I'm over a week into my two week trip to Asia.  It's been an incredible trip filled with amazing encounters with new friends.  I can't wait to come home and share pictures and stories.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me in relation to Asia, but I'm quite sure this won't be my last trip.

Through out my time here I've really been learning a lot about myself.  It's incredible how such an intense experience forces us to see things that may get lost in the everyday moments of life.  One of the big things has been an affirmation and greater understanding of my identity in Christ.  A couple years ago God revealed to me that I am only 'complete' when I am who He created me to be.  In addition, I've come to believe that our true identity can only be found when we allow Christ to fully live in and through us.  

This trip has really challenged me in this area of identity.  Maybe it's the incredible change in culture, or the detachment from my 'known environment'.  Perhaps it's a bit of both.  Whatever it is, I've really found myself wrestling to find peace in who I am (something I haven't wrestled with so much in the past number of months.)   God has really been faithful to meet me in that wrestle, speaking to my heart and reminding me that I am first and foremost His child.  I've also learned two things that have really expanded my appreciation for who God has made me:

1. Christ Reveals Himself In Me
2. My Life Is A God Story

First, I've learned that as we step into our true identity in Christ we become like Him.  As we take on the character and life of the one we so closely follow, it only makes sense that He would 'rub off on us' so to speak.  The powerful realization here for me was found when we prayed for a Thai man in Bangkok.  God clearly showed us that he was a faithful man (a truth that become increasingly obvious as we watched him over the couple days that followed.)  God then asked us to tell him that his faithfulness was a reflection of the Father, and that his desire to be faithful should act as a reminder that God would always be faithful to him!  That caused me to think about how Christ wants to reveal himself to me through the man He's created me to be. 

Secondly – I've been reminded that my life tells not only my story, but God's.  As I interact with Him and allow Him to walk this journey with me, my story really becomes about Him.  Honestly, what is my story in comparison to the one that God is writing!  I'm reminded that as I come to peace with my identity, others are able to see Christ in me… they are able to understand Him, get to know Him, and even see how He wants to move in their lives.  Just as the stories of David, Paul, Gideon, etc from the Bible show us how God moves here on Earth, so does my life.

As I've wrestled to find identity in a place that seems SO crowded and chaotic, God has been faithful.  He has consistently spoke to my heart, and has not only shown me myself… He's shown me deeper things of His heart for me, and a clearer picture of who I am.  I knew this trip was going to change me, and that is obviously happening.  Only time will tell just how deeply the change runs, and how it will impact life as I live it.