2011 is gonna be a transition year for me. I'll be graduating (we hope anyways!) from W&L in May and then become a "real" adult.. ahhh. scary.. I don't know where I'll be working, where I'll be living, or what I'll be doing come next New Year's Eve, but I do know that my God has already written my story and does know all of these things. With this, here's some of my resolutions for a sure to be exciting year.
Spiritual:
Chapter Per Day in My Bible
Blog about Said Chapter
Disciple a freshmen girl
Write a Page Every Day in My Prayer Journal
Pray!! Pray!! Pray!! I want my prayer life to greatly increase!
Physical:
Running and Ab Workout 3 Days/Week
Only 2 cokes/Day
Tennis Once/Wk
Run a half marathon!
Academic:
>3.75 GPA This Term
Peace and Joy to You for 2011!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Beautiful Children
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us. that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
1 John 3:1
Every afternoon at UJIMA-Settegast Heights (a Section 8 housing community), I have the blessing of playing with some of the most beautiful children I've ever met. We play bingo, we do the monkey bars, we play chain tag, or their personal favorite, we play Crystal is a horsey, where basically they get on my back and we run and spin around aimlessly until I can't hold them anymore and the next beautiful child asks to get on my back.
As Big Boi and Hamburger and Pig and Trey and Tyra and Adrian and Queen Bee and Daysia and so many more look up at me with their beautiful eyes, I can't help but be reminded of how I look up to my father. These kids look up at me sometimes with smiles, sometimes with tears, and even sometimes expressionless. Some of them are so desperate for human touch that I just want to hold them all day long and bring them home with me. Their laughter has become the music of my summer. Even their expressionless faces hold so much beneath. And then I remember, they are not only reaching up to me, they are actually reaching up to their heavenly Father. They may have no concept or knowledge of who Jesus is, but they do know they need love and I know that that love comes from their Heavenly Father.
As I left there last Thursday, knowing I wouldn't be back for a few days, I couldn't help, but be overcome with sadness. I didn't want to leave them. They have taught me so much about how to yearn out for the Lord, even though they don't know it. The way they love me is the way I want to love my father. Their love is so bold, real, and honest.
I don't even want to think about leaving them next week, knowing that I won't be seeing them for a long time, if ever again at all. Through this summer, though, I really have come to feel a peace about moving back to Houston after graduation, working, and continuing to love and be loved by these beautiful children.
Lord, thank you for making such beautiful children. Thank you for letting me be your child and loving me so well. Bless my kids at UJIMA and lead them to your love. Amen
1 John 3:1
Every afternoon at UJIMA-Settegast Heights (a Section 8 housing community), I have the blessing of playing with some of the most beautiful children I've ever met. We play bingo, we do the monkey bars, we play chain tag, or their personal favorite, we play Crystal is a horsey, where basically they get on my back and we run and spin around aimlessly until I can't hold them anymore and the next beautiful child asks to get on my back.
As Big Boi and Hamburger and Pig and Trey and Tyra and Adrian and Queen Bee and Daysia and so many more look up at me with their beautiful eyes, I can't help but be reminded of how I look up to my father. These kids look up at me sometimes with smiles, sometimes with tears, and even sometimes expressionless. Some of them are so desperate for human touch that I just want to hold them all day long and bring them home with me. Their laughter has become the music of my summer. Even their expressionless faces hold so much beneath. And then I remember, they are not only reaching up to me, they are actually reaching up to their heavenly Father. They may have no concept or knowledge of who Jesus is, but they do know they need love and I know that that love comes from their Heavenly Father.
As I left there last Thursday, knowing I wouldn't be back for a few days, I couldn't help, but be overcome with sadness. I didn't want to leave them. They have taught me so much about how to yearn out for the Lord, even though they don't know it. The way they love me is the way I want to love my father. Their love is so bold, real, and honest.
I don't even want to think about leaving them next week, knowing that I won't be seeing them for a long time, if ever again at all. Through this summer, though, I really have come to feel a peace about moving back to Houston after graduation, working, and continuing to love and be loved by these beautiful children.
