Rambles...

: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best As for me, I...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:32:00 -0600

: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

As for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise You more and more.

Psalm 71:14

Hope. What a beautiful thing. Something I am continually learning in my journey as a christian is that there is always hope. In death, life, good times, hard times, no matter what happens, hope always remains. On the foundation of God’s complete sovereignty and involvement in our lives, there is unwavering hope. For, if God is truly in control and works all things in my life together for good(Romans 8:28), then there is always a brighter tomorrow. Though life is painful and confusing at times and it may seem as if God doesn’t have a plan, I can stand on the unwavering truth that He does. Always a purpose. Always a plan. No accidents. That is some of the best news I have ever heard.

But Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

May my leaves always be green.

So, it has been a very long time. Oops. As usual, life in Yellowstone has been extremely busy. It...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:10:14 -0500

So, it has been a very long time. Oops. As usual, life in Yellowstone has been extremely busy. It seems insane that I leave the park in 48 hours. The past weeks have been great! 2.5 weeks ago my mom, aunt Cindi and sister Anna came to visit. It was a blast to spend time with them. We got to explore, enjoy eachother, enjoy yellowstone and the grand tetons. It was a refreshing break from regular life. Fun to be on vacation:) Oh, and I got to jump off this huge rock. So fun!

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favorite things from this summer is meeting new friends from all different countries. It has been such a blessing to build relationships with girls from Taiwan, Mongolia and China and hear about their lives, culture and beliefs. We’ve gotten to give away a ton of Bibles in both English and Mandarin Chinese. I have learned a lot from my Asian friends this summer. Their sweet, unconditional acceptance and love of people around them is astounding. Last night they held an instant noodle party for us. It was an absolute blast. They are so incredibly precious. I will miss them all very much but am very excited that I now have friends on the other side of the world.

I will update again once I get home. Adios til then!

So, it has been far too long since I’ve updated this, sorry about that! But, life on project...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:38:29 -0500

So, it has been far too long since I’ve updated this, sorry about that! But, life on project has been good! The past few weeks have been really great. Been learning a ton about community and finding identity in Christ. This summer has been a little bit of a struggle thus far, but it has been good and I know that God is teaching and growing me so much through being humbled. I am excited to continue to see how God will continue to grow me.

This picture is most of my team at work! It has been so great to work with them! Gus(in the blue) is my team leader. He is an amazing encouragement and so helpful at work. Gwenn is from Singapore and it has been amazing to get to know her. Luis is from the Dominican Republic.

One thing that has been so amazing is interactions with the internationals that are here. God is growing my heart towards them in major ways. They have such sweet spirits and are so open to friendships and talking. It is so amazing to meet people with no preconceived notions of social constructs. Its been so cool to see God at work in the hearts of coworkers from all around the world. There are so many nations represented in our housekeeping staff alone.

On a less important note, hammocks have been a craze here on project. I ordered one and it came in the mail a week ago and more and more people have been getting them. 3/4 of the project now have them. It is amazing to be able to go swing next to a river with friends!

Prayer requests:

-That God would continue to reveal things to me and grow me

-For all those here that are seeking. That God would be making himself known to them more and more

-For continued growth in our community and building eachother up in Christ

Thanks! Hope to update more soon!

Its been a busy week here with the yellow stones. So, I’ll discuss a couple hilights. 1....

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 11:09:15 -0500

Its been a busy week here with the yellow stones. So, I’ll discuss a couple hilights.

1. Community here on the project has been growing and we’ve been working on the obstacles to that community .We are now having mens and womens times every week in order to come together and help eachother grow.

2. On Wednesday night at our weekly bonfire a girl from our dorm named Gabby that we have been talking/hanging out with a lot accepted Christ! SO EXCITING and so cool to see the instant change in her. So amazing to see how God has been pursuing her this summer and drawing her closer to him through answered prayer.

3. Yesterday our friend Eric accepted Christ. Equally amazing! God has really been drawing Eric to himself and placed him in the midst of a bunch of Christians this summer and its been cool to see him gradually move towards that decisions. I am beyond thrilled for the both of them and excited to see who else will come to know God this summer.

