four weeks!

I have now been at Glorieta for almost four entire weeks!  I honestly can't believe it's going by so fast.  I am having a blast.  The people here are amazing, and I love my job, even if it's hard a lot of the time.  The international people are still the ones that challenge me the most with their faith.  Even as I write this, a woman from Germany is praying over one of the girls who's having a hard day.  It's such a great thing when people aren't afraid to openly act on their beliefs.

Next week we're having 500 more students come than we've had previously, bringing our numbers up to about 1600.  It's really daunting, but I know God will provide for everything we need--strength, hands to work, grace and kindness, etc.

Tomorrow I have a day off!  I'm going to go do some laundry, maybe take a walk around campus, and hang out with some other people from work who have some time off.  I'm excited. :) Also, my dad is coming home this weekend!

I finished reading "Then Sings My Soul" about a week ago, and I've been working on writing a verse of a hymn to every person on staff here.  There's about 60 of them, so it's taking me awhile, but I'm almost done.  I hope it will be an encouragement to them.

I love this part of a verse in "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" by Horatius Bonar.

I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary and worn and sad;

I found in Him a resting place,

And He has made me glad.

seasons like these

Do you ever have those times in your life where you are just overcome by the continual surprising blessings and goodness of God?  It might be a specific day, or it could continue over weeks or months, but it's just one of those times where your eyes are continually opened to His greatness.

That's where I've been over this past week.  As I adjust to being here at Glorieta, living away from my family, God continually surprises me with blessings.  I wrote about how He led me to read the mercy chapter in "Attributes of God" here.

On Monday I was feeling pretty nervous about going back to job training the next day, and was just really having a hard time resting and being at peace in God.  Every morning I read a daily devotional from "Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, and am always so encouraged by it; it's like it's perfect for every day, no matter what's happening.  Anyway, it was the 4th, so I opened it up to that day and began to read.  Here's the excerpt:

*John 16:33:  That in Me ye might have peace.

   These words have brought peace to me this morning.  Sometimes our circumstances are so peaceful that without knowing it we slip into finding our peace in them.  Then something happens to disturb them and our peace is disturbed.  Sometimes those bout us are so dear that our hearts rest in them, and this is good, but it is not enough, for what if one in whose love we trust should disappoint us?
   Our Lord did not say, "These things [the things of John 16] I have spoken unto you that in your circumstances ye might have peace"; but He did say, "These things"--things of wonder, joy, sorrow, preparation--"I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace."  "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord;...if they have kept My saying they will keep yours also."  Is there any surprise of grief that our dear Lord has not foreseen?  Is there any wound to love that His love has not suffered?  "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace."

I was amazed at how perfect the devotional was for what I was feeling, especially since I had just prayed that God would bring me some encouraging word about having peace in Him.  I had a much better day because of this.

The thing I think is the coolest, though, is that yesterday when I came to read in "Edges of His Ways" I realized that it's not May anymore; it's June!  And it was then that I realized that I had actually read the excerpt for May 4 the previous day, rather than the one for June 4.  The one for June 4 was actually about patience, which was also a good devotional, but what I really needed for June 4th was the excerpt on peace from May 4th.  It was just amazing how God worked that out so that, even through a mistake like that, I was given the exact word I needed for the day.

    Now bid me run

And I will strive with things impossible,

Yea, get the better of them.

* excerpt taken from "The Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, page 89

weekdate #008

Like I said a few posts ago...these probably won't actually be weekly.  But I'm going to try!  We'll see how it goes.

1. Today marks one week of being in Glorieta!  To say it's been kind of overwhelming would be an understatement, but overall this change is good.  Praise God!

2. On Tuesday I started my job training, and did that for three days.  Next Tuesday through Thursday I'll have my final job training before a couple thousand students start arriving. :E

3. Yesterday my family came to visit us!  It was so great to see them.  It was our last time to see our dad before he goes to Cameroon (!!!).  So now we have a car for a few weeks, which is awesome.  Freedom!

4. Also yesterday most of the staff went to the challenge course here at Glorieta.  I went on the giant swing twice, and I actually went all the way to the top!  I've never done that before, and it was terrifying, but it was a lot of fun!  I also went on the zipline, which is always great.

