Chase the Birds

Hey everyone! It's that time again....

I just sent out my first monthly newsletter! If you did not already give me your address but would like to be added on to my mailing list, just send me a letter or an e-mail. My contact info will be at the end of the blog...it may even be in my profile? I don't know...haha.

So I just read a really inspiring book called Sun Stand Still. It was all about having audacious faith and praying impossible prayers. My new favorite quote comes from this book by Steven Furtick. "if there is no limit to what God can do, then there is also no limit to what we can dream or pray or accomplish in His service."

I have a dog, I love him and he is such a character. I'm not sure why but for some reason he prefers to chase after birds than rabbits. I might have an easier time understanding that if the bird would be on the ground when it catches his attention, but it's usually already in the air. i think to myself, "why do you chase the birds in the air, you'll never catch them you crazy dog!"

As I finished the book I started to realize how right on my dog is...however strange my example was..haha.

But God didn't call us to be Christians to just sit around and go about our everyday business like we're nothing special. At the end of Mark, the end of the last chapter Jesus himself talks about how we will be performing the same miracles He did!

And wouldn't it make sense that God would have us pray audacious prayers and dream of the impossible? That way He could show off His power all the more. Dean Sherman teaching on Spiritual Warfare said this, "Without God, man cannot. Without man, God will not."

I believe God has placed a dream or ambition in everyones heart. It may seem impossible to you, but if it lines up with God's will, I think if you hope and have faith and pray for it, God can and will fulfill it. My dream was always to live out west on a ranch. It also seems impossible that a 20 year old could move to the other side of the country, on her own with hardly any money, and find decent property and a way to pay for it as well as run it.

Well here I am! I've already moved to the other side of the country, I've found a partner to join with me and I know this is God's will for me. You see I gave this dream to God and He played around with it a little bit. Along with my partner Theresa, and a few other people, (Isa, you are not forgotten :)) I will be opening up a ranch for troubled teens and foster kids, primarily Native Americans.

What I really want to pass on from this book is the concept of audacious faith. It is way more then just hoping, and it stems from the verse that tells us faith without works is dead. I firmly believe this is in God's will and I pray for it to happen everyday. Not only do I pray but I've gone out and got busy starting this. Tomorrow I have an appointment at the bank to work on establishing this non-profit organization.

You see, if you have a dream you have to chase it. You can't expect one day that your dream will magically just come true. You have to take initiative.

I don't want to shove this all in your face, by no means. I especially don't want to assume you don't have faith, or audacious faith. I just want you to be as excited as I am that I get to see my dream come true. Maybe you've had the same dream as me! Wanna help? There's plenty to do....

Anyway, I just want to see you chasing your dreams and see them come true.

So that's what I'm up to lately, plus I'm still cooking for YWAM Tribalwinds.

If you want me to add you to my mailing list just write me a letter, text or call, or e-mail me.

By mail: Lydia Aulgur

6085 Leupp Rd.

Flagstaff, AZ 86004

Phone: (231) 330-5907

E-mail: snyds_1490@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Well hello everyone. I don't know how long it's been since I've last written but I do know it's about time.

So I am currently working as staff at the YWAM Tribal Winds base in Flagstaff. I prepare lunch and dinner meals for the students as well as do all the grocery shopping. It's not what I have come down for in the long run but I know it's all part of God's plan. I also do other work around the base when I'm not studying. I only have one test left and then I will be a certified HVAC technician. If you don't mind I would appreciate it if you would pray that I will be able to find work right away and a place to live. I currently have no income at all and I have to pay a staff fee as well as gas to go into town. Don't tell my dad but I also don't have health insurance, but without any income I have no way to pay for it. I don't mean to be a drag but these are just really big issues for me right now.

You may wonder why I mentioned that you would pray that I find work AND a place to live....
Well I have talked to the directors here and they would prefer that I am on staff full time, meaning they don't want me to work. So I won't be able to live and be staff here if I work. Seeing as I am not getting support, I will need to work.

But on to a brighter note...

I have made some good friends and we have some cool plans. Let me tell you the story...

So last year on my DTS, the idea of an equine therapy place was presented to me and I have been holding on to it since. I never really pursued it though, because how in the world could a 20 year old girl obtain a ranch and run an organization by herself?

When I got here, there was another lady, a mission builder, who was helping out. We ended up sharing a room and we actually got to be pretty close. Anyway, turns out, she also was dreaming about a ranch and we thought it would be a great idea to go into this together.

