Unexpected Favorites

Don't you love it when you have an expectation that gets blown out of the water? Something bigger and better than you thought it could be? It's safe to say that's happened to me twice over the past few weeks.

I'm helping to lead a bible study for seniors this year (a few of them are pictured here...they chose an "awkward pose" for this picture!). Before the semester began, I have to be honest...I wasn't overly excited about this study. The study is called Five Aspects of Woman - a Biblical Theology on Femininity. It's an intense curriculum, I felt inadequate in leading it and didn't know how I'd have time for it. It's a month into the study and I can honestly say that this might be my most favorite thing about the semester! This group of women come prepared and are excited to discuss. I have seen them grasp truth in major ways. One of the girls excitedly shared how she felt so empowered to make a difference in the areas of her life that God has given her authority over. It's fun to watch them realize that they have many giftings as women and have the ability to move in strength in those giftings. I love using my home each week to host them. I also love it because it brings together girls who don't normally spend time together. It's a joy to watch them interact and enjoy each other.

For part of my training curriculum with The Navs, I am in a study about the Gospel. We are reading a book by Jerry Bridges The Gospel for Real Life. I'll be honest here, I wasn't excited to read this book. I mean, I love Jerry Bridges, but again, I didn't know how to fit it in...plus I always start books and never finish them! Let me just say that this book is one of the most impacting books I've ever read. I thought I knew what the Gospel was. Well, I did...but I had such a small view of it. As believers, we sometimes think that we need to Gospel to be saved and then we put it on a shelf for when we want to help somebody else come to know Jesus. We're missing out and not living the way God has intended when we do that. If we let the true enormity of the Gospel impact our lives EVERY day, we would be utterly amazed at our ability to love and be loved...to live in true freedom. This book started out by taking a look at our sinfulness and God's holiness...and it makes you realize again just how much we didn't deserve what Christ did on the cross. It then takes every part of the Gospel and breaks it down...God's justice, God's mercy, God's wrath, Redemption, etc. Here's an excerpt that has my mind reeling:

"Have you ever thought about the wonderful truth that Christ lived His perfect life in your place and on your behalf? Has it yet gripped you that when God looks at you today He sees you clothed in the perfect, sinless obedience of His Son? And that when He says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well please," He includes you in that warm embrace? The extent to which we truly understand this is the extent to which we will begin to enjoy those unsearchable riches that are found in Christ."

Do you let shame have a grip in your life, or are you able to embrace the truth about how God sees you? I'm not saying I've arrived or have fully let God's love penetrate every area of my heart...but by God's grace, I'm learning! It's hard, especially when I thought I knew it all! I'm Italian, what can I say?!!!

Delights

That’s a great word to describe some of the fun things that have happened over the past two weeks.

First…let me say it loud and proud…IT’S GREAT TO BE A NITTANY LION!! There’s nothing like being in State College on game day! As if that’s not enough, it’s even more fun to tailgate and GO TO the game! I don’t quite know how this happened, but I’ve maybe only ever visited one tailgate…ever. So, it’s easy to see why I was pretty much giddy when I got to have a tailgate with friends two weeks ago. And then to my utter shock, friends blessed me by paying for part of a ticket to watch the game..IN the stadium! 15 rows up on the 40 yard line behind JoePa! My voice was already raspy from being sick…and the voice wasn’t doin too hot on the way out! Don't be fooled...I don't know much about football and was more excited about the cheering and the crowd than I was about the actual game!! I know, big shocker.

Second…Food!! for a few health reasons, I’ve decided to eliminate some foods from my diet. One thing I really miss is sugar…I know, call me crazy. One of my students has an intolerance to Gluten and is on a strict diet. She found out I was doing this and went grocery shopping and brought me two bags of goodies that I can eat. She must have spent a fortune. She bought me ice cream that is made out of coconut milk and doesn't have sugar. It's SO good! Before you make any rash conclusions about this, take my grandmother's advice...don't decide you don't like something until you've tried it! Almond Butter is expensive, so I was holding out on buying it…to my utter delight, guess what was in the bag?!! She had no idea I had been craving it! She didn’t have to do what she did, and she even did it with a joyful heart. I can’t even begin to describe how loved I felt. It seems so simple…food…and yet it was huge.

Third…flowers J One of the women that I was with this summer (our lovely chef!) surprised me the other night and brought me lots of recipes…AND a beautiful sunflower! May seem like a small gesture, but it was just so nice to know that she thought of me…and blessed me!

