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Posted in This Life
by Amy Vogt
on 8/26/2008
When I look back at this summer, it has gone by so much faster than I ever would have thought. I remember when it was May and I thought that August was never going to get here; September felt like years away. I felt like the entire summer was simply taking it's time coming and going- and now, it's less than two weeks before I leave. Wow.
I'm so very excited for this trip. I can't wait to board the plane to Georgia, meet my teammates, and then finally all head down to Nicaragua. But I've also been realizing that by going down there I have to leave here. And I'll admit it's bittersweet. I have an amazing family and friends here. {I'm going to miss all of you}
I always find it interesting how time sometimes feels like it drags on forever while other times it just flies by. I wish that these few weeks would slow down. I still have things to do, people to see... I feel as if I have to physically slow myself down to slow down everything around me. (Does that even make sense?) It's not that I don't want the trip to come- it's simply that I want to LIVE these last 2 weeks as much as I can. Not simply rush through them.
Also, with the reality of the trip coming up is the reality of support. My support has been a huge blessing- people have been so generous with prayers and monetary support. However, I still have a need of around $1500 to have my entire trip paid off. I would ask again that people pray about supporting me financially.
These next two weeks are going to go fast I'm sure. It's going to be September 8th and I will wonder how it came so fast. So, since I want to make the most of my time here, I'm going to end this, get off the computer and spend time with my sisters.
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Posted in This Life
by Amy Vogt
on 8/15/2008
There's something about rainy days. Something that makes me wish they came around more often. Maybe it's the fact that a rainy day gives me a reason to curl up with a blanket and read a book or pop in an old movie and let the day pass me by. Maybe it's because the rain is spontaneous and it's constantly changing- raining harder, softer, a flash of lightning. Maybe it's due to the song "Grace like Rain" and the image that brings to mind, of the rain washing everything away. But one thing I know for certain, with rainy days comes a desire for Chinese food. Chinese food and rainy days are a perfect combination- one that I was able to enjoy today.
I was driving to meet up with my sister at Panda for Chinese, seeing the fog cover the mountains and listening to the rain hit my car. Natasha Bedingfield's song "Pocketful of Sunshine" was playing and wasn't holding my attention so I decided to entertain myself with thinking of what other things in life I thought complemented each other (random? definitely).
One of the things I thought about was how I love action movies. It's something I got from my dad and brother growing up. And then I realized that even though I love action movies, an action movie with Jason Statham is absolutely my favorite! It's like with the Chinese food and rain- a rainy day by itself is great, I love them. But with Chinese it's soooo much better! And Chinese food not eaten on a rainy day is still good but just is amazing on a rainy day. An action movie is always fun for me to watch--- and I've seen Jason Statham in a role or two not in an action movie, he's good but not as great as in an action movie. They just fit together.
Another thing that popped into my mind right after action movies and Jason Statham is that I love books. Specifically mystery books. They challenge me to read the entire book, to not skip to the last page to read the ending, and to try to figure out the mystery myself. So of course I'm trying to think of something that complements a mystery book... Reading it by a fireplace? No. Reading my favorite author? Definitely nice, but still no. And then, I realized that best complement for reading a mystery book was to have that book be Christian. To have God throughout the story. It was as simple as that. The best complement was God. And of course my mind goes "Well, duh! God should be in everything you do!"
And then I thought about, if it was so simple to have God in everything, how was it I so easily overlooked it? And I thought back over all these combinations of items and realized that even though these all were perfect complements of each other, the complements didn't just occur. I have to choose to go get Chinese food on a rainy day- it doesn't just appear. I have to look through alot of action movies to find one that has Jason Statham in it- it doesn't just jump off the shelf into my arms. And I have to search and find a mystery book that is Christian. Same with putting Christ in every area of my life. Even though I'm his child and I'm trying my best to follow His call- I still have to choose to put Him in all parts of my life. I have to work at keeping Him there and not getting sidetracked. It's a struggle. There's opposition everywhere. It's not impossible, just harder than I thought. But, I know where I am weak, He is strong. This is one of the areas in my life I want to work on during this trip- because I know that by putting Christ in every area of my life, He will work more wonders than I can imagine.
