Arrrived in CZ!

After 27 hours of travel (SD -> LA -> London -> Vienna by plane + 6 hours driving from Vienna to Ostrava) we safely arrived. We spent the day with the church family and will leave for the English Camp tomorrow, right after church.

For the past two weeks I’ve had A LOT to do and as busy as I thought last week was, it was nothing compared to the lack of sleep and late nights that made up this week…but honestly, while I feel tired and still unprepared, I’m thankful. I’m thankful that from the GET-GO, there is no illusion that I’m doing this on my own…. I sent an email out 20 minutes before I was suppose to leave for the airport describing how God has been gracious to me that I did not go crazy with all the stress… as a product of the lessons that God has taught me this past year: trust in God in all circumstances, that His will certainly will be accomplished in my life, remembering that He provides everything that I need for His will (including time), that while I might be forgetting more than I’m used to, that if I know the gospel and can share it then I really am ready to go…

but would you take a minutes to pray for me and the team over the next two weeks?

Prayer Requests:

* Love for GOD and to treasure the gospel
* Fear of God and not of man as well as passion & confidence for sharing the gospel
* God will use me as a faithful messenger of the good news and provide obvious opportunities to evangelize
* For wisdom, patience and love in building relationships with the students in my English Class
* that God would save people through the English Camp
* Hearts of worship and kindness in the members of the CZ team
* the hearts of english campers to be prepared to hear the gospel message through the Evening program and in conversations.
* Though I may be tired, discouraged, and sinful and though there may be physical challenges that I would really live out Philippians 2:14-16 because I rejoice in the God of my salvation and be a constant servant to my teammates and to the Czech church

I’m excited to see how He will answer these prayers.

Late Nights and Long Days

For the 6th (maybe 7th) night in the past 1.5 weeks  I’m up past 1:30a. It’s no because i’m playing Bejewled Blitz on facebook but rather a much more worthwhile investment of time: i’m preparing my lessons for English Camp  for my missions trip to Czech Republic. Normally that would be all fun and just a little stress but the fact that I’m leaving in 4 days (!!!) and i’m still not done withe lessons in the first draft and have to send it to my teaching partner for revision is definitely causing some anxiety. I’m sure pretty much anyone can relate to feeling that you could use more time…. I know I’ve been wishing for at least 3 more days a day, so that I could at least get 5 hours of sleep before going to work and still tie up all these loose ends.

But I’ve been stopping myself each time I feel like lamenting about all that I have to do and remember the mere straight up fact that God has given everything that I need to accomplish his will in each day. Including time.

So if you happen to wander across this in the next few days, I don’t mind one bit if you would pray for me to make it onto that plane in one piece on Thursday!

hallelujah

And only you can see the good
In broken things
You took my heart of stone
And you made it home
And set this prisoner free

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever’s in front of me
Help me to sing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever’s in front of me
I’ll choose to sing hallelujah

“God is never doing just one thing in what he does with us. He is always doing thousands of things that we cannot see. He never has only one purpose in what he does. He always has thousands of purposes, in everything he does. He is infinitely wise, and everything he does relates to everything else that he does sooner or later. For those who love him and are called according to his purpose, all of them—all of them!—work together for good.”

- John Piper, You Will Never Be Thirsty Again

Gate Thinking Edition #1

My roommates (gosh I love you baywood girls) have affectionately nicknamed my tendency to think outside the “box” as gate thinking. This is referring to the fact that I was placed in the GATE (gifted and talented education) program when I was in first grade. For a long time I thought this mean that I was REALLY smart and that’s why I got to be in this advanced class…. I found out later that it meant I was “gifted” in some shape or form and that people who had this designation tended to express it in ways that sometimes resemble learning disabilities. Haha, however thankgoodness, my classmates and I indeed did not have learning disabilities…just different ways of learning.

This tends to take form in random facinations (pirate ships, tree climbing, Pride & Prejudice), artistic furniture arranging and scrapbooking, word choice (I often make up my own phrases and sounds and then integrate them into conversations and expect everyone else to know exactly what a “hoo-ha” is…it means spontaneous adventure, btw), telling elaborate stories (my specific GATE designation was verbal intelligence), recalling song lyrics at the drop of a hat,  ability to turn almost anything into a birthday theme and particularly how my random interjections are not really RANDOM – they are just parts of conversations that I’m having in my head which the rest of the world was not privy too.

