AFRICA

It’s 3pm… I fly out of Birmingham at 6:09 to Chicago (O’hare).  Tomorrow (December 28th) we leave O’hare airport for Amsterdam, Netherlands then on to Entebbe, Uganda.  We will be in Africa for nearly two weeks until our return on Janurary 10th.  I appreciate your prayers as the journey is nearly under way!  Check back here for updates! Love God love people

25 ft up

One of my favorite things to do when home is spend time in the woods.  Now many people can’t stomach hunting and that’s their preogative I guess, but the boys of my family love it!  There’s something that happens when the illusive creature comes into view.  My experiences in the woods have produced many stories over the years involving beavers, noisy cell phones, hidden opossums, and numerous deer.  Most of the mishaps are due to my own clumsiness, but they make for a good story time. 

Anyway I was in the woods yesterday morning, after waking up at 5am, with my good friend Kevin.  Once up in the tree the sun began to creep over the cascading land mass.  The warm rays penetrated my inmost being as time seemed to stand still.  I began into this litany of praise to the creator of all things when I felt completely inadequate.  Who am I or what words do I have that could adequately exhalt the name that is above every name?  As I was talking to god about this the verse about the rocks and the trees crying out came to mind.  So I began to call forth the praise of all things… I felt like a choir director as I proclaimed how the trees clapped their hands in adoration, the birds sing about the mysteries, the wind whispers the wonders… how every part of creation stands in awe of its creator.  Feeling like a choir director, or even better like a conductor of an orchestra, I experienced a closeness to the audience of ONE.  O how sweet is the nearness of God!  How I long to experience that nearness continually!  What do I need to change to draw near… to ”be still and know that I am God.” 

So I say to you…  GO CLIMB A TREE… quiet yourself and experience the I am.  

Sweet and Sour

The Title of this particular entry may be a little corny, but it truly reflects my last 3 days. 

Sweet: I ended regular class sessions on Friday at 1pm.  It’s been a great semester with many ups and downs… I’ve learned a ton and press on looking forward to what is just around the corner.

Sour: Friday afternoon I spent 2 1/2 hours grocery shopping and ended up spending $127 dollars.  It was tough to pull out the card, even though all of that money was reimbursed to me.

Sweet: Friday night I watched two Christmas movies (ELF and Stanta Claus 2) with some friends and ate wonderful sugary treats. 

Sour: Saturday morning I woke up at 1o am and began the process of making cookies. There were four apartments cooking and it took us about 6 1/2 hours.

Sweet: Saturday evening we ended up with 96 dozen homemade ginger bread cookies.

Sour: The clean up process is kind of still taking place 3 days later. (Don’t tell my mom)

Sweet: Saturday evening I was able to spend time with a good friend.  It was GREAT!

Sour: I went to bed late and woke up early.

Sweet: There was an extra dose of joy and expectancy on Sunday at church.  People were greeting one another and they seemed to be extra sensitive to the spirit.

Sour: I was late to a get together with 1o friends

Sweet:  The lunch was great and catching up with my friends was even better.

Sour: I went looking for boxes for all the cookies and it took me 4 stores to find what I was looking for

Sweet: ”Neighbors” were given the pleasure of delivering the 96 dozen cookies as a present to the houses which we visit on a regular basis.  The gift was an extension of the love that hopefully is felt every time we knock on a door.  Many kind greetings were shared and the Gospel was shared.

Sour: Studying seemed like such a chore that night.

Sweet: I went to bed at a decent hour, unlike previous years when my night was consumed with study. 

Sour: It was another early morning with exams starting at 7:40am

Sweet:  With two exams now out of the way I look toward my other three which are spaced out, one a day until Thursday.