4. Last week I got to go on an overnight trip to the Grand Tetons. We slept under the most amazing and vivid stars I have ever seen and hiked in a beautiful canyon. So humbling to sit under a massive mountain and read this passage.

“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.

²⁷Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:25-28

5. As crazy as it seems, the staff leave in a week! I cannot believe that its already almost half way through the summer. Time is absolutely flying. It is exciting to see how we can take ownership of the project though! Time is short though so I must go. God is good!

Hello to anyone who’s reading this! Sorry it has taken me going...

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:21:00 -0500

All of the group except Shannon

Snow in Bozeman

Morning Glory Pool

Imperial Geyser with Kaytlin

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Mystic Falls

Hello to anyone who’s reading this! Sorry it has taken me going on 3 weeks to give an update. Its been busy! Spent the first 4 days of project in Bozeman, MT at mountain top retreat center receiving training, bonding as a team and preparing ourselves to go into the park. Bozeman is a beautiful area and it was a great time to get to know those that I’m spending my summer with. There are 12 male and 12 female students on the project and 4 staff couples. Most of the days we were there looked something like this. So much for “summer” project. On the 30th we headed into Yellowstone for the first time. Our location for the summer is the Old Faithful area. We are working for the company Xanterra as room attendants at various lodges. Aka, we’re making beds and cleaning toilets:) I really don’t mind it. It is fast paced and you get to talk to and get to know a lot of different people. I work in the Old Faithful Inn. Based on where you work, we live in two separate dorms. Each has 6 guys and 6 girls from project in it. These, along with our jobs, are our primary ministry locations. This is an amazing place to do relational evangelism. There is an underlying community among the employees and people are very open and social. Almost every time you eat in the EDR (employee dining room) you have the chance to meet someone new. It is also awesome because while we are in a national park and its amazing, people often run out of things to do and are open to come to different activities. It has been amazing to see God orchestrating different relationships since being here. It is obvious that He has been preparing certain people we’ve come across. Its been cool to get to know and love some of the people I work with or that live in my dorm. Gotten to have some really good conversations about faith and life with people. I am really excited to see how God is going to continue to work for the rest of the summer. This is a great and unique environment to reach out and I know He has big things in store. Amongst the project we’ve been put into separate ministry teams. The ministry team that I am on is life group leaders. Essentially, a life group is a seeker/outreach focused small group that we have in our dorm every week. It is meant to be an open and safe place where people can come and talk about life and spiritual things. My friend Josh and I facilitate a life group on Wednesday nights in our dorm (Laurel). Every week after life group, we meet up with a life group from the other dorm(Columbine) for a bonfire. We had our first one last night and it has been one of my favorite things thus far. At the bonfire, we had two different people share their story of their life/how they came to know Christ. It is a really cool and relaxed social environment. Lots of people show up because who doesn’t love a bonfire? Got to meet a lot of new people and have some good spiritual conversations with people. At one point I stopped and looked around and could hear at least 5 or 6 conversations going on about faith and God and what people believe. Really awesome to see God at work in so many conversations and peoples’ lives. Every once in a while it hits me just how blessed I am to get to spend my summer in a national park. It is absolutely beautiful here and Yellowstone is a very fascinating place. The thermal features of the park are unlike anything I’ve seen before. Since being here I’ve gotten to hike quite a bit. The park is huge and I am eager to get to explore even more! I must go for now, but hoping to be able to keep this updated more throughout the summer!

This message is not from Yellowstone. But soon enough! I finished classes two weeks ago and have...

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:21:29 -0500

This message is not from Yellowstone. But soon enough! I finished classes two weeks ago and have enjoyed working on things and catching up with people. 9 days from now I will be on an airplane flying westward, and I cannot wait. I am anxious to start my summer out west and see what God has in store. I’m not sure what internet access will be like in the park so I may or may not be able to update as much as I would like. We shall see!

This week at Eastern Illinois we are doing something that is...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:15:00 -0500

This week at Eastern Illinois we are doing something that is called BEFORE & AFTER. Essentially, it is a campaign to get into spiritual conversations with people about our personal stories of our relationship with Jesus. Each person has personalized words. One word describes them before knowing Christ and one describes after knowing Christ. Want to see my video of my story as well as others? Check it out!

