For
some reason I always find it easier to think of something good to write bout when it comes to
writing emails than when I go to write a blog. Lately, there's been approx. 90898211 random
thoughts going through my head ...I always just feel like a blog has to be
something so put together, deep and profound... I guess that's good, but
I'm not really all that prim and proper, and put together... so this is a
bunch of randomness...
It seems to be the assumption
about missionaries...that we are perfect. Ha.ha! That's what I used to think...until
I became one. Then I saw that we are just as ordinary as the next person. Actually,
in Comparative Religions in high school, I totally failed the test on
Christianity! Oops! And YES! I was a Christian then, but then again, it's not
like I did so hott on any of the tests for other religions either, but I did still
passed them...(( try not to be intimidated by my intelligence hah)) The point is,
anyone can make a difference, the question is are you willing to say yes?
Too often as ‘Christians' we
put on that front that we do have everything put together and are a step above
the rest....I don't like that. From all ends, I'm pretty sure the facade is common knowledge, but no one really seems to do anything to bridge the gap and change
it. We need to start. Andrew Shearman always says, "if we master any two things in life it should be: HUMILTY AND
THANKFULNESS." I completely agree.
That's what we all need to strive to live like that. If we start living like
that surely things would begin to change.
Answering the questions of the week: How do you feel about going home?
It's just a fact of life. Seasons come and seasons go. Change is the only thing
permanent in our lives...so, yes. I can say I do look forward to what is next,
however, I really haven't thought about how I feel about it. Maybe excited, but
more so just indifferent. I'll be ready when it comes, but until then,
honestly, I'm not going to dwell on it, because I am here! Loving life!
And what are you going to do next? Welllllllll I am going back home to
Pennsylvania, of course. Then I want to begin to change the world...totally cliché.
That starts by making a difference in the life of just one person, and then
another and then another. K that's a pretty general statement ((if you want to know more, let me know and I'll
send you the extensive version of HOW I am going to do that)) No one ever
told me that I could change the world, but I do wish someone would have. And
now that I know I can (through Christ obviously), I want to tell others and
empower them to do the same!
We didn't have classes this
week, as it is practicum week, meaning other responsibilities. I've spent most
of my days, on the computer attempting to connect G42 to the World Race by getting in contact with people who are interested in coming here (if you are
interested! WRITE ME!),
and reading/commenting on countless blogs like the one you're reading. Although
it's mucho time staring at the computer it has been restful, and I'd say
an encouraging week hearing people hearts and being inspired by the thoughts and
stories of those on the field... All in
all, life here has been absolutely amazing. We are going
on our third day straight of no rain...well, maybe it rained today? But just a
little. Anyways if that's the biggest dilemma in life then I sure do have a lot
to be thankful for!
ps: If you think of anything deep
and profound you'd like me to write about pleeease let me know and I'll do it.
I miss ice cream-(had to say it!)
k. That's all! Love you all mucho!
There's a lot of answers that people give, among many of
which are: Kingdom, discipleship, a
tribe, a generation of young people who want to fight to claim their inheritance,
for those who aren't ready to settle for
ordinary, spiritual fathers and apostolic headship. It is hope, passion; a diving
board that will spring me into the rest of my life. It is a network that has
nothing to do with knowledge and everything to do with impartation. It is about
empowerment, activation and release. It is dreaming big dreams and making them
come true. It is others ‘making their ceiling our floor' and learning from the
past and working together to build the kingdom of God. It is calling out greatness
so I can become who I was created to be...It is a movement.
On the World Race I discovered
my identity and at G42 I learned to walk in it. After getting off of the Race
I thought I could do anything and pretty much conquer the world. I had learned
my identity, but it lacked depth and substance. To say the least, when I got
home it was a big wake up call to see that I was not fully equipped to, cliché as
it sounds, change the world. On the Race I was filled and connected with God
through the experiences, the people, the ministry, and the community, but when
I got home all of that was gone. I was able to encourage a lot of people
through the stories and my experiences, but I still felt as though I was living
in the past experiences instead of the present hope and future of God. I couldn't bring a constant flow of life by
living out of an 11 month experience. I needed something more... I needed
something new and something fresh. So that is what brought me here.
G42 has released me to become who I was called to be and has empowered me for
the rest of my life. It has added value to my life. They have given me
all the tools I need to go and plant the kingdom of God. I have been developed as a leader with
character. I have learned my potential,
greatness and destiny. I was created to be me and made to be loved by God. I have learned truths here that I wish I
would have known all my life.
