He Is Able.

You know, sometimes I really struggle to know what I should do with my life. Obviously, I came to CIU to be a missionary, but there is a vast field within missions itself. Sometimes I get discouraged and think that I'm just not good at anything and that I really shouldn't be here because I will never be effective for Christ in reaching lost people...well, I don't know if anyone else ever feels that way...but I guess tonight as I am sitting here pondering life, I just wanted to share this thing that I got out of a DTS magazine many years ago...I take it with me everytime I move and post it on the wall where I will always see it because it reminds me that God can use ANYONE who is committed to Him. Enjoy!

HE IS ABLE

There are lots of logical reasons why God should never use us. And we're in good company:

Noah got drunk.
Abraham lied about his wife.
Jacob was a swindler.
Moses stuttered.
He also had an anger problem.
Hosea married a prostitute.
David had an affair.
Solomon had a bunch of wives.
The woman at the well had a bunch of husbands.
Naomi was a widow.
Sarah was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
Miriam was a gossip.
Jonah ran away from God.
Thomas doubted.
Jeremiah got depressed.
Elijah got burnt out.
Martha was too busy.
Timothy had stomach problems.
John Mark was rejected by the apostle Paul.
Moses was a murderer.
So was David.
So was Paul.
-SG

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you'...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor. 12:9

Home.

"We've got to quit treating this life as if it were home."

The president of the IMB came and spoke at our chapel time this morning. I have to confess that I was delightfully surprised at what this man had to say. The above is a quote from a woman who was with the IMB and whose husband was killed last year (she herself was also shot up). As God always tends to do with me, He showed me my own selfishness today and that my life is not about me...it's about Him. I get so caught up in my own wants and desires that I forget that I am not here to have a comfortable life where I always feel "at home"...this life is not home...it is simply a brief stay before we go on to our final home. Jesus is great about breaking my selfishness and my pride. I have so much yet to learn. But think about it today...this life is not long and there are no guarentees...where are you going to be spending eternity? Shouldn't you be spending time here getting ready for your time there since that is forever and this is only a few seconds? I don't know about you, but I need and want to fall more in love with Jesus now, while I am on this earth.

Broken and battered your confidence shattered but I am still here
The things that you cling to they seem to just bring you right back to your fears
Were the nails and the spear in My side not quite enough
To providethe victory you need in your life
Come to Me,
Come to Me
If you come to Me, it'll be all right now
--"Come to Me" by Jill Paquette

Some days are just harder than others. Some nights are just more lonely. Sometimes its harder to feel His arms holding me close. But it'll be all right. He's good. "This too shall pass"...and tomorrow is a new day full of new hope and new opportunities. Thank You, Jesus for that.

A Little Misadventure...

So today was the Sabbath and we are not allowed to do schoolwork. I got it in my mind that I wanted to go hike in the mountains, so I asked Steph to come with me. We found some directions to a really great sounding trail up near the border of North Carolina/South Carolina and headed out. About an hour and a half later we arrived to the city where we had to make a turn to get on the correct road. Well...to make a long story short, we never did find it. It was just one more time in my life where I wish a guy had been along...guys just seem to have this innate sense of direction and are (generally) good at finding places that us girls can't find. Ha, I know, never thought you'd hear me say that...well, I guess it comes with age to realize that guys really are nice to have around sometimes. :)

So we gave up and decided to settle for a state park that we had seen along the way and just walking one of the trails there. So we get off at this exit and take many twists and turns to end up at this state park...that has no trails to walk. So now its dark and neither of us can remember which turns we have to take to get back to our road.

All I can say is THANK YOU DAD for getting me my handy dandy little compass for my car before I left. So, we knew we needed to head southeast and I took the advice of a guy I used to know that goes like this "all smaller roads lead to a bigger road"...and we made it home at long last.

So, no hiking occurred, but it was not all a loss...I mean, what better way to get to know the state than to get utterly lost in it and then find your way out again!! Fun times, for sure. :)

Jello

I developed a love for Jello this last year in Senegal when Cori's parents came over one time and made us some and we put whipcream in it. It was really good. I had tried to make some earlier in the year...but I think it was too old and never did set. Jello is good stuff..but that is not why I like Jello.

Jello is a word I use often when describing my plans in life. When I look back on the last year and how my life just did not go the way I had planned, but instead the way that God planned...I learned about Jello. I learned to make my plans in Jello. And it seems that God is again reminding me of that as I have started classes here. When I came here a week or so ago, I had some notion of what it was I would walk out of here doing...but after some serious questioning of myself and of God, I find myself wondering...what am I doing?

I am still learning about Jello. I stand here on the brink of something, not having any idea where it is really going to lead...but knowing Who is leading it...and that is the only way I can rest assured. Jello...it not only tastes good, but is applicable to life in so many ways!!

Big words, small vocabulary.

So this morning I discovered that I am going to need to purchase a dictionary for all these HUGE words that my systematic theology prof uses. I was pretty much clueless throughout the entire 3 hours of class...not a good way to start. :) I guess working with kids, I never worried much about a big vocabulary...haha, the game has now changed, though! This will be fun. So if any of y'all want to help me out with this, just throw some big words into our conversations and I'll try to figure out what they mean. :) It's going to be a humbling time!