Fourth…corn!! Ok, so really this one should be Frisbee golf! Huh? How does Frisbee golf and corn go together. Well, I was introduced to disc golf earlier this fall and thought had a blast with it. I’m not the most, let’s say talented, at it…but it’s fun! So my roommate and I took two girls to play one Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day and we were next to a corn field…and that corn begged to have pictures of us in it!

So there you have it…some recent delights. When I hear the word delight, I think of a child. It’s so easy for them to delight in everything. Sometimes things start going so quickly around us that we forget to take delight in life…or we look for big things and miss the small things. I love it when I can be like a child.

In the Beginning…

Our semester is now officially two weeks under way. Only two weeks in and already I have lots to fill you in on. I have to be honest, after a crazy spring semester and intense summer, I wasn’t totally ready to get things rolling this fall. I guess I could liken it to a teacher going back to school after a summer break. I’m wondering if teachers get really excited when they see their students walk through the door for the first day of school, because that’s how I felt when I saw our students come back for our leadership retreat!

We have a stellar group of over 50 leaders this year. These are the students who will be leading bible studies on campus. Before classes began we got away from campus for a night and had a retreat. We started with some crazy games…hunt the seniors. I decided to be a senior for this one and go hide in the woods while I waited for the juniors to come find me. I got all into it if I do say so myself…crouched down in the fetal position under a dead tree…even put sticks down the back of my shirt to “blend in”. They actually passed over me a few times…but to my dismay I was eventually caught! (Cait and Adie are seniors this year...they hid under the tree with me!)

As fun as I’m sure that sounds, I had an even better time at our next event. A time of prayer…there were four stations to go to. The time was meant to pray by yourself…just get some good time with God. First stop…confession. Second stop…communion. Third stop…time to be silent and listen. Fourth stop…a time of corporate worship. The third stop was my favorite. We asked the students to ask God what He would want them to do this year…who to reach out to, who to pray for, etc. Take some time to dream with God. Words can’t quite do the scene justice. I had the chance to sit behind a bunch of students…and while I dreamed I must say I was a bit distracted. Distracted by the fact that I was looking out over a group of our men and women praying – preparing themselves for what they were about to embark on. Thousands of other students were preparing for the semester by dreaming of the parties they would go to…but these students in front of me were thinking about how they could impact the campus for Christ. I’m not their parent, and yet I felt like a parent…I was so proud of them!

We like to start things at Penn State with a bang…so the night before classes began we had a BBQ at my house. How is that a bang, you ask? Well, I’d say because we had between 180 and 200 students in our yard and in the street! Classes hadn’t even begun and we had at least 30 freshmen come! Those poor freshies…they had no idea they would be walking into a group that large…I mean I was overwhelmed and I knew a large number of the people there!Later that week we overheard some of our neighbors as they walked by our house: “Dude, this house had a sick party on Sunday night”! For those who don’t know…sick is a good thing :)

Long Overdue....

Well…it’s been a while to say the least! Things got a bit crazy at the end of GMS. If I had written a post while I was still in Vermont, I don't think it would even be understandable. I had a hard time even speaking in proper sentences, let alone writing! My brain was fried! I've had some time to re-coop and get ready for the start of things here at Penn State.
It’s rather hard to sum up a summer in a short post. I left the summer so encouraged by what God did in the lives of the students. The speaker who spoke at our last Nav night was one of my favorites of the summer. He hit on Psalm 127:1 – “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Without God, we are nothing. What happens isn’t a result of us, it’s a result of Him. Bob (the speaker) used to be a missionary in South Africa and shared story after story about what he saw God do during his time there. His stories amazing and inspired me. I loved hearing how God used somebody to touch the lives of others. God didn’t have to use Bob and his family, but they were willing and they obeyed…and as a result so amazing fruit from their ministry. He challenged each of us to look beyond ourselves and see the people around us. How can we love God and do good to those around us. How am I living my life? Do I seize every opportunity to share Christ with others? And I don’t just mean by my words, I mean by my actions…do I love them or do I judge them? Am I prideful towards them or selfless and humble? Bob made it seem so easy, but then he shared some of his failures…and we realized it wasn’t always roses for him. The thing is that Bob never gave up. He never lost hope…he kept to what God had asked him to do. And as a result there are spiritual generations of people in Africa who will never be the same because they know Jesus in a deep way.