5. Also yesterday, we had a campfire by the lake at night, except there's a ban on fires here, so we just gathered around a stack of wood. :) It was fun though; we sang a bunch of funny songs and danced around to some of them.

6. Today we had "Campus Beautification".  Rachel and I raked leaves for most of the day in the prayer garden, but I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful place to rake leaves at!

7. Tomorrow we have the morning off, so we're going to church in Santa Fe!

8. I started my first education class last week.  It's really fun so far!  The book is called "The Developing Child", so basically throughout the semester I'll just be learning about how kids grow up.  Right now I'm learning about prenatal development, birth, and early infancy.  I've never taken such a fun class!

9. We have to walk everywhere here, so it was kind of scary today to actually drive on the highway.  It felt like we were going so fast!

10. While raking leaves today, I saw more centipedes at once than I've ever seen in my life! Blegh.

attributes of God - mercy

Yesterday I was feeling really homesick and lonely.  Rachel goes to training at 9, but I don't go till 1 so I'm alone for quite awhile.  I was really missing my family and doubting my reasons for being here at Glorieta.  But then I decided to read the chapter assigned for the ladies' Bible study of "The Attributes of God" back home.

The topic for this month is mercy, and it honestly couldn't have come at a better time for me.  I was really wondering what my purpose for being here was, but throughout the chapter I was reminded of God's goodness and how His mercy is extravagant and never ending.  I liked this one section of Tozer's:

One fact about the mercy of God is that it never began to be.  I've heard of men who were hardhearted or careless, but they began to get stirred up and mercy blossomed forth.  It never was so of God.  God never lay in lethargy without His compassion. God's mercy is simply what God is--uncreated and eternal.  It never began to be; it always was.  Heaven and earth were yet unmade and the stars were yet unformed and all that space men are talking about now was only a thought in the mind of God.  God was as merciful as He is now.  And not only did it never begin to be, but the mercy of God also has never been any more than it is now.

After I took the time to read this chapter yesterday, my day was just so much better.  I was reminded that I need to trust God in this time, and He will reveal His purpose to me.

Glorieta!

Hi everyone!

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that weekdates might not be happening "weekly" while I'm here.  I can't get internet in my room, and it's kind of a hassle to bring my laptop and plug and everything to a wifi spot, at least on a set day every week.  So my weekdates might be all over the place for a few months.

I am really enjoying my time here so far.  I'm rooming with Rachel, which is awesome, and we both feel very comfortable in our room.  I haven't taken any pictures of the room as a whole so far, but I'll try to sometime this week.

Here's my bed.

The dresser on the left is mine, where I'm keeping most of my stuff.  I brought my guitar too, and I'm really glad I did; I was able to play a bunch of songs yesterday during some free time.

We have two closets, but we didn't bring enough clothes to fill even one, so the other one is mostly for storage.

Next to my bed I taped up my pictures of Djamsel and Majoie, a drawing Chloe made for me, and a card from my mom.

I love this picture of Chloe, so I attached it to my mirror, where I can see it every day.

And here's just some of the stuff on my dresser.

On our first day here, Sunday, we first had a worship service before playing a bunch of games all morning and afternoon.  They were team building games that helped us all get to know each other, and also helped us learn everyone's names.  It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, Monday, we mostly just went over camp rules, guidelines, stuff about our job positions, etc.  It was more of a boring day, but we were able to get outside and play some games in the afternoon, so that was fun.

Today I have my first job training at 1.  I'm going to be working in the dining hall, which is apparently one of the harder positions, but still good.

There are people from all over the world here: Poland, Portugal, China, Tanzania, Mexico, and Czechoslovakia, as well as all over the United States.  I've really enjoyed getting to know the people from China--Bart, Yia, and Alvin.  They're so passionate about their faith, and they're not afraid to show it.  I've had some great, encouraging conversations with them.

I'll probably try and post here once a week, but I might have some opportunity to do it more often; we'll just have to see.  Have a great day!

today's the day!

Today Rachel and I are moving to Glorieta!  It is so weird to actually be leaving for a few months, even if we will be able to visit.  It's amazing how much stuff I have to bring. :)

I wanted to kind of document this summer, so I bought myself a camera!  I only got it yesterday, and I got the memory card today, so I wanted to share some of the first pictures I've taken.

