I've had several friends lately share with me some serious struggles they are going through. Most of them surround things like job decisions or illness and health anxieties, either for themselves or a close friend of family member.
I never mind these conversations because I consider it a privilege that they would even confide in me and ask me for prayer and support. However, after the conversations, I usually can't help but to mull over their words in my head like laundry in a dryer. It takes a while for the clothes to dry, so they just stay in there tumbling and tumbling.
One thing that has really brought me comfort is the book of Lamentations in the Bible. It's written mostly likely by the prophet Jeremiah as he laments over the desolations brought on Jerusalem and the Holy Land by the Chaldeans.
How often in our lives are we mourning also, about the desolations brought unto us or the people we love. This is why I feel like I can relate so much to Jeremiah's cries to the Lord.
Here are some verses from Lamenations chapter three that I've been thinking about this week:
55 I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief."
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, "Do not fear."
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Moved
Well Jamie and I are all moved now to our wonderful townhouse that is officially OTP but just by a smidge. Everything seemed to go without a hitch and we were very humbled by all of the friends and family that came to help us. I am sure that I am permenantly committing myself to helping move and paint and do whatever else other housework I can for all these people who have been so gracious to help me. But that is ok because I am so grateful!
It's been interesting getting used to living in a new area, even though it's only about 5 miles from where I live now. Because of it's location basically we end up taking the highway to go everywhere. We rarely use side streets. So going places always seems like a major adventure.
It's also interesting sleeping in a new place. Fortunately the community where I live is pretty quiet except for the ducks, which never seem to lack in reasons to make a huge ruckus. It's ok though. I'd rather it be ducks making a ruckus then loud rap or crazy international music, which is what we heard all the time when I lived in my apt.
We really miss our other roommates but all in all the new place has been pretty awesome. Give us a few more days to hide the boxes and you can come over and see it all set up!!
Our home will be officially completed with the arrival of Soxie the cat in the next couple of weeks. We had a visitation with her a few weeks ago with her current family and it went well. So hopefully she will like her new family! She will LOVE to look at the ducks through the window I am sure!
It's been interesting getting used to living in a new area, even though it's only about 5 miles from where I live now. Because of it's location basically we end up taking the highway to go everywhere. We rarely use side streets. So going places always seems like a major adventure.
It's also interesting sleeping in a new place. Fortunately the community where I live is pretty quiet except for the ducks, which never seem to lack in reasons to make a huge ruckus. It's ok though. I'd rather it be ducks making a ruckus then loud rap or crazy international music, which is what we heard all the time when I lived in my apt.
We really miss our other roommates but all in all the new place has been pretty awesome. Give us a few more days to hide the boxes and you can come over and see it all set up!!
Our home will be officially completed with the arrival of Soxie the cat in the next couple of weeks. We had a visitation with her a few weeks ago with her current family and it went well. So hopefully she will like her new family! She will LOVE to look at the ducks through the window I am sure!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Calling
I just got done reading one of the best articles I've ever read on "calling" which is a broader term for vocation or life purpose.
It was such an encouraging article to read at this time in my life which seems to be full of transitions and mixed expectations.
Here is an excerpt of the article just to wet your appetites, and if you're ready to read the rest you can click here:
When we look at our days through the lens of calling, life is infused with meaning, since there is no part that sits outside of life in Christ. And because new aspects of our callings continue to unfold with age, we can live expectantly. We can know that retirement from a certain job or even the devastating death of a loved one does not mean the end of meaning and purpose in life. It may feel like it, but God is faithful to take a yielded life and guide us into new seasons, surprising us with what’s around the corner. For me, a published writing life began to emerge as the significant work of child-rearing was ending. I grieved the passage into empty nest, but not for long. New callings and challenges came into view.
Callings are not always crystal clear. It takes reflection and assessment to figure them out. Since the path before us is uniquely ours, we must pay attention to what God is showing us through our relationships, inclinations, natural and spiritual gifts, and life circumstances. It’s liberating to consider the things we love to do—and will always do in some capacity—because they are integral to the way God designed us.
It was such an encouraging article to read at this time in my life which seems to be full of transitions and mixed expectations.
Here is an excerpt of the article just to wet your appetites, and if you're ready to read the rest you can click here:
When we look at our days through the lens of calling, life is infused with meaning, since there is no part that sits outside of life in Christ. And because new aspects of our callings continue to unfold with age, we can live expectantly. We can know that retirement from a certain job or even the devastating death of a loved one does not mean the end of meaning and purpose in life. It may feel like it, but God is faithful to take a yielded life and guide us into new seasons, surprising us with what’s around the corner. For me, a published writing life began to emerge as the significant work of child-rearing was ending. I grieved the passage into empty nest, but not for long. New callings and challenges came into view.
Callings are not always crystal clear. It takes reflection and assessment to figure them out. Since the path before us is uniquely ours, we must pay attention to what God is showing us through our relationships, inclinations, natural and spiritual gifts, and life circumstances. It’s liberating to consider the things we love to do—and will always do in some capacity—because they are integral to the way God designed us.
You know you look smaller when..