A couple weeks ago I went out to the YWAM base we have on the Hopi. As I was driving back from a village with Doris, another staff lady we got to talking about how she had been looking at a ranch for the purpose of an equine therapy facility. I was like....speechless.

So now there are five of us ready to pursue this idea that we believe is from God. We hope to be able to get a grant for some property. So if you feel so inclined, that is also a prayer need.

I have also made another good friend. She is from Germany and she is pretty much awesome. We got to go riding with a Navajo preacher which was really cool. She also comes from a "horsey" background and we had a ton of fun. We were invited back to do ministry with him. He rides around to peoples houses to visit or sometimes he drives with water and stuff.

So she had a couple of friends visit from Germany and I got to spend some time with them. Yesterday we went to the Grand Canyon and when we got back to the base I had a cool little German lesson. So I'm working on becoming fluent in German. :)

That is about all the updates I can think of for now. I will try to be faithful inposting like my friend Liz Moss, and if you don't read her blog, you should. I think it's called Sunshine and Shenanigans. Check it out.

I just want to thank you all for your prayers.

If you want to send mail or anything....I'll give you my address.

Lydia Aulgur c/o YWAM
6085 Leupp Rd.
Flagstaff, AZ 86004

New Beginnings?

Here I am in Flagstaff, AZ. Part of the reason I haven't "blogged" in awhile, I've been quite. busy. I left Petoskey early Thursday morning...about 4:30 am. I drove to Kansas City, KS where I stayed with a family I knew and left at 4:30 in the morning KS time, 5:30 MI time, 3:30 AZ time. I madde it home at roughly 9:30 Friday night. My trusty dog was a trooper, I love him. :)

Saturday morning I went to a Navajo wedding with the family I'm living with. Sunday I recuperated, Monday I started hard core job and apartment hunting. I managed to find a couple nice affordable houses for rent but I couldn't seem to get a hold of anyone! Bummer....haha

Since I am 4 tests away from getting my HVAC service technician certificate I called some heating and cooling businesses to see if I could get a job or atleast ride along for experience. The second place I called said they were interested but there might be some insurance issues so I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

I went to a bible study tonight, it was pretty good, the people were awesome! When I got back I went over to talk with the director of the base. The DTS had been in Cali until Monday so I hadn't seen any of them yet. Anyway, she essentially asked me to move into the big house with the students and be on staff. I would love to and that is what I'll be doing. The only thing is....I need to pay the staff fee of $165 a month. She encouraged me to send out support letters so this will be my first general support letter.

If you want to know what I'll be doing I'll tell you now! I will be doing the food shopping, putting meals together, and having one on one times with the students.

So the director did say I would be able to ride along so I can build up experience so I'll be able to get a job when DTS is over but it won't be enough to pay the bills. I need to pay for health insurance as well as the staff fee and food for me and my dog.

I don't ask you to give much, I don't even ask you to necessarily give. zI ask you to pray that God will provide and meet all my needs.

If you would like to donate financially you can send a tax- deductible check to YWAM Tribalwinds. Just send a separate note specifying who the money is for...Lydia Aulgur? haha

The mailing address is: YWAM Tribalwinds

6085 Leupp Rd.

Flagstaff, AZ 86004

My best wishes to you all!

Lydia

We are, after all, only human.

Hello again! It's been too long since I left off, oops.
Let's go back back to that letter. I really love that letter. :)
So this great letter talks about how God loves me. Let me start with that. God loves me. Have you ever just taken a moment to sit and just feel God love you? Do it now, just let Him wrap you up in His presence and love.
It's easy for me to do right now as the bright sun is shining on me, a relief from the cold, dark winter days. But when that sun goes away, when life gets rough, it's easy to forget that God loves you.


I read a devotion today, out of a book called It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life by Joan C. Webb. The heading was titled "Precious to God". The verse she incorporated was Matthew 6:26...the one about the birds, who don't sow or reap, or store anything away, because our Heavenly Father feeds them. It also states that we are even more valuable than the birds.
It was a simple devotion and cut right to the point, our Father loves us and will provide for us. That's all we need to know. The thing is....we get all caught up in worrying...about anything and everything! What good is it? We have already been promised that God will take care of us...
A few pages later there's another devotion about Accepting My Humanness. In other words, weakness and the verse for this one was 2 Corinthians 13:4. It goes like this, "Jesus was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God's power we will live." Is it our need to avoid weakness that we try to depend on ourselves? Why is it so hard for us to accept that we are, in fact, human? I honestly have no clue what the answer to that is. Maybe it's pride? But it seems even deeper than that. I do know that it wears on us, trying to be more than we were wired to be. I also know that a person is at their finest when they have given up on themselves completely. I don't mean given up on life, I don't want everyone to walk around all depressed, but I mean, they've come to terms with their abilities as humans. They realize their own limitations and have learned that God is most effective in their life when they are on the ground.