My lovely mother, who is sick today! :(, made Rachel and I each two quilts.  This first one of mine has a bunch of different squares with quotes about hope and rejoicing and singing.

This one is my graduation quilt.  My mom sent out squares of fabric to all my friends and family and they each wrote something encouraging on their square.  It's so awesome to be able to read all of them!

This one is from Elizabeth.

And this one is from Rachel, the lovely fiancee (!!!) of Jeremy!

I don't know about weekdates; this is, I'm going to try to do one every week, but I don't know if they'll be on Mondays anymore.  I definitely think this Monday isn't going to work, but we'll see!  I'll talk to you all as soon as I can!

What wilt Thou give me?

Hi everybody!

There was a specific reason I wanted to write on my blog today, but I can't remember what it was, so I just thought I'd do a little update about how things are going lately.

Yesterday was my art history midterm.  I am seriously being over and over again shocked at God's goodness.  I have been dreading this midterm ever since the semester began.  It was the only midterm I had for any of my classes (for all the rest I have periodic exams), and this is the only test we have besides our final for this class, so it's pretty just based on those two tests.  I was so nervous about it, in fact, that I memorized the first four pages of vocabulary words I needed for the midterm within the first two weeks of starting school. :) But I was so ready for it!  Over the weekend I was feeling a little nervous because I didn't even really know what to study (we were going over ten chapters--was I supposed to everything about every one of them?), but when I woke up I read the little devotional for the day that I have in this devo book by Amy Carmichael.  I've talked about it before; it's called Edges of His Ways.  I wanted to post the devotional for yesterday because it was just so cool how God ordained it for that day.

*Gen. 15:2: Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?

   When thinking of the further reaches of prayer I came on this, the simplest of all, like the words of a small child before is has learned not to ask for things for itself.  If the friend of God could speak so to his God, we may in all simplicity do so too.  "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"

   Just as a child passes from the less to the greater in desire, so we find in our Bible that the desire of man, as he walks further on with God, grows and grows till we come to such words as Paul's, words that reach far beyond any earthly good--"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings"; and soon that other word follows, so often forgotten in hurried prayer: the first good thing promised is not the thing for which we prayed, but peace.

   "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"

   "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus."  Is not peace an answer?

Isn't that awesome?  I'm not saying that I wasn't a bit anxious throughout that day, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (plus, I think I did really good on the test!).  God is so faithful!  He gives peace and strength and whatever else I may need, all the time.  He is so good.

Start considering joining The Voice of the Martyrs on November 13th, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  To learn more about it you can go here.  I'm posting a video from their website below; I think it's sort of a promotional thing for this day of prayer, to get you started thinking about it.  I thought it was really interesting.

I also wanted to post another little thing from Amy Carmichael (I love Amy Carmichael; she was such an inspiration!).  This one is from A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot.  It's not really inspirational or anything, but it just stilled my soul and made me stop for a moment to pray for those little children around the world that evil people use for harm.

**Just how horrible [what she was saving little girls from] she (Amy) did her best to put into words.  Things as They Are has a picture of a half-naked holy man.  "This photo is from death in life," she writes, "a carcass, moving, breathing, sinning...  I knew something about the man.  His life is simply unthinkable.  Talk of beasts in human shape!  It is slandering good animals to compare bad men to beasts.  Safer far in a tiger's den than that man's monastery.  But he is a temple saint--earthly, sensual, devilish.  Now put beside him a little girl--your own little girl--and leave her there--yes, leave her there in his hand."

Take some time today to lift up to the Lord those helpless, little children and the people who do them harm, as well as the people who work to help them.

* excerpt taken from "Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, page 193
** excerpt taken from "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael" by Elisabeth Elliot, pages 170-171

just the fringes

Read about what's behind this video here.  It looks the best if you make it full-screen!

"The departed spirits tremble

Under the waters and their

   inhabitants.

"Naked is Sheol before Him,

And Abaddon has no covering.

"He stretches out the north over

   empty space

And hangs the earth on nothing.

"He wraps up the waters in His

   clouds,

And the cloud does not burst

   under them.