The international lady who works at the Chick-fil-a that you've been going to for five years, comments, on your way out of the drive-thru: "You look good. Have you lost pounds?"
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Third bumper sticker incident
I believe I had my third encounter with a stranger expressing their opinion to me in public about my bumper stickers.
On Monday morning I was driving to class with coffee in hand; sitting at a left turn signal to turn onto I-85 South. In my lane cars can either turn and merge left to get on the highway, or they can merge right and go straight to get onto an access road.
The arrow at the traffic light turned green so I turned the car left and began trying to merge over. While I was doing this I heard a honk but didn't think much of it until I had completed the merging process and heard more honking from a car that had pulled alongside of me. Unconsciously I looked over to see what the honking was about and was amazed to see a woman staring angrily at me with her middle finger up and shaking towards me.
Okay, so I am now on the highway, driving and analyzing my every move through the left turn and merging process, trying to gauge if I had somehow impeded on this woman's driving ability. It then suddenly dawned on me..MY BUMPER STICKERS. I immediately regretted not being able to follow her and try to talk to her about it.
A few miles later I noticed that the SUV in front of me had a Green Bay Packers bumper sticker. This was my ultimate chance to "pay it forward" if you will. But alas, I decided that the middle finger reaction is not too orginial and that's not really my style.
Hopefully the woman I encountered spent some time thinking about what she saw and that the Packers fan will not be too disappointed when Favre doesn't retire and continues to bring the Pack down in the 2006-7 NFL season. Go Vikes!!
On Monday morning I was driving to class with coffee in hand; sitting at a left turn signal to turn onto I-85 South. In my lane cars can either turn and merge left to get on the highway, or they can merge right and go straight to get onto an access road.
The arrow at the traffic light turned green so I turned the car left and began trying to merge over. While I was doing this I heard a honk but didn't think much of it until I had completed the merging process and heard more honking from a car that had pulled alongside of me. Unconsciously I looked over to see what the honking was about and was amazed to see a woman staring angrily at me with her middle finger up and shaking towards me.
Okay, so I am now on the highway, driving and analyzing my every move through the left turn and merging process, trying to gauge if I had somehow impeded on this woman's driving ability. It then suddenly dawned on me..MY BUMPER STICKERS. I immediately regretted not being able to follow her and try to talk to her about it.
A few miles later I noticed that the SUV in front of me had a Green Bay Packers bumper sticker. This was my ultimate chance to "pay it forward" if you will. But alas, I decided that the middle finger reaction is not too orginial and that's not really my style.
Hopefully the woman I encountered spent some time thinking about what she saw and that the Packers fan will not be too disappointed when Favre doesn't retire and continues to bring the Pack down in the 2006-7 NFL season. Go Vikes!!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Gifts
I've been thinking a lot lately on Matthew 7:11 that talks about God giving "good gifts to those who ask for them".
I think whenever life gets stressful and painful, it's much harder to see the gifts he gives.
You are so desperate for gifts that the asking is even more fervent.
And the gifts do come.
God has been so good to me, even though the past couple of months have many times been overwhelming or stressful. So I've been brainstorming the gifts I've been given lately, including some that I never asked for:
-the rose bush and beautiful purple flowers that grow outside of my new house
-my car has been running smoothly
-for Jamie as a running partner, because she always pushes me to go WAY farther then I could ever go by myself.
-for the ability to run at all and the discipline to keep eating right.
-to have been able to talk on speaker phone with my brother and dad last week.
-the details surrounding my Kenya trip this summer becoming clearer and helping to calm my fears.
-all my friends who are helping me switch out and clean off paint from my wall outlets this weekend.
-for hearing two very encouraging John Piper sermons about Palm Sunday and mercy ministry over the podcast.
-for a fun party last weekend as we said goodbye to four years in Graceland, our old house.
-for my friend Alison from my school who told me about Mercer University's library that's open on the weekends and at night that I can use since my school's library is only open when I'm at work. And Mercer is like 5 min from my house. YES!!
-for friends and family who love me and care about me and pray for me.
-many reminders this week that God gives me enough grace to make it through each day and I should not analyze so much about what could happen.
-text messages
-for friends who while they are in NYC they take a picture of a big truck that said "Nebraskaland" on the side and sent it to me on my phone which made me smile BIG.
I think whenever life gets stressful and painful, it's much harder to see the gifts he gives.
You are so desperate for gifts that the asking is even more fervent.
And the gifts do come.
God has been so good to me, even though the past couple of months have many times been overwhelming or stressful. So I've been brainstorming the gifts I've been given lately, including some that I never asked for:
-the rose bush and beautiful purple flowers that grow outside of my new house
-my car has been running smoothly
-for Jamie as a running partner, because she always pushes me to go WAY farther then I could ever go by myself.
-for the ability to run at all and the discipline to keep eating right.
-to have been able to talk on speaker phone with my brother and dad last week.
-the details surrounding my Kenya trip this summer becoming clearer and helping to calm my fears.
-all my friends who are helping me switch out and clean off paint from my wall outlets this weekend.
-for hearing two very encouraging John Piper sermons about Palm Sunday and mercy ministry over the podcast.
