This Is A Title

WOW, haven’t blogged in quite a while! Sorry!

I’ll share with ya’ll a little about what’s been going down. Classes got back into full swing after wilderness.  I tried to write a blog post about it but there was so much that happened I couldn’t even articulate it!. Maybe I’ll give a swing at some point.

Twice a week we have days when we do outreaches and service projects. On Wednesday our group (everyone who was in my wilderness family) was assigned landscaping. We served right around the corner from the school. In groups of three or four some of us cleaned windows and some picked up trash. I was with my gals, Molly and Alysha.  One of the Impact interns named Nick was leading our group. We walked along the sidewalks we picked up cigarette butts, bits of paper, trash and old cups. After a little while we met a man riding his bike. His name was Rick. We talked to him a bit and then asked if there was anything he needed prayer for. He said no, but that we should go and talk to his two homeless friends around the corner.  Nick asked us if we wanted to go and talk to them and we were totally up for that! 

Their names are J.R. & Joey. We went and talked to them and prayed for them.  I didn’t get a chance to personally talk to J.R. because Nick was speaking to him but us girls got to talk to Joey a bunch.  Joey shared with us how he became homeless.  He shared that he drinks and doesn’t know why and that he fears death. Molly really blessed me by her boldness for the Lord.  She just kept sharing with him in such a loving manner and encouraged him to draw close to God.

We found out that the next day was Joey’s birthday, so we planned to surprise him with cake and a card.  After class on Thursday me, Molly and Alysha got two dudes (Dez and Eric) to go with us and headed out to find J.R. and Joey.  We walked around for a while until we saw Rick.  We thought he might know where Joey was. He told us that they went to the library and wouldn’t be back for a while. We left the cake and card at the spot where they normally sit. Hopefully Joey saw it.   

While we were talking to Rick, Eric started sharing the Gospel.  It was super sweet to just see this brother’s love for the Lord pouring out in his speech. We prayed with Rick and he received the Lord.  I pray he actually knew and meant what he was praying.  Hopefully we will be able to check up on him and see how he is doing this week.   

These brothers and sisters have been such an amazing blessing to watch and learn from. Their confidence in the Lord and love for the lost is truly inspiring! If I had a scripture to describe this week it would be this…

 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. “    Isaiah 61:1

We’re gonna PROCLAIM IT! What whaaattt!!!   Well, I’ll leave it at that.  I hope this encouraged you, if I talk to those guys again, I’ll definitely write about it!

 Thank you all so much for all your love, prayers and support!

XOXO

  

The Fox The Crow And The Cookie

I love songs that tell stories! Mewithoutyou is kind of an unusual band and not everyone likes them...but whatever. These are the lyrics to their song called " The Fox The Crow And The Cookie". You could watch the music video on youtube...it is pretty sweet!

I really love this song because when I hear it I feel like I am in the scene watching it all play out. The crow watching for his chance...the fox already in flight. Much of the album is based on fables and when I found that out I researched fables ( yeah, I'm a nerd) and discovered I loved Aesop's! If you have never read them before...you should. They are grand!  Anywho... here is the song. :)
 






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through mostly vacant streets, a baker from the outskirts of his town
Earned his living peddling sweets from the ragged cart he dragged around.
The clever fox crept close behind, kept an ever-watchful eye
For a chance to steal a ginger spice cake or a boysenberry pie.

Looking down was the hungry crow, "When the time is right, I'll strike
And condescend to the earth below and take whichever treat I'd like."
The moment the baker turned around to shoo the fox off from his cart,
The crow swooped down and snatched a shortbread cookie and a German chocolate tart.

Using most unfriendly words that the village children had not yet heard,
the baker shouted threats by canzonette to curse the crafty bird.
"You rotten wooden mixing spoon! Why you midnight winged racoon!
You better bring those pastries back, you no-good burned-black macaroon!"

The fox approached the tree where the bird was perched, delighted in his nest.
"Brother Crow, don't you remember me? It's your old friend Fox with a humble request.
If you could share just a modest piece, seeing as I distracted that awful man."
This failed to persuade the crow in the least, so the fox rethought his plan.

"Then if your lovely song would grace my ears, or to even hear you speak,
Would ease my pains and fears." The crow looked down with a candy in his beak.
"Your poems of wisdom, my good crow, what a paradise they bring!"
This flattery pleased the proud bird, so he opened his mouth and began to sing:

"Your subtle acclamation's true! Best to give praise where praise is due.
Every rook and jay in the Corvidae's been raving about me too.
They admire me, one and all. Must be the passion in my caw!
My slender bill known through the escadrille, my fierce commanding claw!"

I got a walnut brownie brain, and molasses in my veins,
Crushed graham cracker crust, my powdered sugared funnel cake cocaine.
Let the crescent cookie rise. These carob colored almond eyes
Will rest to see my cashewed princess in the swirling marble sky.
Will rest upon the knee, where all the visions cease to be
A root beer float in our banana boat across the tapioca sea.
When letting all attachments go, is the only prayer we know,
May it be so, may it be so, may it be so, oh.

Why?

WHY IS IT THAT WHEN PEOPLE TYPE IN CAPS IT FEELS LIKE THEY ARE YELLING AT YOU? I don't get it.

The Wonderful Artist!