The talk was a perfect way to end GMS because it challenged the students to think beyond themselves when they get back to campus. How will they take what they learned during the 9 weeks in Vermont and use it to share Jesus with others? I’m excited to see what they do. I’m most excited about Emily and Natalie (pictured here with my co-leader, Emily)…two girls who were in my freshmen bible study last year. They grew tremendously this summer. We sat at dinner one night and talked about how things can look different this year in our Bible study. They’re excited to take what they learned and share it with the girls who weren’t with us this summer.

Proclamations

Normally on a rainy night, people stay inside. Normal people want to stay dry. Not the case with my group here in Burlington...although come to think of it, normal college students wouldn't give their summer to know Jesus more. Wednesday night was a special night. In the midst of a downpour, we went to one of the beaches here....lined the beach with umbrellas as we celebrated with friends who were proclaiming their faith in Jesus by being baptized. The original plan was that 3 of our students would get baptized. After the 3rd person got baptized, another girl ran into the water. And so it continued until 8 people got baptized. What a sight! We've had the students give their testimonies each night after dinner...so we've had the chance to see what God has done in their lives. How amazing to then see them make this step...knowing how God has so visibly changed them. They are leaving Vermont in a much different way than when they arrived. I love these students who aren't normal...but how I wish they were the norm.

Finale

So Monday was my last hip hop class. Our instructor, Lois, told us that we could invite friends to come and watch us do a final performance. Lois had no idea what she had just done. I'm sure in her mind she thought we might invite a few friends. Little did she know that Caitlin and I would invite, oh, 50 people. Our little dance studio had never seen so many people in it at once. We had about 15 students come and cheer us on...along with a video camera. They were so excited to come and cheer us on...even bringing flowers! Not gonna lie, I had some butterflies. You're supposed to ham it up for an audience and in hip hop your supposed to make kinda serious faces. I found it rather hard to do that while my audience was only about 5 feet from where I was performing. Rather, I found myself laughing and smiling...and maybe screaming a few times! I'm glad I took the class...it took me beyond my comfort zone a little and I ended up having a lot of fun along the way. Enjoy the pics...the nice one of the girls...and then the guys came along as put on our best hip hop faces.

My new favorite state??

This past weekend was team weekend…the team leaders each planned a weekend get-away for their team. This meant a free weekend for the staff team! It got to be the middle of last week and Caitlin and I realized we had nothing planned. I sent a quick email to our Divisional Leader (he oversees Nav ministries in at least 15 states..maybe more) and within 24 hours he set us up with a free place to stay! (People we had never met before let us use their house while they were away!) What an incredible gift! So, off to Maine we went!!! It certainly lived up to some of it’s slogans, like “vacationland” or “Maine…the way life should be.” They’re not kiddin! I’m not being at all dramatic when I say that it was the best weekend I’ve had in a really long time. I don’t think either one of us realized how much we needed a break. We went to multiple beaches, saw two lighthouses, shopped at outlets, got lobster, and saw breath taking views of the cliffs that line the ocean. We laughed and slept A LOT! I was reminded over and over again of God’s love for me. I thought a lot about Psalm 139:17-18: “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them, they outnumber the grains of sand!” This one’s a bit hard to grasp…especially after laying on the sand and realizing how much sand there was just in the few inches around me (not to mention all over my body). The other one that hit me was Song of Solomon 8:7: “Many waters cannot quench love…” I looked out over the ocean…water beyond what I could see…and was blown away by the fact that all of that water can’t put out God’s love for me. Do I really live like I believe that He loves me that much?

PRIDE

Last week I experienced two forms of pride. Yes, two. During our workshop this past week we had the students take some time to examine their pride. We took a list of examples from the book Brokenness: The Heart God Revives by Nancy Leigh Demoss. Here are a few “ouchies” for me:

*Proud people desire to be known as a success.
*Broken people are motivated to be faithful and to make others successful.

*Proud people have a drive to be recognized and appreciated for their efforts.
*Broken people have a sense of their own unworthiness; they are thrilled that God would use them at all.

*Proud people have a hard time saying “I was wrong; will you please forgive me?”
*Broken people are quick to admit their failure and to seek forgiveness when necessary.

These are only a few to describe me…I’ll keep the rest for my journal! What was really cool though was that after we took some time alone, everyone got back with their team and shared some things that described them…a way to let down the wall of pride in their life. Not easy, but necessary if you want to live in true community.

