In The Midst Of The Crowds

copyright (c) 2018 Tabitha Carin   Snowden 

2018

In The Midst Of The Crowds

In the midst of the crowds, what do you see? Do you see the child on the street crying? Do you see the mother struggling to keep going, because she is so tired? Or do you see the hard working man who needs encouragement? 

(First Mozambique sunset for us)

We have just only arrived in Mozambique for a little while, and you can get very, very busy in this time. Which is normal, and all the stuff we are doing is important. But, in the midst of the craziness, the busyness, and in the midst of the crowds; I am beginning to notice the things I would normally be too distracted to see. As we drive on the streets of Mozambique, I see a child crying, or a woman struggling to keep on to continue each day of her life. I am not saying there is a lot I can personally do for them, because here in Mozambique there are many of those circumstances; yet, I can pray. I can pray for those children I see begging for food, and I can pray for that beautiful family to start following Jesus as their Savior. That is what I CAN do!

In the midst of the crowds I want to see those that are; "forgotten," forgotten by others, but not to God. God calls us OUT of the crowds to see the ones that aren't noticed at all. 

In the midst of the crowds, we could be the hands and feet of Jesus and be able to see those in the trees or hidden in the multitudes. We all can do this by, showing His love, and His actions, wherever we may go.

Allow me to challenge you to be the person who changes their lives, and remember that as you walk down the streets or drive past them, to not just ignore their needs. Pray! Pray for God to open your eyes to see them, and pray for them once you do. 

    

To continually pray for the people around you, makes a difference! So, look around and look for those who are in the midst of the crowds.

COURAGE

copyright (c) 2018 Tabitha Carin   Snowden 

2018

    COURAGE

Courage has been something God has been leading me back to lately, and understanding the true meaning of it. 
       --------

Courage has a few different meanings: 

1: "The ability to do something that frightens one." 
For Me being VERY fearful about a lot of things (ask my family they'll agree); this really steps on my toes, about being fearful and confronting those fears! As I think of the word "courage" what pops in my head is the strong Lion as they face their fears each day. 

"Lions are a most ferocious yet proud species, a pride of lions is a breathtaking site as they work as a team countering each others' weaknesses and supporting their strengths making an almost perfect phalanx as a true unified community."

Facing their fear TOGETHER,  having courage and being proud of their courageous acts. 

2nd meaning of Courage is:  
"Strength in face of pain and grief."

Having strength goes along with having courage you must become strong in the pain in order to have courage, you must have courage in order to be strong. They go together, in everything that we may face we must have strength to go on and our strength cannot come from our flesh it must come from our Heavenly Father; Jesus Christ. 

The Hebrew word for courage is "אֹמֶץ" which means: "Willingness to take action."
Willing to take action even if there are fears, dangers, or pain standing in the way, if God gives us the courage and strength to take action, we must obey. 

     Taking action can be in all sorts of times or places, but how I relate to it is even though there are fears in my way or pain or trials or lack of patience God is giving me courage to go to Africa! And I must be willing to take action on that call!

One of my favorite quotes is from Cinderella; "We must have courage, and be kind." That stuck with me, you must always have courage because without courage there is no strength and without strength we are weak!  God tells us to have courage one of the scriptures that spoke to me about courage is

Psalms 31:24 - "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD." 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Being a missionary to Mozambique I have felt my fare share of fear in all of this, but its amazing because I don't feel like that fear is going to hold me back, why? 

Because I know that God has given me the strength, and the confidence, and courage to be able to take a step of faith. He teaches us how to keep that courage in our bones so that we can do the things that God has planned for us. Without courage our fear has more opportunity to take over, the devil uses fear to take us down, some of us can even can be conquered by fear. We should realize that we have the protection from God, because why wouldn't a father protect HIS children. But He gives us courage to still trust Him, even when we can't see the light. I trust He is going to strengthen and give me the courage to do everything He has called me to do.

Having courage for the what the Lord is doing inside you is strengthening, so that you may be able to face the things of the world might throw at you. 

Christmas Is Here!

(c) copyright Tabitha Carin Snowden

2017

Christmas Is Here!

 It is upon us once again, and can I say: that this year went very fast! But, even though it crept upon us, this is my favorite time of the year! There are so many things to do, busyness is everywhere, all the hustle and bustle the lists come out! And yet, there are so many memories made at Christmas! 

I wanted to talk a little bit about how character's change during Christmas! There are times when the 'Grinch' in us come's out around this year, we need to buy this and this, go to that party or make those cards, and so on. And that can stress us out! But most of us, have this since of joy that comes someone we know because of this beautiful time of the year! But also because we know why it is amazing, because of our beloved Jesus who came down,  unto us: He was born fully human, and fully God. "And she will have a son and you are to name Him Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins." Mathew 1:21

Another characteristic that comes out in Christmas is; giving! We all have a giving heart that makes us reach out to our community, family, and friends anyone who needs a little Christmas cheer! Something that we should do all year long because it is not done enough throughout the year! Christmas is a prime example of what we could do to share God's love, and we can do it several different ways! For example giving, visiting, and by just simply smiling and saying; "Merry Christmas!" Can simply make someone's day! Any day of the year a smile is contagious; because it shows no matter whats going on we have the capacity to smile with God's joy. Sharing God's love is simple, and sweet!