Lord, thank you for making such beautiful children. Thank you for letting me be your child and loving me so well. Bless my kids at UJIMA and lead them to your love. Amen
Serving for an Audience of One
"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." Ephesians 6:7
I've gone to SEARCH (Service of the Emergency Aid Resource Center for the Homeless) a lot this summer. It's not always my favorite site to go to, but lately, it sure has taught me about what true service looks like.
When I went on my first CSM trip to Washington DC in February, I remember thinking the same think about DC Central Kitchen. While I was cutting loaf of bread after loaf of bread, I remember getting bored and wanting to do something else. Then, Mo, a DC Spring Host, and I started talking about service and what truly serving the Lord means. It hit me that serving the Lord is not about being thanked or people thinking that I'm serving well. I had always had this thought as head knowledge, but it had never transferred to my heart. That cold February morning in the DC Central Kitchen basement, it finally transferred to heart knowledge. I was serving only one thing and that was my God.
SEARCH continues to teach me about serving wholeheartedly for an audience of one. Lately, my groups and I have been washing walls and windows. I tell you every window and wall, inside and out, in that 4 story building is as clean as it will ever be. While I still don't exactly look forward to washing walls and windows (I'm not sure I ever will), I now sing and dance while I'm doing so because I know I'm not washing for nothing, I'm washing because He first washed me and my sins away. Now, every time I squirt that Windex bottle and wipe a window, I view it as just a way I can show the Lord that I am so thankful for Him not just cleaning a part of me, but all of me.
Lord, thank you for continuing to teach me what true service is and for places like DC Central Kitchen and SEARCH that you use as avenues of learning.
I've gone to SEARCH (Service of the Emergency Aid Resource Center for the Homeless) a lot this summer. It's not always my favorite site to go to, but lately, it sure has taught me about what true service looks like.
When I went on my first CSM trip to Washington DC in February, I remember thinking the same think about DC Central Kitchen. While I was cutting loaf of bread after loaf of bread, I remember getting bored and wanting to do something else. Then, Mo, a DC Spring Host, and I started talking about service and what truly serving the Lord means. It hit me that serving the Lord is not about being thanked or people thinking that I'm serving well. I had always had this thought as head knowledge, but it had never transferred to my heart. That cold February morning in the DC Central Kitchen basement, it finally transferred to heart knowledge. I was serving only one thing and that was my God.
SEARCH continues to teach me about serving wholeheartedly for an audience of one. Lately, my groups and I have been washing walls and windows. I tell you every window and wall, inside and out, in that 4 story building is as clean as it will ever be. While I still don't exactly look forward to washing walls and windows (I'm not sure I ever will), I now sing and dance while I'm doing so because I know I'm not washing for nothing, I'm washing because He first washed me and my sins away. Now, every time I squirt that Windex bottle and wipe a window, I view it as just a way I can show the Lord that I am so thankful for Him not just cleaning a part of me, but all of me.
Lord, thank you for continuing to teach me what true service is and for places like DC Central Kitchen and SEARCH that you use as avenues of learning.
The Story of David, the Second Chapter
"You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. "
Job 11:18
I was so excited last week when I got to see David again. Now 2 weeks since he entered the program, he is already on the path to recovery. This time as he talked to me, I could just see a hope and a light in his eyes that wasn't there before. You could see that he felt safe at Open Door and was proud of what path he was now on. We talked about politics, the oil spill, the weather, just your average conversation with a person. It was so cool to me that in just two weeks the Lord had given Him hope and a new outlook on life. David just wanted to talk and talk and talk. He even told me that my group and I were like his children. That's why he wanted to talk to us so much. I felt that way, too.
The first time I met him, I hurt for him like a daughter would. This second meeting, I grinned like a daughter proud of her father. I am proud and anxious to see what the Lord continues to do in David's life.
