So here I am, back at school. It's strange coming back to a quiet (for the most part) apartment building after being at home for a month. I really like living at school but to be honest, sometimes I miss the constant noise and the blessing of not having to figure out what I'm doing for dinner :). Break was great, I got to spend a lot of time with my friend Kari who I didn't get to talk to much throughout the fall semester, I got to go on a camping trip with Ethan's family for a few days and got to know them all a little better, did some wedding planning- even got a dress, and of COURSE I got to spent time celebrating Christmas and hanging out with my family.
Classes have started and so far my schedule is extremely free, a HUGE change from last semester and I know that in the future having this much free time will be greatly missed- it's a blessing and I need to be soaking it in while it's here. I've been loving my classes so far- there's just something about my early childhood classes that is so interesting to me, little ones hold such a big place in my heart! Next week I'm hoping to start my Preschool placement. I'm thrilled that I got my first choice in schools and I'm so excited get in there and start working!
Since being back at school I've had a lot of time alone in the quiet,and a significant amount of time to reflect and spend time in the Word. When I'm home on breaks I always tend to struggle in finding distraction-less time (and quiet) to just be in the Word (believe me I *know* the time exists when I'm home I just never seem to use that time wisely) so this week has been so SO wonderful.
Sunday nights I am a part of a small bible study group the group was smaller than usual this week, but I'm so glad I went. Earlier in the week I had begun reflecting on the verse Romans 12:2
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
During the week I really spent time thinking about what it means to be transformed and renewed by Christ and how that transformation helps us decipher what God's will is. At bible study, the leader brought up Romans 12:2 in discussion. He talked about how this verse isn't saying that the changes of being different from this world aren't by our own power and conscious effort but stem from seeking God and letting Him consume and transform our lives from the inside out, it's His power at work within us doing the changing. What really stuck out to me was when the leader began to share that the word "approve" in this verse in Greek is actually a metal working term. When I got back I looked it up and found that it means "to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals." Isn't that interesting? In 1 Peter it says that the tests and trials that we go through are refining our faith to prove its genuine-ness and this verse is referring to a similar concept. God is renewing, transforming, and refining us into the people He's created us to be in order to glorify Himself.
Church on Sunday morning also ran with a similar theme...kind of. The message really wasn't anything that I hadn't heard before but sometimes the truths that we hear often are the ones we *need* to be hearing over and over and over. The pastor spoke about how our relationship with Christ is what our life is an outpouring of. For example, the more we are attempting to being filled with the things of this world, the more we will reflect what we are filling ourselves with. When we are inwardly seeking God, desiring Him and spending time in the Word, He begins to transform us from the inside out. The pastor used the example of a 'cracked pot'. He said that when you put a light under a clay pot it's impossible to see the light beneath it, but when the clay is slowly chipped away the light begins to shine through. The message really made me start to think more deeply about the situations that I let harden my heart and distract me from my relationship with Christ. There are places in my heart where the feelings of being wronged and betrayed have taken deep root and where healing and transforming *needs* to be done. They are obstacles in my path to holiness I'm praying and seeking God for His help in clearing them away.
I'll end with this verse:
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5
January 25, 2011
January 4, 2011
Joy, Togo, and 2011
Last night I couldn't sleep. Have you ever had one of those nights where no matter how hard you try or how tired you are your mind just wants to keep going. Last night every time I closed my eyes my mind would fill with the people of Togo that I met this summer and the various experiences that I had throughout the summer. I realize that I've been suppressing this for some time. At the end of this semester I was asked by someone if I was going on another 'trip' this summer- this made me pretty angry. Last summer wasn't just a 'trip', it wasn't just about me either: God revealed so much to me about Himself and His creation and I was able to meet and see some of the hard injustices of this world yet see how good God is in it all. Last night as my mind was replaying the stories and memories of this summer what struck me was the joy that never seemed to leave the faces of the Togolese believers. No matter the situation I remember them laughing and smiling in their carefree way and I know it was because their assurance was in Christ. No matter how little they had or how hard things were, it really didn't matter because they had Christ and that's the greatest possession anyone could ever have.