All of that is just to say that my “gate thinking” posts are a bunch of RANDOMNESS. Random observations and thoughts that are either not fully developed or just a snapshot of what’s been on my mind. Maybe you’ll be amused by the ridiculousness (i often amuse myself).

• Watching high schoolers flirt with each other is hilarious
• Girls do funny things when they like a boy
• There is a guy that looks like Orlando Bloom who works at my favorite Coffee Bean . He definitely has that piratey feel to him.
• Kindness and responsibility are attractive
• The songs from Grease are so catchy. I wanted to put the first few lines from “Youre’ the One That I Want” on my gchat status (You better shape up cause I neeeeed a man, and my heart is set on yoooooou) but I thought that might give people the wrong idea so I didn’t do it
• Navigating the waters of singleness has felt more like trying to go white water rafting lately
• I’ve been encouraged to be more gentle and sweet in my speech, especially towards the brothers…with the emphasis on sweet. It helped when examples were given to me in terms of what not to say “Aye – you want water?” and to try instead, “Can I get you anything?” I’m trying hard to not imagine saying it and being and exaggerative with batting my eyelashes. People say I’m totally a girl on the inside and that I have been much more feminine on the outside as of lately but honestly its things  like that which remind me that I’ve always felt more like one of the guys than a lady.
• Trying to get rid of as much as I can before moving next summer… but I think it’ll be harder said than done. I have accummulated a lot of stuff my 3 years in SD
• I used to unashamedly know the words to every single Britney Spears song but I was SOOOOO embarrassed when singing “…Baby One more Time” during a karaoke event at work
• Why is that I always sing better in the car than with a microphone in hand?
• Listening to “My Girl” makes me so cheery. My head just starts bopping along.
• Tonight, I have a playdate with Alyssa & Olivia. Right now, i would say that beats a REAL date to the movies anyday.
• One of my new favorite songs is “The Best Day” by Taylor Swift. There have been more days when I’m missing my family and listening to that makes me feel a little better and a little worst.

5 Things I’m Thankful For…

1. Making it to all the graduations (nearly missed one my girls…but thanks to Sam, she called me to let me know I needed to hustle it over to the field) and just getting to celebrate with them. As cliche as it may be, attending these time honored traditions makes you realize just how fast life is zooming by. It seemed like it wasn’t that long ago that I was there for Becky’s graduation when indeed, it was 2 years ago.
2. The generosity of my small group…
3. …in gifting me with an ESV Study Bible! I never thought that I would receive one of these but they really have encouraged me to take advantage of all the tools it offers. I love these girls. I’m going to miss meeting up on a weekly basis so much.
4. The opportunity to bond with some the SOCS (singles on college staff) on a Friday night – but really what I’m thankful for is God’s kindness in allowing me to serve alongside these men and women who are invested in God’s glory and his kingdom and really desire to give all they have to make disciples of Christ. I am so encouraged to keep working hard and investing in collegians by their love for Christ and for the  younger men and women in our lives.
5. Understanding roommates…there are lots of upcoming changes (particularly regarding the housing situation) but they have been so supportive when they could have given me a hard time. They really have encouraged me in doing what is best – I love them now, more than ever.

 

“Everything that is coming to us from God comes through Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus has won our pardon; he has reconciled us to God; he has canceled our sin; he has secured the gift of the Spirit for us; he has granted eternal life to us and promises us the life of the consummation; he has made us children of the new covenant; his righteousness has been accounted as ours; he has risen from the dead, and all of God’s sovereignty is mediated through him and directed to our good and to God’s glory.”
- D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation , 189.

right here, right now

If this was forever,
What could be better?
We already proved it was
But in 2,123 hours
Blend in the universe
Gonna make everything
In our whole world change….

Oh we know its coming
And it’s coming fast
(As long when there’s you and me) (Oh yeah)
So let’s make every second last, make it last!

Right here, oh right now
Yeah, I’m looking at you and my heart loves the view
‘Cause you mean everything

Right here, I promise you somehow
That tomorrow can wait for some other day to be (to be)
But right now there’s you and me
(you and me)

Sometimes, High School Musical helps me say exactly what I’m feeling.

