the afterglow . . .

God of this WORLD.

God of this CITY.

God of this CHURCH.

after the incredibly AMAZING weekend we had- i still have the foggy afterglow of a life changing event. it was life changing in that i personally have never had that much responsibility for this large of an event, but it all came off great. i got to work with a great team and we pulled it off. i believe that it was also life changing for our church in that we all came together to give our lives away either globally, locally, or both. i wish i could give you a better picture, but since my words are lacking, check out this website. it will give you a glimpse of what our church experienced when we saw that God is . . .

God of: this WORLD. this CITY. this CHURCH.

big week, lots going on . . .

this week at Carmel we have some crazy awesome things going on, all of which culminate to this weekend.  we are having our ‘global outreach weekend’ and have revamped it from past years.  the weekend starts friday with God of this WORLD, then saturday is God of this CITY, and then sunday is God of this CHURCH.  to kick off the event, we are having an african children’s choir come in to sing.  they are from kenya and AMAZING.  check out daraja choir.  saturday, the weekend continues with a worship concert by steve fee.  it’s going to be a great great weekend in the life of my church.  but, it doesn’t stop there- sunday morning we are going to party like its 1999 and celebrate all the ways our church is involved both globally and locally.  we are going to celebrate all the things that we are supporting and encourage others to do the same.  i can’t wait and it’s going to be great.

four days and counting . . .

the beginning? well, kinda

i know that i am a little late with this- but i love the beginning of the school year.  i feel that just now- do i actually have a grasp on it, and even though ‘school’ started a little while ago- i love that it’s here.  or more so, i’m glad school is back.  i love the routine of the school year and new opportunities it brings.

even though i am out of school- i’m still in it.  i had my first grad class of the semester and even it was great.  (sidenote- i’ve been in grad school now for about two years and i only have about a million left to go.  i might finish when i’m 40.  yuck, don’t like thinking about turning 40.)

but i just love new things- i love that our wednesday night schedule is back at church, i love that our small groups (‘fuel groups’) are going to start for high schoolers this sunday, and i love that the fall is just around the corner- with football games and crunchy leaves.

what things do you like about the start of school or the fall?

oh i almost forgot, my most favorite thing might be a new pack of pens or better yet- sharpies to color code my ‘planner’ : )

it’s the simple things in life- that bring joy and even when it’s hard- we need to look for them and remember them.  God’s plan for us is so much bigger than our crazy busy lives we get bogged down with, that so quickly cloud our vision of seeing the little things.  (and man- am i ever preaching this right back to myself!)

the detours of life . . .

i went to a Laura Story concert tonight at a church near by my house- and she is an amazing singer/songwriter.  she wrote the song indescribable and might to save, which recently has been one of my most favorite songs (hillsong does a great version).

Laura made a comment during her set, just after she was describing a difficult time of her life and she said, “Life gets hard, when you realize the detour you think your life is taking, is actually the path of your life.” (she probably said it more eloquently, but that is the gist.)  this thought has been running around in my mind and i think it’s quite profound.

life, in it’s essence, has trials and difficulties, but God weaves together a beautiful picture of grace and mercy through them.  but isn’t it so true that we assume our lives to take one path, however, when things don’t go our way, we naturally assume it only to be a detour- not the actual path.  sometimes the detour IS the path- and it’s difficult to realize that what we thought to be the picture of our lives is not so.

this tension is difficult to grasp, but we must remember that even though our life might be defined by the detours we take- they are gifts from God, even when we ourselves cannot see them.  we cannot often, see the outcome and blessing IN the detour- but through faith, we believe that the detour, that is actually life itself, can be it’s own beautiful path.  funny, huh?

more on the chosen

so the same girl i blogged about yesterday, was interviewed on the Today show. and she said, “well, this is my job. this is my duty.” the interviewer asked, “well, don’t you ever want to go outside and just do your own thing?

her response was:

. . . . . .

“I have no thoughts on that.”

