When everything feels futile

I'm sitting in my room trying to figure out what I should be doing. I know there are a lot of things that I could do, but I don't really want to. I could start studying for my next exams... Nah!

So, what do I do when I have nothing else to do? I read blogs of course!

I love going through the old blogs that people write, especially people that I don't know. I follow the blogs of some really incredible women and one of my absolute favorites is about a family that lives in Haiti right now. Check it out here, its great!

Anyway, I was just reading some of her old posts, and I came across this paragraph and seriously got chill bumps! 

 "And then I remembered Jenn and Justus...and how God is God all the time and Justus can't talk, and has to use sign language and there was Jenn, a stay at home mom, with a degree in deaf education, not using it, until Justus came along. Talk about God ordaining every single day of our lives? I'm sure Jenn had no idea she was sitting at Baylor learning to say things with her long pretty fingers because one day her son would desperately need those hands. But God knew. He always knows."

Sometimes I wonder what I am doing here. 

Make that a lot of times I wonder what I am doing here. 

Sometimes my classes seem completely futile. What am I learning that is actually going to help me in life? 

Sitting in Geology class wondering when I will ever need to know these things. Or in my North American landscapes class thinking, yah this is good and interesting, but I'm going to be teaching in India. I doubt that I'll be teaching them all about the different regions of the United States. 

Even as I look forward to my education classes, I wonder if they will end up frustrating me too sometimes. 

We had a meeting with one of the professors a few days ago and she was telling us about what we will be learning. And some of it sounds so exciting! 

We are going to be doing a lot of work with ESL kids and learning how to teach ESL kids, which excites me because I need to learn how to teach English. I'm sure that it is going to be taught with the assumption that we will be teaching Spanish-speaking kids English, but that is ok! 

But than there are other things that I just don't see how they will transfer over. Like a class specifically about using technology in the classroom. Technology is great, but I doubt that my classroom will have a SmartBoard in it. If we did get the money to buy a smartboard, I wouldn't want it. Do you know how long we could feed a kid with the money that it would cost for a smartboard? 

But God is God. 

God knows the things that I am learning now and He knows how He is going to use it one day. He knows exactly the things that I will need that I can't even imagine. 

He put me at a school where I could be learning Hindi instead of Spanish. Gave me the opportunity to take an entire class focused on South Asia and their history and current events. So that I could learn things like the states in India, because that is what I will be teaching my kids. 

So who knows what God has in store for me. I don't, but He does. Maybe He is going to send a child in India to me who is fascinated with the earth and I will be able to teach him some of the things that I learned in Geol 101. Who know! 

So if you're like me and sit in class wondering how this is ever going to be relevant to your life. Maybe you're forcing facts into your head right now, cramming for exams and just can't think of a good enough reason to motivate you to keep on going, God has a reason for you to be learning what you are right now. He is going to use it. 

And so I will study. I will try to study without complaining. I will learn the things that are available here for me to learn and I will try to be diligent about my work. Because what I'm learning might feel pointless, it might seem like I will never in my life use it, but God may have other plans.

Absolutely amazed!!!

I want to share some really exciting news with you all!!

I am absolutely astounded and blown away by the way that God has provided for my trip this summer and the way that all of you have responded with such amazing generosity.

When I started this journey earlier in the semester, I knew that I wanted to sacrifice to make this trip possible. I knew that God would provide the means for me to go, but I also know that He works through us and felt like before I could ask any of you to sacrifice so that I could go, I needed to be sacrificing myself.

So I cut back and started babysitting like crazy! I am so thankful for all of you who had me babysit over the past few months and who gave my name out to other people. It was great to be able to share my heart for India with people and see other people become excited for me.

I also was able to save a lot of money!

Then, I received a very sizable tax rebate. I'm not entirely sure how that happened, but Obama gave mem $1000 that all went to my trip! Thanks, Obama! I'm sure sending me to India was exactly what you had in mind!

Then I began selling scarves and again, people were so generous to buy from me. It was really great to be able to get my friends involved in supporting my trip and to get a chance to share even more with them about what I will be doing. (I still have a few left, by the way...)

Finally, I sent out support letters to a lot of people from the church and my parent's friends and have been excitedly watching the last bit of money that I need come in.

All that is to say this-- as of yesterday, I have $500 more than I need for my trip!!!

And there are still letters waiting at my house that I haven't opened yet!

I am absolutely overwhelmed by all of your generosity and willingness to be involved in my journey!

