Hello electronic audience.  Its been quite a while since I’ve taken the time to jot down my thoughts.  There are several reasons for this.  First, I have been busy.  Two summer jobs plus support raising didn’t leave me with tons of leisure time, and the support process really just took a lot of energy from me.  By the end of the day, I just didn’t have much left to say.  Secondly, let’s be honest:  It was summer and not a lot was going on in my life.  Nothing worthy of blogging, anyway.  Thirdly, I saw the movie “Julie and Julia” at the beginning of August, and the perspective on blogging presented in the movie was convicting.  Julie’s sweet husband proclaims that blogging is fulfilling because its “all you all the time.”  Wow.  I felt narcissistic  for even having my own piece of the cyber universe here on wordpress.  Take all of these factors combined, and you get an empty blog.

But change is in the air.  Its WOW (week of welcome) here at Cal Poly, which means the air is abuzz with pre-fall excitement and the streets are filled with wide-eyed and (sometimes) inebriated freshman.  What a place.  I love it.  I also love that I have spent the last week with our SLO Crusade staff team planning awesome ways to reach every single student with the love of Jesus.  For the record, I love my job.

There have been several opportunities for me to write.  A few of the things I’ve wanted to write about were: Don Miller’s perspective on singleness, awkward phone conversations that happened while support raising, and all of the tiny miracles that make summer wonderful.  But I’ll do my best to keep you (my friends, family & support team) updated from here on out.  No guarantees on frequency of posts, but I am so very excited to share with you about how this life is unfolding.

The Gospel Coalition:

Why did it take me so long to find out about this.  I flippin love it.  I’m seriously all about this….I love their articles (especially those meant for campus ministry!)  This stuff speaks to my heart. Here’s the meaty article I’m working on right now.  It is a huge help with all of the spiritual conversations I’ve been having lately.  Here’s where I can find some answers to the people that are constantly asking me, “So, do you judge me?  Am I going to hell if I don’t believe in your God?”  Check it out!

…is being sure of what we hope for, certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith is scary.  But I know that the God I serve is faithful, and that he goes before me in all that I do.  

I was meditating on faith last night as I was praying over my plans for the future.  My dear dear friend (she’s my bosom friend, for you Anne of Green Gables fans) Brook shared some wisdom from the Word of God with me that was so encouraging that I thought I would share it with you too (it’s from Psalm 37:23-24):

If the LORD delights in a man’s way,

he makes his steps firm;

though he stumble, he will not fall, 

for the LORD uphold him with his hand.

This article changed my perspective on discerning God’s will about a year ago, and I am just now really getting to test out what it means to follow the Lord’s will in terms of big life decisions.  Check it out.

I realize this is a pretty random post… but I just wanted to share a little of what the Holy Spirit is teaching me these days.

Seriously. Would it kill the Sunset Drive In to let us know what movie they’re gonna be showing in 3 days? I’m just in the dark about it. I would love to know what movie it is, cause I’m inviting the business unplugged to go on Friday night.  I have no stinkin’ idea how its gonna go down.  Here’s hoping the business majors show up anyway!

I have been thinking lately about how people view our God.  I was thinking about how they see him as unapproachable, unreachable, unattainable. I have seen this in my own life, and it has been amplified by my time here in El Salvador. I see how one in three Salvadorians is ”born again” yet don’t really experience life in abundance thanks to a skewed view of the Mighty One.  For most Christians here, following Christ is about following a bunch of rules, and not about entering into the most intimate relationship of their existence.  As I was thinking, I remembered a humorous rendition of this world view.  Here’s a little insight into how people think here (and everyone):

Funny, because it’s truly what people believe about Christ sometimes.  I have news for those of you who see Christianity as a bunch of rules, regulations, and restraints.  Following Christ and surrendering my plans to his has shown me the most freedom and peace I’ve ever experienced.  This week has been huge in that.  I’ve been contemplating Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2.  It’s a prayer of complete surrender, the prayer of a dead man.  I must continually die to myself, and in this way be sanctified by the blood of Christ.  That’s what Christ is about.  Freedom through surrender.

Tomorrow morning I am heading out to Vanguard University in southern California.  I will be there for the next few days.  I’m meeting my team, learning more about the ministry that lies ahead and preparing for life outside the US. 

Tonight I had a sweet commissioning/prayer time with my family, along with the Chesney and Burt families.  We had some time to share about the different ministries that 5 of us will be embarking on in the next few weeks.  It was so sweet to be surrounded by fellow believers, senders, and those going out into the mission field.  I was reminded of my calling, refreshed and am ready to minister out of “overflow.”  That is, my ministry is the result of my love of Christ, my desire to know him and make him known in this world.  Wow.  What a great way to spend my life.  Thanks to the support of everyone, I can share the love I know with others.  My gratitude is so deep.

David Chez read to us tonight…words of refreshment, of preparation for the mission field from Luke 10: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Prayers for myself and other missionaries that I met with this evening:

Megan Chez- headed to Argentina with CSIDE bright and early tomorrow morning, will be there until July 3

Morgan Burt- also going to Argentina with CSIDE…

Julie Chez- flying to Tanzania with two other women from First Pres Bako on Friday

Amy Kelly-my dear lil sis will also be going to San Salvador (same locale as myself) with Teen Mania within the week…it would be sweet if we ran into each other over the trip!

My team-communication/language barriers…I get the feeling that there are very few bilingual participants…pray that my nerves will be calm and that the HS will flow through me as I try to interpret/translate.  It is very taxing and nerve racking to think about being a main source for communication!

Thanks for the prayers….more to come soon!

For international flights, the luggage weight limit is set at a strict 50 lbs.  Therefore, I will be packing all of my clothing for my 6 week project, meanwhile keeping track of the weight of my bag.  My mom, sister and I shopped around at Kohl’s tonight in search of the perfect mid-sized luggage.  I found a satisfactory piece, which I hope will satisfy my need for clothing (two to three weeks worth of underwear) and the regulations on luggage weight.

I also think that the large “AMERICAN TOURISTER”  logo on the bag might be a “steal me” sign in Spanish.  Oh well.  God will provide for our safety

Also, I read up on “Cruzada” the Latin American branch of Campus Crusade for Christ tonight.  Pray that I would be able to memorize scripture in Spanish this next week!

“Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino , la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.”

¡Hola!

I’ve set up this blog to keep all of my ministry supporters updated!  I will be adding more posts as summer approaches….

If you haven’t heard, I’m headed to San Salvador for 6 weeks this summer to work with Campus Crusade for Christ on a number of university campuses.  I will be on a team of about 15 students who will be sharing the gospel and starting up Crusade “Movements” as the Salvadorian school year begins.

I’m still learning a lot about the ministry in El Salvador as my team will be the first summer project group to go!  Though I don’t know much, I do have a ministry update already….I will be suffering for the Lord by living in a Hilton Hotel while in El Salvador  

I promise there is a reason behind this (security, mostly).  Anyway, I wanted to let you all in on what’s going on!