Togo has a population of 6,752,000 with 56 different people groups. There are 54 languages and only 13 complete bible translations into these languages. Many people groups profess to be Christians but still practice witchcraft and live in daily fear, which means that they must not fully understand the hope in Christ. It struck me last night how much I have been failing at sharing all that I saw and what God is doing in the country of Togo. He is moving. The believers there need prayer, their lives are vastly different from our comfortable cushy lives here in the U.S. but they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I don't know if I'll ever return to see my friends in Togo and join them again in sharing the gospel of Christ's hope throughout their country, but I still am on a mission with them. I can continue to pray for them, to support and encourage them in their continual battle. My missions trip this summer may have physically ended, but in my heart it will continue throughout the rest of my life. Who knows if God will ever call me to leave the United States again for His mission, but my life will be lived as His mission because my life is not mine to live it's His to use and glorify Himself through.
There is so much hope in the gospel, and so many people in this world who have yet to hear it. Christ is the greatest message we could ever share- so why don't we share it in abundance? I'm completely guilty of doing this, keeping what I believe to myself and rarely talking about the joy only Christ can give outside of my believing friends, but this year I hope to dig deep into God's word and proclaim His glory through all I do and say, not matter who I'm with. Recklessly abandoning my fears, my reputation, and turning away from my selfish heart.
The United States of America has a population of 313,630,000 people. There are 364 people groups and 71 unreached people groups. That hurts my heart so much when I read that, in churches we always talk about international missions, but what are we doing every day, what about the people in our classes and the people we pass everyday? As wonderful as overseas missions is, God is still moving here and we are called to be living for Him and sharing Him where ever we are. Whether He calls us to live in a far away unknown land, or in a development in the suburbs of Philadelphia we are His servants and we are entrusted with the message of His gospel and our mission shouldn't change.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
"So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."
Am I proving faithful to the hope I have been entrusted to share? And am I putting aside my earthly desires and selfishness to live for Christ? Am I living recklessly abandoned to God's will? I guess that's my resolution for 2011
Togo has a population of 6,752,000 with 56 different people groups. There are 54 languages and only 13 complete bible translations into these languages. Many people groups profess to be Christians but still practice witchcraft and live in daily fear, which means that they must not fully understand the hope in Christ. It struck me last night how much I have been failing at sharing all that I saw and what God is doing in the country of Togo. He is moving. The believers there need prayer, their lives are vastly different from our comfortable cushy lives here in the U.S. but they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I don't know if I'll ever return to see my friends in Togo and join them again in sharing the gospel of Christ's hope throughout their country, but I still am on a mission with them. I can continue to pray for them, to support and encourage them in their continual battle. My missions trip this summer may have physically ended, but in my heart it will continue throughout the rest of my life. Who knows if God will ever call me to leave the United States again for His mission, but my life will be lived as His mission because my life is not mine to live it's His to use and glorify Himself through.
There is so much hope in the gospel, and so many people in this world who have yet to hear it. Christ is the greatest message we could ever share- so why don't we share it in abundance? I'm completely guilty of doing this, keeping what I believe to myself and rarely talking about the joy only Christ can give outside of my believing friends, but this year I hope to dig deep into God's word and proclaim His glory through all I do and say, not matter who I'm with. Recklessly abandoning my fears, my reputation, and turning away from my selfish heart.
The United States of America has a population of 313,630,000 people. There are 364 people groups and 71 unreached people groups. That hurts my heart so much when I read that, in churches we always talk about international missions, but what are we doing every day, what about the people in our classes and the people we pass everyday? As wonderful as overseas missions is, God is still moving here and we are called to be living for Him and sharing Him where ever we are. Whether He calls us to live in a far away unknown land, or in a development in the suburbs of Philadelphia we are His servants and we are entrusted with the message of His gospel and our mission shouldn't change.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
"So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."
Am I proving faithful to the hope I have been entrusted to share? And am I putting aside my earthly desires and selfishness to live for Christ? Am I living recklessly abandoned to God's will? I guess that's my resolution for 2011
January 3, 2011
Hope
This morning I was reading through Psalm 33 and fell in love with it. It gives such a wonderful picture of hope!
Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you
Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you
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