Refining

God has been refining me. For the past six months, it seems that God has thrown me situations and circumstances that have been more challenging than I though possible to handle. God loves me, and I am His chosen daughter. He is my king, and He is jealous for me. God is jealous for me, when I choose things that don't honor Him, He gets jealous. Such a mind blowing thought.

God is jealous for me.

I'm not that special, not special enough for the God of the universe to be jealous for. The depth of God's love for me alone, literally blows my mind. In the midst of the challenges I feel that I have faced in the last six months, God has taken something that could have caused me to become very bitter, or just have a terrible attitude, but God has used every situation for His glory and His good and perfect plan.

Just yesterday, came another one of these hard situations. I have been working at SpringHill Day Camps as a counselor this summer, and right off the bat, week one, God handed me a co-counselor who was very challenging, testing my patience and stretching the love I had. I ended up working with him again this week, but he left yesterday, for the rest of the summer. Immediately, I felt relief, another trial gone. But after all my campers had gone home for the day, I was overcome with regret. I could have loved Him more like Jesus loves me, and now he is gone. I let an opportunity to be the mode of Jesus through my fingers, and I didn't care. I took it for granted. Once again, I have some mending to do, and God is continuing to refine me, little by little until the final completion.

This has become my prayer for the summer...

Ephesians 5:15-17: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

I ran a half-marathon?!?!

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 5am, pretty tired and feeling like I could be sick at any moment. I ate a bagel and walked around with every nerve on edge. Yesterday was the day I ran my first half-marathon. For those who have known me for a while, you know this is probably one of the last things I would have ever considered doing, even a year ago. So, needless to say, this was a huge accomplishment for me.

Training for the half-marathon was a lot of work, but luckily I had a lot of extra time on my hands this semester, especially after my senior design expo was finished. But even with all that training and the countless miles I ran, the actual race was a lot harder than I expected. My only goal was to run the whole thing, which I managed, all 13.1 miles, and for that, I am happy, and very, very sore today.

This is my finisher's medal

Land Loss

Today my heart breaks for the Ache community of Kuetuvy. I spent this past January living in this remote jungle community, getting to know the people, falling in love with their simple culture and loving these beautiful people. The Ache have been battling the Paraguayan government for years to rightfully own their ancestral land. After a law that would rule in favor of the Ache passed in the Paraguayan legislature, it was up to the president to either pass the law, or veto it. There was a lot of hope that he would pass the law and the Ache would rightfully own the land where their ancestors had lived for generations. Unfortunately, he vetoed the law, sending the Ache community of Kuetuvy a roller coaster of emotions and mourning. They have hope that one more try will earn them their land, but prayers are needed as they try once more to legally gain the land they have been living on for years.

One of the missionaries we worked with while in Paraguay sent these compelling pictures as the community mourns a huge loss.

The Annual Prairie Burn--A Glorious Day

Every spring Upland, IN burns the Prairie across the street from Taylor University. Every year they send out a campus email inviting us all to come witness this spectacle. I was never interested as an immature freshmen or sophomore. Junior year I somehow missed the email even though I wanted to go, and as a mature and well-informed senior, I was more than prepared today when that email came around. With camera, friends and a dog in tow, we made our way to the science center parking lot, along with half of the Upland residents and students from Taylor. I can't even describe it besides saying that it was an awesome field of fire. Here are some pics, maybe you'll be able to smell the smoke, because I sure can.

Me by the beginnings of the blaze.



Middle



Near the end of the burning

I have failed.

So after going on about how running has become a discipline for me, I have not run in exactly 2 weeks. I have failed. To be fair, I was a little consumed with my senior art show, which was pretty important. My last run was 8 miles, tomorrow we will see how much I can run after a two week break, and with the half-marathon less than a month away, training time is getting serious and every run is going to count.

Anyway, the last two weeks have been crazier than ever getting stuff ready for the show and putting together a portfolio of my best graphic design work form the past 4 years. Yesterday morning I was so nervous I could hardly eat, and the closer we got to the show, it just didn't seem real. The doors opened and people literally flooded in. It was an awesome night with so many friends and so much fun. It was so encouraging having people admire my work. My only regret was in my shoe choice which I am still regretting a day later. Really hot shoes, but they come at a really painful price. Here is a pic of me & the fam with my table/display:

The show will be up until Easter, so come check it out at the Taylor University gallery. There are a lot of talented designers with great work to show off!

Hike Up Those Bloomers, Sally

I've been learning a lot about disciple lately. Spiritual discipline and other life disciplines.

Today I ran 7 miles. I hate running, but for some absurd reason, I signed up to run a half marathon in May, so I clearly have a lot of running to do to get in shape for this crazy thing. Because I hate this running, it has become a discipline for me to lace up my shoes and run three times a week. Doing this though has taught me a lot about discipline and how often we have to do things we just don't want to do.

Obviously I don't have to run, I could just chicken out and quit, but I think that knowing I set this huge goal for myself and not following through on that would be more painful than a 7 mile run. I can do this, even though I hate the process, in the end, when I cross that finish line, I am certain it will be a sweet victory.

I also just finished reading a book by Lauren Winner called Mudhouse Sabbath. It was a very interesting read. Lauren Winner was a Jew who converted to Christianity, and in the book, she writes about some of the spiritual disciplines and practices Jews observe, and how she has tailored those practices to her life as a Christian. I think I appreciated this book more because of the stage of life I am in. I am getting ready to graduate from college, and I have been thinking a lot about what I want my life to look life when I get out into the real, big world. Winner raises a lot of great points and questions I am still trying to figure out. I highly recommend it, especially since I feel that it left me to draw my own conclusions and figure out how I will practice the spiritual disciplines and what they will look like specific to me and my life.

Chow for Puppies

Happy Birthday Jess!!

PS- congrats to Anna F and Andrea F for solving the big blog mystery. This is your shout out. You win.