Say What?!

Wow, you guys, there are some exciting things going on that I just have to share with you! God has just captured me. Without him, none of this stuff would make sense!
Over the past week or so, I've been praying about a few key things. One of those things is baptism, and the other is YWAM.
Before just a little while ago, I was completely set on not going to YWAM (Youth With A Mission). I had a bunch of excuses. It's too risky. It's too far away. It's not for me. No one would like me. I won't like it there. I'll be too out of my comfort zone. It's too expensive. And, overall, I really had no desire to go. I've been talking to my amazing sister, Jenny, a lot lately. She's doing a DTS (Discipleship Training School) at the Perth, Australia base. She's currently doing her outreach in London and the Philippines. Now, even at first when she went there and was telling me, "Ariel, you have to do a DTS! It'd be so good for you! You'd love it!" I would say maybe, but in my heart I knew that I didn't want to. I just had no desire at all to go to YWAM. Well, I don't know what happened! I have no idea what God was up to in my heart while I wasn't paying attention to him, but he was working even while I was off doing my own thing. He is crazy. And I love Him! I was praying a couple days ago for God to show me which base to go to, because there are so many to choose from! I looked at the YWAM map and I was instantly overwhelmed. I didn't have the slightest idea of even which continent to go to! So yesterday, instead of finishing my homework in class, I decided to go look at the YWAM map again. I had one of my good friends there, so I knew I could get her input. I had this picture in my mind...somewhere green and sunny and joyful. I could sense the joy in the picture. I decided to look at bases in South America. So I went to that tab on the map. It was a lot of fun saying the names of the places in South America (like Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, you get the idea) but I soon learned that it would be difficult to find a base there, as their main languages are Spanish and Portuguese, and I don't speak either of them. In the same tab I saw "Caribbean", so I clicked on that one. I was scrolling through the different countries and my friend noticed Jamaica. She started talking about Jamaica and how I should go there. At first, I wasn't sold on it. But something happened. God softened my heart. As I started thinking about YWAM Jamaica more, I began to fall in love with it. In looking at the website for Montego Bay, I feel that it's the place I'm being called to. Now, I'm only half way through grade 11, so I have plenty of time to pray and decide. But you guys, I am getting so excited for this! To jump from being completely against going to YWAM to being so super excited about it is amazing. I'm stubborn, I don't jump that easily. This is completely a God thing! I'd like to ask you to join with me in praying over this. I want to be sure that this is where God wants me to go, because as I said before, I'm stubborn, and once I get an idea in my head, I generally don't change my mind that easily. So this is where you come in! I would like you to pray with me. That God would send people into my life and situations into my life that would confirm that this is where he wants me. I am so excited to see the way this plays out! Jesus is taking me on a wild ride, and I love it! This is definitely more than I ever imagined for my life, and I'm not even there yet!
The other thing that has been on my heart lately is getting baptized. For about a year or two I've been thinking about getting baptized. Last year when I had the chance, I just didn't know what it meant for me. I didn't know what it meant at all! Just recently, in the past little while, God has been showing me what it means. He's been painting me pictures, because he knows that's the way I learn. He's been giving me metaphors to teach me. He's shown me that baptism is like a marriage. We are the bride of Christ, and just like a wedding, getting baptized is a public show that you are committing your life to Jesus, that you love him and want to live for and with him. I often think of my purity ring as my wedding ring to Jesus. It's been helping me a lot to think of Jesus as my husband, because it reminds me to talk to him like I would my husband. I wouldn't go days without communicating with my husband, so why would I go days without talking to Jesus? I miss him when I do that! Also, just like marriage is taking that next intimate step in your relationship, getting baptized is taking that next step in your relationship with Jesus, where you become more intimate with him. I've learned too that when you go down into the water, it's like dying to your old, sinful self, and you come up a new person in Jesus Christ. This makes me very excited! Jesus knows my chains, and he knows I need to be made new in him. Last night, I had just been talking to him about YWAM and getting a car and stuff like that. (I have been learning that Jesus cares about the little things too! I had never thought to ask him for help with a car, but I am slowly learning to talk to him about everything.) I hadn't even touched on baptism at all when I opened my bible. I opened it to a random spot, I actually can't even remember where, but it opened to a passage about Elisha talking to these people and at the end he says, "What is stopping these people from being baptized?" And all these people are baptized. I was like, woah! I hadn't even talked to you about being baptized yet! It hadn't even crossed my mind in that moment, and I was not expecting it. That was kind of a confirmation that it is time to take that step in my faith. I've already got my engagement ring, now I just need to be walked down the isle ;) (Yes, I know I'm a cheese ball!)
I am so incredibly grateful for all of the amazing people in my life who have loved Jesus, listened to him, been a part of my life, and have lead me closer to him. My family at camp, wow. I can't thank you guys enough! I love you all so much, you have no idea! In 2010, when I went to YC, the seed was planted. God used LDP and working as summer staff to water and grow that seed into the love that I have for him now. Without you guys as my amazing family in Christ, I would not have come this far. With you guys listening to God's call, you impacted my life in a huge way. I have no doubt in my mind that it was God's plan for each and every one of you to be a part of my life and my story. My incredible sister Jenny, I love you so much!!!! You are a huge blessing in my life and I can't even imagine where I would be without you showing me God's love every single time we're together! You are a huge inspiration to me and I love seeing Jesus through you. There are so many people I could thank and love on, but that's another blog post. Just know, that if you are in my life, you have played a part in God's plan for me, and I am eternally grateful for that! I love you all! Please keep me in your prayers and stay tuned to see where God takes me! I don't know about you, but I am so incredibly excited for where he's taking me!!!!
God bless!
Ariel