-for a fun party last weekend as we said goodbye to four years in Graceland, our old house.
-for my friend Alison from my school who told me about Mercer University's library that's open on the weekends and at night that I can use since my school's library is only open when I'm at work. And Mercer is like 5 min from my house. YES!!
-for friends and family who love me and care about me and pray for me.
-many reminders this week that God gives me enough grace to make it through each day and I should not analyze so much about what could happen.
-text messages
-for friends who while they are in NYC they take a picture of a big truck that said "Nebraskaland" on the side and sent it to me on my phone which made me smile BIG.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Prayer requests for this summer
One of the girls on my team emailed all of us to ask if we had any prayer request so she could be praying for us in preparation for Kenya. I had A LOT of requests but I guess that's not a bad thing. Then I thought, why not put 'em on the blog? Please pray for these things when you think of them. At the bottom I'll also put the names of the team members so you can pray for them by name:
For us:
-that Opal and the Makuku's can find us a good guest house to live in for the whole time we're there (they have an ideal place in mind- hopefully we can get it!)
-to guard against gossip, both our team and the Kenyans.
-that we would connect and relate well to each other and the Kenyans.
-that we would see the people we meet and their lives through God's eyes and not our own.
-that we would serve Imbumi and Martha Makuku and the other church leaders out of humility and grace.
-for discernment in how to relate to the culture.
-for safety, health, and humble attitudes when we need to change our normal American routines in order to stay safe and healthy.
For me:
-discernment and wisdom as to how to lead such great folks
-discernment and wisdom as to how to relate well to the Makuku's and Kenyans.
-for my preparations to move into a new house in a couple of weeks and to finish up this semester's school (I'm in part-time graduate school for counseling).
-that I can train my coworkers well to do my job while I'm gone.
-that my coworkers will know how to help my other missionaries while I'm gone.
The team members:
Jennifer
Steven
Leslee
Lesley
Jessie
Amanda
Rachel
Carly
me
For us:
-that Opal and the Makuku's can find us a good guest house to live in for the whole time we're there (they have an ideal place in mind- hopefully we can get it!)
-to guard against gossip, both our team and the Kenyans.
-that we would connect and relate well to each other and the Kenyans.
-that we would see the people we meet and their lives through God's eyes and not our own.
-that we would serve Imbumi and Martha Makuku and the other church leaders out of humility and grace.
-for discernment in how to relate to the culture.
-for safety, health, and humble attitudes when we need to change our normal American routines in order to stay safe and healthy.
For me:
-discernment and wisdom as to how to lead such great folks
-discernment and wisdom as to how to relate well to the Makuku's and Kenyans.
-for my preparations to move into a new house in a couple of weeks and to finish up this semester's school (I'm in part-time graduate school for counseling).
-that I can train my coworkers well to do my job while I'm gone.
-that my coworkers will know how to help my other missionaries while I'm gone.
The team members:
Jennifer
Steven
Leslee
Lesley
Jessie
Amanda
Rachel
Carly
me
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Reflections on being an "ENFP"
I don't know how many of you have ever taken the Myers-Briggs personality profile, but if you haven't it's definitely an insightful tool. My department had to take it at work a couple of years ago in order to better understand our personalities and how they fit together as a team. My profile was an ENFP, which stands for "extrovert, intuitive, feeling, perceiving." Without the explanations from the book the terms seem kind of weird, but that's what they stand for.
I have found that the counseling classes I'm taking are helping me to become much more self-aware. So occasionally I find myself thinking more about how I respond to people around me and what my natural personality is. Your personality is supposed to be like the hand that you prefer to write with. If you're right-handed, you can write with your left-hand but you prefer to write with your right. It comes naturally.
Yesterday morning we had a follow-up class with Dr. Benner and his wife who lead the class/retreat last weekend. One thing that I've been learning a lot lately is that being an extrovert doesn't necessarily mean that it would be weird for me to like spending time in silence and that being a feeler doesn't mean that I'm not reflective. But I do get energy from being around people (extrovert) and I do make decisions more often based on a gut feeling then a logical conclusion (feeler). I hope that I can also enjoy being with God like I enjoy being with people and that I can be just as reflective about the times I'm spending with Him like I am when I'm listening to others.
It's satisfying when I can embrace who God has made me to be.
I have found that the counseling classes I'm taking are helping me to become much more self-aware. So occasionally I find myself thinking more about how I respond to people around me and what my natural personality is. Your personality is supposed to be like the hand that you prefer to write with. If you're right-handed, you can write with your left-hand but you prefer to write with your right. It comes naturally.
Yesterday morning we had a follow-up class with Dr. Benner and his wife who lead the class/retreat last weekend. One thing that I've been learning a lot lately is that being an extrovert doesn't necessarily mean that it would be weird for me to like spending time in silence and that being a feeler doesn't mean that I'm not reflective. But I do get energy from being around people (extrovert) and I do make decisions more often based on a gut feeling then a logical conclusion (feeler). I hope that I can also enjoy being with God like I enjoy being with people and that I can be just as reflective about the times I'm spending with Him like I am when I'm listening to others.
It's satisfying when I can embrace who God has made me to be.
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