The Beje

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:25:00 -0500

Tonight I finished the book The Hiding Place. I was drawn to this book by interest in both the Holocaust and historical biography. I went into it seeking entertainment and came out with deep conviction and a beautiful picture of God’s goodness. One of my favorite parts of this book is Betsie Ten Boom. I believe she is a brilliant representation of God’s design for women.

She is…

faithful
merciful
selfless
giving
honest
inspiring
nurturing
hospitable
forgiving
impartial
creative
comforting
sees good in all
makes everything beautiful
brings peace to those around her
grounded in scripture
lives a life devoted to prayer
fearlessly proclaims the Gospel in all situations
etc….

This was definitely convicting for me and is something to aspire to.

Every year, thousands of college students flock to Panama City Beach, Florida to party away their...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:57:37 -0500

Every year, thousands of college students flock to Panama City Beach, Florida to party away their spring break. Last week, 1,200 Christian college students joined them on the beach, attending a conference through Cru called Big Break. I was fortunate to be one of those students. At the conference, we were trained in evangelism and spent our afternoons walking the beaches, initiating spiritual conversations with people. It was so awesome to see peoples willingness to talk and their spiritual hunger in such a dark place. Its so cool to see how through initiating conversation with a stranger God can use you in the life of a searching agnostic, a devoted/new/discouraged Christian, a die hard atheist, someone who just needed to talk, etc. Such an awesome and humbling experience.

Through Big Break week 2 we had:

5,830 Spiritual conversations

2,340 Gospel presentations

413 Spirit filled life presentations

187 New brothers and sisters in Christ

Praise God.

Excited to say that… I will be spending this summer at Yellowstone on summer project with...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:43:00 -0600

Excited to say that… I will be spending this summer at Yellowstone on summer project with Cru. Excited to see what God has in store!

Learning to follow Him above all else and trust that He has the best plan!

Call For Action

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:04:00 -0600

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded”.

James 4:7-8

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who...

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:41:02 -0600

²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:23-25

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one...

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:27:01 -0600

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

This picture just seemed fitting. Project is over. I’m leaping out into the rest...

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:28:00 -0500

This picture just seemed fitting. Project is over. I’m leaping out into the rest of my life. And I’m doing in with a smile on my face. :) Yahoooo!

What an absolutely fabulous summer. The last week of project was really great. I was done working so I was able to relax a little, hang out with people and spend some time processing the summer. On Thursday the directors and two other staff people came back to project. Seeing them was really awesome and weird all at the same time. It was good to debrief with them and process what to expect after project. On Friday the student leaders and the directors went to lunch together. It was really nice to catch up and just talk about how the 2^nd four weeks of project went. The last 24 hours of project were probably some of my favorite of the entire summer. I was with people constantly. Millions of hugs and encouragements. We had our end of the summer banquet, which was a blast. We did these things called cardboard ‘projectimonies’. On one side you put something that was true about you at the start of summer and on the other side something that is true of you now. It was SO awesome to see how God has worked in amazing ways in peoples lives. Friday night, a group of us decided to stay up the entire night. Best decision ever. It was a blast to spend the last few hours with people encouraging, being silly and enjoying eachother for the last time. We went to the beach to watch the sunrise, which was absolutely beautiful. Goodbyes were hard but sweet as well. Many tears were shed. I adore the people that I got to spend this summer with. It was such a blessing to learn with/from them.

This summer, God taught me so much. Seriously. It is so exciting.

One of the biggest things that I took away from this summer is surrender and depending on the Lord and His power and what HE wants in my life. Something that I wrote in my journal endless times this summer is “Let go. Let God. Go.” I’ve seen this phrase a lot before. It usually is just “Let Go. Let God”, though. There is importance in taking action though. But yeah, it has just been a helpful thing to tell myself. Give up control of what you’re doing. Refocus yourself to what God wants to happen. Realize its only through His power. And then go do what He wants you do to. This has made such a big impact on my way of thinking.

Similarly to that, another thing that I learned a lot about this summer is walking with the Lord intimately. And this translated into 3 things. 1. Spending time in the Word daily. I’ve never realized how important and crucial this is until this summer. 2. Walking in the Spirit. Again, another thing that I never really knew too much about or what it looked like, but I feel as if there is this external source of peace and strength that was always there but I had never tapped into it. 3. Prayer. This goes along with walking in the Spirit but yeah again, never really saw just how important prayer was until this summer.