Thank you for all your prayers and your support.

Because of your generosity, I am going to be able to give all the money that comes in from now on to the children at the orphanage.

The extra $500 that I already have and any more will be used to buy books for the kids and who knows what else!

We are going to be able to bless these children so much!

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who are supporting me and if you were thinking about sending money, please still do.  I would love to raise enough not only buy a whole bunch of books, but also to support one of the children or students for a year.

Thank you so much for buying into the vision that we have for India and being willing to be a part of the work going on there. I could not be doing any of this without your prayers and support.

I appreciate it so much!!

God is so great!

Love you all!!

Grace for Today

I thought exam week would be a good time to share something that I have been learning recently.

I stayed up until 4:00 in the morning last night working on 2 projects. If you know me, that should shock you. I do not stay up, but I had a lot to do and it all took much longer than I was expecting (I also don't focus very well and I procrastinate, but that is a different post).

I tell you that because I think that you can probably relate. This is a stressful time for us. Too much work and too few hours to do it all in, not too mention the stress of moving out of our dorms and getting ready for the summer.

Several of my friends are going on summer project with Cornerstone or doing the CityProject with Summit and they are rushing to get all the support in that they need. That adds more stress.

But its not just exam times that we get stressed. And if you aren't in college, exams obviously don't apply to you.

We are trying to figure out what we are going to do with our lives, where we will work after graduation.

A few weeks ago, I was freaking out about whether or not I would get in to the school of education.

I do my math homework, trying to explain how to divide fractions, and I start freaking out about how I'm ever supposed to be able to teach this stuff in Hindi.

A few weeks ago, JD started talking about parenting in one of his sermons, and I started freaking about how hard parenting will be.


I hope that you get the point that I am trying to make.

Stress and worry can consume us!

And not just about things that seem reasonable.

It seems reasonable to be stressed and worried over finals that start in two days.

It is NOT reasonable for me at 20 years old to be sitting in church wondering how I will ever raise my kids-- that's crazy.

But you know what? They are both wrong.

This is something that I have been learning with Veronica recently.

We don't think about worry being wrong, but it is.

Do you know why?

Because it shows a lack of trust in God.

When I worry about my exams, I'm saying that I don't trust God to provide the stamina that I need to study and do well.

When I worry about how I will manage to teach or be of any use in India, I am doubting the very thing that God has called me and doubting that He will use me despite myself.

I am standing in my own ability to get things done and using God as my back up plan, for when I begin to fail, then I can turn to Him.

That's not what God has taught us to do.

He has told us to cast all our fears and burdens on Him, because He cares for us-- 1 Peter 5:7

He has told us to rely fully on Him and not on our own abilities-- Proverbs 3:5

When Veronica and I were talking about this, she told me something that I want to share with you.

When Jesus was on earth, He said these words,"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

On first glance, (and second) that is not a very encouraging statement. I mean that's what I'm worried about, that I won't be able to handle what is coming tomorrow.

But Jesus is telling us not to worry, to not be consumed with thoughts about tomorrow, because God will care for us.

What Veronica showed me is that Jesus is not saying that we will have to face tomorrow on our own, but that when tomorrow comes, God will give us the grace for the things that need to be done that day.

Things coming tomorrow, or next month or 5 years from now seem so huge and un-doable, because we don't have the grace that we need to face them yet.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.'"
Lamentations 3:22-24

How many times have you freaked out about something and then when it came, you were wondering why you were so worried?

This happens to me all the time.

I'll be freaking out about a project or test for days and then when it comes time to take it, its not that bad and I usually do fine.

This isn't because I'm such a great studier and hard worker.

It's because God daily gives us the grace that we need for each day.

I don't know how to be a parent right now, God hasn't given that to me yet. But, if the time comes, I believe that He will so why stress about it now?

This is not to say that we shouldn't prepare for things. I'm not saying don't study for tests and instead believe that God will tell you the right answers, that's not what He said.

Obviously, we have to still study for our tests. I pray that when the time comes to go to India, God will give me the ability to do the things that He has called me to do. I also pray that if He wants me to be a wife and a mother, than He will teach me how and give me the grace to love my family.

He tells us not to worry.

Pray and prepare, but trust and don't worry. 

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matthew 6:25-33

Seek God first, and He will take care of the rest. 


Trust in the grace that He gives us every day. Grace for today.

He is Risen!!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. 