While I was realizing the sinful pride that lies within me, I was also feeling very proud of the students. We had our weekly sharing time and at the end I was trying to tell them to break up into small groups to pray, but I couldn’t quite get all the words out of my mouth without having the tears start. (another thing you need to know about me…I cry easily…especially when it comes to people I care about) I just couldn’t help the feeling of being completely overwhelmed with pride by how far these students have come this summer. People shared about moving forward in relationships with their parents-learning to love them and be open with them, people were sharing about how God was using them to touch their co-workers and one shared about overcoming fear and starting a conversation about God with a homeless man. What an amazing gift I’ve been given…I have the chance to be a part of these students’ lives.

Woaahhh…We’re Half Way There…

Yesterday officially marked the half way mark of our summer in Burlington. And I’m realizing more and more the need to depend on Jesus. Without Jesus, no good thing will come from me. The need to be living a life that is centered around prayer. Not to say that I do that…I’m saying that I’m realizing how much more I need to live my life that way.

It’s been a great summer so far, but after some conversations with women this morning, I’m realizing that quite a few of us are thinking “Oh no, the summer is half way over and I haven’t accomplished things that I wanted to accomplish”. Rather than beat ourselves up, I encouraged each of us to remember that there are still so many things that God can accomplish in and through us. I want us to think through how we can finish strong. How can we encourage the people we mentor, how can we speak truth to them, how can we call them out to live a more holy life? And in the midst of pouring our lives out to others, how do we take time out of the busyness for our own hearts to meet Jesus?

I love Psalm 126:3 – “the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy”. My prayer is that at the end of this summer we will be able to look back and be filled with tremendous joy over what Jesus has done.

Hip Hop Hooray.....

There’s something you should know about me…I LOVE to dance. I mean, really love to dance. If there is a dance floor, I’m on it. If there’s a beat, my leg is tappin. When there’s a dance, I’m out there the entire time…only breaking for water. Why am I sharing this? Well, it explains the fact that I’m taking a hip hop class this summer! My friend, Caitlin, and I are taking a class once a week. I’ve never done hip hop before and I’ve never taken a real dance class (well, ok, I did when I was in like kindergarten…a ballet class and I got to wear a cute little pink tutu) , so to be honest it freaked me out at first. It’s tons of fun and a great workout. We performed our dance on Saturday night at our Thrift Store formal (as a matter of fact, we practiced it so many times for the performance that by the time we got to class on Monday we had it down pretty good...so good in fact that the instructor had us re-teach it to the class!) This was the first dance performance I’ve done in, well like 12 years…which takes me back to my cheerleading days. Yep, I’m admitting that for all to see. So anyway…here are a few pics to prove the performance.

Never a dull moment...

The weekend adventures continue. I neglected to write about last weekend. We had an adventurous time tubing down the White River in NH. What some thought would be a nice, serene drift ended up to be a wild time hitting rapids in deflating tubes that were meant for children! We got rained on pretty good and I ended up on a tube that was meant for two people…and somehow we managed to get 4 on it. I even managed to get myself stuck…I tried to get on it and instead fell inside of the tube…with my back down inside and in the water and my legs sticking out in a v formation. If we only had videos of the day…I’m quite sure we could win money with our footage. The day ended with a damper, however. We got back to the cars to find that somebody had broken into one of cars and stole at least $2,000 worth of the student’s belongings. I was so impressed with their attitudes about it. There were tears, but one of my friends was crying that her Bible and journal got stolen…her iPod, wallet, phone, backpack and clothes were stolen and yet she was crying about her Bible and journal. It was a great example for the rest of us.

This weekend was a little more relaxed…thank goodness! I was at the point of complete exhaustion. We had a Thrift Store formal last night. Each person went to a local Thrift Store and picked a ridiculous outfit to wear. A couple of the men’s teams made dinner for some of the women’s teams (they each have brother/sister teams). It was so fun to watch the guys go all out and enjoy blessing the woman! We danced for a good three hours! I went into the dance not really wanting to be around people. And left the dance completely energized! (being an extrovert is interesting like that!) I have one thing to say about this group: we can DANCE!! There were a few times where I just stood back and watched the students. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them truly enjoy themselves and each other. It's amazing to see how much they have bonded with each other.

Love So Amazing...