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Posted in Trip Information
by Amy Vogt
on 7/20/2008
I've realized that some of you coming to this blog don't really know what the blog is for. Well, to explain that, let's go back to this past Christmas…
Over Christmas, I was talking with my sister-in-law about possible trips I was thinking of going on. She mentioned an organization called Adventure in Missions (AIM) and a mission trip called the World Race. I was intrigued. I looked into the trip and found that you have to be 21 to go on the trip- at that point I was still 19. Also, I chose to take this past spring semester off of college. I wanted some time to get things in order, try to figure out where God was calling me to next- (I knew He called me to missions, just didn't know when or where). Around March, I had figured that I would go back to school in the fall and that the following fall (after I was 21) I would go on the World Race. That was my plan. One day, an email from AIM showed up about a First Year Mission (FYM) trip in Nicaragua. It caught my attention… but I kind of stashed it away in my mind. Thought I would maybe go on the trip after the World Race. I got in touch with a representative at AIM and she was gracious enough to answer all the questions I had about the World Race. One day, she called me to talk and asked if I had thought about going on any of their other trips, specifically the FYM trip to Nicaragua. That phone call was around 9:30 in the morning and I wasn't able to shake the thought of Nicaragua for the rest of the day. By the end of the day, I had talked to my best friend, sister and parents about it and they all suggested that I should at least apply for the trip. I applied and left it to God. I figured that if He wanted me to go, He would open the door. A week later, the door opened.
So now, I'm leaving in the beginning of September to go down to Nicaragua for 9 months. This trip is made up of 2 parts- the first is called The Awakening. It's going to be a time of daily worship, bible studies, discipleship and ministry as a team. It's going to be intense and a huge growing time for all of us on the team. Also during that time, we will be praying and finding out where God will lead each of us personally for the second part- The Outreach. During this part, we will each have a ministry we will be working with, whether it is a hospital, orphanage, school… From January to May, we will work with these ministries. We don't know a lot of details about what we will be doing down there. All of us are simply following Christ's call. We will be coming home in between The Awakening and The Outreach around Christmas.
To state it simply, I could never imagine going on this trip without Christ. And I'm so blessed and excited that He has called me to this adventure! If you have any more questions about the trip, please ask me!
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Posted in This Life
by Amy Vogt
on 7/19/2008
One of my favorite places to hike around here in the Springs is Garden of the Gods. If you've been there, you know what a beautiful place it is. I like wandering around it, trying to find a new view of the the world around me, usually from the top of a boulder. There's one spot I love going to most, called the Siamese Twins. There are different rock piles around that I scurry around and climb up... and then I usually just sit there and think. I love those places. I thought I had found some of my favorite spots in Garden of the Gods. Then today, a friend and I went on a hike around there. We went to "my" rock formations and wandered around... And then we kept going. Farther and farther away from where I usually stayed. The spots where I would just sit, just me and God. I love those spots. But the farther I got from those places, the more I saw. We kept hiking, going higher and higher. Some of the hills we went up were really hard. I would simply keep walking, pushing myself to keep going, knowing if I stopped it'd be harder to start again. When we got to the top we would take small breaks and then get ready to tackle the next hill we saw. And that's how it went. We finally came along this ridge where we saw an amazing view of Kissing Camels (that's another rock formation). We stood there for a minute, just looking at it. I started realizing that the entire hike was worth it just to see this view. I didn't know that there was a view like that in Garden of the Gods. Everything else I had seen was beautiful... but this was breathtaking.
Later driving home, I realized that's how my life is right now. I'm sitting in a spot where God feels so close and it's someplace that I love. It's someplace that I'm comfortable going to. But, I don't want to settle for that place anymore. I want to go past it. I want God to take me farther, deeper, higher... I want to see more of Him. Cause I know when I get there, it will be beyond my wildest imaginations. But I also know that to get there won't be easy. I'm going to have to give up control of my life. I'm going to have to persevere through hard times and then take a breath and get ready for the next one. I'm going to have to lean on my friends and family for encouragement. But ultimately, I'm just going to have to believe that God is truth and that He will lead me where I need to go. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 ~ "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." It encourages me to know that God knows where I'm going to end up. And that's all I need to know. That and the reality that anywhere He takes me is going to be... awesome.
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Posted in Trip Information
by Amy Vogt
on 7/11/2008
So, I just found out the address that you can send letters to while I'm down in Nicaragua.
Amy Vogt
In Care of Charles & Sarah Kaye
Apartado 123
Granada, Nicaragua
Now, that's only letters. I guess you can't send packages because they will disappear. Don't ask me how. But they will. In fact, Charles Kaye said that there is very limited mail service and that nothing larger than a regular size letter will get thru.