"When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened."
Luke 24: 1-12

Praise God that Jesus did not stay dead!! He conquered sin and death so that we could find freedom in Him. Thank Him for His power and love this morning.

Happy Easter!!

Now What??

We don't think very much about the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Its just Saturday.

It's when we do our Easter egg hunts and get all our food ready for the next day.

We remember Christ's sacrifice on Friday and celebrate His resurrection on Sunday, but we don't think much on Saturday. I know I don't.

Because we know.

We know that Jesus didn't stay dead. The story wasn't over.

He came alive again!

I've been thinking today what this day must have been like to the disciples 2000 years ago.

What were they thinking, sitting in Jerusalem, having just buried the man that they believed to be God?

He was supposed to be a conquerer and their savior, so how could he have died?

I wonder what they were thinking.

Did they remember all the things that Jesus had said, how he must die, but that he would be raised again?

Did they trust that Jesus was truly God and had the power to do anything?

Did they understand that Jesus had to pay the price for their/our sin? Did they understand that he was their perfect sacrifice?

Or were they afraid?

Did they worry that they were next?

Was Peter still weeping over reject for betraying Jesus in his time of need?

Did he wonder if he would ever be able to beg Jesus for forgiveness for his weakness?

I don't know what they were thinking, but I praise God that I don't have to worry. As hard and sad as it is to remember Jesus' death on Friday, I don't have to be scared and sad today. Because I know.

I know what's coming tomorrow.

I know that the grave did not stay sealed, that Jesus did not stay dead.

And I can sit here anticipating tomorrow morning, the day that we will all say, "Christ is risen, He is risen indeed."

It Is Finished

"And when the sixth hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi lema savachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah." And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
Matthew 15:35-39

Thank you, Jesus for the sacrifice that you gave on the cross so that I could have new life in you. Thank you for taking my rejection and my punishment so that I would never have to take it myself.


Today, remember Jesus' sacrifice for you.

This is a song by one of the worship leaders at Summit that I absolutely love and its a perfect reminder for today.

 

What are we missing?

This week, I've been listening to The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It's this month's free download at christianaudio.com, get it here.

If you have never heard of Corrie Ten Boom or don't really know anything about her, she lived during the Holocaust in Holland. She and her family hid Jews in their home so that they would not be arrested by the Nazis. I don't really know much beyond that, that is why I'm listening to the book.

Something struck me as I was listening yesterday.

It was at the beginning of the book, in 1936, World War II hadn't even started yet and Hitler was just starting to begin taking over other countries.

Corrie and her family were having a party with a lot of their friends, and the topic of Germany came up. She wondered what was going to happen, how far Hitler was going to go. Everyone assured her that whatever happened it would not affect them. Essentially they said, that's a problem for the big countries, not us, let them deal with it.

Then her brother shows up with a Jewish man who's beard had been burned off by a couple of German boys. After this happened the man had fled Germany and was hiding in Holland.

His beard was completely burnt off and the skin of his face was badly burned.

Still the people at the party refused to admit that something terrible was growing in Germany. They said that Germany is a civilized country and surely the police will do something to bring those boys to justice.

I heard this and I just thought "How blind were you?!?" How could they not see what was coming, what was happening right under their noses?

And then I thought-- what are we missing? What are we so used to that we don't even notice that it is wrong? What are we waiting and trusting in the government to take care of that we really should be doing ourselves?

Hitler invaded several small countries before he invaded Poland in 1939. Each time, England and the other major European countries would say, "Ok, but don't go any further. If you invade anything else, than we will stop you. We're warning you...."

And each time, he didn't listen. Looking back on it now we see how crazy that is. Clearly, he was a crazy dictator who wanted to control all of Europe. How did they not see that?

In the 1990s, we all looked on as thousands of innocent people were slaughtered in Rwanda. The genocide was deemed a civil war and by the time the UN stepped in to stop in, 800,000 people were dead.

The same things are happening today, but we care more about the prince of a COUNTRY THAT WE ARE NOT PART OF getting married then of young boys being kidnapped and forced to kill their own families and then fight someone else's war.

Why?

And believers, we are even worse!!

Why do we wait until the rest of the world notices something to get on board?

We should be the leaders in caring for the poor and the helpless. That's what Jesus did.

So why are we the last ones to get involved.

Why did Angelina Jolie adopt her kids before we began to notice the orphans in the world that need our love?

What are we expecting the government to do that we should be doing ourselves?

