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.