Where I’ve been

Uhm, I’ve not blogged in a long, long time.

Got a boyfriend around Valentine’s Day.  We were engaged less than a month later.

The whole thing has been wonderful, but surreal.  I know when you get asked “You’re engaged!  What’s it LIKE!?” the answer shouldn’t be “weird!” But it has been!  and WONDERFUL.  I’m marrying my friend, who happens to be the most wonderful man on earth.  And I get to plan a wedding and wear an awesome dress!  I didn’t even think about that til we were engaged.  And that involved a limo and mountains!  I can’t believe any of this!

 

A more full update is forthcoming.  It involves me moving to the Middle East for the summer before i get married.  But for now, hold on to your hats, check facebook for photos and pray for my parents!

People are often unreasonable

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
― Mother Teresa

God has plans

God is not just a big God who is good

or a God who is always with us, no matter what storms come our way

but He is a God with plans–for every single day.  Not just “I’m with you, I’ll be there” but “I planned this, I already know, and I plan good things, always..”

 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  –  Psalm 139:16.

To get you through another day

It’s Wednesday of a 4-day work week, and my first day in the office in two weeks.  Here’s how I plan to get through the day:

Romans 12:11 says:

¹¹Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.”

 Then, Colossians 3:23-25″

²³Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,

    ²⁴Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah).

 

It is Jesus who I get to serve today at my job!  Yee. THAT truth makes it all ok.

 

This morning I awoke at 4:30 am

Could be for any number of reasons I suppose

But if I tell myself it’s because I’m sick, or hungry or something else

Then I’ll try hard to fall back asleep

And instead, lie awake

Then eventually roll out of bed at 6:30

As my friend Peach has said, there is a difference between sleep and lying in bed, eyes closed.

 

So today I got up–not right away, but sooner than I might have

To ask Him why He woke me up so early

As the Good Book says, “The Lord gives to his beloved sleep”

I reminded Him of this

But it appears He also gives to his beloved sweet verses in the Scriptures that can get us through the day better than sleep can

And that is more than ok by me

Though if He wants to let me doze off again while praying

That is more than ok too

I’m my beloved’s and He’s mine

Best place to be

 

House of Hope

http://www.houseofhopemd.org/child-sponsorship.html
Can we talk about how cute these kids are for a second?  Today I really missed them, and I missed Subha (since her photo is on a mobile where I am working from home under my loft bed).  I jumped on skype at lunch and had a talk with Sami Badra, my friend who introduced me to Subha, and he told me that this week she was asking about me.  So was Aiman (you can see his photo on the website).

 

How is it that they still remember me, and I them, at the same time, randomly, years later in other parts of the world?  I hope to return to Palestine to visit.  Stupid passport laws around Israel and the Arab world .  God, bless Sami, heal his shoulder and watch over my friends. I really miss my friends over there in Bethlehem!

Finished another book

I finished another book.  This one was called “Chasing the Dragon“.  Yes, I just linked to a wiki article about heroine and not the book itself, which is found here.

I’ve been writing when I finish books, but this one required a lot of thought first.

Jackie left on a slow boat to China (literally) when she was young and single. She wanted to tell everybody about Jesus. And as she ministered in possibly the worst slum on earth, she learned a lot about Jesus and his Holy Spirit.

When she began to pray in another language for 15 minutes a day on her own time, she noticed a change in the number of kids and poor women she was able to help.  Also..when teens wanted to come off heroine, they would pray in the Holy Spirit (even if they had not even understood the whole Bible yet) and they would be set free from any pain during withdrawl.

It was amazing to read stories of lives that were transformed and STAYED transformed.  I learned a lot from her mistakes and triumphs in Jesus. I recommend it to anybody who wants to see miracles and know Jesus more, but i recommend going in with an open heart if you’re not used to this stuff — I do not yet pray in tongues, but i’d like to after reading her story—and i find that people who tell me to slow down and be more careful and stick to the straight and narrow didn’t see thousands of addicts leading their gangs to Jesus.

 

As usual in biographies I read, the heroine did not really sleep.  Fascinating.  Still praying for balance and all with that one.

Better Resolutions

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

Better resolutions by Jonathan Edwards.