What if instead of arguing about health care and welfare reform, we actually got out there and got involved in people's lives and were a part of the solution instead of just bickering all day long?


I don't want my grandchildren to look back on my generation and think, "How could they not have seen _____? How could they have been so blind?"

Let's love our world like Jesus did. Let's strive to pour out our lives for others the way that Christ did.

Tell Hershey enough is enough!!

I have had a great response from the post that I wrote a few days ago!! So many people saying that they are going to stop supporting Hershey because child slavery is NOT OK!


I wanted to give you a link to sign a petition that the International Labor Rights Forum has written. Your e-mail will be sent to Hershey demanding that they stop supporting child slavery.

Please take a second and fill out the petition, it will take like 2 seconds!!

Here's the link-- http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1303 


Also, check out this post by Sharon Miller about why we as believers should care about ethical production and consider buying Fair Trade.  It's really great and she lays out a much better explanation than I ever could!

Why I will no long be eating Hershey chocolate

I hate it when my classes interfere with my real life-- seriously, it's a major pet peeve of mine.

So, of course, I'm going to share what I have found out and learned with you all, so that you can join in my frustration ;)

Seriously though, Did you know that there are more people in slavery today than there were when slavery was legal in the United States and Europe?

In school, we study and talk about the horrors of the old slave trade and the evils of the plantations that thrived on the forced labor of African slaves.

But how often do we talk about the slave trade that continues today?

When do we talk about the young girls kidnapped around the world and forced into prostitution or sold to rich businessmen to be their sex slaves?

Or how about the boys kidnapped and forced to do hard, often dangerous labor in a place far from their homes?

How about the parents that think that they are leaving their child for the day and then never get them back because their children have been sold?

Why don't we talk about that??

It's not pleasant, but it goes on. And it's not some far off problem. Human trafficking happens in OUR cities, right in our backyards. It's not some far off people in Thailand or India selling girls in Red Light Districts. This happens HERE!

What does this have to do with Hershey you ask?

I just finished writing a paper about Hershey chocolate and after doing about 10 minutes of research I came to a decision.

I cannot buy anything made by Hershey.

Why not?

Because the cocoa farms that Hershey purchases their cocoa for their products from uses child SLAVE labor.

As if child labor in a potentially dangerous environment is not bad enough, 15% of these children report being forced to work.

These children should be going to school, they should be having a childhood, they should be enjoying their lives. They should not be forced to harvest cocoa day after day.

And Hershey knows! In 2001, a reporter shed light on the slavery in cocoa production and the chocolate companies were told that they needed to do something about this problem. Some have. Mars Inc, for example, has made great strides in ensuring that their products are not produced by slaves.

Hershey has not.

They have made almost no progress in getting their products Fair Trade Certified and continue to refuse to trace their supply chain in order to check and make sure that their suppliers do not use child slaves.

If you want to find out more about what Hershey has or has not done, read this report developed by several NGO's. It's disturbing to read about what is going on in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and to know that my chocolate cravings help to continue this problem.

So I'm going to stop. I am not going to give my money to a corporation that supports child slavery, there is just no way.

As a person who loves people and loves children, I think that this is just awful. Without even considering my beliefs as a Christian, just as a human, I cannot support this. I think that most of us would like to think that if we had lived in the early 1800s, we would have been against slavery. We would have seen that it was wrong and refused to own people as if they were cattle. We see now that that is so wrong and we like to think that we would have tried to stop it.

Well here's our chance. Slavery isn't over. It didn't end in 1865, it still goes on. So are we going to stand against it? Or are we going to claim ignorance and ignore the cries of children all around the world?

But I am also a Christian, and as such, I believe that every human life is a precious gift from God. It doesn't matter what a person's skin color is, where they live, or how much money they have, they are precious to God. Genesis 1:27 tells us that we are created in the image of God. God does not make accidents. He knows and loves every person on this planet by name.

If every life is precious to God, than every life must be precious to me. If I am striving to live my life like Jesus, than I will love everyone the same and pour my life out for every person in need.

This weekend we celebrate Easter. The time when Jesus gave His life so that each one of us could spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Jesus poured out His life and His blood for my salvation and freedom, and I can't give up chocolate for the freedom of young boys in the Ivory Coast?

How is that living a life like Jesus did?

My desire in life is to look as much like my Savior as I can, and this is one way that I am going to try. Jesus would not have overlooked the suffering of these children, and neither can I.