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Posted in Trip Information
by Amy Vogt
on 7/8/2008
For those who wish to support me financially, if you look to the left of my blog page, there is a tab under the main menu section that says "support me." This is probably the easiest way for you send support. If you wish, I can send you the sheet- for that, just email me your address. However, just by clicking on "support me", you are able to do electronic transfers and save the hassle of mailing in a check.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting me (whether in prayer and/or money) on this trip!
AMY
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Posted in This Life
by Amy Vogt
on 7/6/2008
So, yesterday I went whitewater rafting with my family for a late father's day gift to my dad. At 9:30 in the morning, my dad, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and I piled in a car and drove up into the mountains. The ride was uneventful--- nothing fell off of the car and we all made it there safely. Everyone was talking about how excited they were to being doing this! I was saying that too, trying to convince myself I was. Let me explain...
The last time I went whitewater rafting was around 5 or 6 years ago. The trip was going really great! Getting hit by the waves, enjoying the rush. Then, I decided to move to a front position in the raft. Basically, within a minute of that seat change, I was in the water. And of course, our raft was headed for some small rapids right at that moment. The safety talk they had given us was basically "Stay in the water, we'll come get you." Yeah, I didn't do that. Didn't really feel like going over rocks- so I swam toward the shore and climbed out. But then the raft didn't totally stop so I ended up jumping back in and then swimming to them. ( I realize I probably should have just stayed out of the water- oh well) When I got in the raft, the guide then proceeded to yell at me about how I didn't follow procedure. And then I started crying. And that was my experience. Needless to say, not the most positive.
So this trip, I was somewhat apprehensive the whole time. Visions of me falling out of the raft kept playing in my head and I feared it would happen again. I realize that falling out of a raft is not the most dangerous thing ever and I've probably been in worst situations- for some reason though, this one intimidated me. My family was really great, making sure I was comfortable the whole time. When we finally got in the raft, everyone gave me a smile and kind of a "Are you okay?" look. At first I felt like I just needed to get through the trip. Just survive it. But then I actually started to enjoy myself! It was an amazing journey, floating down a river, surrounded by God's creation. There were definitely some times when we went over some rapids or rammed into a huge wave that I was all I could think was "God keep me in this boat, please, please, please..." After we finally got off the river and in the bus, it finally hit me that I survived the trip without falling out. And I was so relieved that I just felt all the tension in my body get released.
I might go rafting again; I might not. Only time will tell. This trip was definitely an amazing experience and I'm so glad that I did it! It was encouraging to be reminded that God is with us no matter the circumstance. We ended the day at On the Border, telling the adventure of the day to my mom and little sister, all of us exhausted and happy.
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Posted in This Life
by Amy Vogt
on 6/29/2008
Is it too simple to say I believe because there is nothing else I can do? There’s a song by Joy Williams that says:
“I believe in You, and nothing less
I believe in You, can't help myself
You're all the hope, the reason that I need
I believe in You just because
I don't need no one to prove Your love
For all that I have seen
It's easier for me to believe in You”
Having the knowledge that no matter what happens in life, God is in control is enough for me. Sometimes what He’s doing or where He’s leading me doesn’t make sense. Sometimes all I can see is the surface of his plans- like overlooking a wooded area. You see the trees and the colors, however, you don't know what it truly contains until you're down in the woods, wandering around and discovering all it has to offer. The unknown is the blessing. It’s added mystery and excitement in this life where things can easily become monotonous. I wish I could say that I always relish the unknowns in life- this isn’t so. But the reality that God is in control and that He can mold my life into something that I couldn’t even imagine is… awesome (for lack of a better word).
In college, I had the hardest time figuring out a major. Everything seemed… okay. But nothing jumped out at me or seemed right. They weren’t enough. Then last fall I felt God calling and pulling my heart towards the missions field. It kind of made sense- I had been on some missions trips and loved them and what God did on them. But I didn’t know what exactly it would mean once I accepted the call. And even once I admitted to myself what God had been telling me, it didn’t make sense till this past May. That was when God called me to Nicaragua. He also pushed my level of belief. I was excited for an opportunity to go on the missions field but the timing didn’t seem right- from my view of his plans. I had to change my view on things and believe that God would show me His plan in His time.
And so here I am. Only seeing the top of what God is offering me. About to go on an amazing trip to share Christ and show His love. Belief can be stretched and changed and deepened… but only if we allow it. This life is what we make of it. We can embrace it and live Christ’s dream for us to the fullest or refuse it. For me, the choice is obvious because I believe--- and I want that for others. To believe because they can’t imagine not believing.
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