G42 has challenged me to give answers to the hard questions
like: what am I going to do, where am I going to go, who am I going to work
with, what is my vision, my calling, who am I made to be? Thinking of how to
answer these questions has shown me my purpose and calling in life. With
awareness of all this brings new responsibility for my life. I will
leave this place having made a plan and saying Amen.
It has shown me that live change and big things happen when people chase their dreams. I never would have considered myself a dreamer, and here I was encouraged to
dream again. One man, Andrew
Shearman, had a dream to raise up 100,000 leaders and a generation who is
willing to give up their lives to take the kingdom by force. He always
says he became an overnight success after 20 years of chasing this dream, and
it is beautiful. It has shown me that dreams aren't at all measured only by
American standards, but instead by what is inside of us and who we were created
to be, and what we were called to do. Furthermore, they aren't just something
to have a nice conversation about, they are there to go and make happen. We
need to dream big, and then dream bigger because impossible is nothing.
The staff has given up everything for the sake of making 7
people great. They have loved us and let us into their lives. I feel so honored
and humbled by that! Now, after a year of being trusted in the small things,
the school has 21 interns and is growing rapidly! It is awesome. All of the
leaders and teachers have shared their failures, successes, stories, wisdom,
knowledge etc. in hopes that we will learn from their mistakes. They want us to build upon them making their 'ceiling to be our floor.' They call out
our potential and push us to destiny and that is what it is all about...from generation to generation may his glory shine.
They have held us to high standards of excellence in all we
do and have taught us the importance of character, thankfulness and humility. It
is not a typical school where you show up to class, get a bunch of knowledge
and go on with your life. We do life together. The teachers and the other
interns have become family to me and they will be in my life forever.
I want
to take the kingdom by force and walk to the beat of a different drum. I want to risk it all and go be the hands, feet, the love and the will of God!
All in all G42 has prepared me for the rest of my life...
Thank you all for being a part of this! love.love.
This
past weekend I went to Holland. We spent one afternoon walking around Amsterdam.
It gave brand new meaning to window shopping. I couldn't believe what I saw...
Instead
of seeing windows filled with mannequins wearing the latest fashion I saw women
my age of all shapes and sizes in thongs, bikinis, fish nets and lingerie.
Each
woman stood behind a door. Some of them would do a little dance or give a
provoking smile, whereas others stood in a broken daze. Meanwhile, the men would
come to their door. I saw them knock and the door open. They entered, the door
closed, the curtain quickly shut behind them.
It
didn't take me having to see anything to know what happens next...
Further
up the road, I saw another door open, a man leaving and continuing on with his
life. I saw a pimp with a content smirk, standing on the doorstep wearing his
big fur coat and hat.
At large, all I saw was a
cheap and skewed view of love.
As I
continued down the street with red lights I felt so helpless. All I could do was
smile at them. My eyes were drawn to the eyes of those on the other side of the
window. Each time they met, it felt like the world paused for a split second.
And
when this happened, I began to see something different.
I
saw hope in the midst of a lost and broken world. I saw value and potential in
each man and woman I passed. If only they knew. I saw the eyes of darkness and despair
see a glimpse of light and joy through a single smile.
I
saw that the search for temporary ‘love' is not what they are truly looking
for.
They
are not even looking for something, but rather they are longing for someone.
Their search for LOVE is
really just a search for our eternal, everlasting, pure loving God.
Although,
day after day the red lights turn on, the men fill the streets and the women
fill the windows, there will be a day when the lights are turned off, when the
men will no longer be searching and the women will be set free....
Because
Now I see God's everlasting hope is rising, his light is shining in the darkest
of all places and the kingdom is coming! There is nothing that can stop that!
The everydays
of life have become so normal to me that often times I forget, my ‘normal' isn't
so normal. This is my normal...
It is living on the most beautiful street in a little Spanish casa here in Mijas,
Spain. Normal is living in community with 9 other people, sleeping on the top bunk,
cooking dinner for 10+ each night, staying up late to make sure everything is
clean and ready to go for another day. It is hanging my clothes to dry out on
the line and praying it doesn't rain during the 2/3 days it takes to fully dry
them. It is sporadic hot water and lately even electric...
My normal day is non-stop, go, go, go. It
is full of laughter, relationships and responsibility. Lately a normal day
begins at the sound of my alarm going off at 6:45am. I quickly get out of bed
already dressed in my work-out clothes, throw on my sneakers, and go for a run.
As I do, I watch the sunrise and crank up the worship music. Honestly, what
more could I ask for?!