NO thoughts?!?  my heart was so sad. this girl is a gold medalist and she doesn’t even get to have her own thoughts. yet another reason we are so blessed in the US and take forgranted our many freedoms.

freedom to think.

the olympic chosen . . .

so i am sitting here watching the olympics and women’s gymnastics just came on (or should I say ‘girls’ gymnsatics . . . they cannot really be 16).

and one chinese girl just preformed perfectly, as the rest of the team has . . . and the announcers say that she is one of the “chosen”.  this means that she was taken from her family at the age of 3! yep, THREE!! to practice gymnastics and gymnastics alone.  she only gets to see her family about once a year and even when she has called home to say she wants to leave, her family says no, becasue her duty is to make a better life for them.

i almost cried- can you imagine being taken at age 3?!?!?!?!  knowing NOTHING other than gymnastics?

and have your life defined FOR you?  without a say for yourself?

we are SO blessed, to have freedom- something we consider to be a given.

we have NO idea- what that would be like.  the olympic chosen.

“oh wait- that’s not what i meant” :: random grocery store mumblings

so after dinner, i went grocery shopping with my roommate and we were chatting at the checkout line while the girl rang up our yogurt and rice cakes- and she said, “are you two sisters?”  which is kind of funny because we don’t look alike at all, but i guess we were acting similarly and talking about our clothes or something random. and so, i said, “no, we live together” and the lady goes: “OOOOHHHH” and the look i got from her was “oooo you mean ‘LIVE’ togther” . . . . !!!!!  and so i QUICKLY said, “oh wait, that’s not what i meant . . . I mean, we’re roommates” and she didn’t really believe even that- and so, Brittany jumps in and we make a big joke about it- but i got really red and felt stupid.

i know, random story- but kinda funny.

poor . . . who?

so just last week i along with 44 of our students and leaders, got back from Harmons, Jamaica. this was the second year i have gone and God has really shown me new things.

last year, i was so stuck by the poverty i saw, i did not know how to take it all in. i remember coming home and not wanting to touch my cell phone or hair-dryer. i left feeling sad for the jamaicans who lived among such poverty, in a “poor them” mentality.

this year, i have had an encounter that i still cannot shake. i made connections with jamaicans and have lasting memories that are burned into my brain. my perspective has drastically changed. i have seen that it is not the jamaicans who should be pitied, yet it is myself. i am the one who has missed out on the blessing of seeing God in a truer sense than i have seen growing up in america.

why must i think that my clean american way of doing things is the only right way? why can’t i be okay with getting my feet dirty walking to and from place to place, when that is how the majority of the world lives? why can’t i be okay with bugs and ants walking around inside of houses, when most of the world knows no different? it is i who have missed out. my life is too comfortable. my faith is too comfortable. i have limited what God can do and it’s evidenced in so much of our american culture.

so really, my conclusion is “poor me” for even though i have not, i desire to see God in the urgent way my jamaican friends do, waiting on Him for literally their everything. thus this becomes my most earnest of payers- that i may seek God for my everything and see Him in new ways.

back and ready for more

again, i apologize at my lack of blogging.  i have already stated numerous times that i am just not good at this whole thing, but i want to try and be better at it.  just think of this long void (since Feb) kinda like the 400 years of silence between the old testament and the new testament.  yeah, okay, don’t.  bad example.

I have re-titled my blog: SEEK.  LOVE.  WALK.  no, it’s not about seeking out a ‘love-walk’ but it’s referencing my life verse: Micah 6:8 which says:

“the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is just, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  THUS- SEEK justice.  LOVE mercy.  and WALK humbly with the Creator. 

i want my thoughts and efforts devoted to these three thoughts- so my hope is that my blogging will encourage this and spur me on to be more purposeful in my actions.

one down.

more to come.

style it~

Last Wed we had our first Style Your Sole Party!  We bought white shoes and painted them! For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy- another pair is donated to a child who need shoes in a 3rd world country. It’s an awesome cause- check them out: www.tomsshoes.com .

it was crazy . . . awesome!