'It was a bright and sunny morning in the pleasant time of summer,
when one of those black monks emerged from the abbey portal, and
bent his steps towards the house of the fair sisters. Heaven above
was blue, and earth beneath was green; the river glistened like a
path of diamonds in the sun; the birds poured forth their songs from
the shady trees; the lark soared high above the waving corn; and the
deep buzz of insects filled the air. Everything looked gay and
smiling; but the holy man walked gloomily on, with his eyes bent
upon the ground.”

  

I took this from a page out of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, one of my favorite authors.

I think it’s such a vivid picture of creation and man. I’m not sure it was meant to be written that way but that’s how I see it.  God’s wonderful creation spilling forth to display His splendor and yet… we walk with our heads down. What would happen if we looked up?  What if we just spent time breathing in creation, marveling at the glory of God through His artwork?

My siblings are into art. Becca is into painting eclectic and vintage looking things,  Josh is into sketching whatever he finds interesting and Paul is into…capturing the “moments” with cartooning. *coughcough*

I, on the other hand, rarely have the patience to sit down, keep my hand steady and endure the painful process of drawing, erasing, drawing, tilting you’re head, checking the picture, checking the color, checking the line, drawing, tilting, lining and so on and so forth.

That, my friends, is why a camera is a beautiful thing! *SNAP* moment captured.  

Oh look…someone is about to eat 3 hotdogs in one bite! *Snap*moment captured.

Oh my, that dude is about to do a dubble back flip! * SNAP*moment captured.

Hey! That guy is gonna ninja kick through the dry wall! * SNAP* (Picture of random person’s tee shirt blocking shot….  You give some you take some.)  

The last time I tried to draw a picture, or make a… err…umm… “Piece of art” was a fail. We had just watched the new “Alice in Wonderland” and I felt “inspired”. I grabbed some paper, my brother’s colored sketching pencils and I drew!  I drew clocks, swivels, swirls, circles, eyes and music notes. Lines of color streaming across the page, trees growing from abstract looking grass.  All the while hoping it would look interesting, that it would have depth and it would strike thought!

I asked my brother his view on the subject to which he replied, with confusion, “What is it?”  Then Becca had a look at it…and I won’t tell you what she said, but it made me want to never see that picture again.

 

The conclusion was, I am not an artist. No matter how hard I try, how inspired I’m feeling. It’s just not my gifting. I have the artistic capabilities of a small child…But God is a wonderful Artist!  

“When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.”
                                                     Proverb 8:24-31

First Week Of Impact

The first week of classes has been intense! The Lord has some incredibly passionate people who love and want serve Him.

This week is called “Rock The House” week and its theme is loyalty.  The teachings have been focused on our loyalty to God.  The continuous challenge presented has been if we care about ourselves or if we care about the things of the Lord.  Our teachers have been breaking down what Loyalty is and in each class challenging us to run after it.  

George Clerie  (Director of The Rock University) rocked my world… as usual.  On Wednesday he was speaking about how Jesus lived.  He didn’t live in a nice house.  He didn’t have a bed.  He didn’t live “the American dream”.  He lived life out of the ordinary. We’re always saying, “ I wanna live like Jesus.” George has challenged us to consider if we are really believing if Jesus is worth risking it all? And, do our choices and our lives reflect what we say we believe.  Are we willing to give over all our comforts, all our wants and all our “stuff” to preach the Gospel and reach the nations for Jesus?

“When Jesus Christ calls us to follow Him… He isn’t calling us to a reasonable life of service… but to a radical life of sacrifice.”  ~ Pastor George Clerie

That really spoke to me. That is something I desire.  I desire to live a life of sacrifice for the One Who gave it all to secure my eternal life with Him.

Sarah Macintosh was leading us in the song “More Than Enough”.  It says, “ All of You is more than enough for me”. 

Jesus gave me His ALL.  Why shouldn’t I give all I have back to Him?

Mark Schnieder ( one of the founders of S.E.N.D Ministries) taught very passionately about the eyes of God from Revelation 19:11 and 1 Chronicles 28:9. He talked about the wickedness of man and how Gods eyes see our wickedness and still He has mercy and grace…. and wants for all of us to follow Him.  Mark spoke of the struggle to say no to self, and he boiled it down real simple like:  “Fix your eyes on the one who has His eyes fixed on you.”  He concluded by sharing, “God is calling us to be a generation to carry His fire to the ends of the earth.”

 There have also been some sweet moments and I’ll share a few with you…

On Tuesday, right before the end of classes for the day, the teacher asked us to turn to the person next to us and pray for them.  Myself and two women named Claudette and Sarah came together and started praying.  Sarah prayed and started by saying “ Lord, I thank you for Sarah and Claudette”. Claudette started crying and she said “ Lord, thank you for bringing me two Sarahs! It is truly a miracle!” It was the sweetest thing.   After we prayed she told us that the Lord was using Sarahs all around to pray and speak to her.  I’m glad I could be part of the “ Sarahs.”

I met another lady named Melissa who sat next to me on the very first day of class. The Lord has called her to go to Haiti and start an orphanage.  That was super encouraging to me that she has such a heart for kids, for the lost, lonely and hurting kid’s of a place so destroyed and abandoned.  I will definitely keep her in my prayers as she embarks on this grand adventure with the Lord.

I have also heard amazing testimonies of how the Lord has spoken and lead His followers into His promises. It’s been an amazing week!