Let me finish up with this letter, if I keep writing about every little aspect I could write a book! What an idea. :P

I love when He says, "Let no man be the judge of your heart for I know your love for Me." I know it says in the Bible that man judges what's on the outside but God judges the heart....but I think sometimes, people perceive actions as intentions and judge us based on that. I know I've made mistakes that make me look bad. But like I said earlier, we are only human. We've all seen the movies where one character is trying to make things right, but ends up creating a huge fiasco....sometimes that's how life is. There's nothing we can do about it but just accept that we slipped up and live with it. But what about the people that start throwing accusations around, how do we deal with that? I think that by letting people judge our hearts, or intentions, we end up living up to their judgments. We become bitter, don't you think?
Another example....I'll use a personal experience. I remember awhile ago, I had been getting stressed out for some reason or another. Well I ended up withdrawing a bit, or alot....haha. Either way, I spent quite a bit of time holed up in my room and barely said two words to my mom. Well, when she confronted me she said things like "I didn't really love God, or I would be showing it".....stuff like that. Well of course I loved God! And at the time, I was mad; I let her judge my heart. I actually felt guilty, and started thinking maybe I didn't love God. This is what He's talking about, don't let them judge your heart. God knows we love Him. He understands that we're human. It's OK.
So don't give Satan that foothold when others throw accusations around. Be confident that God knows.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.

So as I was cleaning out the closet today, I came across a letter from my DTS last year. The words are in my handwriting but it was a word from the Lord. I'll share it now...

"Look upon all the injustice, the injustice within the injustice. Does it ever end?
Where do you start?
You start with ME. For I am the Lord and Sovereign still.
I choose who I will use and YOU are not forgotten. Be still, listen to MY voice. This is where you will find me leading you. I am your guide.
My child, I love you. I will not let you be harmed, though sometimes you may be scared. For you are of Me, not of this world. Let no man be the judge of your heart for I know you love Me.
Never forget my sacrifice. Is that not proof that I have saved you from the greatest harm that could come to you? What then are these tings you worry over? It is just like a little stub of your toe.
Always remember my sacrifice because it is proof that I love you more than my own life.
I love you."

I don't actually remember this letter and I don't know if I even shared it with anyone. I do know that it speaks to my innermost part though.
One of the biggest things I hate about this world is injustice. I can't stand it. It makes me sick. You may think, "What did that first little bit have to do with the rest of the letter?" Ya, I thought that at first too...
But it has everything to do with the rest of the letter. The only solution to curing injustice is by Jesus' love, the love that led Him to the cross. The pure, raw love that He holds for all of creation. Is it any wonder, then, why there is so much injustice in this world? I may be out of line here, but I don't think most people truly understand that concept of love, let alone put it into action.
And the reason is probably because they don't see the depth of the sacrifice. When Jesus died, he bore the sins of the world. It wasn't just a sacrifice, that would be too easy. I'm sure alot of you would shove a loved one out of the way of some oncoming traffic. Truth is, it's instinct. But how 'bout this. Let's use Hitler as an example 'cause he's a well known "bad guy". What if you lived a perfect life and then had to take responsibility of every single thing that Hitler was responsible for. Would you ever do that willingly so that he could live a glorious life? I wouldn't. Honestly, how many of you would? Here's another example, at work there's this one guy who doesn't do anything. It makes me pretty mad, because I, along with the other few people there, have to pick up his slack while he doesn't get so much as a talking to.
But Jesus, he is just incredible. He not only took care of all my sins, and took the full weight of them, but also of every other single person in the world. Right now there are an estimated 6,897,700,000 people alive on the earth. (At least that's what Wikipedia told me.) That's alot right? Well multiply that by however many times each person has sinned. Now think about how many people lived for the 2,000 years before now and multiply that number. And of course there are the future generations...
Have you ever done something bad, and you just felt so awful about it...
Just imagine how Jesus felt. I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say it's impossible to fathom.
Let's keep moving or I'll go off on all sorts of rabbit trails.... haha
So now I know where to start with the injustice. We have to get to the heart of God, we have to experience it and share it. Everything else follows.
In the letter, He says He chooses who He will use. He has chosen me! That is an honor, I know it's hard to think of it that way because every other child of God has a purpose and a job from God. But He chooses you specifically to do a job that noone else can do. Only you are fit for the job God has for you. There can't be ball hogs on God's court.
And please don't ever forget that God has created you for something epic. I forgot that once, my whole life fell apart. Even if you don't know what it is, just know that He loves you and He's whispering into your ear how much He loves you and has great things planned for you. You just need to listen.
I'm going to finish this up in a second post as I have more to say than I originally thought. I appreciate your time for reading and any comments are completely welcome!