 "Jesus is the light of our Christmas, the joy of our hearts, and the hope of the world!" -Unknown- 

Of course there's the gifts of Christmas, the exact toys that the children asked for and etc. 

But, what are the true gifts of Christmas? Is it really those boxes under the tree; ready to open on that bright cheerful morning? Or is it the true gifts, the people who are sitting right next to you! Friends, family, and the main star of Christmas is the one living in your heart! The gifts God gave you because He knew you could not live your life without the things that keep us going. The gift of joy: can help out on those cloudy days. The gift of music; to help this season feel; "Real." The gift of decorations; to make you feel cozy, and the gift of family; to become even closer for the holiday! And most of all the gift of God's love, to share to all! 

Do you feel the presence of cherished moments? The moments we spend with each other on that day reflect for the rest of our lives, so how can we make it more joyful? Bring the most important part of the season in Christmas; CHRIST!! He is the most important part of the season, He makes us joyful, He makes the moments worth cherishing! 

The moment we center our season with our Lord our God then everything else falls in place.

"Look for Christ, and you will find Him. And with Him everything else." -C.S. Lewis-

What's you're favorite part of this wonderful season? 

Behind The PK/MK Face

copyright(c) Tabitha Carin Snowden 2017

 Behind The MK/PK Face

OK! This is something you don't hear people talk about, or see people write about... BUT here I am! I was a pastor's kid all the way up to almost 2 years ago then I began a missionary kid. So I'll try to go from both perspectives! 

Do you ever wonder whats going on behind the Pastors Kids face or Missionary Kid face? Well, this will hopefully answer some questions you may have! 

We Are Human!

Now this is not supposed to be a hurtful thing. Sometimes people think we eat a certain way or dress a certain way, but, we usually don't. We are just as normal as a lot of people, in some cases. We have feelings, we just know how to hide them when we need too. We love humor!! I'll talk about that later! We love to just share and talk, just like you! 

Meeting New People

In some cases for us; this is really easy! Why? Well being a Pastors Kid you see people come and go in church, and you get to know the people of your congregation! Now being a missionary kid, you travel TONS, and constantly meet new people from everywhere and different churches! So people come and go in your life all the time! Now this can be a hard thing, because like I said; they come and sometimes they GO which causes some hurt. It's hard to let go of people. but God strengthens us. Yet we make friends easily, and love to share about who we are, our testimonies or funny experiences! So never be afraid to talk to us we LOVE it! 

 Our Humor!

Okay being a Pastors Kid or a Missionary Kid, humor is a must have!!! A little secret... WE ARE SARCASTIC!!! Ha ha it's true, we are very sarcastic we see a lot of stuff, we go through a lot of stuff so the only way we survive is to be sarcastic and funny! And if you are really in for a treat then you would see that side, we let it out when we are comfortable! We all love jokes, I mean sometimes the only things I say are sarcastic, and people can't tell if i'm being serious or not! But, yes humor is a big factor in our lives! You know what they say; laughing is the best medicine! And yes; we eat the left over communion! :)

We Love What We Do!

Church can sometimes were us down, we get there early with out parents help wherever needed, see some stuff that's not always the best. Yet we wouldn't have it any other way. I asked a fellow PK what she thought of this and she said; "I love being a pastors kid, because A: I like spending time at my church, it's probably one of my favorite places to be! So since I'm always there it opens up great doors of opportunity for me to serve.  I also get to see my parents minister too many people, which guides me when I may consul someone in the future!" I could not agree with that more, through the ministry I was not only called to children's ministry, but I was able to use it and minster to children! It gives us opportunities to be used of God! Another PK said;"We go through a lot of hurt, but we get many opportunities in ministry and get to see amazing things as well!" We love it when we get asked spiritual questions, even if we don't know the answer! We love being reached out too trust me! We get excited when someone asks us spiritual questions because when we don't answer, we will find out! We love what we do! :) 

 You become really close with your family! Being traveling missionaries we are always together, we tell each other everything and as close as close can be! You lean on each other a lot! Family is important: they are my team! 

 We Are NOT Perfect! 

We are not perfect, we are not "goody two shoes." We are human,  that make mistakes too, we aren't perfect at all! And we don't try to be either, we only try to be our best for our Lord our Savior! 

We aren't depressed all the time; although some of us go through it at times; it's not our lives. Our life is not our own, so we shouldn't try to be someone we are not! Another PK also said "We aren't perfect, we slip up and make mistakes just as everyone else, we just try to be our best!" We aren't higher than you, we don't try to be snotty or get attention, just simply human beings. We are just human beings, and we love you all so much. We've seen hurt, and seen things you may not of, that changes you! It changes who you are, you can either let it bring you down, or let it bring you up! We begin to be tough, but tender, we know how to encourage. 

