The One with the Recap

I always have this great plan to blog weekly, but as you can see, that rarely happens.

So I’ll give a quick recap on these past few months.

The Villa.

I live in a house with 5 other girls and it has been a huge blessing! We are all intercultural Studies majors and get along great. We have a fabulous time together and I love going home to them.

Missions Conference.

I have the senior director position of Biola University’s Missions Conference, which is completely student run. It has been such a blessing!! For those of you who don’t know, Missions Conference is a time every spring where Biola cancels classes for 3 days and we bask in Jesus, our call as Christians and to hear what’s happening in this world. This year we are trying something new in the planning process where my co-director and I meet with every department on campus. We met with 42 professors, administers, and/or department staff throughout the fall. Such an honour! Every single one of those meetings was unique and God showed me how blessed I am to be at a school with such quality and God seeking people. I am in awe of Him and don’t deserve to be at this school studying under people who truly seek more of Jesus.

Missions Conference is coming quickly (16-18 March 2011) and there is still a lot to do as we finish planning, but we have a wonderful staff of 90 who are stepping up and going above and beyond their call as staff. Another blessing! I am so overjoyed by the people God has led to Missions Conference. It’s been a privilege to work with our staff, I wish I could personally get to know each staff member, but time limits me.

Virginia Beach.

In October, I got to fly to Virginia Beach. My brother and his fiancé are attending law school at Regent University. My mother and I both flew out there to help Liz go wedding dress shopping. It was fun to see their new lives and to help her dress shop.

Thanksgiving.

This year I spent thanksgiving in skid row. A friend and I went down the day before and spent the night on the roof of the Union Rescue Mission. We didn’t go down with intentions of being helpful or anything, we just wanted to spend the holiday in skid row. We ended up serving in the kitchen both Wednesday and the day of thanksgiving, they needed help and we volunteered. But the majority of our time we just wandered the streets. I met some new friends, my favourite, Garberville Bill. We talked with him for quite a while. He was abducted by aliens 2 years ago and told me all about the good aliens and bad aliens, he says they’re just like good people and bad people. You see there is a fight-taking place in outer space between these aliens. According to Bill, there is a battle for planet Earth because it’s the best planet in all the galaxies since we are the most resourceful planet. But the good aliens are protecting us from the bad aliens taking over. If you ask me, this sounds a lot like angels and demons. Garberville Bill has been on drugs since the 60’s so he has some interesting stories and has a big heart. He is definitely one of my favourites.

Tattoo.

I finally got a new tattoo. My housemates and I were in Hollywood to celebrate the end of finals when some of them wanted to go dancing. The other 3 of us didn’t so we decided we would get tattoos while we waited. I got the word ‘freiheit’ (German) behind my right ear. It means freedom. This word means a lot to me. There are several reasons why that I won’t go into at the moment. In the midst of getting the tattoo, it hit me that I was a getting this tattoo, one with great meaning to me, in the middle of Hollywood, a town that desperately needs true freedom.

Spain.

I am currently on a plane to Madrid (hence the long update). My oldest friend Jenny is currently living there so I am going to visit her. I am ready for another great adventure! On Friday, we are going to Casablanca, Morocco. I’ve always wanted to go there, so you can imagine how excited I am! God is good and always provides!

More later.

Peace.