Today we had a snow day, which was really nice. We actually had Wednesday off as well. Tonight I was working on my paper I came across this...and thought it was pretty funny.
Hope your day was great!!!
God's promises are new every morning. He will never leave us or forsake. We never have to question Him. We can trust in Him! He is always faithful!
This past weekend I went back to South Dakota. It was a great weekend with my family! My sister Kelsey had her state Cross Country meet on Saturday, so it was fun to be able to watch her run! I was also able to get in a bunch of volleyball games (high school and college) and see some wonderful friends! Here are a few photos from the event!
My Sister Whitney and I, getting ready for the race!!! In the process of trying to find Kels...
My mom and I! I love her lots and am so thankful for her!
Whose feet belong to who??? Getting ready to run around the golf course!
Sisters after the meet! It was getting pretty windy!
The girls X-Country Team! They did great!
Whit and I, thinking long and hard what we wanted to do...
When driving across Wyoming or on any hand, any long distance, music and ipod are a necessity!!!
The Long journey ahead of me...Colorado Springs Here I come...
an Ipod(music) is a necessity when taking a road trip...
If you have never driven through Wyoming to Colorado, you have missed this town. Lost Springs, Population 1???
Well, I don't have anything new to really report. Classes are going well. We are winding down for the week, and have one more class tomorrow. Today we had Dr. Tacketts class. It was really good! We talked about the sphere of the state, and the states role in society. Dr. Tackett is full of so much knowledge and wisdom, and he is a wonderful teacher. I am so thankful to get to sit under him and other teachers who have a heart to see the next generation rise up to know and understand the truth, and to live lives that are attractive to outsiders. One of the verses Dr. Tackett has emphasized is from Colassions 4:5-6 which states, "Live wisely among those who are not believers, and making the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you many know how to answer everyone."
Lets, see what else have I been up to. It has been snowing all day, but luckily has not accumulated. I am hoping to drive home tomorrow, so I am praying for safe travels, and good roads. I have been working a lot at the Community Bible Study headquarters. The ladies that I work with are so sweet. We are preparing for two big conferences coming up: a leadership training and leadership conference. I was there for almost 5 hours this afternoon working on some things!
Today I feel my heart being anxious. Anxious about the future, and just some uncertainties. I hear the Lord telling my heart over and over to "not be anxious about anything, but be in prayer" In Philippians 4:6-7 it states, "Do not worry about anything, instead, pray about EVERYTHING. Tell God what you need, and THANK HIM for what He has done. Then you will EXPERIENCE God's PEACE, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you LIVE in Christ JESUS." I need to meditate on this today. God brings peace and comfort. He can handle any and every situation. I cannot trust my own feelings or anxious thoughts, but I have to put my trust in the Lord, knowing that He will work for the good of those who love Him, that He will make a way where there is no way. He is faithful and good. All is promises are yes and amen. I have to rest in His peace tonight, knowing that the God I love and serve is in control of my life, and nothing is too hard for Him to handle. This gives me such assurance.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank You God for your peace that passes ALL Understanding. I rest assured in your love!
Hebrews 4:12 The Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE. Sharper than any double-edged sword. God's word is ALIVE and MOVING today. The word of God is applicable to everyday life. God is ever-present in Creation. He is always speaking. It is amazing how I can be studying scripture from long ago and it is applicable to my life today.
I am continually reminded how much I need to Know God's word, to really KNOW it. That it becomes an outflow of how I live, and the TRUTH by which I live my life. God is never changing. He has always been and always will be. His word is TRUTH. It His truth, knowing the truth, that sets us free. The Word of God is there to teach us how to live, how to conduct our daily lives, how to deal with different situations, etc. There is so much in there. There have been many situations and times where I have gone to the Word of God, and it speaks directly to what I am needing to hear, and what I am dealing with.
I am realizing more and more, the importance of having a daily quiet time, of really searching the scriptures and understanding what God's word says. It is easy to get busy with daily life, and get caught up in activity, but if I want to live my life according to God's word, I need to know what it says, and meditate on it. I need to have that time that I am communing with the Lord, and being still before Him. "Be Still and KNOW that I AM God. I will be Exalted among the nations" He is God, and worthy of my time, my affection, and my worship!
Psalm 145:1-3 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name forever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
"I love this song because it declares who God is, and his infinate power, but his intimacy with His creation, with me. He is worthy of praise. He is worthy of my time. He is worthy of my love. There is no other God beside Him.
The second verse says, "Because you're with me, I will not fear." God is always present, always with me. He will never leave. I don't have to fear about tomorrow or the present. I can trust in His promises! He is Faithful!