As I think about all these experiences a certain Chinese food comes to mind.  Now I love Chinese food, so if you don’t you’ll just have to bare with me for this metaphor.  Whenever you first taste sweet & sour chicken you can always tell if the person making the dish knows what he or she is doing.  If the dish is too sour you are left with a crinkled face and can barely stand to take another bite.  If the dish is too sweet you can eat it and it tastes good, but after eating the dish you feel sick because you can’t handle it.  You know the same thing happens with life.  We have sweet experiences and some that are sour.  We have a choice on which one’s to focus on… if we focus too much on the sour ones we are left with a crinkled face and in all actually a crinkled heart.  On the flip side if we focus to much on the sweet things and dont embrace some of the sour things then we are happy for a short time until we become sick from such an overload.  There takes a certain balance that we frankly aren’t very good judges of.  I’m so glad that we serve the master cook (lol).  In all seriousness God is the “author and perfecter” of all things… maybe this is what Romans 8:28 talks about when it says all things work together for the good of those who serve God.  What makes your life sweet and sour?

One Month away

As the semester draws to a close there are a few things just around the corner in my life…

     Exams>  I’m about to dive into the last week of regular classes in Semester I of my Junior year of college.  I found myself scratching my head with a few friends the other day as the wonder of time perplexed our already loaded minds.  How long is a year… I mean really?  I know it is 365 1/4 days, but is that long or short while looking at the whole picture?  I guess the fact is that we don’t know… Let me try to explain what I’m talking about.  No one knows how long life will be for them.  No one can tell me if one year constitutes 1/4 of the rest of their life or 1/50 of the rest of their life.  Time is such a relative thing that I take for granted so much.  This year I have experienced a few deaths that have hit close to home and the question of time arose for me once again.  My heart began to race as questions of eternity and forever raced through my weary mind.  Then God brought me back to the simplicity of living day by day.  A few scriptures come to mind such as “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself”      “Pick up your cross daily and follow him.”  With this attitude I made out my exam schedule and found that my exams are spaced out quite nicely.                                    

                                                   

Monday- 7:40am  World Religion  

9:30am Hebrew Roots of the Christian faith   

Tuesday- 9:30am  Appreciating the Writing Craft      

Wednesday- 1:30pm  Corporate Ministries         

Thursday- 7:40am  Beginnings of Christianity        

No exam- Race and Ethnicity      

I would certainly appreciate your prayers!

                

Christmas> Every day I hear more and more music and see the visible signs of this season.  The other day I had a friend ask about Christmas traditions and I realized how this year is going to be different than many we have had in the past.  With a new house, a new sister, and many changes that change my identity  Christmas has already taken a new meaning for me.  Maybe “new” isn’t the correct word as the tradition of Christmas has existed for centuries before me.  This year Christmas is about coming back to the roots of the Christmas season.  I want to cherish every moment of this glorious season and grow closer to my savior in response to the festivities.  I realize that every event that happens during this Christmas season doesn’t revolve around Christ, but I want to be sure that this season isn’t about me.     

Africa> This past Tuesday my world was shaken again as my friend hunted me down just to proclaim “only one month away!”  On December the 28th I will be leaving on a jet plane (lol)  to get a first hand experience of the AIDS pandemic that has swept across Africa.  Yesterday was World Aids Day and I was given a taste of the pain and devastation that I’m about to experience.  My heart is already with those children whose parents died of AIDS, those three boys who now fend for themselves because no one else will.  The grandmother who at one time expected her children to be a form of “social security”, but now finds herself giving all she has physically, emotionally, and spiritually to provide for her grandchildren.  The tales of how AIDS have Ravished this country are unimaginable and innumerable… the hope that remains is that God knows each one.  He wants to reach down with a hand of love, are you willing to let Him reach through you?    

Decisions about summer>  I know that I said just a minute ago that I am living day by day, but that doesn’t mean that you go through life flippantly.  I hope you will begin praying with me about where I am to be this summer.  I want God’s will above all else, but this decision is monumental as this is the last summer of my college career.     

Decisions about next school year>  Along similar lines soon I will be making schedules for classes and organizing housing arrangements for my last year in college.  By no means does this mean that I will be done learning, but I do think it will mark the last year of organized classes for a while. 

These are just a few of the thoughts that have penetrated the now.  I would appreciate your continued prayer and would hope that you might take a few minutes to send me an update on yourself. 

Love God love people!