transcript. I still owe money with the bursar at OU and they will not let me receive my transcript until it is paid off. This was the beginning of battles to be won by Jesus. So I frantically began to panic. The Lord does not stress nor does He not foresee the events that we will encounter. MTR was so amazing to allow me until the end of May to turn in my transcript based on the situation. I claim this as the Lord having favor and providing for me.

Small bump number two happened last night. I thought that I had my lease covered since it is until May of 2012. The person that was going to take over my lease is now not able to. I realized as I began to worry that this is not of the Lord. Satan will try to detour us from plans God has set before us because He does not want the Lord to have victory. I know that through experience when Jesus has big plans for us there will be many battles to try to throw us off track. I will not let these small curve balls win in my life and I want to share all of God's victories with you!!!