So my summer has gotten increasingly better everyday and definitely better than my last post. I was having a very off week to say the least. I had a lot of weird emotions and stress going on that prevented me from really being my usual self. I'm definitely better. All the feelings I had of being stressed out or frustrated with have diminished by the grace of God. I am so thankful that God has humbled me and continually reminds me how wonderful and extroardinary my life is and how I need to cherish every moment instead of dwelling on tiny, miniscule details. I cannot wait for my summer missionary position to officially start this weekend. Yes, I will lose a lot of free time, but that is a price I'm willing to pay. There is nothing I want more than to be in this particular mission field. I know there will be struggles, but I will have to keep reminding myself of the bigger picture that I'm ultimately trying to further God's kindgom and there is no greater thing I can do on this Earth than that.
This week has started with a lot of fun! Yesterday, I hung out with my brother and then went to hang with one of my best friends from high school, Jenny. We had a random adventure just driving around doing silly things like we used to and it was a lot of fun! Today, I went to Chesterfield Valley with my mom and brother for breakfast at the Original Pancake House...which is quite tasty! Then, we went shopping and ended up getting to hang out with my friend Justin there for awhile which was also quite entertaining. Tonight, I got to hang out with one of my great friends Eric. We've been friends for so long and we rarely get to hang out anymore so I'm glad I got to spend time with him as well.
I have a lot more in store for me this week. A major event going on this weekend is Christian Family Day at the Cardinals game. Over 3000 underpriveledged children get to come and have a day of fun and I get to help make it happen. After the game, there will be a concert by the Christian band Newsong and a message from some of the Cards players like PULJOS and others!!! I'm pretty stoked!!!!
Peace Out!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Trying to Find Peace and Understanding
Yes it has been a very interesting week to say the very least...very busy, difficult at times, and stressful even. On Monday, I registered for classes at Union University in Jackson, TN. I felt very odd there still I think mostly because that day was mostly filled freshman and something I did not really care to experience again. I believe that the school will be excellent for my education none the less and hope that my experience there will be great as well.
On Tuesday, I started helping out with VBS at my church. I hadn't gotten to help the last couple years because of working, so it was kinda fun to be around all the kids again. I didn't really work in one spot like usual though...I helped with bed babies 2 days and 3&4 year olds today. On Wednesday, I taught the missions class! We learned about missionaries that work in Columbia. I enjoyed that a lot, too.
I also got to hang out with friends this week that I enjoy hanging out with a lot so that was good too. I am very blessed to have friends like I do to rely on and have a good time with.
On the more down side, I have been struggling with something that is not even really my own issue. I tend to worry about others and their problems sometimes even more than my own. I just found out that my friend who was going to be working with me this summer doing International Student Ministry is no longer going to be working it. This is not about me just wanting to work with my friend all summer, because I know we'll still see each other (hopefully). I guess I'm just a little discouraged because he had already made the commitment to it and we went through training and a conference in LA, and he's decided not to do it only a week before the job starts. My dad and I both thought he would be able to help this ministry and really receive the blessing I think God is going to be working in it this summer because he wants to do mission work and displays some great leadership qualities. He really had some issues with the way our weekly schedule was laid out. On our schedule we were given in description to what we'd be doing...it did look full and had 5 days/week laid out for us. Honestly I really don't think he understood that it's not going to be the same schedule every week. I highly doubt there will be one week this summer that I work the amount of hours he thought we were going to work, but oh well. Yeah, there is a bit of a time commitment, but it's a ministry and we're just doing fun stuff like the whole time. I really think I'll probably end up working 3days a week, then having one bigger event planned for the weekend or maybe like 2 smaller things. For me, I know that I want to see my family and friends this summer, too...but I also know that God has called me to missions so I will have to find a balance between them now just as I'll have to learn how to in the future as well. But mission work and family/friend time doesn't have to always be separated either. I mean, the whole reason I became so interested in International Student Ministries in the first place was because of my dad including me in this ministry all these years. I definitely plan on inviting my friends to come to our fun events too so they can experience how God is working and also gives me more time to see them! So I guess my purpose for ranting about this is mainly because I guess I'm a little confused about all of this and why it's happening to me, and also feel bad for him because I think this summer will be amazing, and I just wish my friend would have been able to experience it. I understand his reasoning, but still don't think he gets the full picture of what we're doing. Hopefully he still gets a great summer experience in whatever he ends up doing. This summer is going to be big I know, because God is big and he will do great things in this ministry.
I know that God knew this was going to happen. I hope and pray that everything else this summer goes great. I'm no longer going to let this situation discourage me because I know that God will make everything ok.
On Tuesday, I started helping out with VBS at my church. I hadn't gotten to help the last couple years because of working, so it was kinda fun to be around all the kids again. I didn't really work in one spot like usual though...I helped with bed babies 2 days and 3&4 year olds today. On Wednesday, I taught the missions class! We learned about missionaries that work in Columbia. I enjoyed that a lot, too.
I also got to hang out with friends this week that I enjoy hanging out with a lot so that was good too. I am very blessed to have friends like I do to rely on and have a good time with.
