leavin on a jet plane

tomorrow, i leave with fifteen other students, one family member, and two amazing faculty members to rwanda, africa. i have the privilege to serve there for three weeks. our main objective is to shine the light of Christ in a land that is still going through restoration. we will also be teaching about health care, working in a clinic, and teaching vbs. what an honor to serve the Lord in this way!!!

i won't have internet access/i won't be paying for internet access, so please feel free to check out updates about our team here.

i have a lot to say about so many of my close friends graduating this weekend, but have no had a computer or the time to blog. girls, i am SO proud of you and have loved spending the last four years walking with God with you!

THIS is what it means

a week ago, the ISP folks got together to perform skits and watch short films that we had done in order to raise money and educate our family and friends about our trips overseas this summer. this event is called "night of nations" (for my non-cbu readers, few though you may be). skits range from extremely funny to quite serious. the rwanda nursing teams, (the teams i get to be a part of), decided to take a serious spin on things and performed an "interpretive dance" with this song and video playing beind us. i am still quite proud of my team for taking this task seriously and for allowing the Holy Spirit to work through them so mightily. i praise God for the opportunity to dive into the pain and triumph of the people, specifically the women, of rwanda who survived the genocide and now seek healing.

here is a snippit of what we did:

RWANDA!

I can't believe me and seveteen other amazing individuals leave for Rwanda in 12 days!!!! I am so stoked for how God will use us. I ask that you continue to pray for us as we finish our stressful finals (we are all nursing students) and continue to seek after time to truly spend with God. Also, please pray for our time on the field. Pray that we would be fruitful in planting a healthy harvest and that we would allow God to work through us in any way that He desires, whether through a simple touch or through suffering in dire circumstances. As paul says in philippians: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."

Thank you for partnering with our team in this way! more requests to come as the day comes closer....

peace

this semester seems to have been filled with a lot of pain. while i am not a direct recipient of some of these circumstances, i feel a connection with many people who did/are going through so much.

matthew henry wrote:

"When Christ was about to leave the world he made his will; his soul he committed to his Father; his body he bequeathed to Joseph of Arimathea; his clothes fell to the soldiers; his mother he left to the care of John. But what should he leave to his disciples, that had left all for him? Silver and gold he had none; but he left them that which was infinitely better, his peace."

but it gets better. i was reading psalm 46 the other day and it had a different meaning after the previous words.

"God is our refuge and strength,
a very help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
'Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!'
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah"

as we, Christ's disciples, are still before God, He is exalted in a beautiful because He takes control and we displayed the peace that Christ left. i am aware that Christ also left the Holy Spirit and said "they will know you are Christians by your love," but isn't this amazing? by having the peace of the Lord, we share Christ in a miraculous way.

plastic...Jesus???

maybe that didn't make sense or maybe it did, but it doesn't make sense why i'd post it on my blog. wull, i'll tell ya! it's been our sermon series for the past few weeks at church. today, sean played that video and i was rollin for the first bit, but then i was broken those who believe Jesus the Christ to be nothing more than a charm.

for more sermons go here.

the past year

i think this Easter has been more of a time of reflection for me than New Year's. it was a year ago that i was coming out of this crazy weight of a new understanding of the Lord. it was a year ago that i did not know if repentance had been the form in which i came to Christ. it was a year ago that i began to relinquish my traditions for Christ Himself, a battle i still fight.

this Easter, i have been able to celebrate the death and resurrection of my Lord with much more understanding, but moreover, with more freedom. i think that's just it-i celebrated! i am no longer simply saved from my sin in which i still felt oppressed at times, but i feel a greater freedom. i am no longer under the suffering of the wrath of the Almighty. i am in union with Him through the blood of Christ! i wish i could communicate how much this year seems different. it's not a magical move from novice understanding to expert understanding-especially since one can never be an expert on the Gospel except the one who brings it-but it is a baby step forward.

i once heard someone say "plum deeper and apply wider" in reference to God. i've heard the "Easter" story countless times and never would i have anticipated the understanding and love of this story to grow so much deeper. oh, to be brought near by the blood of Christ! how precious!

another about Christ

just read this blog by john piper. AMAZING!

i love being broken by the mere thought of what Christ did through His work on the cross. i pray that i would learn more about grace and live in costly grace, remembering that His sacrifice is my life.