celebrating next steps

In class 401 Ben made a great point-- one that I knew was true but can, and do sometimes forget. It is not we who save lives. God does. He chooses to use us to help, but it is Him.

Related to this, Ben reminded us to celebrate next steps-- no matter how small.

There are so many people in my life who I have seen take next steps, even though they may seem so tiny. They have all been extremely encouraging to me and it's believe that some of these things have happened! God is working in amazing ways.

Just last night.. Steve and I went to dinner for Valentine's Day and then had plans to go bowling. On the way out of Bertucci's, he asked if we could go to Barnes and Noble "for a few". We ended up in the store for close to an hour just browsing the backs of books-- in the Christian section. Steve had found a book in the SPCC library that he was able to read a bit of and wanted to buy his own copy.

After shopping we decided against bowling and went home to read instead! We read the daily devotionals together and prayed.

For some people this may seem lame and like no big deal-- after all- isn't this what we are called to do in relationship? YES! It is!! That is why I am so excited to celebrate these next steps.

My sister, my best friend Delia, my friend Sue and my mom have also all shown next steps in faithfulness and I have never had a happier heart.

God is good.

a great lesson learned

It's 2:30AM. I am woken up by a smoke detector going off in one of my resident's rooms. I roll out of bed and sleepily go to see what has happened. There was no fire or danger, simply a misfunctioning of the detector. I still have to call the campus police so I do so. Ten minutes later I walk back to the room with the police officer who is swearing at the young man accusing him of smoking marijuana. I was taken back by the tone of her voice and the language she was using.

I was mad, really mad. What kind of person is she? "I can't stand her", I thought to myself.

The next day I called the Chief of Police and told him about what had happened. He explained that maybe she was having an off day or something and that he would talk to her about what had happened. "Yeah, okay-- she's obviously just not a nice person," echoed in my head.

Fast forward a couple of months.

I'm in the office on duty and she is here visiting on her rounds. She is talking to the other RA on duty and then invites me into the conversation. She gets to talking about a trip she took to Russia and later I shared my stories from Panama. We laugh and talked for quite a while. She leaves having asked me if I would be available to house sit on occasion because she thinks that I am a responsible and trustworthy person.

She comes back tonight and we get to talking again. This time she asks about my trip to New Orleans this spring break. Then she tells me she would like to help me fund the trip! We talk for awhile more and she leaves for the night.

What a lesson in not judging someone by how they act on on occasion. Perhaps she was having an awful day. Maybe she was completely out of character.

How many times have I acted out of character? I wonder how many people have judged me because of those times and have negative attitudes of me now. This was a lesson times two.

1. A great reminder not to judge others. Ask questions, forgive and continue to pursue the person to get to know them.
2. Be careful how I act because some people may catch me on a "bad day" when I am not acting "up to par" so to speak and have a negative view of me from there on out.

These kinds of moments are the greatest teacher's in my life.

Day 7- Better Together

"How loud is your voice?" In other words-- "How loudly do your actions speak about the love of God?"

I have heard countless stories from Christian friends that I have made over the past year about how it can get very tiring to be a follower and how when we are worn out and the "newness" goes away, we wonder what is going on. I have also been given a great set of tools by the same friends to stick with God and not fall from Him when I get tired. Luckily, my brothers and sisters in Christ look to learn lessons through their struggles!!

Since the beginning of the 40 Days of Community, I have been doing the daily readings and really enjoying them. I am not blogging as much I would like, but I am keeping my eyes open and certainly watching for Jesus.

This morning I found Him! I was reawakened like never before. Not that I was in a super tough spiritual drought, but some things were becoming routine and I was not pleased with my efforts toward growth. Amazingly, God uses these moments to pour down blessings and remind us just how good He is.

Kidmo was better than ever today and I felt God in that space the entire time. Right between those orange, brown and green walls. He was right there laughing with Nikolai as he sang one of the songs in a funny voice. He welcomed Lauren, Caroline and Robyn for the first time and made them feel at home. He met with me in my small discussion group of girls as we laughed and learned. He then followed us downstairs while we worshipped Him by making kits for AIDS caregivers. There was excitement in the children's eyes as they carried the bright orange boxes around the table, filling them with supplies. "God loves you. Bless your heart." is what little Ethan wrote on the note for his box.

These were God moments. This was an entire God morning!! The car ride home was filled with tears and worship music and a grateful heart. All major motivation to work harder at making my voice louder. A great lesson to remind me that I can learn so much from kids.