I want to go ahead and address some of the responses that I know are probably going through your head:

1. You are only one person, what good will you not buying Hershey products do?

I was a vegetarian for 4 years, I can't tell you the number of times that I have heard this said to me.

I'll be honest, its not going to do much. Me not buying my occasional Kit-Kat is not going to upset the Hershey company and completely destroy the chocolate empire that they have built.

But you know what will? If you join me. And you tell your friends and they join too. Together, we can make a difference.

But even if you don't, even if it is just me, does that really matter? Should I give my money to a company that uses child slave labor just because if I didn't it wouldn't do anything? of course not!

If someone was running a brothel, would you go in a pay for a prostitute, just because if you didn't someone else would?? What sense does that make at all!

The bottom line is, whether or not Hershey changes or notices that I don't buy from them anymore, I WILL NOT be a part of supporting slave labor. I will not knowingly give my money to a company like that.

There is a quote from Helen Keller that I LOVE that speaks to this issue.
 

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." 

2. Hershey isn't the only company doing this, what about all the others? What about sweatshops, etc?

Good point, if you know of other companies that use child slaves, PLEASE tell me so that I can stop buying from them too.

But here's the reality, if I were to spend a whole bunch of time researching all the places that I cannot shop and the brands that I can't buy, I would very quickly get burnt out. There are just so many out there, it would be really hard. So I'm going to take it slow, one thing at a time. First let me break my chocolate addiction and then we can talk sweatshops, because those are awful, too.

If you are interested in making sure that the products that you buy are ethically produced and sustainable, goodguide.com is a GREAT resource. All you have to do is type in either the product that you want to buy or the brand that you buy from and it rates it based on health, society and environment. If you are serious about practicing responsible shopping, then I would suggest checking it out.

We can make a difference. We are called to a light in the darkness and that means showing the people of this world God's love. How can we do that if we support the very people who are keeping them oppressed?

Will you join me? Will you do a little research of your own into the Hershey Company? Will you help me stand up for the rights of children in West Africa?

Take a second and fill out this petition that will be sent to Hershey-- http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1303

Love Love Love!!!

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. 
~ Galations 6: 9-10

Love this verse that my friend sent for me!! I know that it will be encouraging this summer!!

Speaking of this summer-- I want to ask you all to send me your favorite Bible verses. I want to gather enough verses that I have one specific verse to read every morning and focus on throughout the day!! So please send me your favorites!!


 

Don't run from who you really are....

"Don't run from who you really are..."

That is one of Aslan's lines from the film version of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Seriously?!?!?

If you listen really carefully, you can hear CS Lewis screaming from heaven, "WHAT?? Are you kidding me??? Did you even READ the book???"

Just kidding.

But seriously??

That is the furthest thing from the point of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the furthest thing from the truth of the Gospel.

We should be running from who we truly are, AS FAST AS WE CAN!!

Lets look at who the characters of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader truly are:

Edmund's true self is selfish, jealous, a coward, and a TRAITOR. He turned his brother and sisters in for the promise of being a prince and Turkish Delight. He turned his brother and sisters in for a SNACK!

Eustace's true self is again selfish, proud, a total wimp, a know-it-all, and just downright obnoxious.

The other characters are more subtle, but they all need to run as fast as they can to Aslan so that they won't be who they truly are.

Because of Aslan, Edmund became courageous. He became known as Edmund the Just. He was kind, protective, and, frankly, he's awesome! (my favorite character haha). He loved and fought for his siblings and for Narnia.

Because of Aslan, Eustace became kind, humble, and brave. He learned to love his cousins and fought for Narnia. He went from the most obnoxious character in the books to, while not my favorite character, a pretty cool one.

This is the point of the Chronicles of Narnia books, the point of the Gospel. Knowing and experiencing Christ takes us from the awful people that we were to people that can change the world. The point of the Gospel is that we DO NOT want to be "who we really are" because "who we really are" is sinful.

But thank God that we don't have to stay "who we really are."

Thank God that, like Aslan ripped the scales off of Eustace, Jesus works on our hearts, changing us from who we really are to who he wants us to be.

Thanks God that:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come."
2 Corinthians 5:17

I thank God that He cut into my life when He did, set me on the path that He had chose for me, and began to shape me into the person that HE wants me to be. I'm not that person yet, I have a long way to go, in fact, I won't truly be who He wants me to be until I'm standing before Him in Heaven, but I'm closer now than I was 2 years ago.