Jesus may I take the time this week to spend in your word and look more into your Truth. I want to understand your ways. Thank you for your love, thank you for your forgiveness, thank you for your patience. You are always speaking, and always with me. May I be aware of you working in every detail of my life, and may my life align with your truth!
Here is a link to the song! It is written and performed by Brooke Fraser!
So we had a barn dance this Friday night! It was so much FUN!!! We got all dressed up and had a few contests and learned a bunch of dances: line dances, square dances, and such. Here are a few pictures from the night!!!
The Barn was decorated really nice with lights and fall decorations!
My friend Amber and I waiting for the festivities to begin...
So we had a few contests: a pie eating contest, sack race, and this which was husking corn with your feet and then passing the corn with your feet to your team members...it was definiately interesting.
What a fun start to the weekend! This was a great way to spend a Friday night! I would highly recommend it! It is fun, is a good workout, you get to learn some new dances and moves, and you get to spend time with others!
Life gets busy...Things have been kind of crazy this last week here at Focus, but there has been lots of fun and great memories!
Where do I begin...classes are going good. I am trying to stay ahead of my reading, so I can enjoy my time here without trying to cram reading in last minute at 1:00 in the morning. On Wednesday for the Gender and Leadership class we had a Leadership Experiment where we were put into pairs to research a character in the Tyco Fraud Scandal that happened in the early 2002. By the end of it all we were all Tyco'd out...My character was Kevin McCoy and I was a newsreporter. If you have never heard of Tyco, there was a big scandal about the CEO and other members of the board using the company's money to support their own personal lives and luxiourious tastes. It was interesting to look into. The CEO Dennis Kozlowski and Frank Swartz are both in jail for what they did. If you are ever interested, you can look on youtube for interviews with Kozlowski in jail or google info on it. I had never heard of it so it was interesting to learn about.
In other news I went to a Joyce Meyer conference on Thursday night. It was so much fun! I was debating if I should go, and at the last minute decided to go. While I was there I met a sweet girl, and got to know her. We had both came by ourselves, so it was fun to experience that with someone else, even if she was a complete stranger.
Joyce Meyer was great! I liked her much better in person than listening to her or reading her books. She had some great things to say, and it was just what I needed to hear. She began the whole session by giving a salvation message right at the beginning. She said, "I don't know why we have to wait to the end. We might as well put them out of their misery and get to the main point. That is relationship with Jesus." She talked about how Jesus didn't die for us so we could have religion, but so we could have relationship with Him...So True!!! We have been given the strength to do whatever we need to do IN CHRIST! It is Christ in us that is the hope of Glory!!!
Joyce's main message was great. She talked about our emotions and feelings, and about standing firm on the word of God, and being in control of our thoughts, feelings and emotions. The word of God should be the final factor in ALL Decisions. God is never wrong. We need to invest time in studying scriputure and knowing what it says. God's word is ALIVE and ACTIVE. John 8:31-32 says, "You will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will SET YOU FREE."
Feelings are your biggest enemy. Feelings are fickle, unpredictable. Loving is not a feeling, it is a willing. Need to start making a decision to love. We need to discern our feelings and God's will. God is never going to do anything that is outside of His character. He isn't going to tell you to buy an expensive car if it will get you in debt and cause lots of financial trouble. We need to live smart. We need to FIRST PRAY about it and Ask for God's will. He will reveal Himself. God wants to show that He can take care of you and I.
Joyce also talked about Freedom. She stated that Freedom is being able to say "YES to GOD and no to yourself, and STILL be HAPPY, even if it is not what you wanted." It is not about the circumstances that we go through, but it is how we REACT to the circumstances.
1 Corinthians 2:13-3
The Spiritual Man discerns, investigates, questions, waits on God, possesses spiritual maturity, knows how to get along with othe people, keeps self calm, is not narrow minded, filled with Truth, keeps their commitments, the law of love rules His/her Spirit, and has the fruit of the spirit.
Colossians 3 - Set your Mind and Keep it Set!!!
She had some great things to say! I left there so encouraged, and challenged.
I returned from Justice For All outreach around 1:00 tuesday night (wednesday morning). JFA was an incredible experience. God really showed up. It was definately challenging, and frustrating at times. It had its ups and its downs, but God was good through it all. I saw him working through the lives of so many people. We had some amazing conversations and got people thinking about the subject of abortion. Much of my conversations were getting to know people, and understanding where their beliefs about abortion had come from.
