short & sweet

in a world that is so enthralled with looks, appearances, money, or keeping up with the Jones’s - which is so prevalent in the area I live, with the name brands covering each kid that walks into where I work, it’s sad that people think that money and status will satisfy... it's good to know that some people still want to make a difference in the world around them, not worrying about what people think. so this weekend was cold as I'll get, which I still dislike greatly, but I learn to deal .. I'm just happy to have a warm place to rest my head at night. so anyway, last night I got be part of something bigger than myself, which is always a good feeling. wsm [Woodside student ministry] hosted a volley ball tourney, where each team had to raise a certain about of money just to play and on top of that, prizes were given to those who raised the most money. the money is going directly to a orphanage that our church has in Thailand, where children are rescued from a life of sex trade and agony. as of today there are twenty-five children there, and hopefully twenty-five more this year. all together the high school students alone raised $7,000, not including concessions and other donations through the night. God was truly shown, seeing that we were only expecting maybe 2,500. it's just cool to see students spend their Saturday night (really snowy & bad roads at that) having fun playing volleyball, unifying as the body of Christ, and helping the children of Thailand. Besides helping those across the earth, my sister helped out at the homeless bbq downtown yesterday.. which I for one would really love to do, if I ever get a Saturday off! So yeah, anyway I love seeing/hearing about people doing things like that, it makes me smile. In other news, I started reading the Bible starting in Genesis & Matthew – at the same time. It’s the coolest thing ever, if you can get yourself through the genealogies, the Bible honestly is so intriguing and has totally captivated me, a lot more than I thought. Other worthy for mentioning news, me and Lindsay are going to Miami in April … I know I can’t believe it either. We both love & need adventure in our lives, so why not take the plunge. Finally, God is truly invading, captivating, and mending my heart. I love to see God moving and at work.

chew on this ...

*read this passage, we talked about it today in beta [Sunday school] ... God is so amazing and He longs to see us overcome, despite what the enemy spews at us on a daily basis. He truly works and orchestrates situations so perfectly it's mind boggling.

Revelation 12
The Woman and the Dragon

1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach.15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

crazy forty-eight hours.

yesterday in beta (a.k.a. Sunday school) we discussed separating art from the artist or how to find God in every area of life, your job, friends, movies, music, or books. we had some really good discussion about different areas you could find God in, it was interesting ... we also discussed whether you could find God in something that the artist had in a way had tainted. the best example we came up with was the song Healer, that was released on Hillsongs most recant album This Is Our God. The song writer, who thank God wasn't directly connected with Hillsong, had written the song while struggling with his fight with cancer and other medical conditions ... the only thing was, he didn't really have cancer - he was a fraud. he has deceived so many into thinking he was sick and raised support and touched many lives with his story and song, only to find out he was faking. it seems hurtful in a way to think about how someone could do that right..? despite the situation, how can anyone ever sing that song (Healer) ever again and not automatically think of the deceit behind it ... that's where separating art from the artist came in, it was really good discussion. and I've mentioned this one before, but the other idea was finding God in things that weren't meant to be about God. That's how it is for me when I listen to Possess Your Heart, and how if you think of the song as God talking to you - it becomes a worship song almost. It's cool how God works in the big and small areas of life. That brings me to Sunday afternoon, me and Lindsay drove up and over to Grand Rapids to see Matt Wertz & Andy Davis - and it was amazing, definitely worth the two hour trip..the show was amazing and then we got to chat with them after words, it was wonderful! Then today was a normal crazy Monday, in the midst of the chaos - me and Lindsay (for the first time, might I add) locked our keys in the car. thank God our sister was home - cause we were only about a mile from her house. so I called her up and explained the situation quickly cause my phone was really low battery and Lindsays phone has been on the rocks haa, so anyway of course the phone powered down and it would not turn back on, so we are panicking and wondering what to do!? not eve five minutes later we see Brittany drive up and we couldn't believe it cause we weren't sure if she was even home!! so the three of us our in the parking lot of jimmy johns with a wire hanger & a wooden cane Brittany had found at her house (weird I know, but really funny) trying to unlock the car through the 90% rolled down back window...it was probably the funniest scenario I've ever been apart of - cause none of us knew what we were doing and we were all laughing ... cause we could see the keys sitting in the consul. anyway this nice man that was parked next to us offered his assistants so we have a perfect stranger trying to break into our car! haa..we were totally causing a scene cause all these people kept coming up and trying to help or give tips, then my sisters friend Brynn randomly (not knowing we had been there) pulls up and is wondering what we are doing. after we explain we are all laughing and trying to encourage this nice guy that is helping us.. then this other guy pulls up and gets out wearing a "Cornerstone University Dad" asking how he could help and what had happened. - so that kind of rang a bell hmmm, maybe this guy is a Christian.. anyway, long story short - we all (the guys nice guys helping, britt, linds, brynn & me) began to talk about Campus Crusade and then we all figured out that we were all Christians and how funny it was that God had orchestrated life to happen this way. that we would all be encouraged through the frustrating task of getting you keys locked in the car...it was encouraging in a weird way and yes the nice guy (I don't remember his name) got the keys out and we all parted ways...just an example of how God really does show up in every area of life - even if it's just getting your keys locked in the car...