"He obscures the face of the full

   moon

And spreads His cloud over it.

"He has inscribed a circle on the

   surface of the waters

At the boundary of light and

   darkness.

"The pillars of heaven tremble

And are amazed at His rebuke.

"He quieted the sea with His

   power,

And by His understanding He

   shattered Rahab.

"By His breath the heavens are

   cleared;

His hand has pierced the fleeing

   serpent.

"Behold, these are the fringes of His

   ways;

And how faint a word we hear of

   Him!

But His mighty thunder, who can

   understand?"

Job 26:5-14

whisper it to thy saddle-bow

I wanted to share this video I saw on facebook today.  It's so cute!

I have a devotional book by Amy Carmichael that I read every day.  It's called Edges of His Ways.  There's a paragraph or two for each day, or sometimes just a poem that she wrote.  I loved the poem for October 11th, and wanted to share it.

Have I a fear that Thou dost know?

Fear of weakness, fear of failing

(Though Thy power is all-prevailing)

Or a haunting fear of bringing

Care to others?

“Share it not with a weakling

Whisper it to thy saddle-bow,

And ride forth singing.”

Many fears can murmur low:

Fear of ills the future holdeth

(Though, indeed, Thy grace upholdeth),

Dulling fear and fear sharp stinging,

Fear that tortures.

“Share it not with a weakling

Whisper it to thy saddle-bow,

And ride forth singing.”

-- Amy Carmichael

And finally, I found this song by Building 429 the other day, and wanted to share it too.

Children of the Heav'nly Father

I found this poem today at this website, and I have just fallen in love with it. With what love our heavenly Father cares for His children!

Children of the Heav'nly Father

Children of the heav’nly Father

Safely in His bosom gather;

Nestling bird nor star in Heaven

Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish;

In His holy courts they flourish;

From all evil things He spares them;

In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever

From the Lord His children sever;

Unto them His grace He showeth,

And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh,

God His children ne’er forsaketh;

His the loving purpose solely

To preserve them pure and holy.

Lo their very hairs He numbers

And no daily care encumbers

Them that share His ev’ry blessing

And His help in woes distressing.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:

Your Protector never slumbers.

At the will of your Defender

Ev’ry foeman must surrender.

-- Lina Sandell

Never forget those who were lost ten years ago.  Take some time to be away with the Lord today and lift up the families and friends who continue to grieve.  May He still use this tragedy for His glory and the salvation of many.  Pray also for the soldiers who continue to fight in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the families of those who have died in combat.

A Tea Against Suffering

I looked out at the silent congregation. It was, for a moment, as if I were back in my church during the war on the day when the Iron Guard bullies filed in with their guns. Menace was around us, not only in the place where Rugojanu was taking notes.

I continued, “Don’t let suffering take you by surprise! Meditate on it often. Take the virtues of Christ and His saints into your life. The pastor I spoke of, my teacher who died for his faith, gave me a recipe for a tea against suffering, and I will give it to you.”

I told them the story of a doctor of early Christian times who was unjustly imprisoned by the emperor. After some weeks his family was allowed to see him, and at first they wept. His clothes were rags, his nourishment a slice of bread with a cup of water every day. His wife wondered and asked, “How is it that you look so well? You have the air of one who has just come from a wedding!” The doctor smilingly replied that he found a remedy for all troubles, and his family asked him what it was. The doctor told them, “I have discovered a tea that is good against all suffering and sorrow. It contains seven herbs, and I shall number them for you.”

“The first herb is called contentedness: be satisfied with what you have. I may shiver in my rags as I gnaw on a crust, but how much worse off I should be if the emperor had thrown me naked into a dungeon with nothing at all to eat!

“The second herb is common sense. Whether I rejoice or worry, I shall still be in prison, so why fret?

“The third is remembrance of past sins: count them, and on the supposition that every sin deserves a day in prison, reckon how many lives you would spend behind bars—you have been let off lightly!

“The fourth is the thought of the sorrows that Christ bore gladly for us. If the only Man who ever could choose His fate on earth chose pain, what great value He must have seen in it! So we observe that, borne with serenity and joy, suffering redeems.