It's a Rough Road...

Well I'm back with some more to talk about. But where to start....
How about with I am heading back to Arizona? Sure, well here's what's what in my life at the moment. A quick summary: I get up, depending on the day I go to work. It's a given that the house will be a mess before I go to work and when I get back. I can thank my lovely brother for that....but I love him despite his many animal like traits. So I will find time every day to pick up a little, whether it be doing the bottomless sink of dishes or cleaning up that recurring spill on the floor, something gets done either way. At work, I work. I take pride in my work, even though it's not a very "important" job. Anyway, I earn the hours I get and money I make. I even got a sort of "promotion" recently. Is it a step up? Ahhh, not so much, it's pretty stressful but I get to work full-time. On my day off, well any day really, I am my grandmother's servant. And I can't complain, she lets me stay in her house for free. I just have to take her to town and run errands and such. That's pretty easy. But, yes there's a but, she worries/gets all up in yo business. It just adds to the stressload, which is already pretty big. After all, I have to worry about that $2500 I still owe her. Among other things....
So back to Arizona, which is where I'm headed. I have been asked to join the staff as they are a bit shorthanded for this DTS. I prayed nearly incessantly about this opportunity as I knew I was supposed to be in Arizona, but I figured I would just wait a bit and save up a couple thousand dollars and head out sometime in the summer. But God said otherwise and you just can't say no to the big guy. So as soon as financially possible I will be packing up my jeep and heading out with my faithful dog, Clem.
So anyway, that's what I'll be doing.
I'm not trying to beg for money here, especially after my little vent session. But if you would like to support me as a full-time staff at YWAM Tribal Winds you can send a check to 6085 Leupp Rd. Flagstaff, AZ 86004. To make it tax-deductible you should send an extra note saying it is for Lydia Aulgur. The fee really isn't that bad, it's $165 a month. Which is like a quarter of a months rent up here. So no pressure to donate, just if you feel led too. More importantly I would ask for your prayers. For good timing and safe travels and whatnot.
That's all for now. I'll be back as soon as I think of more to write about. :)
Goodnight all!

Moving Right Along...

Hello out there!
So I haven't actually touched my blog since before I finished my DTS and thanks to a friend and her blog I decided to pick it up again. From here on out, whatever I post will be my worded opinion. Let me make it known that I follow Jesus and I would like to think that my thinking reflects the Word of God. So you can take it or leave it. (However, if you would like to comment, feel free. I have no problem defending my opinion, or faith.) Also, my brain isn't very organized so my thoughts may be jumbled, and I may end up repeating myself or...you know in school, when you have a question, so you ask the teacher, and you end up answering the question yourself? Well that will happen, only I won't be asking a question so much as just talking... If you can make sense of that. :)
For starters though, I'll begin with the title of my blog. "Your life is your message to the world. Make it inspirational." It is a quote be Lorrin L. Lee. (Someone liked "L's", ya?) Anyway, I have been inconsistent in how I live my life. Some parts of it can be considered inspiring, and some parts....well, not so much. It's ok though.
Have you ever noticed, and I'm sure you have, that the most inspirational stories, movies have a common storyline? The main character has to conquer obstacles to succeed, be it physical or emotional pain, or repeatedly making the same, or many different mistakes. So in the midst of all this depressing "stuff", why is it inspirational? Well, obviously. The fellow ends up succeeding. He doesn't give up.
Let me clarify now, on how I haven't been consistent in living my life according to this quote. Frankly, I have given up. Over and over again. Somehow though, I think of my life as an inspirational one. Because every time I gave up, and hit rock bottom, I was given another chance. Like a phoenix that rises from the ashes, every time I failed, my Jesus gave me new life. It was in my failure that Jesus' power could be seen.
My point is, that to live inspirationally, you don't have to just barely make it by and not give up. I mean sure, there have been times when I have not given up. But that was just me being stubborn; where is there room to give God glory when you can say you did it yourself?
I'm tired of writing so I will leave you with this.... Why not take the easy way out? Why run yourself dry to suceed for just a moment of recognition. I challenge you: Give up. Let God take care of your troubles. That to me is true inspiration.

More to come on this topic. :)
Comments are appreciated!