almost half-time

I just realized the spring semester is about to come to an end and I have not written much. I want you all to know that things in the Big D are going well. Classes are harder and my job is demanding more of me every day, but I'm growing in ways I never expected and I praise God for it. My mom and I have this running joke about football and when I first started here she called me and said, "It's the start of the 1st quarter and the ball has been kicked off to you." Well now that I am about to complete my first year of my two year program at Seminary, I would say I have almost made it to half-time and I'm not out of the game yet. ;) (We will just call that extra semester it is going to take me to finish overtime.)

As most of you know I have been actively involved in a homeless ministry since moving to Texas and I wanted to give you a couple of updates on that. First, I wrote an article on my experience with the ministry for my writing class and I have an online magazine that is interested in publishing it. Pray that God will allow that to happen so that people can learn about OurCalling.org and get involved with some of the amazing things they are doing with the homeless in Dallas. Secondly, I have been asked to speak and give my testimony at one of the meetings. Please pray for that as well. I will be giving a short testimony at our meeting this Friday, but I will be the main speaker at one of the meetings in the weeks to come. Our meetings on Fridays usually have between 50 and 100 homeless people and we serve them coffee and have what we call a "Life Skills" class. We have to call it that because the government will not allow us to call it a Bible study. However, everyone of these classes, regardless of the nights topic, ends up being about the Gospel and how these people can have a relationship with Jesus. It is pretty amazing. I will write more as the semester ends and keep everyone updated on the ministry. Also, if the article is not published I will post it here.

One last thing. Chuck Swindoll, the Chancellor of Dallas Seminary, spoke in chapel at the beginning of the semester and he warned all of us that the first year of seminary would be full of spiritual warfare. He was right! It has been hard and wonderful all at the same time, but the Lord is seeing me through. Please continue to keep me and my time here at seminary in your prayers.

this world vs. God's world

It's so hard to be human sometimes. There are desires in your heart and things that you covet, yet you also want the Lord's perfect will for your life and you have no idea if they are one in the same. I want my life to glorify God, but I also want a career, a house, a HUSBAND and a family, and jeep, and a that cute pair of jeans, and those shoes, and etc., etc., etc. . . The things of this world are so tempting, UGGGG! I know this is something we all struggle with, but for some reason that struggle has been particularly hard for me the last couple of weeks. Maybe it has been the spring like weather we have here in Texas or maybe it has been my lack of motivation to study (which is especially not good in seminary), but in God's sovereignty He gave me a reminder in church this morning that I desperately needed to hear. The pastor spoke on Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." This was the reminder I needed that God's will is greater than anything this world has to offer and I will continue to seek His will with the strength He gives me, even when I don't feel like it. And finally, Thank you God for grace when I screw this up. I pray you will continue to align the desires of my heart with your will and help me to let go of my plans and follow your guidance, and again, thank you for your grace when I screw it up. So I guess it's time to study His word, since I do desire to follow His will. :)

more Grace

With fall semester over and spring semester about to start I thought I would reflect on what I have learned in my first semester at seminary; and while there is so much packed into my head now the greatest lesson I have learned (and am still learning) is GRACE. See knowledge leads to pride and I could tell in some of my reactions to people while I was home for the holidays that I was judgmental or prideful, and I didn't like the way that looked. Grace is a FREE gift given from our Creator that He did not have to give, and I am no more or less deserving than the murder sitting on death row or the pastor behind the pulpit. God has shown me this in numerous little ways and I am blown away by His love, His patience and His sovereignty. While I absolutely love the song, Amazing Grace doesn't begin to explain how wonderful and precious this gift is. Think about Paul. . . He deserved the severest of punishments for his mistreatment of people and yet by the Grace of God he was an apostle and a mouthpiece for Christ. We all have been given something so astounding and all we have to do is put our hands out and accept it. Can you believe that?! I'm ashamed that I have not always extending this same gift to those around me and I am thankful that I am not only forgiven, but continually given more grace. I just think that is something we should all take the time to ponder. How wonderful our world would be if we all showed the grace to others that has been shown to us. I am currently reading the book The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll for one of my classes and if you can I highly recommend reading it. I will share more as I read and learn more. Be thankful and praise God for His grace.