bigger than myself

60 more days until I leave for YWAM!  Time sure does fly.
I just want to thank everyone that has been a great encouragement to me.  I'm so glad to have such supportive and loving people in my life.  It's going to be sad to leave you all.

Thank you for walking with me on this journey toward something bigger than myself, without God and yourselves helping me every step of the way I would surely be lost, without a doubt. 

Thank you mom and dad for not freaking out when I told you I wanted to go half way across the world to do missions.  You have always been supportive of me and my decisions (well most of my decisions anyway), and for that I am very thankful.  God gave me some great parents.  Love you guys. 

My last thank you goes to a special person that has helped me a lot, not only in preparing to go to YWAM but throughout high school as well.  You're encouraging, you're hilarious, you're like a second mom to me. I love how you're not afraid to be bold and share your heart and story with those around you.  I only wish I could've been closer to you earlier in high school.  Insecurities have kept me quiet...in fear that I would say something lame or out of place, but there's a side of me that will belt out my favorite music, crazy dance moves...of course! and will laugh until tears cover my face.  I hope to share this side more with you before I leave, and hopefully for some time after.  I am honored to have you as my mentor.
Hugs and love T

If you would be willing to support me financially in doing YWAM this is exactly how you can do it:

• (the pretty obvious one) you can send me cash.
• you can make out a check to Mariah Steenerson, and send to my address (if you don't know my address you can email me at m_steener@hotmail.com).
• you can go to this website https://www.ywamrto.org/payments/ and fill out the information needed (putting me as the recipient) and it will go straight into an account at YWAM to help pay my expenses to go.

Just to make this clear this is not all about getting money and leaving for Australia. ("Did she just say that" :O )  If it was all about the money, what would be the point.
This is about coming together to do something bigger than ourselves, to give you a glimpse of what's on my heart and who God is shaping me to be.  YWAM is as much an opportunity for you as it is for me, because I can't do this without YOU. This is an opportunity for us to come together and be used by God, will you step up and be a part of something bigger than yourself?

thankful to be used by God,

mariah

live like we're dying

Time.  It seems like everyone is talking about it.  Some believe we have a lot of it, some try to make up silly predictions when it will end, but what is it that we're really doing with the time God has given us?

This week I've been reminded just how precious time can be.  
Yesterday an eighteen year old boy died of a heart attack. 
No one saw it coming.

He left behind a mom and dad that loved him with all their heart.

A sister and brother that had started November 7th with him are now left with only memories today. 

He left behind a girlfriend that has to realize the guy she had a relationship with, she will never see again on this earth. 

Friends that had made plans to hang out with him have to deal with the pain filled reality that in just one moment everything can change, and they can't do a single thing about it. 

This life we live...we only have for a moment,let's not waste it.

Maybe you're a teenager that doesn't appreciate the parents God has given you, maybe you're an adult who has a screwed up past because of all the lies and distrust you had to grow up dealing with as a kid, maybe you are unhappy that you only have one true friend at a school filled with cliques and popularity contests.
Wherever you're at right now, make time to love these people that God has put in your life, because you never know when you're going to lose them.  Time is ticking

Live like you are dying

thankful for each day,
mariah

    

I Will Go

Thank you for all those reading this right now.  You might be family, a close friend, an old friend, someone from my church, or maybe I don't know you at all.  Whoever you may be I am very blessed to have you reading my blog. 

It's a struggle for me to think of something to write about, especially since I'm not the only one going to be looking at this.  After a few hours of thinking of different topics, God has been nudging me to share my story.  If you read my first blog you know I am leaving in January to do missions in Australia, but what most people don't know is that the passion for doing missions started a long time ago...and is crazy how everything has pieced together since then. 

My story starts in a small Evangelical church in a tiny Minnesota town.

As a kid, my pastor used to pose different challenges to our church congregation.  We would be encouraged to memorize different bible verses, or read a series of books in a certain amount of time.

One of these challenges was to read these books about missionaries around the world and thier stories.

I absolutely loved these books.  These people had a real heart for God and were willing to give up their lives to tell people the gospel.  Slowly I felt the ever deeper want to be one of these people, to go out into the world and share the message of Jesus Christ to everyone.  I decided to keep this to myslef, being only 12 years old and wanting to go and do missions around the world...I felt no one would take me seriously. 