Please, don't listen to what the movie version of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader says, RUN from who you really are. But don't run blindly. Run into the arms of Christ and let Him make you into who HE wants you to be.

Believe me, its worth it.

I got in!!!!

Wednesday 4-6-11

YaY!!!  I got into the school of education!! I don't have to find a new career idea!! haha

Last few scarves!!

Tuesday 4/5/11

Here are the last scarves that I have for sale. Please let me know if you want one! lsdroege@gmail.com!!

Thanks!!

Support Letters

Monday 4-4-11

I've been working on getting all these support letters sent out for my trip. Please be praying that I will raise all the money that I need! 

Don't know what to title this one...

Sunday 4-3-11

Snuggled up under my Carolina blanket that my mom made for me while finishing up some work. It took forever, of course, watching Criminal Minds didn't help my focusing...

Carolina Girls!!

Saturday 4-2-11

Best in the world!! 

Celebrated K's 8th birthday at her Carolina birthday party! Love this little Tar Heel!! and little RL, who was in normal clothes for about 10 minutes before changing into this ensemble. 

One of K's birthday presents was a cool bug catcher, which we played with after for a little bit after her friends left.

Happy Birthday, Lindsey!!

Friday 4-1-11

Went out to dinner with Lindsey and some of our friends to celebrate Lindsey's 20th birthday!! It was so fun to see all our friends at once and to show them some of our favorite places in Durham.

Burnout

,This post was written by Clayton King. If you have been around Summit, than likelihood is you have heard Clayton speak, he was here about a month or so ago. Clayton is one of the most gifted speakers I have ever heard. When he preaches, people get saved by the dozens or even more. It's AWESOME!!

He also runs a great ministry for middle, high and college students. They do a summer camp that Summit takes our students to each year, fantastic!! His ministry also supports the ministry that I work with in India. It was on a trip with his ministry that I first went to India.

If you can't tell, I'm a big fan of this guy haha.

I loved the post that he wrote because it is so true.

He was writing specifically about pastors and other people in ministry, but I think that it applies to everyone. After all, we're all supposed to be in ministry. Our lives are meant to be a ministry.

I think that college students are particularly bad about the cycle that he was describing.

We get going and get super involved.

We get plugged into to a campus ministry and a church. We serve at both.

Before we know if, we are in 2 different small groups and probably leading one too.

We have internships and are on leadership.

Basically, our schedules are completely booked.

And we can sustain this for a little while.

But then we get tired. School work piles up. The kids in the class that we teach at church start misbehaving all the time.

We stop enjoying our small groups.

We stop spending the right amount of time with God, we just don't have time to get everything else done.

And before we  know it, we're burned out and ready to give up.

Can you relate to this?


So how do we not get caught in this cycle? How do we not let ourselves get caught up in doing too much?

If you're like me than its hard. I'm programmed that if I see something missing, I want to be part of making it happen.

I can't say no.

There are many problems that cause this cycle that we each have to sort out and deal with individually. When I started getting burnt out, the first thing that I had to do was put my priority back on having good time with God every day. And not just like 5 minutes before I run out the door or in between classes. I mean good, quality time.

The second thing that I did was ask Veronica to disciple me.

Having someone pouring into me has helped greatly to keep the burn out away. Taking the time to sit down with her and talk about things and learn from her has enabled me to in turn continue pouring into other people and other ministries that I am involved in.

We can't do this life alone. We can't do ministry alone. We need people pouring into us and replenishing us so that we can go out and serve more.

That's the way God wanted it to be.

I liked the way that Clayton ended his post: "Pace yourself. This is not a sprint. It is a marathon. The goal is to finish, not to finish fast."

If you feel overwhelmed, cut something out.

I know that hurts, its not fun to do, but sometimes we need to.

Our bodies, our minds, and our spiritual lives can't take going going going at all times with no break.

Then ask someone to help you.

Ask someone that you know and love. Someone you have a relationship with already to start discipling you. Or ask me and I will find you someone!!

Please donate!!

I am spreading the word about my book fundraiser far and wide!! And I will continue!!

I've even been featured on some awesome mommy blogs!! Thanks Courtney and Amy!! If you don't read Amy's blog than you should!! They are so awesome!! Crazy for Jesus and crazy for orphans!! Love it!!

Anyway, I have started a PayPal account and put a button on the right side of my blog. If you would like to make a donation to the book fund or for my trip this summer, you can do it through PayPal. Just designate what it is for!!