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ever have one of those moments? days? weeks?.....

good thing He gives us the opportunity for new life with each breath!!

Day 3- Better Together

In today's reading there was one sentence that really struck me.

"The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves."

Wow! How profound. I think that often times we guage how well we are doing at loving at the amount we have given. Whether it be time, resources, money or prayers.. we try and add up all of those things and somehow rate ourselves on a scale of Good Love.

At tonight's membership meeting, Ben spoke about the 6 different mission projects that SPCC will be focusing on over the 40 Days of Community. It was beautiful to hear where God has called us to serve and refreshing to hear Ben say that he does not expect us to get involved in every single one. It isn't about the number of organizations we help or prayer requests we pray about or the number of dollars we give or hours we serve. It is about giving ourselves-- giving REAL LOVE.

For some people, $500 a month to a mission project is no skin off their back because they make a ton of money. For others, they must make sacrifices in order to give $50. For a retired woman, volunteering at the soup kitchen for 10 hours a week may be easy to fit into her schedule, but for a single mother with a full time job, she may need to sacrifice some time to volunteer for one night.

It is not about how many pats on the back we get. It is about sacrificing for others. Going back to my last post.. it is about giving up a bit of our perfectly planned time and energy and money to benefit someone else without expecting anything in return.

I am looking forward to the rest of the 40 Days of Community where I will grow and learn to better love God through showing other people real, true, undeniable, unselfish, compassionate love.

He is RELEVANT daily

For Christmas, I received many great gifts that were cost conscious, where the money went to great causes and a few gifts were actually recycled! One of them was an issue of Relevant magazine (thanks Brit!) which I sadly just opened today.

I had no idea that it was a Christian magazine but quickly learned it was as page after page was full of worship music ideas, great Christmas gift tips, stories of people coming to Christ.. what I also quickly found was that this magazine seems to be genuine. It speaks the truth that we are all simply human and we have growing to do as we mess up and live our lives.

One inspiring and touching part that I read comes from an article caled PURSUING PERSONAL REVIVAL. The author says this:

"Recently, two of my sons decided it would be a good idea to pour a two-liter bottle of soda into a putcher and leave it on the counter for easy access. Little did they know that from the moment they poured it, it began to lose its fizz. Later, they discovered that a fresh, invigorating drink has becomg a sickly sweet (but flat) experience.

In Exodus 16, God pledges to rain down fresh brea-manna- on His people as they wandered in the desert. His only caveat was this:Don't try and save it up. Today's manna is tomorrow's maggot buffet. The people of God were free to receive from God day after day, but what they received yesterday would not sustain them today. It took a daily pursuit and provision.

Never taught the importance of encountering God dailt through the Bible and prayer, many people who have had a genuine, heartfelt encounter with god have allowed the experience to grow stale..."

What a great analogy! An awesome reminder of how important it is to stay plugged in daily. When we put off reading or praying "until tomorrow" we can rather quickly feel far from God and it isn't always easy to get back on track.

better together- day 1

"Real love is placing the needs of others before your own. It is making your problem, my problem. It is giving to another without any guarantee of getting anything back. It is giving others what they need, not what they deserve. Although love can create intense feelings, love is not a feeling. It is a choice, an action, a way of behaving, a commitment. Love is sacrificing for others."

This part of today's devotional leaped off of the page and stuck in my head from the time I read it earlier until I read it again just now. The ECSU small group met for the first time today for the 40 Days of Community campaign. The format is much different than the bible study and sharing session we used last semester, but already I can see the fruit growing.

There was such a genuine sense of community- real love happening right in my dorm room with 4 college students who are in love with Jesus. One of our members has just recently lost a brother and is still really struggling. This individual has been to SPCC a few times and to small group once, but I hadn't seen this person in awhile. Having them present today was such a blessing. The rest of the members were blessed to bless her with love, compassion, ears to listen and arms to fall into.

So often in today's society we get caught up in the idea that love is the equivalent to lust, as Rick gives the examples about so called "love" songs. It is both exciting and challenging to be surrounded by a community of believers, seekers and skeptics all approaching these next 40 days in similar ways. I have no doubt that by the end of these weeks, my heart and the hearts of many others will be changed due to the stretching and testing of our love.

I am anticipating and praying for what is to come. These are God moments, God appointments, non-negotiable meetings with our Creator to figure out how best we can love-- because after all, that is what we are here for.