I learn a lot of things, being who we are, missionary kids really don't have a home. We have temporary places to call home; but we know where are heart settle, and that is what matters. We read people really well, which can be a bad and good thing. We can seem sweet, joyful, tender out there, but on the inside we could be hurting, we could be tough, or could be someone different. It's all how we choose to see it. We love what we do, love people, as well as love when people reach out to us. Furthermore we have a lot on our minds; ALL THE TIME. So when you ask; "Whatcha thinking?" We may not be able to answer that, it's just who we are. 

We are different, nevertheless we have no regrets of what we are called to do. 

We Are Pastor's Kids And We Are Missionary Kids. 

Being A Light

copyright (c) 2017 Tabitha Carin Snowden

2017

Being A Light

by Tabitha Snowden

Being a light is a little hard; I know! Knowing that you have to be the 'difference', and being scared of changing. It's not easy. But there are so many benefits to shine the light, leading people in the right direction (towards God). 

Too many Christians act like the world around them instead of being Christ like. Too many souls are going to hell not knowing Christ, it saddens me. When did we start getting so scared of what people think of us? Because when we weigh one side of what people think about us and the other side winning souls, what should out way the other? 

WINNING SOULS!!!! 

It's very important that we put aside the longing of people liking us; even though that is a plus, it shouldn't be our mane focus. 

We need to start a fire within us, yearning to be devoted to Him and not care what people think.

Psalm 104:4  'He makes His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire."    

We are His flaming fire! We are His messengers! He sends us out to be ministers unto the people of this world. 

To ignite the world with His passion and grace. Loving with our life to all the nations, with His compassion. 

IGNITE: "To take fire; begin to burn." 

How amazing is it to ignite the world, to inflame to burn with His fire in us! 

Being a light leads up to starting a fire, the little that you can shine turns into a blaze, a blaze turns into a fire, a little fire turns into a wild untamed flame within us. 

The light in which we shine, can be tiny but it can turn into something immense. We have to trust it's worth by overcoming the darkness.

A light is something that pierces the somberness of this dark world. Do not be scared to gleam, and be confident in your beliefs. That light is affecting more people than you can think.

Being yourself with Jesus by your side; shows the world you can have fun, living and by serving the One True God ( Jesus Christ).

That little light you started, can turn into so much; other's will start letting their light shine too! 

It's okay to be scared, I know that people can be intimidating, it's okay, because you have the strength from the ALL POWERFUL ONE!

That remarkable beauty of letting our vigorous flame grow, is something that God smiles about when He see's us with His loving, affectionate eyes; as His children are spreading His word to the lost. 

We all know how much He blesses us with little beauty's of His light in the morning and throughout the day, and evening those pleasures of the sunshine. [Just a little hint to be the light.] 

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

You can be the light only if you allow His light in, and only if you choose to show it. I am going to choose to show it, and not become apart of the darkness.

 Will you help by being apart of His light?

Why to Wait

copyright(c) 2016 Tabitha Carin Snowden

2016

 

Why To Wait

 

So waiting… not fun is it? I am a very impatient person, this is why waiting is important for me.
I think heart strings are a good and a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, it is very good to have heart strings, but if you have had a bunch of relationships you know that once those strings are tied, then it is hard when they get cut.

 Personally, I have not had any boyfriend relationships because I am way too young and secondly, I am waiting for the perfect one. I am not saying he has to be perfect, but perfect to me. With God's help I have already made a list on what I am looking for in a Future husband.
  1.) He has to love God with all of his heart.
 2.)  To Love me and treat me like a lady.
 3.) He must love kids.
 4.) Love and protect our family.
 5.) He needs to be on fire for God.
See these things are general, but important, and it is good to have these in mind when waiting, don’t settle for less.

 

 

 Maybe you have your own list,  that is great! You should, if you don’t, that’s ok too! See if you have a list or something in your mind, then God will put someone in your path that just fits, and that is so amazing that you know it is God. This is why waiting is so important, because God has the one for you just wait; He is out there being prepared by God.

 

 

But don’t dwell on waiting, go on with the life God has for you. God is placing the perfect one in your path as well as you in his. But waiting is hard, although I want to believe that it is totally 100% worth it! So wait, he is out there it is all going to happen sooner or later.

Confidence

copyright(c)2016Tabitha carin Snowden

2016   

Confidence

Confidence: “A feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something." 

Confidence should not be taken lightly, we all need a little confidence in our lives because without it, we can go straight to depression. It is harder for us girls to feel confident because of all of our insecurity’s but we can try. I am also not saying we all should be cocky; We should realize that confidence is to be more insightful to ourselves. Confidence isn’t always just saying that you are pretty; yes that is some of it, but it's also being confident in your personality as well.  We all just need to be ourselves no matter who is watching and being confident in it.
                                                      


If you call yourself not pretty you’re calling a child of God not good enough. And that doesn’t only hurt us, but it hurts God. Yes, it's hard to be confident trust me: I know… there are a lot of things I am not good at, yet should I focus on them? No, I do not! I have learned to focus on the talents God gave me.

"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you, that is greater than any obstacle." --Christian D. Larson--

                                
                                                         


How then can we be confident ? Easy, seek God : He is the only one that can really help us all be confident. [God Confidence]
So be: YOU, no matter who is watching, and always be Confident: because the one person that you are is the one person that God has created you to be.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”