Of course, if I see you or you could mail a check, that would be preferable haha. PayPal does take a cut!!

Thanks!! You all are the best!!

Much love!!

Wow, this is powerful

I stole this quote off another blog--

"Whenever a major jetliner crashes anywhere in the world, it inevitably sets off a worldwide media frenzy covering every aspect of the tragedy . . . Imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: 'One Hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500.' Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, parliaments, and congresses convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy. Think about the avalanche of media coverage that it would ignite around the globe as reporters shared the shocking news and tried to communicate its implications to the world . . . Now imagine that the very next day, one hundred more planes crashed - and one hundred more the next, and the next, and the next. It is unimaginable that something this terrible could every happen. But it did -- and it does. It happened today, and it happened yesterday. It will happen again tomorrow. But there was no media coverage. No heads of state, parliaments, or congresses stopped what they were doing to address the crisis, and no investigations were launched. Yet more than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that. Almost 10 million children will be dead in the course of a year . . . And even though we now have the awareness, the access, and the ability to stop it, why have we chosen not to? Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they're someone else's." - Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, in his book The Hole in Our Gospel" 

 

Happy Birthday, K (G)!!!!

Thursday 3-31-11

This little girl turned 8 yesterday!! 

I am so thankful to be able to be a part of this sweet girl's life! It is so awesome to watch her grow up and learn. 

So cold!!!!

Wednesday 3-30-11

North Carolina weather is always a little crazy, but its been worse than normal recently. Last week it was 80 degrees and beautiful! I took most of my winter clothes home and brought all my cute spring stuff. I was dying from allergies but enjoying the warmth. This week it went back down to 40 and it RAINED. Hard. Wednesday, I was soaked to the bone and freezing. So much that I had to come back and change into my warm winter socks and rain boots. 

Also, I felt like the Wicked Witch of the East (or Nessarose, as musical theatre people know her as).

Bought my first ticket!!

Tuesday 3-29-11

I bought my first set of tickets!! So if nothing else I'm going to Dubai this summer!! The hard thing about planning all this stuff is that I'm planning a lot with my sister, who does not live here. So on Tuesday, I was skyping with K while talking to my parents on the phone trying to get everything figured out.

Oral Hygiene

Monday 3-28-11

After being lectured a few times by my dentist about how I don't floss enough, I'm finally trying to be better. Also, I drink so much coffee and DDP (diet dr pepper) that I have to whiten a lot.

So close!!

Sunday 3-27-11

We watched the end of the game on Sunday at Bible study. Unfortunately, we lost, but hey, we got a lot farther than we would have expected at the beginning of the season. And, more importantly, we went farther that Duke!!! 

Oh flights...

Saturday 3-26-11

Trying to get all my flights sorted out and ordered. Sort of stressful- I have a lot of different flights to take.

Schmorg

Friday 3-25-11

This is the fabulous Michal Rudolph. I love her and her family a whole bunch! They are the best! I babysit for her kids, who are about as cute as they come, and I am a part of their Summit college family. They LOVE college students and graciously open their home to us and FEED us. Michal also loves teaching and has started a Bible study for the girls in their family. It's wonderful. 

Oh, she's also the fabulous woman who is getting discipleship going with me!!

Chick-fil-A

Thursday 3-24-11

Took the Greear girls to Chick-fil-A so that Veronica could have time to talk with someone (actually talking is difficult with 4 little ones trying to talk over you). We had a really fun time! In case you haven't noticed, I love these girls a lot!

OrangeLeaf with the small group girls

Wednesday 3-23-11

Trying to eat orange stuff...

Tuesday 3-22-2011

Trying to eat some things that are healthy... we'll see how it goes haha.

Here's one of me

Monday 3-21-11

Apparently, I take too many pictures of my friends and they're getting tired of it haha. So here's one of me. Bemi and I got together after babysitting and made some cinnamon rolls and studied. So much better than studying in Davis.

K's going to be so jealous...

Sunday 3-20-2011

It was so exciting to get to see sweet Amber again. She is one of the many people that Summit has sent around the world. Before leaving us for South Africa, she was one of the head leaders in Summit Kids. She, my sister, and Courtney (next to me on the left) all worked together. Amber recently married Trent (in the picture) in South Africa and this was the first time that most of us got to meet him. 

K, just take my face out and put your's in for the true picture ;)