5 Things I’m Thankful For…

I’m going to try doing this on a weekly basis. I can’t believe I did this every day of my senior year of college…we’ll see how it goes. All thanks and praise be to Abba…

1. Providence… I was reading about how God has revealed himself to mankind through his common grace by caring for his creation. I love this word – providence…reminding me that God has provided everything that I need for life and for hope in the Bible. As I’m finding the hopeless limitations of my own wisdom, its exceedingly comforting to know that God has made his wisdom known to us through His word.
2. Being able to make some decisions about the future as God sifted my heart and helped me make sense of all the worries, fears, hopes and affections of my heart.
3. Friends…especially those that tell you the truth and remind you to do the right thing. After making a pretty major decision, one of these such friends asked me “Have you told your parents yet?” I responded that there wasn’t a need to tell them because I already knew what they were going to say and that I didn’t think that it would be that big of a deal. This sister didn’t let me off the hook that easily. Instead of replying “Oh ok” like most others had, she continued to question me and eventually I had to admit (to her and myself) that I was pretty afraid of what they would say and think. Fear of man, basically. But through her counsel I realized that I did indeed need to talk with them and do it soon.
4. Prayer…i “know” God is constantly answering prayers but i’m thankful that I can see how he is answering specific prayers that i’ve brought to him . Whether they are things that were shared in small group as prayer requests, worries i’ve laid at his feet during the day or situations that have been resolved I’m thankful for how God has both humbled me (with my lack of faith and trust in his goodness) and challenged me even more. There are still so many things that I need to keep entrusting to Him…and thus I am challenged to keep praying…
5. My mom being challenged to read her Bible more and wanting to encourage us kids with the word of God more. I could hardly believe those words were coming out of her mouth. Another answered prayer in itself.
   a) Mom ultimately knowing and trusting that God is the one who is going to determine the steps of my life and admitting that
   b) for the first time ever, my step-dad telling me “I love you.”

Not of Self

“It is always the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us pay attention to ourselves instead of to Christ. He insinuates, ‘Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you do not have the joy of His children; you have such a weak hold of Jesus.’ All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is all in all.’”
- Charles Spurgeon, Morning by Morning

 

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone.

Roots and Pride

When i’m not doing “well, in a spiritual sense” (and one way I know this is so is by the dread in my heart over answering the question “How are you?”), that may be the time when I need older women looking into my life the most….

My inclination is to cloak or hide all that is not right in my life – to veil my ungodliness. When I know my heart is not “healthy” (for indeed when I am in sin, I feel a bubonic plaque is taking over my heart and soul…its harder and harder to breathe easy), I want to hurry up and discern the root problem so that I can state my case in a nice little box that seems as though the problem is diagnosed. All that is left to do is to take appropriate medication (prayer and bible reading) – no need for more probing questions!  The last thing I want is another person poking around my actions, words & emotions to reveal how far that problem reaches and in a sense just how dangerous and hurtful unchecked sin can be. And this reveals my mentality that my sin is bad but not thaaaaaat bad. And again, I see pride. As much as I hate it, I see that I’ve been holding on to it still. ::Sigh::.

“As you see, the problem is not that we need to develop more willpower. The problem is that we need new thoughts, new inclinations, and new desires. We need to seek to replace our sinful passions with holy ones. When God grants these new holy passions to us, we’ll find that our will, which seemed so weak before, will joyfully comply.” 

- Elise Fitzpatrick

6 Random Facts…

….that didn’t make the cut for the missions support letter (as supplied by Whitney):

1. mmm you like singing in the car a lot
2. youuu are girlier than you’ll ever admit
   

   This is me being "girly".

   

   I however would like to protest the validity of this "random fact".

3. youuuu like pretty things
   

   Fine, I'll own up to this one.

   

4. i think you secretly want to be a rock star
   
   1. cuz it’s cool
   2. for the nice stuff
   3. for the impact you make on others
5. you’re a social media extraordinaire
   

   I may be social media extraordinaire but, yes, I do have real friends.

6. You don’t settle for mediocre.
   

   My second baptism on February 15, 09. But that's a story for another time. Life following Christ is definitely not mediocre because my God is not mediocre.

All that from the one who knows my quirky side in a very full sense.  I guess she’s a reliable source – so in case the five facts listed on the missions support letter you get are not interesting enough, hopefully this is amusing. and just for good measure here are some fun pictures.

The guys were sitting in the nursery chairs and they lookde so ridiculous that we had to take a photo.

   

 

I think I really like jumping pictures.

The year we won "Best Group Costume" was my proudest moment.