Revealing Grace

In the past 24 hours I have received a lot of good questions, ones that I probably should have thought of already (but hey, that is why I have you guys to keep in check!). So here we go with a full fledged FAQ post! Hopefully this will help out. Q: Yo Meredith, this is cool and all, but what exactly are you going to be doing there? A: Wow. Solid question. I will be working with Apache Youth Ministries which is basically an awesome youth center. The high school students come hang out everyday after school for a few hours, come to a youth night on thursdays, and to d-groups (bible study) on tuesdays. As part of the team I will be building relationships with the high school girls, leading d-groups with the other female leaders, and I will be the person in charge of organizing, developing, and planning all of our retreats and trips. This will include a fall and spring retreat, a trip to a conference for Native teens in Missouri, and hopefully a lot of cool trips for the kids to s...

The time has come my friends! After a lovely weekend in the North Georgia mountains celebrating love and friendship it is officially time to kick-off the fundraising campaign for my work with the Apache! Here are the deets: I am planning to move TO the reservation on JUNE 28th, but to do that I need YOU to help me! I am trying to raise $1,500 in order to pay for the moving costs. Without you I can't actually go anywhere... Then the next order of business is my ACTUAL move date to the reservation. I will be in Georgia later this summer raising $3,600 of monthly support . My goal is to have that raised and be at home in Arizona by September 15th . I am trusting God to bring this in, and I hope that you might join me with your support. So you are probably saying to yourself, "Wow, Meredith. This is so cool. I would looooove to join in this journey and support the spiritual and economic development of Apache teenagers, but where do I send my check?"  Well, you...

It is a busy time for me here in Pasadena. The quarter is rapidly coming to a close, meaning papers, research, procrastination, and more papers. Lots of exciting things are coming up too though, such as: 1. Travelling back to GA for one of my best friend's wedding this weekend. 2. The AYM team bringing some of the students to SoCal for a weekend of adventure in June. 3. GRADUATION with my mom and brother coming to town. 4. Oh, and did I mention I am trying to move to the Apache reservation? So that means packing, praying for the funds to come in so I can move, support raising, worrying about support raising, and thinking lots about my future there. Life is a crazy ride people. Being so busy I barely have time to dwell on the fact that in just a few weeks I will be leaving the place I have called home for the last two years. Its probably better that way, as I have taken to tearing up at Hallmark commercials these days. I guess life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. Both ...

As they each prayed for me I could feel the binding that was happening through their words. It was as if by the power of the Holy Spirit their lives were becoming bound with mine, as if in that moment our hands became inextricably linked. The words they spoke over me poured blessings and promises into my worried soul. These declarations of peace, provision, and a fulfillment of God’s purpose seemed to travel through their arms and down to the tips of their fingers, each one burrowing its way into the crevices of my heart. It was in that moment that I truly knew and understood the power of the body of Christ. I understood that throughout my ministry on the reservation these people would be there to pick me up when I fall. Though not with their physical bodies, it would be their prayers, their support, and their thoughts that would sustain me. This was the first stop on my support raising journey, and I never imagined being so blessed by the people to whom I explain my vision. I n...

I used to read the story of Moses or the story of Jonah and scoff at their reactions to God's call. There was Moses standing in front of a burning bush that was speaking to him  and his first reaction was basically, "no thanks God, I think you've got the wrong guy." Who does that?? If it was ME (I always thought) I would be grateful for such a direct quest from God. I would be like, "yeah God! I'll take off my shoes and go where you call. Thanks for being so specific!" And of course there is Jonah. Who tries to run from God? He had a specific call and he ran the other way. Come on man, you deserved to get eaten by a big fish. It always seemed like a direct call would be the best gift God could give because then you would be sure. You could let go of the decision-making and the guessing games and follow. But then it happened to me.  Driving down the road I get a call from God. Loud and clear. It started off as my idea and transformed into a new vis...