Lord, thank you for always holding David in Your hands. Be with him and continue to heal him through Open Door and his relationship with you. Amen
Job 11:18
I was so excited last week when I got to see David again. Now 2 weeks since he entered the program, he is already on the path to recovery. This time as he talked to me, I could just see a hope and a light in his eyes that wasn't there before. You could see that he felt safe at Open Door and was proud of what path he was now on. We talked about politics, the oil spill, the weather, just your average conversation with a person. It was so cool to me that in just two weeks the Lord had given Him hope and a new outlook on life. David just wanted to talk and talk and talk. He even told me that my group and I were like his children. That's why he wanted to talk to us so much. I felt that way, too.
The first time I met him, I hurt for him like a daughter would. This second meeting, I grinned like a daughter proud of her father. I am proud and anxious to see what the Lord continues to do in David's life.
Lord, thank you for always holding David in Your hands. Be with him and continue to heal him through Open Door and his relationship with you. Amen
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Story of David
"By the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:21
I clung onto this verse so tightly today as I talked to David. I prayed with David that the Lord would transform his body and rid it of an addiction that has filled it for over 30 years.
Two of the other interns and I had the awesome opportunity to serve and hang out with the guys at Open Door Mission this morning. When I walked out to the courtyard, I sat down next to David. He was quietly awaiting his bed assignment shortly after being admitted to the Open Door drug rehab program. He had been at ODM since 5 AM waiting to be the first admittee of the morning. The sweat dripped down his cheeks as the Houston sun beat down. As I listened, my heart ached with every sentence he spoke, which became his story, the story of David.
David grew up with the typical dreams of having a good job, marrying a beautiful wife, and raising a loving family. When he was 18 years old, he was drafted into the military to go fight in the Vietnam War. He served his time in the Army for 3 years in the rough jungles of Vietnam. By the end of 3 years, he had become an alcoholic attempting to erase all of the gruesome things he had witnessed. Soon after he returned from Vietnam, he married, had a child, and moved to Germany when he was stationed there. He had a beautiful wife, baby girl, and a wonderful best friend in his platoon in Germany. He still battled alcoholism, but was recovering well until one terrible night. Upon returning home after work one day, he walked in on his wife and his best friend sleeping together while his baby girl slept just a few feet away. That night changed his life forever. He felt as if his whole life was destroyed. He turned back to the alcohol and started doing cocaine. The next 30 years have been a blur he says. He's gone through four wives, been homeless for the last 10 years, and is still heavily addicted to crack.
David really made me think. If tragic events like his happened to me, would I still be following the Lord and keeping the faith? Would I be in David's exact predicament? I'd like to say I hope not, but at the same time I can barely hold it together when I'm stressed out about exams.
Thankfully, our God proclaims that He can transform our lives, not matter what state they are in. This is my hope and prayer for David. I love that we serve a God that is just that powerful. When all things seem hopeless, He is always our hope.
Lord, I cry out for my brother David. Transform his life. Take hold of his heart, God. Grab onto his desire for alcohol and cocaine and throw it far, far away from him. Thank you, Lord, for being a powerful God that transform lives.
I clung onto this verse so tightly today as I talked to David. I prayed with David that the Lord would transform his body and rid it of an addiction that has filled it for over 30 years.
Two of the other interns and I had the awesome opportunity to serve and hang out with the guys at Open Door Mission this morning. When I walked out to the courtyard, I sat down next to David. He was quietly awaiting his bed assignment shortly after being admitted to the Open Door drug rehab program. He had been at ODM since 5 AM waiting to be the first admittee of the morning. The sweat dripped down his cheeks as the Houston sun beat down. As I listened, my heart ached with every sentence he spoke, which became his story, the story of David.
David grew up with the typical dreams of having a good job, marrying a beautiful wife, and raising a loving family. When he was 18 years old, he was drafted into the military to go fight in the Vietnam War. He served his time in the Army for 3 years in the rough jungles of Vietnam. By the end of 3 years, he had become an alcoholic attempting to erase all of the gruesome things he had witnessed. Soon after he returned from Vietnam, he married, had a child, and moved to Germany when he was stationed there. He had a beautiful wife, baby girl, and a wonderful best friend in his platoon in Germany. He still battled alcoholism, but was recovering well until one terrible night. Upon returning home after work one day, he walked in on his wife and his best friend sleeping together while his baby girl slept just a few feet away. That night changed his life forever. He felt as if his whole life was destroyed. He turned back to the alcohol and started doing cocaine. The next 30 years have been a blur he says. He's gone through four wives, been homeless for the last 10 years, and is still heavily addicted to crack.