On the more down side, I have been struggling with something that is not even really my own issue. I tend to worry about others and their problems sometimes even more than my own. I just found out that my friend who was going to be working with me this summer doing International Student Ministry is no longer going to be working it. This is not about me just wanting to work with my friend all summer, because I know we'll still see each other (hopefully). I guess I'm just a little discouraged because he had already made the commitment to it and we went through training and a conference in LA, and he's decided not to do it only a week before the job starts. My dad and I both thought he would be able to help this ministry and really receive the blessing I think God is going to be working in it this summer because he wants to do mission work and displays some great leadership qualities. He really had some issues with the way our weekly schedule was laid out. On our schedule we were given in description to what we'd be doing...it did look full and had 5 days/week laid out for us. Honestly I really don't think he understood that it's not going to be the same schedule every week. I highly doubt there will be one week this summer that I work the amount of hours he thought we were going to work, but oh well. Yeah, there is a bit of a time commitment, but it's a ministry and we're just doing fun stuff like the whole time. I really think I'll probably end up working 3days a week, then having one bigger event planned for the weekend or maybe like 2 smaller things. For me, I know that I want to see my family and friends this summer, too...but I also know that God has called me to missions so I will have to find a balance between them now just as I'll have to learn how to in the future as well. But mission work and family/friend time doesn't have to always be separated either. I mean, the whole reason I became so interested in International Student Ministries in the first place was because of my dad including me in this ministry all these years. I definitely plan on inviting my friends to come to our fun events too so they can experience how God is working and also gives me more time to see them! So I guess my purpose for ranting about this is mainly because I guess I'm a little confused about all of this and why it's happening to me, and also feel bad for him because I think this summer will be amazing, and I just wish my friend would have been able to experience it. I understand his reasoning, but still don't think he gets the full picture of what we're doing. Hopefully he still gets a great summer experience in whatever he ends up doing. This summer is going to be big I know, because God is big and he will do great things in this ministry.
I know that God knew this was going to happen. I hope and pray that everything else this summer goes great. I'm no longer going to let this situation discourage me because I know that God will make everything ok.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Did You Know?
This is a video that was shown to us at the ACMI conference in LA. It is very interesting and kind of scary to say the very least.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Great Start To The Summer
I just got back yesterday evening from Los Angeles. It's way hotter in St. Louis than it was there!
I had quite an experience in my little over 4 day trip...full of conference stuff that wasn't all that bad, and we got to go touring too. I got to see some pretty amazing stuff! On Sunday afternoon, my friend that lives in LA picked my friends and me up from Azusa and took us to Santa Monica Beach! It was beautful! We got to try some authentic Mexican tacos, and ate dinner at In and Out burger which was also really good! I'm super glad I got to experience this awesome stuff!
As far as the conference goes, it was good overall. I mean there were some boring moments, but I also learned and experienced a lot. One morning, we worshipped in the Hindi language to Indian sounding music and it was so amazing! I had never experienced worship in that way before and I loved how I could feel God's prescence in music that was so foreign to me in the worship sense. It kind of amazes me to see how this organization called ACMI has come so far working in International Student Ministry (ISM). Not so long ago, I thought my dad was one of the only ones who had a passion like that to reach out to the international college students. I cannot wait to start my summer missionary position this summer to find out what ways God will use me to minister to internationals and refugees. God is definitely starting a fire in me....I can feel the enemy trying to hinder it, but I am striving to keep him out and letting the light stay shining.
I feel like my summer is really starting at home now because I was only home for 2 days from school before I left for Hannibal then L.A. Definitely glad to be home now. I cannot wait to see all my friends that I've been missing while away at school. This week is already full of plans to see them! I plan on making the most out of my summer and not wasting a single minute.
I had quite an experience in my little over 4 day trip...full of conference stuff that wasn't all that bad, and we got to go touring too. I got to see some pretty amazing stuff! On Sunday afternoon, my friend that lives in LA picked my friends and me up from Azusa and took us to Santa Monica Beach! It was beautful! We got to try some authentic Mexican tacos, and ate dinner at In and Out burger which was also really good! I'm super glad I got to experience this awesome stuff!
As far as the conference goes, it was good overall. I mean there were some boring moments, but I also learned and experienced a lot. One morning, we worshipped in the Hindi language to Indian sounding music and it was so amazing! I had never experienced worship in that way before and I loved how I could feel God's prescence in music that was so foreign to me in the worship sense. It kind of amazes me to see how this organization called ACMI has come so far working in International Student Ministry (ISM). Not so long ago, I thought my dad was one of the only ones who had a passion like that to reach out to the international college students. I cannot wait to start my summer missionary position this summer to find out what ways God will use me to minister to internationals and refugees. God is definitely starting a fire in me....I can feel the enemy trying to hinder it, but I am striving to keep him out and letting the light stay shining.
I feel like my summer is really starting at home now because I was only home for 2 days from school before I left for Hannibal then L.A. Definitely glad to be home now. I cannot wait to see all my friends that I've been missing while away at school. This week is already full of plans to see them! I plan on making the most out of my summer and not wasting a single minute.
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