Revealing Grace

Reading about the Chinese church and the Back to Jerusalem movement for a paper has turned out to be one of the most inspiring lessons in my Christian walk. We could learn so much from their perseverance, strength, and understanding of mission. What a blessing to get to research such an incredible movement.  "Don't pray for the persecution to stop! We shouldn't pray for a lighter load to carry, but a stronger back to endure! Then the world will see that God is with us, empowering us to live in away that reflects his love and power. This is true freedom!" -quote from The Heavenly Man by Chinese Christian Brother Yun regarding Americans praying for the Chinese government to stop oppressing the church. 

Wow. Things are getting real. With 1.5 weeks left in Pasadena I am about to be in a whirlwind of life and activities. I am so excited to go home to Georgia for a few days but packing for home also means I am getting a lot closer to heading to the reservation for 2 months. I just talked with the girl on the AYM team there and she gave me some more details regarding my stay. I will be staying with a family on the rez that has a few kids and the girl on staff for AYM living there too. Sarah is giving me her bed, which is so nice, and I feel so blessed that this family is willing to take me in and make their household a little more crowded for a few months! It feels like such hospitality and I am so thankful for their kindness. I also learned that our trip to Missouri (a loooooong trip!) for the Warrior Summit Leadership Conference is going to involve one BIG bus with students from a few different reservations and an all night long bus ride. I am thrilled! How FUN will that be? Sarah said...

‎"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."  John 10:27-29 What peace this brings, to know that no matter what happens, we can never be snatched from our Father's hands. To have such a caring and loving Savior who knows us, who gives us life , and who protects  us. I could not imagine anything better, and I will continually strive to please my Father who has done so much to save me.  Praise Him, our Savior and Redeemer. Our Father. 

Today I went to story time for babies at the library. Don't worry, I brought a baby so I would fit in. I made a scene bringing in my big stroller when the singing had already started and then accidentally parking it in the "fire lane." The storyteller begrudgingly got up to move it to the "stroller parking lot" which wasn't really a parking lot at all. I wanted to make a speech about being new at this or about just being a lowly nanny trying to make it through graduate school, but then again, I really just wanted someone to read me a story. To be honest I think all the moms/dads/nannies were enjoying the books and songs more than the babies were. 

This is the story of a girl. A story of a girl who never seems to stay in one place. A story of a girl who has one foot in reality and one foot in a fairy tale. Who will change all the bedsheets with the sighting of one insect but will kiss the unwashed heads of street children. Some may say she is a living paradox, that she doesn't make sense, but she would say that she is simply a story unfolding. A story that she doesn't write the words to, but one in which she simply follows the turn of the page.  This is the story of adventure. It is about getting lost and then found by a parade in the dark streets of Sevilla. It is about sleeping in the dirt for two weeks with a bucket of freezing water for a shower. It is about standing on the tip of India and watching the sunrise and getting patted down for drugs on the border to Portugal.  And this is a story about Light. The Light that guided the steps. The Light that illuminated the dark places and promised the dawning of...

How does a week become even more perfect after the news of that beautiful baby boy from my last post? How about we add to that one of my other friends calling to say she just got engaged. A baby and an engagement, I must say this is one eventful week. Congratulations Katelyn and Ben. God knew from the very beginning that He would bring you two together and look at all the crazy memories made along the way! The fun has just begun and I cannot wait to see how you two will serve Him together in your marriage. I am so blessed to be a spectator and friend in your story. This life is a good one my friends, and I praise God for the beautiful blessings of new life He has given to each of us. It might be a few days before I can figure out how to stop smiling. 

Yesterday, a baby was born. A beautiful baby boy. I know babies are born every day but this baby was special because we had all been waiting for him. And because yesterday, one of my dearest friends Koral became a mom. I have seen a lot of babies in my life but this is the first time one of my close friends has become a mother, and I have to tell you, when I laid eyes on that picture of his red little face I melted. Immediately, I loved him. Maybe it is because I really love his mommy or maybe it is knowing that I will probably try and convince her to tell him I am his aunt. Or maybe it is simply the joy of knowing that she created that sweet little thing. I don't know. But I do know that I am going to be just another person wrapped around his little baby fingers, no matter how many miles we are apart. So sweet little Brooks Isaac, I know you can't hold your head up, let alone read my blog, but I want you to know that you have the best parents in the world. In years to come ...