David really made me think. If tragic events like his happened to me, would I still be following the Lord and keeping the faith? Would I be in David's exact predicament? I'd like to say I hope not, but at the same time I can barely hold it together when I'm stressed out about exams.
Thankfully, our God proclaims that He can transform our lives, not matter what state they are in. This is my hope and prayer for David. I love that we serve a God that is just that powerful. When all things seem hopeless, He is always our hope.
Lord, I cry out for my brother David. Transform his life. Take hold of his heart, God. Grab onto his desire for alcohol and cocaine and throw it far, far away from him. Thank you, Lord, for being a powerful God that transform lives.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Junior High=passion of my heart
This last week, 65 junior highers came to call CSM-Houston their home for a week. While many in people in our world can't stand junior highers, I absolutely love them and all of their craziness. From the first ten minutes Sunday night where it sounded like a herd of elephants had moved into our site to the last hour where they were excited about scrubbing toilets, I loved every second of my week with them. It just made me remember how much of a heart I have for junior highers. I loved the way 7th grade girls played basketball in the rain with 20 kids voluntarily. I loved the way they sang ridiculous songs in the van to and from ministry sites. I loved the way they held the children of Ujima. I loved their joyful hearts making hygiene kits at SEARCH. I loved hearing profound God moments and hilarious irrelevant stories that went on forever each day during debriefs. I loved the way they copied my every dance move at the Harbor Light choir concert. I loved the hilarious moments that junior high boys create by throwing trash cans down stairs and scaring junior high girls by shooting empty airsoft guns in the vents of the showers. Above all, I love the way the Lord works in junior highers lives. I love seeing the huge change the Lord can have in a junior higher's life.
Lord, thank you for junior highers and all the fun they are.
Lord, thank you for junior highers and all the fun they are.
Daughter before Servant
man.. this is so hard for me to remember sometimes..
I am a doer. I like getting things done. Therefore, I am always concerned with what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and when it is going to get done. This summer working with CSM is great for me because I get to do a lot of things that directly help people. I hang out with homeless people, serve meals, play with children, and lots of other stuff. I get to DO a lot. But because I'm serving so much, I have to constantly remind myself that the Lord wants me to know him before He wants me to serve Him. This is so hard for me because getting to know the Lord many times involves very little doing.
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
I have a hard time being still, little own being still and listening to the Lord. Because I'm a doer and a planner, my mind is constantly going even if I am physically still. This is something I constantly struggle with. I know and have experienced how awesome stillness is with the Lord. Yet, I still rarely am still. I somehow rationalize in my head that if I'm serving the Lord, I'm also getting to know Him. Sometimes, this is true. However, if there is no one on one time with the Lord, I'm not serving the Lord, I'm merely serving people.
Lord, help me be still and seek your face above all else.
I am a doer. I like getting things done. Therefore, I am always concerned with what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and when it is going to get done. This summer working with CSM is great for me because I get to do a lot of things that directly help people. I hang out with homeless people, serve meals, play with children, and lots of other stuff. I get to DO a lot. But because I'm serving so much, I have to constantly remind myself that the Lord wants me to know him before He wants me to serve Him. This is so hard for me because getting to know the Lord many times involves very little doing.
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
I have a hard time being still, little own being still and listening to the Lord. Because I'm a doer and a planner, my mind is constantly going even if I am physically still. This is something I constantly struggle with. I know and have experienced how awesome stillness is with the Lord. Yet, I still rarely am still. I somehow rationalize in my head that if I'm serving the Lord, I'm also getting to know Him. Sometimes, this is true. However, if there is no one on one time with the Lord, I'm not serving the Lord, I'm merely serving people.
Lord, help me be still and seek your face above all else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)