Our bus pulled out around 12:30 Sunday afternoon from Focus on the Family. The bus that I was on broke down about 2 hours from Alberquerque, NM, so the majority of us squished onto the other bus, while about 20 people had to stay back in Las Vegas (New Mexico) for 5 hours at the local Burger King. I was on the bus that was able to continue on the Alberquerque.
Reading on the Bus to New Mexico
We arrived at a local church, had dinner, and then met up with our host families. My roomate and Jetta and I stayed with a sweet family (The Blain's). They had a beautiful home and a beautiful family. They were so hospitable and it was wonderful to spend time and get to know their family in the short time we had with them.
With the sweet Blain Family: Luke, Matt, Helen, Patricia, Peter, and Myself
Monday morning we were up early to head to our first day of outreach. I felt totally unprepared, and unequipped for what we were about to do. On our way to the University of New Mexico campus, I was trying to prepare in my mind what was about to happen. It was a battlefield we were about to enter. There was a were between life and death, and many people had their own opinion and believed their way was right. All I could do was bring the truth, and present the option of life.
At the end of the day, I realized that in my own strength I could do nothing. My words were weak and I would often stumble. It is when I completely rely on the Lord, that He works through me, and uses my weak words to speak to others. Some of the people that I spoke with on Monday had interesting ideas such as skin cells falling of our body and turning into a baby??? Who knew...
Many people were offended by the display of Justice for All. Many of the pictures are graphic and bring about lots of discussions and questions. The pictures show the reality of abortion and look at the stages of an unborn child and life. It is hard to miss the display in the middle of campus
A view of the Exhibit in the middle of campus. We gathered around there to talk with people about the pro-life issue.
Some of the crowd gathered around during the open mic debate.
A closer shot of the exhibit
Tuesday afternoon I was given the chance to speak with a 19 year old girl who had had an abortion when she was 15. We were able to speak for about 2 hours. It was one of the hardest conversations I have had, but it was also one of the most memorable conversations.
Along with the exhibit, we had a poll booth and free speech board. Both of these allowed us to have various conversations with individuals.
"Jesus" decided to show up to our exhibit and write on the free speech board.
He was dressed up in full costume, yarn in his hair, and Nike shoes on his feet.
Our group sitting and listening how to do surveys on campus.
My Friend Katie and I at the University of New Mexico!
Overall, JFA was an amazing experience. It stretched me. It is something that I normally would not have gone to do, and I learned a lot through it. I left there with a realization that many people do not value human life, and there are a lot of people who are uneducation and do not value life. It was definately hard to leave campus, because I felt like there was so much more work that we needed to do. I know that God planted seeds in the heart of many people, and we will probably never see the work He is doing, but I know and believe that He is doing something in the hearts of the at the University of New Mexico and around the world.
The leaves are changing color, the air is crisp, and the sun is shining!
God is at work in my life. I can definately feel the prayers of many people and am so thankful for all the thoughts and prayers. The last couple days I have felt God's presence and just seen him work in little ways.
It is two of my roomates birthdays over the next couple of days and so we had an 80's birthday party for them last night. It was fun to have people over and celebrate each of them.
Here I am getting the food ready for the party...
We played talked, played games, and had lots of laughs!
Some of the group that came to the party!
My roomate Jetta and I went to Old Colorado City on Saturday afternoon, and then went to the Garden of the Gods since she had never been there before. It was a beautiful fall day! Colorado is beautiful this time of the year. We had such a wonderful time together!
Jetta and I walking towards the other girls in Old Colorado City...
The group at a Barbeque place for lunch: Lauren, Me, Katie, Kelli, and Jetta
There was a Pumpkin weighing contest in Old Colorado City and this was one of the pumpkins!
"I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me." On Sunday at 12:00pm, we (Focus Leadership Institute) are leaving to go to the University of New Mexico for a Pro- Life abortion demonstration with Justice For All. Basically what we are doing is beginning dialogue and conversation with other students. There is a three sided panel three people high that is displayed on campus that brings about discussion with other students.
The mission of Justice For All is to train thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time. This is accomplished through training a leadership core who are equipped to engage students using Justice For All photo exhibits that are placed upon U.S university campuses.
I had training all day Friday with JFA. We did a lot of roleplaying and were trained on different approaches of how to answer and ask questions. It was a lot to take in and was honestly overwhelming. The topic of abortion is very controversial, and will stir lots of conversation and emotions. On Monday and Tuesday we will be at the University of New Mexico standing in front of the sign, engaging in conversation with other students all day. I will post more about my experience when we return from our trip on Wednesday.
For more information check out www.jfaweb.org
I would appreciate your prayers. It is going to be a tough couple days. I am in need of Jesus, and am completely dependent on Him. I can do all things through him and his work in and through my life.