I should be in bed…but come on, first thing’s first…I had to share about my evening. I would have to say that it’s been my favorite night so far with the students. I got to be a substitute leader for one of the teams! Actually, I didn’t even lead…one of the team leaders is away and had one of the girls on her team take over for her. I had the privilege of just being there! This week we did a study on “Relationships and Community in the Body of Christ”. We looked at 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4 and 1 Corinthians 12. They all paint a beautiful picture of the perfect ways that Christ loves us and then how His love compels us to love those around us. Part of the discussion was about how this team of 5 women can better love each other. These women didn’t know each other at the beginning of the summer and yet are willing to be authentic and vulnerable with each other…4 weeks after meeting (three are from PSU, but didn’t know each other well). One of them volunteered to pray out loud for the group because it’s something that scares her, so she wanted to push herself. One of them shared about how she has never been herself in other Bible Studies, but wants to push past that here because she can trust people. I couldn’t help but smile as she finished her sentence: “It’s so freeing.”
I LOVE IT! God’s perfect love has the power to break every stronghold that keeps us from understanding His love for us individually and then extending that love to others. I love that I had the amazing opportunity it see first hand how the Gospel is changing the hearts of these women…they have no idea how much they inspire, challenge and encourage me!

Mercy

Have you ever driven somewhere and then wondered how you actually got there? Might sound crazy, but sometimes when I’m driving to a familiar place I kinda go into auto-driver mode. I don’t pay attention to the drive, I zone out…and then just end up at the final destination. I feel like that’s what happened to me last week. The week flew by so quickly and at the end of the week I realized I was just going through the motions…at times forgetting why I’m doing what I’m doing. It hit me for two reasons. I’m at this unique place this summer-having the opportunity to really live with students. And yet I wasn’t letting myself enjoy the moment-sitting and enjoying a simple conversation, taking in the sound of multiple small groups around me pray together, look around the room and watch people laugh together, shut my eyes and listen to a group of 50 people praise the Lord. And the other reason it bothered me was because I was trying to “do” things to make myself feel better about who I am. In a sense, trying to earn God’s love…and yet never really sitting down to just spend time with Him.
Our Bible study last week focused on Ephesians 2:1-10. I’ve read the passage so many times and as I dug a little deeper, something hit me in a new way. I didn’t do a thing to deserve salvation, it wasn’t based on my abilities. Now that I’ve received this wonderful gift, why in the world do I think that I have to earn God’s love by what I do? I don’t have to jump through hoops for him. He gives me his great love (the word in this passage refers to agape love) and He is rich in mercy (the greek word is “plousios” meaning abounding, wealthy, abundantly supplied. One commentary talked about it being exhaustless). What an amazing truth I can rest in. I don’t have to strive or do things perfectly or try to be the best at my job. I can relax in his exhaustless mercy!

Movin and Shakin

Each Sunday night we have a "prayer and share"....a time where the students can reflect on the past week and share with everyone what they have seen God do. I love Sunday evenings because I love to see how God is moving in the lives of the students here...and using them in the lives of others. Here are a few highlights (I'll just use the student's first initial):

P: "On Friday night during our prayer walk around town, my group prayed that we would have the opportunity to talk to a homeless person. We got back to the dorm and right before we walked into the door, a homeless person approached us and asked us for food. We were able to go inside and get some food for them and then talk to them for a while. It was amazing to see God answer a prayer so quickly."

B: "One night I decided to go down to Church St (the main street in Burlington) and have a quiet time. I sat on a huge rock to read my Bible. A woman who had been drinking a lot approached me. She asked me what I was reading. I'm not used to sharing my faith, but I got the chance to talk to her a little bit about the Bible. It was cool to step out in faith and get to know her."

P: "Two years ago I had a major surgery and almost died. I've had a lot of health issues since then. Today, on the two year anniversary of my surgery, I climbed Mt. Mansfield! It is so amazing to see how God has worked in my life and helped give me the strength to climb a mountain rather than lie in a hospital bed."

P: "During our prayer walk in Burlington, we approached a man who was by himself. He was looking out over the lake and seemed to be in a contemplative mood. At first I didn't want to talk to him, but I knew God wanted me to. After talking to him for a while, he told us he was a Christian. He comes from a hard background and has a hard life. That evening before we met him, he had a disagreement with somebody from his Bible Study. He was going to go back out to the bars, but decided to first stop and think about things. While he was sitting there, we came to talk to him. He told us that he believes that God brought us to him to help him. We're looking forward to going and visiting with him and getting to know him more."