I
make it back tothe other house to grab a hot shower (if I'm lucky), get ready
and eat some breakfast. By this time it is already 8:30 and classes begin in an
hour. If it's not a prayer morning, I sit outside looking out over the beautiful
Mediterranean to spend some time with God.
I
quick grab a cup of coffee and make my way downstairs to the garage by 9:30.
Yepp, this is where I spend most of my time...in class. We start with prayer and
worship followed by teachings. Class til 11, quick coffee break, and it resumes
until noon. Break time follows from 12 til 2. I walk back to my house, likely
eat granola cereal or grilled cheese for lunch and head out the door to a
meeting or a coffee date with a friend.
Soon
enough, it's 2 o'clock. Break time is over and back to the garage I go from 2 more hours of class. If it's my week to cook I try to go directly home at four to
make dinner, if not I hang out with some friends or attempt to get something
accomplished from my never-ending check list.
6
oclock! Dinner time! I have dinner with the other 9 people I live with and some
of the leaders of the school join us. As we all finish eating, tea and coffee
is served and we just sit around and talk-one of my favorite parts of the day!
And yes, you counted right, that adds up to 4 hot drinks (coffee,tea) everyday!
Haha.
By
this time it's 7:15 or 7:30 and then the extra curriculars begin.
Mondays-manualidades, Tuesday-worship night, Wednesday-dance class, Thursday
nights-knitting and pub ministry. The
activities end at 8:30 and usually we hang out, get work done, watch a movie, or
something of the sort afterwards. Every night I tell myself I will make it to
bed ‘early' (before midnight), which never really happens...My day ends praying
as I fall asleep as another ‘normal day' is soon to arrive.
Well,
class was back in session this week! Everything's been going great! No longer are there only 7 of us, there
are now 21 world changers attending the G42 Academy...which has been an absolute blast! It's been crazier than ever, in
the best way possible, of course! More details about that to come later this
week...
It has been raining since I got back...the most rain this
town has had in 50 years in fact, ending a 5 year drought. Andrew Shearman says
rain brings new life and we are bringing life to Spain. So that is great news,
except we have to walk in it to class everyday...
So
here's a video about the rain in Spain! It does fall gently on the plain, but
heavily on the coast...
I
didn't have anything on my Christmas list this year. I didn't ask for anything
and really didn't need anything. I thought it was going to be a Christmas in
Spain, one like no other. And yes, this Christmas was one like no other, but
was completely different than what I assumed it would be.
It
all started when I flew home to Cincinnati to celebrate the wedding of Rachel
Hunt and Donny Riggs. It was a beautiful wedding and meant so much to me to be
able to be a part of it! ((Congrats to the newlyweds!))
I
had no consideration of it whatsoever and thought I would be okay missing the
holidays. Hearing Christmas music, seeing the Christmas trees and being in the
states made me think about how close I was to being with family for the
holidays. A one way ticket back to Spain was all I had and I had planned on
using it the day after the wedding. My mind started spinning with thoughts of
how could I make this work?! Soon after it all came together.
The
fact that I went home for the Christmas season was just as much a surprise for
me as it was my family! So lots
of you have been asking about how my Christmas surprises went...so I figured I'd
just write a blog about it...sharing my 3 fav stories...
My
greatest accomplice was my sister's boyfriend John. He picked me up from the
airport then we made our way to Lancaster where the surprises and tricks (since
I'm a twin!) began!
Our
first stop was to see my Grams. I called her up pretending I was my sister and
asked about stopping by. We showed up, nothing abnormal, we definitely had her
fooled. It wasn't even fair. After 10 minutes she was asked me, "what's becky's
address in Spain." It was funny, she totally thought I was Kendra! No clue! Then
John asked her to keep it a secret that we were there because Kendra didn't
know yet. She did a slow motion double take and then finally realized it was
me! Haha
Next
stop: Kendra's classroom. She was shocked when she saw me all she could get out
was "WHAT THE HECK!?" Mom and dad's surprises were slightly more nonchalant. We
tried to fool them, but they know the difference! Bummer! Mom just yelled with excitement when she saw
me and yelled again after telling her I'd be home for 15 days!
Last
family surprise I'll share with you all was for my bro Kirby and sis-in-law
Katy. We called and made plans. I got out of the car a block early, meanwhile
Kend, John and Kirby were going to get pizza and I was going to go surprise Katy
in hopes she wouldn't realize it was me. Our perfect plan failed when I went to
their house, lights were out and the door was locked. They all went to get
pizza. I was locked outside in the freezing cold for 20 minutes.
