Revealing Grace

Ok, have you been held in suspense for long enough? Are you tired of my vague language and allusions? Alright, alright, I will fill you in on alllllll the deets (well, not everything...since you probably don't care that I just ate delicious teriyaki wings and am considering buying a new lamp). Where to begin, where to begin. Let's just jump right in. The other night I received word of an amazing blessing, a huge donation, that covers my ministry budget for the entire year. It was perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to me because it was such a work of God. It was a feeling of the truest gratitude and amazement that 2 people in this world believe in the work God is doing among the Apache so much  that they were willing to make such an amazing investment. I was definitely the closest to speechless and dumbstruck as I ever have been or ever will be. It was like a big neon light flashing, "We believe in you! God has plans for you! This is where you are supposed...

I'm so sorry! It's been over a week without a post. I can't believe I haven't updated you all in so long! Goodness me. Well let me say, things be getting crazy. More details will come when I figure a few things out (when God does CRAZY things with fundraising I tend to want to check and double check to make sure I am seeing things right!) but let me just tell you, I am...speechless really. I am blown away. I am slightly freaking out (in a good way!) because I could not have ever imagined how much people would get behind this ministry. I am a Moses, lacking in the self-confidence, and a Abraham, making mistakes along the way, but you all are the power of God moving me along, showing me that this is BIG and that God has plans for the Apache people. I am blown. away. Eyes wide, no sound coming out of my mouth, just trying to grasp the greatness of our God and His people. Seriously, this is basically the best thing that has ever happened to me. So here is a slight reca...

It has been a rainy few days in Georgia. The sky is grey, the weather cold, and I am perhaps at my happiest. I love cloudy days. The smell of the air, the feel of the breeze, it reminds me of school days and the cozy stay-at-home days. Rainy days, in fact, are my favorite days. And just as the rain replenishes the earth, so has my soul been replenished this week. Last week my heart was wrapped up in the sadness and the disappointment of this broken world. It had been wrapped so tightly that it had lost sight of its purpose and its hope. But God is patient, and in the midst of the heartbreak He waited, and in His time, He shone through. He broke through all the junk that I had wrapped my heart in and unraveled all of the lies and the falsehoods that had clouded my view. And all at once the clouds broke. The sun began to shine in my soul again, and I remembered who my Rock is. I remembered the One who makes the rain fall and the thunder roar. I was reminded that where Christ is, the...

“The danger is when you have to toughen up and put on your emotional armor so that you will not be consumed by the misery that you see. Sometimes you reach a point when you have seen so much pain and sorrow, nothing gets to you, and the armor starts to corrode, the evil starts to eat through it, and you are tempted to despair of ever slaying all the dragons in the garbage dump no matter how hard you try. Let an ounce of cynicism into your heart, and ever so slowly, your whole system would be taken over, like a crippling virus that multiplied in your brain cells, leaving you in darkness and wishing you did something else with your life or tempt you to withdraw into a purely privatized spirituality or create an identity which does not come from the triune God.”  - Fr. Beigno P. Beltran ,  Prophetic Dialogue with the Poor, 20

Today there is good news. The good news is that God has blessed me enough to be 2/3 of the way to my leaving goal ! I am trying to raise $3600 of monthly support and I am currently at $2,035! Since I am planning to leave at 80% ($3000), I have less than $1000 of monthly support still to raise. That is pretty darn awesome. I have to extend great thanks to everyone who has contributed, both in one-time support and in continuing support. I have been absolutely overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity, kindness, and confidence in my work. Each day I am surprised and words cannot even express my amazement. You all have come behind me with such faithfulness, and it gives me such confidence that God has great plans for us as we partner to work with the Apache nation.  As I reflect on this past month of support-raising I can confidently say that this has been one of the most rewarding and most difficult seasons of my life. I could not have imagined how blessed I would be in this ti...

Rest and stillness.  Two words that I do not like. I mean, in theory they sound great. In theory, they include a contented regiment of book reading, walking, cooking great meals, and quiet. In truth, they drive me crazy. As much as I would love to enjoy sitting around all day, and as much as I am sure all of my friends and family who work 40 hours a week might envy this period of my life, I'm starting to get a little frustrated. It makes sense why. I  am an on-the-go kind of girl, always busy and always moving. Last quarter I took an overload of classes, worked 30 hours a week, and still found time for a social life. College was the same way. I kept myself busy and I liked it that way. But three weeks ago I got plopped down in Georgia and told to sit still...for a month. Granted, the first few days were a thing of beauty. I stayed in my pajamas, I watched movies, I slept in...fantastic. But eventually I started to miss my job, the structure of places to be and things to...

Mmmhmm Mmmhmmm mmmhmmm. That's right. I feel like dancing. I feel like jumping onto the roof and yelling to the world that our God is GOOD! (Can I get an amen?) Let me tell you, let me tell you what has got me dancing in the halls until my brother shuts the door! I had two meetings at my home church about raising support for my work with the Apache this morning. It was such a joy to get to share with so many loving people, and it was such a blessing to receive their questions and encouragement. It was a good morning. So tonight, I'm minding my own business, reading a novel instead of doing my homework online, and all day I have just left the phone upstairs because I figured no one would call and I didn't really need it. So upstairs I come, bugging my brother, complaining about the dogs, you know, normal "emerging adult returns home" stuff and I see I have a voicemail. I obligingly go through the other voicemails that have sat neglected in my inbox for weeks a...

If you ask me about any of “my kids” on the Apache reservation I could talk your ears off about their awesome qualities, their potential, and the ups and downs of their stories intertwining with my own. They are some of the most resilient teenagers I have ever met, and they honestly inspire me. I don’t know that I would be able to handle the amount of hardship and sadness that they have seen in their teenage years. So today I want to give you a chance to meet a few of my students, as well as hear what they have to say about my time with them. *I have asked permission to release their names and pictures to you, so don’t worry, they know :)*  The first person I would like you to meet is Crystal.  Crystal is such a gem. She and I got the chance to really know each other at a retreat we went to in Missouri last year. She rides bulls at rodeos and is a pretty tough cookie. She has had her ups and downs, but I am really proud of her effort to stay on track with God, even...