“The fifth herb is the knowledge that suffering has been given to us by God as from a father, not to harm us, but to cleanse and sanctify us. The suffering through which we pass has the purpose of purifying us and preparing us for heaven.

“The sixth is the knowledge that no suffering can harm a Christian life. If the pleasures of the flesh are all, then pain and prison bring an end to a man’s aim in living; but if the core of life is truth, that is something which no prison cell can change. In prison or out of it two and two make four. Prison cannot stop me from loving; iron bars cannot exclude faith. If these ideals make up my life, I can be serene anywhere.

“The last herb in the recipe is hope. The wheel of life may put the emperor’s physician in prison, but it goes on turning. It may put me back into the palace, and even put me on the throne.”

I paused for a moment. The crowded church was still.

“I have drunk barrels of this tea since then,” I said, “and I can recommend it to you all. It has proved good.”
* excerpt taken from "In God's Underground" by Richard Wurmbrand, pages 194-195

Hello, goodbye

This past week has been pretty fun, not too busy but enough to keep it from getting boring.  On Sunday we said goodbye to the Waite family, which was really sad, but I'm so excited for them going to Cameroon that it makes it a little bit better.  Still, when I think that I just said goodbye to them for two years, it's not all that great.  God is good, though!  His timing and His ways are perfect.  Here's a couple pics from that.

Worship practice

Ruthie!

Right before I dropped my pick inside the guitar. :E

The quilt that the women of the church made for the Waites as a thank you gift for all they've done for us.



The label on the back of the quilt

New video

Yesterday I played this song as a prelude at my church.  It was all going really well until the middle of the second verse, when I dropped my pick inside the guitar.  It was very embarrassing.  I had to continue on strumming with my thumb, but in the end it turned out OK!  Anyway, I decided to record a version of it, mostly because I just love this song and can't seem to find a version of it that I like.  Enjoy!

Four Questions

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Philippians 3:10 (NASB)

This was the second group of leaders we had trained in two weeks.  The training had been going well even though many of the believers were young: some young in years and some in their faith.  A couple of them were only 15 and 16 years old.  Some had only been Christians for a few months.

The teaching for the morning was on baptism, and a 15-year-old girl wanted to be baptized.  She had been a believer from a young age but had never been immersed.

Four questions are asked during a baptism: (1) Do you believe in Jesus? (2) Has He forgiven your sins? (3) Do you promise to walk with Him always?  But there is one more question.

I watched and listened to the father, who would be performing the baptism.  Calmly, and with much joy, he asked the first, second and third questions.  Then I heard a surprising question.  The father asked the fourth question, “When they come into our house and take us away, when they beat us and try to get us to deny Him, will you still follow Jesus?”

There before my eyes, a father was asking his daughter to be willing to be persecuted for her faith in Christ and to be willing to see him persecuted for his faith.  With a sense of awe, I prayed that I might be more like them.  I think they understood more clearly what the Father felt when He sent His Son to die for us.

* excerpt taken from "Voices of the Faithful" by Beth Moore, page 192

Give Them Parking Space But Let Them Starve to Death

Another moral threshold was crossed when a tiny baby boy, at the specific request of his parents and with the sanction of the Supreme Court of Indiana, was starved to death in a hospital. “Infant Doe” (he was not allowed the usual recognition of being human by being named), born with Down’s syndrome and a malfunctioning esophagus (the latter could have been corrected with surgery), died, as the Washington Post (April 18) stated, “not because he couldn’t sustain life without a million dollars worth of medical machinery, but because no one fed him.” For six days the nurses in that Bloomington hospital went about their usual routines of bathing and changing and feeding all the newborns except one. They bathed and changed Baby Doe but they never gave him a bottle. Over his crib was a notice, DO NOT FEED. Several couples came forward, begging to be allowed to adopt him. They were turned down.

What went on in that little box during those six terrible days and nights? We turn our imagination away. It’s unthinkable. But if I were to think about it, and put down on paper what my mind saw, I would be accused of playing on people’s feelings, and of making infanticide (yes, infanticide—call it what it is) an “emotional issue.” Let me suppose at least that the baby cried—quite loudly (at first). One report says that he was placed in a room alone, lest his crying disturb others (others, perhaps, who were capable of helping him).