It is a common occurrence on Mondays and Wednesdays, the walk through the enchanted neighborhood. You may not believe me now, but maybe you will when I finish. In this neighborhood the sun always shines as I walk the baby and dog I take care of (if it rains, we just stay inside).  We peruse the streets, picking carefully which ones to turn down and which ones to save for another day. Some days the three of us decide to only walk the truly enchanted streets, and other days we take a chance and walk the dormant ones, the ones just waiting for their magic to burst through their doors and into their yards. You see, in a neighborhood without codes or regulations, the enchantment can run wild. There are yards filled with wildflowers who have no care in the world, replacing the boring old grass that could be there. There are houses that come straight from storybooks and I always peek extra long to see if Hansel and Gretel will come out and offer me some sweets. There are rows and rows of...

I think I forgot about you guys this past week. I left you all hanging here, with no word as to my whereabouts or silly notions. How disrespectful of me. This past week has been filled with a final paper, time with friends, lots of silly notions, orchestra concerts for church, and the Avengers! (I may not have understood all the references but I did understand the value of good-looking men and hulk smashes). So alas, the blogity-blog fell behind. But here is a little post for you on the subject of. . .seminary. *Ahem, do not tune out. This will not be dull!...I hope.* Usually there is a common reaction when I tell the layperson that I am in seminary. The conversation most often goes like this: * insert perky, overly enthusiastic me*  "Yea! So I moved out to Pasadena to go to seminary at Fuller."  * insert skeptical/that's totally not relatable to my life look * "Oh, so, uh, you want to be a pastor?" I cannot tell you how many times this has been said to m...

29 days until I get to be back in the loving arms of the SouthEast. 39 days until my solo road trip to Arizona. 41 days until I arrive at Fort Apache Indian Reservation for two months with Apache Youth Ministries. Who would have known when I graduated a year ago that this would be life? Certainly not me. I think the unexpected is what makes it all so beautiful and exciting. "The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps." Proverbs 16:9 Taken a year ago yesterday. Who knows what crazy thing we were doing but I like to think this epitomizes the unexpected nature, and excitement, of the journey. 

I love to plan. Some might call it obsessive but I just call it good sense. It is what I do when I get nervous, or when I am anticipating something. I plan when I am bored and I plan when I want to distract myself. I love to plan because to plan is to dream and to plan is to be sure of something..or at least give myself the allusion of certainty.  But I am pretty sure that every time I take out that pen and paper God starts to smile as He shakes His head with a good natured shake. He knew I would turn out this way, and He knows almost all of those lists and plans will get tossed in the trash or lost. He knows that my plans have nothing to do with His plans, and I am sure He laughs softly because He knows His plans are so much better than mine. Like a father, He relishes in the excitement that will register on my face when HIS plans come into play.  But in the meantime, as I scribble furiously on paper, as I daydream and plan, He lets me have my moment. He gives me that ...

Sometimes I feel like I am just waiting for my life to begin. In college everything is about the moment, the four years, the fun and the adventure, and then you leave. And life is supposed to begin, real life, grownup life. Things are supposed to move forward. Its in all the books. People leave college, they fall in love, they get real jobs, they buy a house with a yard and a dog named Fido, or something like that. College ends and real life is supposed to begin. But here I sit, one year later, writing a paper (or not) in my apartment, living on money borrowed from the government and my job as a nanny, and I feel like all I am doing is waiting. I know all those things are around the corner. I know that eventually I will fall in love and buy a house and start life, but until that happens I just have to wait, because I don't have any idea when those things will happen. And I can fill this time of waiting with different things, but the waiting still is. So you can tell me that this...

"No, it isn't," agreed the Story Girl with a regretful sigh. "It's very expressive, but it isn't nice. That is the way with so many words. They're expressive, but they're not nice, and so a girl can't use them." page 113

I implore you, watch this video. It is so worth your time.