Highlights of Christmas Break thus far

Since leaving Arizona I have loved:

* making new friends while traveling

* late night dates at the place for smiles, a.k.a. eat n'park with brad and breanne
* an early morning visit to starbucks with jasmine
* 4 hours at panera with sherry
* hours of settlers playing with the fam
* talking to annie
* anne of green gables
* seeing my niece and nephews
* a lot of football
* seeing joey get all riled up while watching football
* seeing joey get all riled up while playing settlers (oh and did i mention he lost 4 games in a row?)
* anticipating the PENN STATE game
* mornings with my mom

and I still have 6 days left at home :)

In case you were confused...

I love the Strudel!

And apparently, so does Meaghan

I love Carol, the newest member of the Strudel and if I may say so, an excellent addition!

Tonight we had strudel dinner, note all of the food at the beginning of the meal...

Diana made us this delicious Korean feast

The end of the meal which fortunately coincided with the end of the food

And in other news, I got my hair chopped off today. Then I was hit on by a 35 year old. hmmm.

Relationships are Hard

I have known this. I have learned it time and time again. Sometimes if I am honest, I am not convinced that they are worth the effort they require. But even as I have been wrestling through this, I am increasingly convinced of God's great love for His people and of His sovereign hand. I am so thankful for His Word, which gently rebukes, corrects, admonishes and teaches. Oh yes, and it daily reminds me of the depths of His love and grace and of my great need for these precious friendships.

On a lighter note, here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks.

a classic strudel bonding ritual

I love having teammates that encourage my ice cream addiction...at 9:30 a.m.

a great camping trip with wonderful friends

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one anonther above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another"

Romans 15

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Colossians 3

Wedding Palooza

I have been to a lot of weddings in my life. I have been to a lot of weddings this year and I have a lot more weddings to go to in the next few months. Most of these weddings have been really enjoyable, but I have to say that the two from this past weekend are always going to stand out in my memory as some of the sweetest pictures of what God intended when He created marriage.

Jasmine's wedding this weekend was a beautiful reminder of God's relentless pursuit of us in the midst of other lesser lovers. I loved how Jasmine and Aaron seamlessly incorporated the Gospel into their ceremony, reception and their relationship. Individually and as a couple they love people so well. I have no doubt that their marriage will be a testimony of God's faithfulness to us as His Bride.

the girls from 401. (beth, jasmine, leah and i).
jasmine's wedding was such a sweet opportunity to catch up with dear old friends.

It was such a joy to see my dear friend Krista at the Butlers' wedding!

And then the Butler wedding. I absolutely loved living with Lori as her relationship with Dustin progressed. Her excitement and eagerness for her wedding day often brought to my mind the excitement and eagerness that we, as the Bride of Christ, should have for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. I love that Lori did not give up hope as she waited for Dustin, but rather, waited patiently, obediently, eagerly and rejoiced in the midst of it. That is how I want to wait for the coming of Christ. I would hate for that sweet day to come and me to have become inpatient in the waiting and have given myself to lesser lovers. How incredibly sweet it is that just as Dustin pursued Lori prior to their wedding day, Christ passionately pursues us!

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as bride adorns herself with her jewels.

~ Isaiah 61:10 ~

As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

~ Isaiah 62:5 ~

Another Beautiful Day in Tucson

I woke up this morning with the news that my car had been broken into for a second time. And after calling the police, my insurance company, and the glass repairman, I was struck by what a different response to this I would have if I did not believe in God.

If I didn't believe in God, I would probably hate Tucson. I would be overwhelmed by and perhaps even paralyzed by fear. I would allow anger to fester and take control of my attitude and emotions. Anxiety would be the theme of my life.

But by the grace of God I do believe in a good, protector God. I believe He is always sovereignly in control. He is infinite in wisdom and perfect in love. And in the words of Jerry Bridges I know, "God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about." As I think about it, this morning has been a sweet reminder of His transforming grace. Of course all of the repairs and phone calls are a momentary frustration and annoyance and I truly do hate cleaning broken glass, but that is all it is. By His grace my heart has been transformed and now instead of being controlled by fear, anger and anxiety, I trust Him at His Word. I cannot imagine life without these freeing beliefs.