Then later that year I was in church listening to a young girl a few years older than me talking about wanting to go be a missionary in Thailand.  This amazed me, for someone so young she knew what God was calling her to and she wasn't afraid to share that with others.  Soon after we were great friends, making plans to go do missions half way across the world.  But time went on and missions slipped to the back of my mind, but that all changed in 2008 when I went to my first youth conference called Challenge.

so·journ:

1. to stay for a time in a place

2. live temporarily

Every year Challenge had a different theme, 2008's theme was being a sojourner in what seems like a permanent world.  If you've been to Challenge you know that you can't leave unchanged, it's just not possible!  Meeting with thousands of other believers and worshiping the one true God altogether in one place is truly remarkable.  This one youth convention (but ultimately God) completely changed who I was and how I was living my life.   

There's so much I could say about this conference...but I don't think you want to be reading for hours and hours, so instead I'll share with you a little something I found in my notes from the conference.  Note that I was only a freshman in high school...please excuse the cheesiness.

"At challenge I was in my hotel room alone...and I was just thinking about all of these speakers and singers I've heard so far this week and how gifted they are. 

So in my hotel room I was just feeling so down and somewhat sad because I felt like I was worthless...and just could not understand how a God that made everything and can do anything could love someone like me.  Then I don't know why but I went into the bathroom and just told God that I loved him more than Michael Jordan. 

I've really been wondering if I should be a graphic designer or a missionary in Thailand, so I was asking God if He could show me which path to take. 

Then it was time to go to the evening rally.  I remember for some reason they started talking about Michael Jordan and that you should love God more than him (talking about not having idles) and to make it even more crazy they started talking about Thailand.  I left that night knowing God has a plan for me and I also left knowing all the answers to my questions!"

this youth conference challenged me to be alive in my faith and I wouldn't be where I'm at today if I hadn't gone.

Every day as I prepare to leave for Australia, i'm finding out more and more details of what I'll be doing.  One BIG thing I just found out is that one of my outreaches in South East Asia might be to Thailand!

God sure works in mysterious ways.

Finally I'm to the end (pheww)...just want to share with you some music that was very encouraging at Challenge '08.

forever a sojourner,

mariah

 

                                                                             

              

Youth With A Mission

After a month of consideration, and a couple hundred times of re-doing this first sentence, I have finally set up a blog. (imaginary applause)  Why it's taken me so long, I'm sure I could come up with one of many excuses.  I have a couple of great ladies in my church that have blogs that I try to keep updated on, and I can't tell them enough how much they mean to me and how greatly their words have comforted and inspired me; but it's quite intimidating to be in the midst of such great writers.  Being that I am very competitive, I want to be the best at what I'm doing...so I put off the blog.  But it's these same intimidating people that have really encouraged me to start.  So here I am.  I'm giving this blog to God to do with it whatever He wants.

My name's Mariah Steenerson, I'm a 5'7" blonde in 13th grade.  During high school I decided to do some PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Options) through a community college my junior and senior year, okay so I did a bit more than a few.  I ended up graduating with my Associates Degree the same time I graduated Hich School.  Many people would say this is a great achievement, I saw it more as torture.  You're probably confused...it's torture to save thousands of dollars?  See I had no idea what I wanted to major in. 

This past year has been one of the hardest years in my life.  There wasn't a day that I wasn't stressed about what I was going to do for a career, but I held true to the verse in Jeremiah.  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).

I think the worst part of not knowing what I was going to do for school, was having to face people that constanlty asked what my plan was for college.  Looking back now, I laugh at the responses I got from some people.  "You don't know yet what you want to do! I guess you can scratch off brain surgeon."   

 Each day was a struggle in itself but I found comfort knowing God had and has a plan for me, and what seemed like pure torture helped me to grow and love God even more.

I thank God that I finally got an answer to this long posed question. 
On January 15, 2012, I will be heading to Townsville, Australia to do a program called Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  Basically I will go there and do three months schooling at the Reef to Outback Discipleship Training School (DTS); where I'll learn more about God and who he made me to be, and how I can most effectively share the gospel.  Then do three months missions in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
I am SO excited to be a part of this! I want to go out into the world and be the hands and feet of a God I do not deserve.
But there is a lot to get done before I leave in January!

I believe that prayer is a very powerful thing, and should not be taken lightly.  Below I have listed a few prayer requests, if you would be willing to pray for me I would be more than thankful.

Prayer Requests

• Safety while I'm in Australia doing my schooling and in Asia with my missions
• Spiritual Growth
• Good health while I'm there
• To be able to take a lot from my DTS and apply what I learn to effectively share the gospel
• To be open to change; to not only look at YWAM as an opportunity to make a difference but to be made different.
• To be prepared as best I can to leave my family and friends for six months
• Understanding for after YWAM, as far as schooling.
• the full $8,000 raised to be able to do YWAM. ($5,000 by 1/15 and the last $3,000 by 2/26)

If you would like to support me you can email me at m_steener@hotmail.com

Have a great rest of the weekend!
mariah