Revealing Grace

Who is ready for a happy post!? Wooo! Me!! Just a few hours ago I was standing by the "lunch" section at Trader Joe's trying to make a very important decision. As I stood there for a good three minutes trying to decided which salad(s) I should buy, a nice old man was standing next to me attempting to do the very same thing with sushi. We were both there for quite a while, taking our time with the decision as if it would actually make a significant difference in our lives, when finally he turned to me and commented on the dangers of shopping when you are hungry. I agreed and we laughed and it was a pleasant moment. In fact, a lot of people were pleasant in the grocery stores today. It made me have hope for our world. . .or maybe we were all just happy to be fed. At any rate, my oh so deep conversation with sushi man made me realize how little interaction I have with , dare I say, older people in my California life. At Fuller "old" is your classmate in their ...

Today was going to be a happy post as I seem to be consistently placing all my burdens out there for all you guys to carry, but sadly, this post is going to follow in a similar direction. The burdens do not mean that God is not faithful or that I do not have a lot of joy, for both those things are abundant. My life is a blessed one, but sometimes the world is an unfair place and we have to take notice of that. Today's post is to fill you in on a tragedy that has occurred on the Apache reservation that I will be working on this summer. Late Sunday night, just down the road from the youth center, one of the students and her grandmother got brutally murdered. The girl was just 15 and an active participant in everything that the ministry did. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence on the reservations. There is a large drug culture, much alcohol abuse, and a history of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Most of these kids know someone who has been murdered before, so although ...

As I finish my intensive today many of you may be able to guess that my heart is heavy. It seems like this happens a lot as I study development. The pain and the suffering of the world is put at my fingertips as we try to learn how to best serve and help, though the answers are never straightforward or complete. The last two weeks were emotionally and physically exhausting. The subject matter of refugees and relief aid (that is, bringing medical care, food, water, and other basic needs to people in war torn or disaster ridden areas) is a heavy one and on the last day of class it was almost too much to bear. We heard stories presented on the refugee situation in Sudan and the long, winding lines of people that need help. We went through the entire conflict in Darfur and as we analyzed the situation to understand why it has continued for so long I could not get the face of the refugee out of my mind. These people who have been displaced from their homes, who have seen horrendous atrocit...

So. Tired. So. Tired. So all I have for you is this: 1. My Human Development class has taught me two things this week: Hugs are good.  Relationships are life.  Obviously it was more complicated than that but I was not listening so well and I think both those things are pretty good to know. So go hug someone and have lunch with a good friend. It will reduce your stress, make you happier, and make you feel more secure. Or something like that. 2. Ellen. Ellen Degeneres. When this week is over I will tell you a story about Ellen. That is all you get for now. So sorry. Now to finish a presentation/take a shower/go take care of a baby/give a presentation/collapse. Three days until this madness is over. 

It has been a crazy week here in Pasadena. I am smack-dab in the middle of a two-week intensive, meaning one of my classes has been shortened to every day, three hours a day, for two weeks. That means that on Mondays and Wednesdays I work from 7:30-2:30 then go to class from 3-6. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am in class from 3-6 and 6:30-9:30. Then of course I come home to homework. It reminds me of my undergrad days of being super busy. Even though I am tired and burnt out, I do kind of like a busy life.  In the midst of this class I have had a heavy and burdened heart. The class is Relief, Refugees, and Conflict and it is such a complicated issue. The suffering of people around the world, like in Somalia or Syria, is absolutely heart-breaking. The issues of relief aid adds even more heartache because the issue is nowhere near black and white. Relief and food aid can save lives, yes, but it can also contribute to the problem. It can aid in the continuing of war and conflict and ...

I know that it is cliche to talk about the friendships and blessings discovered on a birthday, but I feel that I have to give in. Today (or yesterday really) I turned 23 in a new place. I have been here for 8 months and I felt as loved as I ever have in the best moments of my life. The joys of having been in many places is getting to know people in all those places. Today brought all those people back into my life and the blessings were ripe. I woke up to texts, pictures, and phone calls from my Georgia and my Virginia friends. I got on Facebook to read messages from my Spanish friends, and on Skype I saw my Arizona friend (oh the laughs!), my parents, my flight attendant friend, and my Nicaraguan friend. I got to hear from old friends and I got to celebrate with new ones. Is there any day more perfect than one spent with friends? And the love. Oh the love. Truly this must be a tiny representation of how Christ loves us because I felt full. Full of pie, yes, because I did make thr...

I recently took a trip down history's lane. To the days of old, I went, back to the time before cellphones. For 35 hours I had no phone, and let me tell you, I kind of loved it. Now would probably be a good time to say that I did not take this experiment by choice, although the circumstances were rather funny. Out of some sort of weird skill or sheer accidental talent I somehow managed to drop my cellphone in a glass of water. Yes, that's right, a glass of water. I don't know how it happened exactly, all I remember is sitting down, pulling out my phone, and plop! right into the glass of water on the ground. In the moment I gasped (or maybe said some choice words I won't repeat) and then looked up at my roommate as we began to laugh. After 5 seconds that felt like 20 I then remembered that cellphones don't actually do well in water so I proceeded to grab my phone and run around the apartment squealing "rice! rice! I need rice!" We laughed so hard we could n...

Blessings, my friends, are abundant. What a journey it has been in following God's call to Fuller, but what a phenomenal chance it has been to put my trust fully in the One who made me. These week has been evidence of the close, personal, and loving relationship that God has with each of us. Can I share a few joys? First, a wonderful friend of mine blessed me in an inconceivable and hugely unexpected way. It was such a humbling moment for me because I was utterly undeserving of this gift. It was the feeling I think God's grace should give me all the time. Even though I was so unworthy  I was still given great blessing. It was one of the most amazing things God has ever done for me, and I thank Him (and my sweet friend) for humbling me in that way.  Then today God perfected timing so that I met a fellow Fuller student at church who is doing doctoral work on the Aboriginals in Australia. We are going to grab coffee and she is going to share her research with me. I believe tha...