The glass repairman just called and he'll be here around 10 and my day will thankfully go on. I am in charge of buying the food for our sweet Welcome Back BBQ tonight and am currently at a complete loss of how much food to buy. hmmmm. Maybe I'll go make some brownies now.

"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
~ Psalm 16:7-11 ~

So a bit of time has past...

...and many have commented that I haven't updated my blog in ages.

At this point I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps I should clear up any misconceptions of my brother being in the CIA...or wait, is he? He is coming to visit this weekend and I am excited to get some quality family time in before I head back to Tucson. After all, he is my favorite Euchre partner.

I can't believe that I am already at the start of my 2nd year in EDGE. I have started praying Hebrews 13:21 for this year. That God would equip me for doing His will and may He work in me what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
I have really latched on to the idea of Him working in me what is pleasing to Him. I so often think that I know what needs to be worked on in my life and am finding it quite difficult to have open hands to what He desires. Ahhh, but I have always known Him to be a good and gentle Father and I have set my heart on glorifying Him alone.

Who knows, perhaps this year He'll teach me to be more faithful in blog posting??

What has God been saying to you???

I spent the past weekend in Gilbert, Arizona with about 65 students from our ministry. It was a great time to enjoy one another's company in a beautiful home, grow closer to the heart of Jesus and even spend some time jumping into huge mounds of cotton seed!



And here is my scavenger hunt team wearing Burger King hats in a McDonalds. Even though we lost, we had such a great time!

We had the privilege of having Mike Jordahl, the Navigators Collegiate president, with us for the weekend. Each morning he shared with us from the Word and pointed our eyes toward Jesus. His key question of the weekend was "What is God saying to you today?" It was so good to have opportunities to slow down long enough to really ponder the question...and then discuss what we were hearing with those around us. How beautifully refreshing.

I am so glad to serve a God that invites us into His holy dwelling and speaks individually to each of our hearts. And I was so grateful to have that reminder as I found out on Wednesday that my house had been broken into.

Our house was only empty for 45 minutes, but apparently that is just enough time for someone to kick the door in and steal 3 laptop computers and Lori's purse. While we are sad to have lost those possessions, what we find to be the most disconcerting issue is that they must have been watching our home to know when we were all gone. Please be praying for our safety and for the peace of God to guard our hearts and our minds.

God has given us such a great gift in the 5 men from our ministry that live just down the street. They were immediately at our side and stayed with us through out the day. Within a half hour a trip to Home Depot had been made and our door repair had begun. Below is a picture of the many hands that worked on restoring our door and sense of safety.

In the midst of this we were able to hear Steven's upcoming talk on Joy. How timely it was to hear of how our true Joy is found in the knowledge of our salvation and the immeasurable goodness that God offers us. Isn't it true that He is Good???

This morning I was reading in Hebrews and came across these verses...yet another gift.

"Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecutions; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and
joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised."
~ Hebrews 10: 32-36 ~

Today, we will choose joy. We will choose thanksgiving. We will choose to say, "Thy will be done."

It's Been Awhile...

I am amazed that it is already January 12th and I am back in Tucson. My time at home was wonderful, but I have to admit, I was glad to return to my life here. Tucson has become a place that holds such dear friends and things that I love. It's been delightful to be back.

Things I am looking forward to this semester:

1. Studying Romans with the girls in my Bible study
2. Mastering tennis on Krista's new wii (this one may take longer than just 1 semester)
3. Hanging out with some pretty sweet freshman girls
4. Introducing people to the One through whom we may draw near to God
5. Roadtrips
6. Quality time with my fellow staff members

Pretty much, I am thrilled with what this semester has to offer. I think God is going to move in some powerful ways.

Some pictures from the Navs Christmas Ho Ho Hoedown (planned by our stellar freshman class!)