Something Big To Be Thankful For

God has given me something special to be thankful for recently, and it is about time I shared it with you all! :) He has put a special man in my life, and while I was in the US, that special man (whose name is Mike, by the way...more details in a moment:) asked me to marry him. Mike and I are planning a January 2, 2010 wedding in my hometown.

Mike is a fellow JTM missionary. He spent four years working as an RA in one of the BFA dorms. He returned to the US for this school year to get his teaching certificate, and is coming back to Germany later this summer to begin teaching chemistry and physics at BFA. We are thankful for how God has worked in both of our lives to bring us here individually, and then worked to join us together to serve Him.

Every day I grow more and more thankful for who Mike is and how God is using him in my life. Mike encourages me, balances me out, and continually points me to God's truth. I am very thankful for him, and excited to see how God uses us in the future - we know this adventure we are on will not be boring!

4 Weeks

Our first group of campers arrive four weeks from yesterday (on July 16th). Please keep praying for them, for our staff, and for these final weeks of preparations.

Grasping Grace

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Galatians 2:20-21

God is teaching me a lot about grace these days. I love the verses above. Yesterday morning, the phrase "I do not frustrate the grace of God" popped into my mind. And spoke Truth to my heart. Some versions use the word "nullify," while others use "frustrate." Either way, that is a powerful statement. Those are powerful verses.

I am very hard on myself. I "beat myself up" (figuratively speaking). This is not what God wants. This is not me truly grasping grace, and living as one who is freed by Christ's blood.

May I grasp true grace today.

Swimming In Details

Right now, my desk is a sea of post-it notes and papers. Each containing one (or more) details that need to be attended to.

I need to be honest with you. I need to tell you that the details of English Camp stress me out. I allow them to cause me more stress and anxiety than I should. I take things personally. I want everything to stay in its box and work perfectly (yup, I'm a perfectionist).

But I forget to let God be God.

These are God's camps. HE makes them happen. I do not make camps happen, God does.

God does not need me. But yet He chooses to use me. And He chooses to use these experiences to grow me. Because He loves me. He loves me soooo much. That is a humbling Truth. It brings tears to my eyes.

I need to step back and remember that God is God and I am not. To remember how much He loves me.

"...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:18-19

Truth vs. Lies

Recently, I have been acutely aware of how Satan deceives us with his lies. I have seen this in my own life, as well as the lives of others.

"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
John 8:44

Pray for protection from Satan's lies and that God's Truth will win and reign victorious in my life, as well as in the lives of others.

The Revolving Door...

Living in a missionary community, especially one that is mostly centered around a school, means that there is a lot of turnaround in this community. I have started to refer to it as a revolving door. I feel that, for the foreseeable future, God has called me to stay here. And so that means being here and watching that revolving door turn. People come and people go. And that is hard. I didn't grow up with a lot of moving and change. I grew up in a pretty stable community, so this is new for me. I don't do well with good-byes. I'm trying to learn how to deal with change better. To not resist it. To deal with it in a healthy way. To encourage and build into others who are here, regardless of how short or long their stay in this community is.

Today is BFA graduation. This next month or so contains a lot of good-byes. I have several good friends who are leaving this community, and will literally be around the globe. I am excited for what God is doing in their lives, and encouraged by the glimpse of the global kingdom that it gives me, but I am also sad to see them go. Please pray for good closure. For a healthy season of good-byes.

These verses written to the exiles are commonly quoted, but that does not diminish the truth they contain - God's plans truly are for our best. Even when life is hard, God is using it for our good.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
...I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
Jeremiah 29:11, 14

Verse 14 speaks of the promise that the exile will end, but it reminds me that someday, I will be eternally reunited with these friends. And oh how amazing it will be to know the full extent of God's work in His global kingdom as we worship Him together forever.

Wanted: Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning,
your thoughts will be led astray
from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
2 Corinthians 11:3

Gratitude Journal #14

What I am thankful for:
*Friends
*Family
*Transatlantic travel
*This crazy adventurous life God allows me to live. (As a friend recently reminded me, it IS a privilege to live this life.)
*People who are willing to speak truth into my life, even when they have to repeat themselves multiple times
*Sunshine
*Holidays
*God's fingerprints all over my life

What I want:
*To learn how to deal with transition better
*To know how to adequately and appropriately say good-bye to my many friends who are leaving
*To know how to handle the stress of English Camp appropriately (to not let myself stress about it as much as I do)
*For God to work in the lives of many campers and staff this summer

Song I am currently gaining encouragement from:
"What Life Would Be Like" by Big Daddy Weave