Joseph Sobran, in his column in the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, suggested that “opposition to infanticide will soon be deplored as the dogma of a few religious sects who want to impose their views on everyone else.” The language sounds sickeningly familiar.

There has been a conspicuous silence from those who usually raise shrill protest when other human rights are violated—the rights of smokers, homosexuals, and criminals are often as loudly insisted upon as those of children, women, and the handicapped.

The handicapped? What on earth is happening when a society is so careful to provide premium parking spaces to make things easier for them, but sees no smallest inconsistency when one of them who happens to be too young to scream, “For God’s sake, feed me!” is quietly murdered? It is in the name of humanity, humaneness, compassion, and freedom that these things occur, but never is it acknowledged that the real reasons are comfort and convenience, that is, simple selfishness. “Abortion not only prefers comfort, convenience, or advantage of the pregnant woman to the very life of her unborn child, a fundamentally good thing, but seeks to deny that the life ever existed. In this sense it is a radical denial not only of the worth of a specific life but of the essential goodness of life itself and the Providential ordering of its procreation” (R. V. Young, “Taking Choice Seriously,” The Human Life Review, Vol. VIII, no. 3.)

But weren’t we talking about infanticide and haven’t we now switched to abortion? The premises on which abortion is justified are fundamentally the same on which infanticide is seen as civilized and acceptable. What Hitler used to call eugenics is now called “quality of life,” never mind whether the life in question happens to be the mother’s or the child’s. death, according to three doctors who put the issue out into the open in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1973, is now considered an option in the “treatment” of infants; in other words, a mortuary may now replace the nursery. One cannot help thinking of the antiseptic “shower rooms” of the Third Reich, where the unwanted were “treated” to death. Nor can one forget the words of Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me” (Matthew 25:40, KJV).

Can any Christian argue that the smallest and most defenseless are, by virtue merely of being too small and too defenseless, not His brethren?

* excerpt taken from "Keep A Quiet Heart" by Elisabeth Elliot, pages 202-204

Just God's words today...

I will teach you, and guide you in the way you should go.

I will keep you under My eye.

Do not behave like horse or mule, unreasoning creatures,

whose course must be checked with bit and bridle.

Many are the torments of the ungodly;

but unfailing love enfolds him who trusts in the Lord.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad...

Psalm 32: 8-11

Though your sins are as scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!  Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.  And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the thigns that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.

Though I fall I will rise;

Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD

Because I have sinned againt Him,

Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.

He will bring me out to the light,

And I will see His righteousness.

Micah 7:7-9

Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:30-31

And then there's the entire chapter of Romans 8...which I'll leave you to read for yourself.

The Denver 411--A Different Kind of Mission

Well, even though I don't have all the pictures I'd like to show you, I decided I'd better just get on the ball with this post about Denver.  It might have something to do with the fact that I woke up at 7 AM (a miracle, I tell you!) and have a productive perspective on this day.  It could also be due to the fact that I went for a long walk, and now all my energy's gone, and I kind of just want to sit and do something mindless for awhile now.  Not sure which one it is.

Anyway...

I will warn you: this post is going to be quite lengthy

This year's trip was different, to say the absolute least.  To quote from my journal, "I thought I would have more passion and boldness once we got here.  But this year is different.  Last year it seemed easy to push past the little trials.  But this year it seems that the little things really drag me down--the weariness, heat, dehydration, etc."  This year's trip was much harder.  We didn't get to do as many activities, and the results we saw weren't as "loud", so to speak, as last year.  But as I thought about it on the day before we went home, some new thoughts came to my mind.  It wasn't like God had changed in the year since we'd been in Denver.  This year He had different things to teach us.  One thing I definitely learned was not to expect things to be the same.  It's not always going to be sunshine and roses.  This year it was a lot more taking it one step at a time, relying on God for strength each day, and learning to trust Him when things were hard.

I guess for this post I'll just tell you about it, and the next post will have the pictures.  Here goes.

This year we stayed at a place called House of Prayer Englewood (H.O.P.E.).  It was right next door to a bar, so we had music blaring through the walls and floor until about 2 AM most nights.  There was no air conditioning downstairs, which drained our strength too.  It was a good place, though.  The people there really set an example: someone was always there praying.