After
seeing the car come back and all of them go inside it was surprise time. I went
and knocked, Kirby came to the door and maybe for a split second he thought I
was Kendra, but quickly. He didn't understand where I came from! Haha and Katy
too! They were so so thrown off and ridiculously surprised! Loved it!
There's
countless more surprise stories I could share...but I won't.
Being
able to be at home with my family made me realize what a blessing it really is
to be able to spend that time of year with them! It never meant as much to me as
it did when it became something I wasn't supposed to have.
There
are so many things we have to be thankful for, the everyday blessings of life
that we assume will always exist and when they don't they mean so much more! Be
thankful for those things and know how great a blessing they truly are!
I
didn't have anything on my Christmas list this year, I didn't really ask for
anything, but there was one thing I needed most: MY FAMILY! It was the best
Christmas gift I ever got. Seriously!
It was great seeing a bunch of you over break as well!!
i love
you all.
Financial update:
I am
a little over halfway as far as G42 support goes; I am still in need of $3000 for the rest of my time here. In fact,
$1000 of that is due like NOW. Will you please continue to support me in this
journey!?
For ANY donations,click here((http://www.g42leadershipacademy.org/donate)) and click on "intern support". Make sure to enter our names before checking
out. I'll let you know in a few days what my account looks like thanks to your
response! Please keep me in your prayers and let's see God show up!
If you would rather pay by check, make
checks payable to G42 and mail to: in the memo section write 'becky miller'
G42,
Inc.
P.O.
Box 17419
Fountain
Hills, AZ 85269
I
want to thank you so much for your prayer and financial support! God
is doing amazing things in and through that! Thank you! In my next blog I'll be
expanding a little more about my vision, and what's going on here at G42.
This past weekend
I flew back to the states, to Cincinnati
to celebrate the marriage of Rachel Hunt and Donny Riggs. (Many of you would
know Rachel as my co-anchor in our notorious cribs videos) Not only was it a great
time of celebration of their love, but it was also a wonderful time of
fellowship with my January '08 World Race Family.
It was just
another day, but one that would leave a lasting imprint on my heart. One
afternoon, we made our way to downtown Cincinnati
to eat lunch and explore. Moments after arriving, a homeless man comes over
asking for some spare change for a bus fare... eighty cents to be exact.
Sidenote:
after being around the world for a year, these scenarios become quite common,
and honestly, so often that it gets old and I ignore those who are asking for
money and apathetically continue on my way...this time however was different. K so
back to the story...
Patrice says to
the man, "well I really don't like to
give out money, is there anything else we could do for you?" Oblivious to
what was going on, I continued to walk on with the rest of the group as Patrice
handled the rest of the situation. Our
new friend, Clarence, led us to the Skyline Restaurant and when we arrived Patrice
invited him to join us.
It wasn't anything fancy, we just
loved him like Jesus.
Clarence was so
thankful and touched. He expressed his gratitude telling us, "You have served
me. You have loved me, talked with me and bought me lunch. I couldn't ask for
more. I think God is trying to speak to me through you all, his angels. He
wants me to start going back to church..."
After an hour or
so of lunch we gave him his bus fare, prayed, and went our
separate ways. Kingdom came that day in a restaurant and in the heart of a man
named Clarence.
Perhaps we even
entertained an angel, perhaps we entertained Jesus? ...bottom line is: There
are lives waiting and needing to experience this love. God used us that day,
not because we asked, but because we were willing. There's no doubt in my mind,
that next time someone asks me for some spare change, I won't just walk by, but rather I'll seize the
opportunity to change someone's life and love them like Jesus. The question is: will you?
I
saw that the search for temporary ‘love' is not what they are truly looking
for. 
living in community with 9 other people, sleeping on the top bunk,
cooking dinner for 10+ each night, staying up late to make sure everything is
clean and ready to go for another day. It is hanging my clothes to dry out on
the line and praying it doesn't rain during the 2/3 days it takes to fully dry
them. It is sporadic hot water and lately even electric...
Soon
enough, it's 2 o'clock. Break time is over and back to the garage I go from 2 more hours of class. If it's my week to cook I try to go directly home at four to
make dinner, if not I hang out with some friends or attempt to get something
accomplished from my never-ending check list.
My
greatest accomplice was my sister's boyfriend John. He picked me up from the
airport then we made our way to Lancaster where the surprises and tricks (since
I'm a twin!) began! 