There are about four million things I could talk about those are definitely a few big take aways from this summer. I am beyond excited to see how these things manifest themselves in my life.

Thank you to anyone who’s been reading my blog. I am happy to be able to share my summer with you! I hope to continue blogging about the effect this summer made on my life so check back for more.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Post project blog soon to come:)

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:28:32 -0500

Post project blog soon to come:)

Ah! It has been so long since I’ve updated. For that I apologize. Life has been crazy busy...

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:13:44 -0500

Ah! It has been so long since I’ve updated. For that I apologize. Life has been crazy busy around here. I’ve been working a lot. Had a lot of meetings. Had a lot of events and stuff going on. Its been good though. Since I can’t think back two weeks, I’ll just update a little on the past week.

This past few weeks have been a good heart check. Lifes been a little hectic. People have been a little on edge. I think that has been a really good thing though. It is real life. Its been good to look at the way I respond to situations and see how I would naturally react to them and then readjust myself to respond how I should.

Last Saturday we had a picnic for our coworkers and friends that we’ve met around Traverse. It was awesome. A lot of people showed up and it was good to get to hang out with people outside of an environment that we normally would.

Last Sunday our entire group took the day and went to Mackinaw Island. It was a really fun day. We rode the ferry over and biked around the island and shopped fudge and hung out all day. It was a great day of good community.

Monday was a really encouraging day. I got to speak at our weekly meeting. The theme for the week is “transformed by His example” so I hit on Jesus example for us in temptation, faith/feelings and prayer. My prayer and desire for the whole thing was that God would just use me to encourage people and draw them closer to Him. I know that I’m not a great public speaker, but I also that God can do what He wants. So it was even just an awesome experience for me to let God have control of that whole thing and trust Him with it. I think people were encouraged and I can’t take any credit for that. After our meetings on Mondays we have extended time with the Lord. It was just a great time of fellowship with the Lord. After extended time the four other leaders and I were able to get together to meet. We got to spend a substantial amount of time checking up on eachother, encouraging eachother and most importantly praying for eachother and project as a whole. Super refreshing.

Tuesday to Wednesday Ruth and John(sister and bro in law) visited Traverse. It was so awesome to see them and relax and hang out. I am blessed with some awesome family:)

Wednesday night we had a $5 prom. We all went to goodwill together and had $5 to pick out an outfit for our partner. Then we had a DANCE PARTY. The picture above is my action group in their lovely outfits. It was a blast to just dance and be silly and have fun.

Theres so much more I could expand on and say but I don’t have the time right now. I will update again soon though:) God is good!

The boys on project made a little music video for the girls:)

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:23:11 -0500

The boys on project made a little music video for the girls:)

One of my favorite activities this summer has been photo-bombing peoples pictures....

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:39:00 -0500

One of my favorite activities this summer has been photo-bombing peoples pictures. Essentially, you just try and get in the background of peoples photos. This one is some of my best work:)

La de dah, this summer is flying by. In three weeks, project will be over. In four weeks, I will be back in Charleston. Craziness. Life has been great around here. I’ve been working more hours, but I don’t mind. I love my job. Since the staff left, we were given peer disciplers. I’ve been meeting with the lovely Liz Stickel(who actually goes to U of I) to talk/go sharing. Its so awesome to be able to sit down and have real discussion about life and God and how we’re doing. Very encouraging.

