Pops, Promises, & Sparkle

Dad has been here keeping me company the past few days. We have been having a lot of fun together. Saw the Cubs play. They won. That was so sweet. People are out of their minds about their cubbies. I took him downtown and we had fun eating at random resturants you would only see around here. He came to church with me and got to meet people in my new community! I was really excited about that. So, it has been really awesome getting to share what's been going on with me with him. School is chugging along and I can't believe it's already the end of September! Time is flying by!


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
God remembers. In the Old Testemant God comes through over and over again. Right before He takes action in a situation the Bible says, "And God remembered." And then something huge happens, God moves. He fulfills His promises. He is always faithful. And this same God has come through for me. He has remembered me. He has remembered us. He sent His Son, the only one He ever had, to live here with us. To walk and breathe and start His Kingdom here on earth. Through Jesus, God's Spirit lives here with us. We can not only tap into, but live through the Spirit of God everyday. I am in awe of the faithfulness of God. His Spirit here is a sign of this convenant between us and God. I am made complete before God through His Spirit. I hope in these promises daily and put my life in His hands so that I might be redeemed. A dove has been a symbol of this faithfulness. It represents God fulfilling His promises through His Spirit living here with us. It reminds me that there is more. That I am forever God's and He is always faithful to remember, even me.


(Just as a sidenote her name is Sparkle)

Building C-C-Community

Community is an inherent characteristic of God. Being made in the image of God leaves me with this same ache for community. Relationship with God, relationship with people around me, relationship that runs deep. Apart from other aches I feel as a human, this one is a result of perfection not imperfection. This is so great, what a concept. Things that I deal with like shame, grief, hunger, pain, and the list goes on, are all because of sin, my sin, my brokenness. But not lonliness. This is unique because this comes from the ache for community. No one wants to be alone, and that is because we weren't created to be. Before sin even came into the picture God said that it was not good for man to be alone. This is in the midst of perfection. Community, integrated into who God is, is integrated into who we are. We are meant to live life together, alonside one another.

I became a part of a church community this past week. God has called me here to this church (Westridge...the one I was telling you about) and I am so stoked to be a part of what is happening there and what is going to happen. I have made some awesome friends and just can't wait to build more on these new relationships. I also entered into a few other communities this past week. One being a homeless community that is found on a street underground down in the city. Being around these, just awesome people, I was instantly taken in. There are genuine, long term relationships going on down there. (and as a side note - who doesn't want friends named Gus, Squeaky, Big Joe, and Footsie?)

School is moving forward and that means I get to learn more about a person then their name, hometown, and major. Woopee! This is for sure an exciting thing! (I happen to be sick of telling everyone those three things too by the way. I was starting to get creative.)

All this to say, I am beginning to embrace community around here. It's so relieving. God is bringing friends. I am getting to spend quality, authentic time with people. People who I get along with, people who I can learn from, people from different cultures, people I can encourage. And all of these which are searching for genuine community, just like me.

Miss You

It has been 24 days since I left home, and I miss it. It being family and the community and Mesa. I pray this feeling pushes me forward rather than keeping me back. But to whatever degree, as of yesterday I am officially homesick. Which I know is where God wants me. At a place where I am totally dependent on his strength instead of my own. He is in control, and I am not.

School is going well. I really am enjoying most of my classes. Math I could do without, but that's life. I am in a communication class that is really interesting to me. Learning about theories and more theories about why we have theories, it's good. It intrigues me. Which I think is a good thing, since I am a communication major. That's probably a good sign. I have great Professors. They all seem down to earth, except for math of course. Poor guy. I have had more work in the past two weeks then I have had in a long time. At first this was somewhat of a downer, but my perspective changed when I realized how much time I had to do it all. The ridiculous amount of extra time I have is still new to me.

I am in love with the city. The diversity is so awesome. People from every culture, every background, every ethnicity. It is great. I have been down there any chance I get. There is a train stop 2 blocks from my school, and on that it is about a 20-30 minute ride downtown. My friends are beginning to realize that if they can't find me, I'm downtown. (not by myself...don't worry mom.) The Chicago Jazz Festival was last weekend, checked out the Art Institute a few days ago, and the next adventure is Shedd Aquarium, which is supposed to be a blast. In between those things I have been checking out all the great Chicago food and shops. All of it is music to my ears. Something about the city that makes my heart beat fast.

The weather has been beautiful the past few days. Sunny, but still a breeze, high 70's, green grass everywhere, I could dig that for a while. But I am told to embrace it now...because there is a cold winter ahead of me that won't be as beautiful. Hopefully the nice days last longer than everyone is anticipating.

There are a few things I am starting to get involved in surely but slowly around campus and around the community. An after school program for elementary refugee kids is the first stop. This week I will have my orientation and then next week I will get started with that. From what I know without experience is that we hang out with the kids, play games, get to know them, and then get assigned to two or three specifically to help with homework. Most to all of the kids are refugees of immigrant families who are trying to build a life for themselves here in America. There are also some homeless ministries that I will be a part of downtown. A group of us from NorthPark go down to a well known homeless community in the city and get to hang out with them, hear their stories, and eat food! There are some great people down there to learn alot from. I should be starting up a small group here anytime, just waiting to hear back from the coordinator on which one I will be a part of. That should be a great way to go deeper in relationships with girls on campus. Also, I will be helping out with the chapel planning team and getting to be a part of what they are doing there.

The big news is a possible church to start being committed to. Westridge Community Church. It is a church plant about 15 minutes from campus and is turning out to be pretty legit. There are some awesome people there and God is doing really exciting things through them. There is a possiblity of me leading worship with the band there - which would be more then I could ask for. It's all still in motion and not any solid decisions have been made yet. Please join me this week in praying for what God might be asking of me. The worship pastor is a student here at NorthPark and we will be meeting this week to talk more about the vision he has for worship and for the church. We will see! I will keep you posted on how it all plays out. I am just excited to be a part of what God is already doing in this community.