A Thousand Words

Rather than try and explain my week, I'll just let the pictures do the talking:

MONDAY:

We have a flare for drama and food. This is one of our food purchases for the day (we also hit the local grocery store)...it will feed 56 people for 3 days.

TUESDAY:

We had a huge thunderstorm on Tuesday night and the sunset afterwards was AMAZING. We had a workshop going on, but I ran upstairs to take this picture from my room. The entire sky was orange.

WEDNESDAY:

DAY OFF!! I had one of the most relaxing days since I've been here. A friend here in Burlington took my co-worker, Caitlin, and I on a hike and then to see an amazing mansion/farm. For those of you who know me well, you will be able picture this: I was pretty much giddy as we drove around the property. I had my car window down and pretty much just giggled and let out little yelps the entire time! The scenes seemed as if they were straight out of Pride and Prejudice.

FRIDAY:


I spent the morning with Lorielle, one of the team leaders I meet with weekly. I took her to Shelborne Bay Park and we found a beautiful spot on a rock that overlooked the Bay.


I spent the afternoon at the beach. Emily was in my freshmen Bible Study this past year. We got to take a long walk as she shared what God has been teaching her. It's just so fun to see what God has done in her life in just a few short months.


SATURDAY:


I got back from dinner to this scene...a group of students enjoying rain. I'll put it in their words: "We're pretending like we are little kids again"!!

Weekends make me tired...

I’ve been meaning to post for over a week…now I wish I would have done that because now I forget a lot!

Let me begin where I would have started…last weekend. We try to have events planned for the entire program on Saturdays. Last Saturday we decided to start with a big bang…hike the tallest point in Vermont…Mt. Mansfield. No problem, I like to hike. Well, at least I thought I liked to hike. People say that when you turn 30, your body just can’t do the same things it used to. Maybe that’s what can explain why the mountain dominated me! I made it to the top and was elated (as you can see in the picture with the team leader women). I figured the worst was over. Wrong. Somehow the hike down was not what I expected..isn’t it supposed to be easier? I can’t say I had the best attitude…and vowed I’d never, ever hike it again (just for the record, I’d totally do it again now that I forget what the pain felt like. I’d do a few things differently….simple things, like eat a real breakfast before I decide to hike a mountain.). There were two good things about the hike down: realizing how amazing it was that I actually got up that thing and hiking with the students…they helped me so much! So humbling and so good! I love that a group our size all did something that was so difficult for so many of us…and we couldn’t have done it alone. We needed each other. If we didn’t have each other, many of us would have given up long before we reached our goal.

Today we spent the day doing service projects. We did a ton of work outside for a local church (gardening, painting, fixing up a playground, cleaning the church, etc) and at a nursing home. As I worked alongside my friends, I thought about how amazing it was that this group of people were giving up their day to do work for others. They did it with a joyful heart. It again made me realize what an amazing group of people I am blessed to work with this summer. I left the day exhausted and need a nap…just like I did last week!

Beautiful

How do I put this week into words? So much has happened already. The wide range of emotions—from laughter to tears. A room filled with 50 students…students who could have internships, who could be making a lot of money this summer…and instead chose to spend a summer being intentional about their relationship with Jesus. I walked down the street with one of the women I’m meeting with and 50 yards in front of me there were two men from our program…going to do the same thing we were doing…taking time to talk about who Jesus is in their lives. I sat with a girl today…a girl I thought I knew well…and as I asked her lots of questions about who she is, I realized there is so much I don’t know about her. How fun to have the opportunity to get to know people…to enjoy the way God has created us each so differently!

It’s hard living in the dorms, but yet it’s amazing to have the opportunity to live with the students…the women can pop in when they need to talk. I just sat on my bed with a girl as through tears she told me “I just want to know Jesus”. What beautiful tears. What beautiful words.

I feel like I’m wrestling through a lot personally. Trying to sort through some things. We had an amazing speaker come this week and share about spending time with Jesus. He was brutally honest…which allowed me to be honest with myself. About where I am and where I want to be in my relationship with God. I don’t want to just see him do things in the hearts of those around me…I need to be transformed. As soon as I sort through some notes and thoughts, I’d love to share some of it with you. As I sat on a swing, overlooking Lake Champlain at sunset tonight (I took the picture above from my swing!), I read a Psalm that I love…Psalm 34. I love verse 4 & 5 and I usually stop there. But I read further tonight.