This weekend has been a really fun/good one. Friday night three other people and I got to go to a Traverse City Beach Bums(baseball) game for free. Yesterday we had outreach. We were split up into ten groups of four. Each team was given a different amount of money. The lowest was $5 and the highest was $45 and we were supposed to go out and try to start conversations with people using that money. My group was given $10. Our original idea was to go to a laundry mat and try to pay for/do someones laundry for them and talk to them but we couldn’t really find anyone at the laundry mat. So we decided to go downtown and see if we could find a certain homeless man we’ve had some contact with and take him to dinner. However we couldn’t find him. At this point, it was hot, we were kind of down because all our plans were falling through. We stopped to pray and ask again for God to lead us where He wanted us to go. We decided to google where some other laundry mats were and try that out again. We found one online and started driving to it. Well, we drove to where it was supposed to be and there was definitely no laundry mat. There was, however, a car wash going on at the exact place where the laundry mat was supposed to be. So we decided to stop there and see if we could get a car was and talk to some people. So we got a car wash and were able to talk with the people there for a while. Turns out, they were a new burlesque dance group that was trying to start(the car wash was a fundraiser). Which, if you don’t know what burlesque is, its essentially stripping. When I found that out, I was mildly discouraged. We used our outreach money to fund a car wash for an exotic dance group. As the conversations went on though, we were able to share that we were a Christian group here for the summer. Which I think was cool because we were saying we were Christians and we were still there talking to them and not judging them. The second cool thing is that we found out one of the girls actually works with our friend Jane who is on project with us. So who knows. It definitely wasn’t what we had in mind for our saturday of outreach but God obviously led us there for a reason and we’re hoping that Jane is able to make some connections with the girl. I love when God is ironic.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

The past few days I’ve thinking a lot about the fruit of the Spirit. I’ve been thinking about the fact that it is the FRUIT, or result of the Spirit. They aren’t just good qualities that we are supposed to work on in our life. They come as a result of walking in the Spirit and leading a Spirit filled life. This was brought to my attention because the other day I noticed that this summer I have grown in a lot of these areas. But I also noticed that this growth wasn’t a conscious thing. It is a natural overflow of God working in my life. So cool.

Another thing that I’ve thought has been really cool this summer is just learning to love and get along with people that I wouldn’t usually. Its awesome to me that, through Christ, we have the ability to love people we normally wouldn’t/couldn’t. I’ve learned a lot about not assuming things about people too. I tend to like to put people in boxes and assume they are a “certain way”. Its has been really freeing. I’ve built close relationships with people that initially I didn’t even think I’d really be friends with.

Anywho, thats just a little glimpse into whats been going on with me. <3

Quicksies update.The reality that the staff are actually gone is finally setting in. Saturday we...

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 22:22:00 -0500

Quicksies update.The reality that the staff are actually gone is finally setting in. Saturday we had our first outreach without the staff. Last night we had our first weekly meeting without the staff. Tonight we had our first action group without the staff. Its been weird to adjust, but its also been really good. Its cool to get to own our project for the last four weeks. I’m really excited:)

In other news, Cherry Festival is over. I am not sad to see it go. The weather has been splendid. Sleep is always in low supply. FOMO is running rampant. Everyone now lives on the first floor of the dorm. Its a lot of fun. I miss my family:) God is SO good. More later!

²⁸ Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Among others(obviously), I love the people in this picture. A lot. It has been so much fun to...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:29:00 -0500

Among others(obviously), I love the people in this picture. A lot. It has been so much fun to meet new people this summer and see how God works in everyones lives in different but awesome ways. It has been so sweet to see the community that has grown here. I love learning and growing with/from these people.

It has happened, the staff have actually left. Crazy! They headed out this morning. Really sad to see them go but also really excited to see how the next 4 weeks will pan out. Last night we had our mid-project banquet. We had dinner, some dancing, a slideshow, encouragement time, sending off of the staff, the new leadership team cast a little vision for the second 4 weeks of the summer and then we spent some time in prayer. The verse that we chose for the rest of the summer is Psalm 127:1. It says “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” I really love this verse. It gives us an awesome picture of the fact that unless God is behind our work and efforts, the labor is in vain. Pray that God would be “building the house” for the rest of the summer and that all our efforts and desires would be His.

This week is Cherry Festival here in Traverse City. Phew it has been crazy. There are masses of people in town. Im excited for them to leave:) The traffic is crazy, theres never anywhere to park and being an employee of a downtown store has been hectic. So much business! Speaking of which, work has been super good lately. I’m really loving it. I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of things and building relationships there.

Tonight I was reading in the end of Psalms and I just love Psalm 146-150. These 5 Psalms are filled with praises to God and reasons he is worthy of praise. They just seemed to express everything I felt tonight.

Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, Praise the Lord. How pleasant and fitting to praise Him! Psalm 147:1