Miss you guys!

Quote for the Day

"Paul didn't know where he was going, but he did know why. His compass was the heart of God. He was fueled and driven by the passion and urgency that God had placed in his heart - to take the life and freedom that comes in Jesus Christ to every person on the face of the earth. What God makes clear is that when we're committed to seizing His divine moments, He'll make sure He gets us to the right place at the right time. What God can do through a person who's willing to act is limitless."
-Erwin McManus, Chasing Daylight

Unicorns & Cucumbers

This weekend me and Ash got to talking about the clouds. I know, profound huh? Well, you might be surprised to know they can be. Imagine with me for a second. When you were younger and laid in the green grass starring at the clouds for hours trying to see their shape. First you see a cucumber, then a unicorn, then a hand, then back to the cucumber, and then a plane. It is fun trying to keep up with the ever changing shape of these clouds. But here's the downfall. If you aren't thinking and keeping your mind open to what could be next, you'll miss it. When you see the unicorn, you have to convince the person next to you what you see. Because they aren't looking for a unicorn, they are still looking at the cucumber. You can stare at the cloud looking for a unicorn, but you can't see it because it's now in the form of the cucumber. You miss the excitment the new shape brings because your mind is set on the first thing you saw. Same cloud, just different shapes.

Well, I am convinced God is this way. When we decide for ourselves what God looks like in our life, and are only looking for Him in that form or shape, we will miss Him! Because he is moving in new ways and in ways we didn't know were possible. We have to keep our minds open to the limitless God we serve. He comes in so many ways that we can't limit Him to the way we would choose. We can pursue new ideas and new ways of seeing Him in our lives, knowing that whatever is about to come is going to be good, and we don't want to miss it. We have to transform our minds to see God. Just like we have to transform our minds to see the clouds.

Jesus leads us to God and opens new ways for us to see Him everyday. I wonder how I will see God today? I don't want to miss it.

Overwhelmed & Unfamiliar

I know from the title of this blog you are worried already. But to save you from that I will tell you both being overwhlemed and unfamiliar are beautiful things to be a part of, because I have found rest in each of them.

We will start with unfamiliar. The second I think I understand where I am I make a wrong turn and before I know it I am 3 hours away from where I wanted to be. This has to do with much more than me being a crappy driver (although I am and I will be the first to tell you it's all because I am a girl...it's just inevitable...so I embrace it) But you see, this seems to be the story of my life the past week. And it is so frustrating because I can't stand not knowing and understanding what's going on around me. North, West, Southeast, turn left on the crooked side street - how am I supposed to know any of this? Get on the corner of the street over there and have money ready, but the exact amount, because they don't give change, and then you will lose all 20 dollars, and you don't want that to happen. So right after you figure that out be ready to get off at the stop that is written in another language just for kicks and then transfer to the blueorange line 45 from the turqoisebrown train 967 then turn around 4 times give the guy on the corner a sub sandwhich and tada! you are downtown! Wait a second....what's a train? See the problem? I am in a very foreign atmosphere to say the least, and until a few days ago I was determined to change that. Chicago and Mesa have very few things in common. Lets just say they are both cities and have people in them. And that is about the extent of that. So there are these verses in John chapter 10 where Jesus is talking about being the Shepherd. It says, "He (talking about Jesus) calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, (ah I love this part) and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." AH! I do know something! I know His voice. Finally something familiar. These verses have cleared up alot of the unfamiliar feeling -not made it disappear by any means - but explained to me how to handle it and how to embrace it. This is by knowing what is familiar to me, no not the color train, but my Shepherd's voice. I know that through this process of seeking God, I know Him. He is not expecting me to go into any of this blindly, but right behind Him, while He is showing me the way. I may not be familiar with where I am and the people around me, but I do know my Jesus' voice, and that brings me peace. God isn't calling me to be a shepherd in this adventure alone, but He has called me to be a part of the sheep, who know and listen to His voice and then follow His lead. Now that I can do. (Psalm 23 has been a great thing to dwell on too :)

And in that truth, some of my heart. Being ridiculously overwhelmed. Change that is so stirring, so stimulating, and so exciting is leaving me exhausted. It is putting me in this place where I can't do anything else but indulge myself in who God is. And in this, I am so taken back by God's (deep breathe) immense love. His grace that I don't deserve. His strength. It's intense and I fear it. His comfort that sneaks under me when I need it and grabs a hold of me so tight I can't even move. This peace that I don't understand in the midst of frustration. It's huge. And it overwhelms me. It leaves me completely speechless. There is a song that I have been listening to this past week alot, it's called The More I Seek You, and this is the chorus:

I want to sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lay ack against You and breathe
Feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in Your peace
It's overwhelming

To dwell on this vastness of God's goodness is an endless pursuit that I want to strive after with all of my heart. Because it is so fulfilling and satisfying and pure. And my heart longs for it everyday.

I will apologize now for slacking on keeping this thing updated the past week, so to make it up to you, I will write everyday or so this next week. So...keep checking in! I am waiting for something funny to happen, and as soon as it does you will be the first to know. (Don't be dissapointed if it doesn't - there's only so much control I have over that)

Here are some pics from the birthday weekend! Ash was here. What an angel she is and I love her. My adventurous friend and I had way too much fun being spontaneous and we managed to get a nose pierced (hers), two ears pierced (mine), and a crazy hair cut (mine again). Can I get a woohoo for being random!?

Well, like I said I will be updating my posts a ton this week so I will talk to you soon. Thanks for thinking of me and all the prayers. They are being heard! Keep em coming!