“The poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

I love it….an angel encamps around me…is stationed around me, fighting for me, protecting me…I’m not alone and can take refuge in Him. Praise God that I don’t have to fight for myself…He is a far greater warrior than I am.

Pushing the envelope

What a week! Burlington is BEAUTIFUL! Mountains and a lake…what more can you ask for?! Only one major mishap so far…my co-worker and I got locked out of our dorm the first night we were here…had to go to my director’s house and wake him up at 12:45 to help us get back in! Woops!

The team leaders got here yesterday and today was the first day of training with them. I love this group of students! It’s encouraging to see their excitement for the summer. One of the highlights was hearing each person share their testimony…it’s amazing to see how God has brought so many different people together. Justin (our director) gave some great vision on what he would love to see happen this summer. One of our goals this summer is to “push the envelope”…we’ll have each student in the program give their testimony in front of the group. We’ll go out and initiate spiritual conversations with people in Burlington. The thought of doing either or both of these things will make some students extremely intimidated. But they’ll push past their fear and see God work in and through them. It's a good thing I have it all together and won't have my "envelope pushed" at all :)

We showed a clip from “The Mask of Zorro” to illustrate some principles about discipleship. Zorro takes time to train Alejandro. He tells him that he’ll teach him everything he knows. He saw something in Alejandro and helped call out his giftings. He believed in him. He was patient with him. He affirmed him. He showed him by example. All of these things are basics when discipling someone. Discipleship is friendship with a vision…you see where the person can go and who they can become and you walk alongside them as they get there.

The team leaders will take some time tomorrow to prepare for the students who will be on their team. I can’t wait to watch them step out in faith, lead well and see what God does through them.

The rest of the students get here on Saturday and then the fun really begins!

Burlington or Bust!

Tomorrow morning I’ll be hittin the road for Vermont! I think I’ve completely overpacked…my car is stuffed! I’ll be up there working with The Navigators for 9 weeks…helping to staff a summer training program – Green Mountain Summer. Forty-six college students from around the country will be a part of GMS (29 of which are from our ministry at Penn State!). The purpose of this summer program is to give the students an opportunity to live in community (we’ll be living in a dorm for the summer…yep, I said WE!), give them an opportunity to grow exponentially in their relationship with Jesus and to give them an opportunity to work in the community of Burlington and minister to their co-workers. I’ll be giving more specifics of the program in later posts…so stay tuned!

I’m so excited to be experiencing something new. While I’m excited, I don’t know what to expect. What will the town be like? What will GMS be like? What will my role look like (I'm the women's director...I'll be overseeing 24 women)? While I don’t fully know what to expect in terms of all of the details, I do expect one thing…for God to move. A group of 50 people are taking their summer to get to know Jesus in a deeper way. That’s a recipe for something huge to happen. People will learn to love one another and serve one another. It won’t be easy all the time, but in the end we will see something bigger than we could have asked or imagined. I can't wait to see what God has in store!

I’d be fooling myself if I thought that the transformation would only happen in the lives of the students. I know I will be challenged, stretched and will have to depend on Jesus in many ways. I can’t live out of my flesh or out of my fears…I need to move in strength, confidence and truth.

Our theme verse for the summer is Psalm 86:11 – “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an UNDIVIDED heart, that I may fear your name."

Pray for undivided hearts this summer!

Now I've Done it!

I can't believe I'm writing my first post on MY blog! Leah, aren't you proud of me?!! I've been putting this off for over a year...it's long overdue! What kept me from starting a blog? I couldn't think of a name! I'm still not too sold on my title, but it comes from a theme I seem to be coming across in my life. It's a lesson parents try to teach their children...it's not all about me! At this stage in life I think I should have grasped this one by now! At any rate, I'm learning it all over again. I feel as though God is asking me to step beyond MY limits. Go beyond what I think I can do and enter into what only HE can do. The results of what I do, what I accomplish, will only be because of HIM, not because of me. Life isn't about looking to see how I can meet my needs...it's about looking outside of me, BEYOND ME, to see how I can serve those around me. All of this is indeed beyond me...I need the strength of the One greater than me.

Well, I need to stop typing and head to bed..it's much past my bedtime! But I can sleep well knowing that I've finally begun what I've wanted to do for so long!