This book changed my perspective on the world. It helped me grow as a person, and more importantly, it helped me grow in my relationship with God.
If you ever have a chance to read this again, may God bless your time and continue to work through you.
March 4th -I started reading this book when I was 16 years old in October 2015. I got to around page 45 when my life continued to plummet, so I put this book on hold with full conviction to start it up again later. Now, almost a year and a half later, I'm turning 18 in four days, and I'm starting from the beginning.
I knew Undaunted had impacted me back then even though I only read a small portion, but I'm surprised by how much I took from it, and carried into my perspective on life. What makes this read even more amazing is I'm borrowing it from my friend Laina who has underlined and written her thoughts in the book, so I'm able to get her perspective as well! By page 7, I'm already being impacted greatly by Christine's story, and I'm looking forward to continue to grow in Christ, and I'm excited that this book is part of it.
March 18 - I am so thankful I read these 20 pages today.
"When you believe God is who he says he is, when you hang onto Him and His Word in faith, His truth sets you free. The truth you store up in silence comes back to you in the storm"
"God knew me and loved me before I was even me. He knew me before I was born, and throughout my adoption, and he knew me even now that I wasn't sure who I was anymore. He loved me despite any trouble I found myself in or challenges I faced. I could mess up or meltdown and he would love me still. I could be ashamed of where I came from or try to hide who I was, and God would still love me, knowing me better than I knew myself. He loved me when I feared I was less-than. He loved me so much that he would always have my back in any challenge or distress, and he would go before me through anything unknown. "Yes," I thought. "I'm not who I thought I was. I am so much more. I am loved by God, the maker of the universe, the maker of me, and I was loved by him before I was born and will be after I die.""
"Why is it always so hard to choose first what God says about us? Why do we listen to the voices of others more than His?"
"You need to return to the truth of God's Word that will last forever, not meditate on circumstances that will change and fade. I was not an accident. I am not unknown, unnamed, or unwanted. Niether are you."
August 18 pg 96 & 97 & 101
""How," you might ask, "can you rejoice when your heart is broken and you are hurting?" When I learned that my baby had died, there was no escaping the pain - you can't stop the sorrow you feel. But feeling your disappointment and staying stuck in it are two different things. And the enemy wants you to stay stuck in disappointment."
"God has incredible plans for you - and the enemy would like to keep you from ever experiencing them."
"God has a plan and purpose for my life, as he does for each of us, beyond this moment of disappointment. We need not give up and stop fighting for what we believe in; there is always hope, and as long as there is hope, we can move forward - and bring others with us."
The last sentance really got me.
"Even when I cannot see him, I hear the beautiful gallop of God's heartbeat for humanity."
August 22nd pg 117, 118, 120
"Jesus beckons us to come. If we stay focused on him, we will be able to go anywhere and do whatever is required of us. If we take our eyes off him and stare at the storm, at the danger, we will surely sink. We will never go to the millions trapped out there in the darkness of human trafficking, or the millions without water, or the million suffering abuse, disease, famine, injustice, loneliness, or hopelessness.
To get to them, we may have to walk on water."
" We live in a dark world. Rain falls. Storms come. Lightning strikes. Your life can shatter. The roof can fall in. You can be damaged. As long as you live, you will have something to lose-little pieces of yourself. The people you love, the life choices you cherish-there is always something at risk, something dear. Some cause for fear"
"Some people have paid a horror of a price to live in fear. All they see is the darkness. All they have to clutch is their fear or their despair, there loneliness, there despondency.
But those who follow Christ have the light. We know his love. We have hope. We can bring the news of his grace, of change.
"Do you love me?" Jesus asks.
Undaunted, we can answer yes-and prepare to serve him without fear ."
September 4th
On the topic of Devine Interuption, page 172 - page 175 "How do you know whether something is a God interruption or distraction from the good works you are on the road to completing? It's not always easy. These five habits help me know when the Lord is leading me to cross the street and help the one in the ditch: 1 Be Sensitive to the Spirit of God...2 Live Aware...3 Simply Step into the Moment...4 Pray for a Heart Change Allow God to continually soften your heart so that it beats for what his heart beats for-people...When our hearts are changed, we see things we never saw before, hear cries that we never heard before, and act out of a compassion that we did not have before...5 Be Open The ones we are asked to go to are not always across the street or around the globe. Sometimes they are right under our nose and just at our elbow..."
September 20th chapter 10
Christine writes about the giants she and her team faced with starting up their human-trafficking rescue in Greece. These are the inspirational stories I wish to here: seeing God's power overthrowing difficulty and the impossible. "When difficulties get in the way of us daring to do what God has called us to do, we must ask ourselves, 'Who am I going to believe? The rational---or a supernatural? The factual---or the true?'"
"Faith is required when you are in doubt, when you're in want, when things are difficult and unclear. 'Faith,' the Bible tells us, is, 'confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see' (Hebrews 11:1) You can't touch faith, but it can move mountains. The Bible puts it this way: You may not be able to hold faith or wrap it up in a box, but it is real and powerful and can conquer kingdoms, administer justice, gain what was promised...faith can take you right where God wants you."
"At times, it's possible to see life as a conflict between faith and that old bully Difficulty. And Difficulty loves to stand directly in the way, so that we see as little as possible ahead.
Which is just when we need faith."
"How misleading our perspective is for the things God calls us to do. We see problems, he sees possibilities. We see difficulty, he sees destiny. We see a disheveled woman fishing around in her purse for her phone in the hubbub of a busy airport, and God sees a person with a calling and purpose and something big to do in a place inhabited by all kinds of giants."
"There is no promise too hard for God to fulfill. When our consultants told Nick and me that A21 would never work in Eastern Europe, that it needed much more than a wing and a prayer to fly, we took only part of their advice.
The prayer part.
Now we have offices all over the world. A21 works to raise awareness of human trafficking, establish prevention programs in schools in orphanages, represent victims as legal advocates, and give them refuge--in safe houses, then restoration in transition homes.
God didn't remove all the difficulties from our path. Difficulty is part of our world. But God is bigger than any difficulty"
"...to live truly undaunted, to ask others to have faith, you must summon your own faith in God. You follow a God who is moved by your prayers, and your tears, just as you would be moved by the words and tears of your own child. And when God is moved, you look up and over whatever giant is standing in your way, because God will move him.
After all, God can move mountains. Why would he hesitate to remove a mere giant?"
The Challenge
"...when Jesus said to go into all the world he didn't mean to wait until morning or until you get the right job, or find the perfect spouse...Christ brought us light in the darkness so that we can reach everyone living a nightmare now. He longs to shake us awake so that we can shout out the truth--- that humankind is made for eternity but trapped in time, and time is running out. He means for us to be a lantern in the darkness. He means for us to find and rescue others because we know what it is to be lost and then found, hurting and then healed .
He means for us to walk into the gap, where he's thrown down the cross, to walk like him, to walk with him.
Unwilling to stay asleep.
Unafraid of the dark.
Unflinching in the face of disappointment.
Unstoppable in the face of difficulty.
Undaunted."