We arrived on Sunday, and went back to Scum of the Earth Church that evening.  I think I liked it much better than I did last year.  The worship time was incredible, and I really enjoyed it.

On Monday my team went to the Restoration Outreach Facility.  We helped them sort through a bunch of donations they'd received, and we also were able to get showers there too.  That afternoon we went to the bus stop (yay!).  The bus stop was my favorite place last year.  This year it was the only place where we got to do Living Water, so it was my favorite place this year too.  I only met two people there, but they were pretty interesting.

The first was a man named Ernie.  I told him we were with a church group, and he kind of closed up after that, so I didn't get to talk with him about God or anything.  One funny thing was that when I asked him where he was going, he told me he was going to go rob a bank.  He was joking, though.  Still, it was kind of hard to know how to respond to that.

The second was a Mexican woman named Nuvia.  The leader of my group, Jeremy, first tried to talk to her, but she hardly spoke any English, so she went to sit away from our group.  When I heard that she didn't speak any English, for some reason that made me really want to go talk to her.  Keep in mind, I can say hello and thank you in Spanish, and that's about it, but I really felt like God was leading me to talk to her.  So, I did, and we ended up talking for about an hour and a half!  It was SO cool!  She actually purposefully missed her bus a few times because she was having such a good time talking to me.  She was a fun woman to talk to, with an infectious laugh and a willingness to try and have a conversation with me even though we had a hard time talking to each other.  Because she understood so little English, I wasn't able to share the gospel with her, but I was able to pray with her.  I tried to keep it short and simple, so she would understand most of it, and I think she really appreciated it.  Nuvia was probably the highlight of my week!

On Tuesday my team wasn't able to do that much.  We went back to Acts 2, the food bank and clothing store, but there wasn't anything for us to do.  That evening we went to a park, served dinner to people, and had some music and skits.  It wasn't the best day in terms of reaching out to people, but I did have an excellent devotional time before we went out.  I was reading Psalm 55 that day, and verse 22 struck me in a different way than it has before.  It says: "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

Again, to quote what I wrote in my journal that morning, "I've been struck by the implications of this verse.  The word 'burden' means 'circumstances'.  In whatever circumstance of life, God remains faithful.  Every burden, every care...  What would be different in my life if I lived like that?  If I gave Christ every burden, care, circumstance, fleeting thought of worry, etc.  Wouldn't I be free of the world?  Free to live for God, knowing He is sovereign and in control of every little thing?  What a challenge this is.  I'm prone to worrying and stressing out.  It's so hard not to.  But even worrying about not being able to stop worrying can be given to Him.  What a joy!  That He gladly takes away every hindrance and trial!"

On Wednesday we went back to Acts 2, where we unloaded trucks, handed out food, and cleaned up.  That afternoon we went to the skate park for about two hours.  I wasn't able to talk to anybody personally, but the members of my group were able to give away two Bibles and talk to three people extensively.

That night we went to Red Rock for our worship time.  It was amazing!  It started raining right as we got there, but we didn't let that hinder us.  We were able to look out over an amazing view, and we could see a little bit of downtown Denver.  The last song we sang was "How Great is Our God."  As we were singing the very last "God" in "How great is our God," there was a huge flash of lightning and one of the loudest thunders I've ever heard.  It was awesome!  I had my eyes closed, but the lightning was so bright I could still see the flash.

On our last day we went to pray with two men, Minister Gordon and Clifford, in the morning about a ministry to the homeless they're hoping to start soon.  They told us about it, and then we "bathed it in prayer," so to speak.  Their passion was so encouraging.  In the afternoon I stayed back at H.O.P.E. to take care of one of the members of our team, who was sick, while someone else took my place to go with my team.  They went to a mall to prayer walk and talk to people.  It fell through, though, because most of the mall wasn't open.  While I was on my own there I had a good time playing guitar and singing.  A song I kind of fell in love with again was "Step By Step."  It just seemed to sum up the week.  A lot of times, I was just taking the next step, not looking too far ahead.  But God was faithful to help me every step of the way.

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You.

I will seek You in the morning
And I wil learn to walk in Your ways
And, step by step, You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

I will follow You all of my days
I will follow You all of my days
And, step by step, You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days