The One with A New Best Friend.

Jesus is working on me this summer.

        He is showing me things about me, His love, His heart, His plans, His grace.

                        I am in New York to be transformed for His glory.

 Here, it is just Him and me 

I am here with little distractions

By this I mean, no school, no 3 jobs, no friends
I have an internship here,  

but they generously give me time to explore the city.

I have a lot of open time to be with Jesus.

                                  Just Him and me.

He is becoming my constant companion,
                    my best friend.

I know this should already be so,

but I’ve always had so many distractions around me

that I compromised my relationship with Him.

And now, I am here to spend time in His presence.

                                  And grow a tremendous amount for His glory.

   I know now this is why I have been called to this big city. 

                  I am in NYC for me- for my relationship with God.

         I am so grateful.

            He gets all the glory!

He is transforming me to be more like Him.

                I’ve been praying to live more faithfully.

                             Why is it so difficult to have faith?

                This is something I am constantly struggling with.

      Maybe it's because I'm scared.
    
      Maybe it's because I'm selfish. 

 Or maybe it's because it's hard to listen to honest truth I don't always want to hear. 

  

Through His Word, 

                          I am learning more and more about the importance of faith,

                                                                   even in the littlest and mundane things.

             I’m learning to listen to the whisper He so often speaks with.

To have faith in this whisper.

A couple weeks ago, I felt the spirit telling me to give a homeless man $20.

  To be honest, I didn’t really want to,

     but I did because I knew it was what I was being called to do.

The next day,

                    I was coming home and there was $20 lying on the subway platform. 

                         Everyone walked right by it.

                                    I picked it up.

                  I know He gave me this $20 to show me what faith is.

                                                                             To confirm His ways.

On my free days,

                        I usually end up walking around Manhattan and Central Park.

                              I’ve started only going the directions the whisper tells me to go.

                                                It’s a time to learn how to listen to Him.
         I find that when I start to stop listening I walk in circles or have to back track.
       It reminds me of life.
     In times when I don't listen to his will for me, I always end up having to go back. 

Today, as I sat in Central Park, 

        God showed me how much our relationship has grown, 

        has transformed in just a few weeeks
       It seems like I am constantly praying.

       I am constantly in dialogue with Him.

           I am spending a lot of my day in the Bible too.

Never before have I spent this much time one-on-one with Him.

It’s actually pretty sweet.

     I am learning so much.

                         He has revealed so much to me of what is to come.

        Of who He is.

                     Of where I am headed.

                     Of His love and glory.

          I have been greatly changed in such a short time.

                                It’s amazing how He is at work in me.

   I am so excited to see His plan be unveiled in time.

           I know there are some things coming that are going to be beautiful

           And only the redeeming blood of Jesus will deserve the glory! 

The One with the Love of a Mama Rat

The other day as I stood on the subway platform, 

     I watched a mama rat with her 3 babies for a good 15 minutes. 

She was constantly running after her babies, 

        trying to keep them together. 

When one would run off, she chased it down and brought it back to the others.  

   As I stood there watching, I couldn't help but be grateful for my parents. 

                                   The mama rat desired to keep her children on track,

                      even risking her life as a train came to find her child. 

My mother and father raised 3 children too. 

                (I guess I'm comparing my parents to this rat... no offense mutti and daddy)

    This rat showed me something about the love of parents. 

We may not get along all the time, but I know they want the best for us.  

          I also noticed the energy the mama rat used chasing her babies around. 

   My brothers and I have always been everywhere, 

            as kids, one at soccer, one at boy scouts, the other at swim practice. 

to more recently, traveling the world. one in Iraq, one hiking Machu Picchu, one hanging out in Africa. 

 to one living in California, one in North Carolina, and the other in Virginia Beach. 

Between the 3 of us, one of us always seems to be going somewhere or doing something. 

                         It's been this way since I can remember. 

My mother was always behind us, supporting us, and running in all directions. 

                     She still is. 

                                      And my father too. 

This rat family, living in the subways of New York City,

                                   made me grateful and showed me what a blessing my parents are. 

SO thank you Daddy and Mutti

                     for everything throughout my 21 years. 

I am so honoured you love us the way you do and 

     I find great joy in the way you brought us up to love Christ and 

                                                                       live for the one who shed HIs blood. 

          When one of us strayed the other way,

                    you guys always ran after us like that mama rat, trying to bring us back. 

If it weren't for the love you guys have for us and more importantly for Christ, 

          None of us would be were we are today. 

                                                               Thank you! 

Oh, and we love you! 

It's funny the things God can use to show us something. Even Rats. 

 I guess I should pay more attention to the little things around me. 

For it is with a small voice God tends to teach us, show us, and communicate with us. 

The One with a Running Life

        Life is an Adventure.
                         And God is good.

          This semester was a whirlwind.
       It passed so fast, yet so slow.
                             In that time, a lot happened.


        I worked 3 jobs the majority of the semester
            while trying to be a full time student.
     It was most definitely challenging.

Hawaii.
             However, God blessed me with a 2-week trip to Hawaii.
   It was the Sabbath I needed and kept forgetting to take.
          I went to Hawaii to visit a dear friend of mine.
                 We got to go on many adventures-
They involved::
        Hitchhiking.
        Running from wild boars.
        Walking around lost in the rain. Yes, LOST on an island ;)
        Biking through the jungles & beaches of Kauai.
        Paddle boarding.
        Snorkeling (makes me upset I’m not a mermaid).
        Doing the tourist thing (Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, etc)
        Camping on the beach.
        Hiking.
        Getting sun burnt.
        And more.
                                     I must say, it was a blast!
                         And exactly what I needed.
  It was a time of renewal and finding myself in God again.
                And for this, I know Christ sent me to Hawaii.


Missions Conference (MC).
                  Every spring semester, Biola halts classes
    and has a 3-day conference put on completely by the students.
            This past year,
                      I had the privilege of being a coordinator.
This means another girl and I were
                          in charge of the interactions department.
        We had 14 girls in the department
                                    who did an outstanding job!!

A couple weeks after the conference,
        I turned in an application to be next year’s co-Director of MC.
             Only a day after an interview with the SMU president,
I received a call informing me I got the position.
    My co-director and I will be the leaders of the
                largest student-run missions conference
(about 4,000-6,000 attendees coming and going).
          I am honoured God selected me to be a tool used for His glory.
         I look forward to the challenges and miracles I will experience.
                               I will learn and grow as a leader
               but more importantly, as a follower of Christ.


New York City.
                  I am currently living in NYC for the summer.
    I am an intern with New Life Community Health Center in Queens.
                            The clinic is connected to a church.
                                   It is completely free to the beneficiaries.
                                      It is run by donators and volunteers.
Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, EMT’s, Social Workers, Secretaries, etc.
          It caters to mostly immigrants and
                                      those with no form of health insurance.
But we will take anybody that walks through the door.
                                  So far, I’m enjoying it here.
                 I’m quickly getting acquainted with the subway system.
The clinic wants me to have time to explore the city
                                                   so they give me 3 days off a week.
                         I’ve already been on some great adventures.
            The first 5 or so days I was here,
                                             I felt so dizzy and a little nauseous.
I eventually told one of my friends who is here from Biola
                          for a couple weeks and he had the same issue.
He had determined it was from the constant movement
                                  of the subways that live underneath us.
                                                          I think he is right.
Fortunately, I am getting used to it b/c I no longer feel dizzy :).
 
 I have so much more I want to say,
    but there is no more time right now.
    
 I’ll try to update this more often now that I’m interning in NYC.