Home

I made it home on Friday, we had a smooth trip and made got here pretty early.  Lisa and I stayed an extra week in Connecticut to help the staff organize and get ready for an estate sale because they are selling the house we were living in.  The idea was great but it ended up being quite a long week and we were both ready to be home by the time Friday morning came around.

It's hard to believe my time there is over already.  I feel as though I just got there a week ago.  It's hard to explain how much I change with each step I take in YWAM but take my word when I say it's exponential amounts.  I feel like a new person.  This time I really think I am.  I'm not even sure how at this point, I just see my reactions and heart are different than what they were before.  God works in crazy ways that's for sure!

In the last week and a half or so I've gotten quite a bit sicker and have been noticing more and more symptoms.  Thankfully I have a doctors appointment on Monday and will be able to get started on this path to being healthy.

I'll update you all more once I get some rest.  For now, here's a picture of my best friend and I from tonight.  (We're holding energy drinks just to make sure there's no confusion there!) (Oh, and I figured out that energy drinks are another thing I need to stay away from to keep myself feeling better...I should have known!)

Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours

"Do not allow complicated scenarios create apathy."

There's something about big problems that cause us to turn apathetic.  We walk right past the man laying on the road, bruised and beaten, and say that 'someone else will come along', 'we don't know him so he's not our concern', 'his problems are greater than anything we can do', or even walk past and talk about him to our friends and family.  This is what Jesus talks about in the parable of the 'Good Samaritan' in Luke 10.

Why do we pass responsibility on to others when God calls us to give a hand to those who are in need?  I am guilty of this just as much as anyone else.  My heart is to take the steps I can right now.  To provide for those who have nothing and love those who know no love.  I do not want to be like the Levite who knew the system and assumed it would eventually take care of the man laying there and I do not want to be like the priest who did not want to be seen as unclean.  But I do long to be as the Samaritan, who was willing to risk who he is to save a man's life who he probably hated.
I long for my heart to be broken so deeply by the heart of the Father that I do not hesitate to take care of the pain I see in those around me or to stand for the injustice taking the lives of those around the world.

With the Helper moving inside of us, no problem, issue, or solution is too large for us to take on.  And no action is too small.  If we are focused on Christ and who He is, then we are going to see justice like we've never seen it before.  The dent humanity can make is absolutely nothing on the massacre Christ's blood brings to the injustice of the world.

The basic idea of this post was presented by Jim Ehrman in our class, the Forum.

Simple Joys

Well this probably sounds like a very small thing to many people but me it's a big deal.  I made cookies today and can eat them!  They're just a simple sugar cookie made with almond flour and soy oil margarine. It's exciting to have these simple little joys that I usually can't have.

We graduate from school today which is also really exciting.  I still have no idea what is between here and India in September but I know God has something on His heart for me!  I really hope everyone's having a great week and able to enjoy the simple things.

Get Up, Stand Up: Stand Up for THEIR Rights

What is Social Justice?

It's a voice for the voiceless.
It's a stand against that which robs the weak of their human right.
It's a fight to bring what is due to those who can't do it for themselves.

Some may argue that the social justice movement is not Christian or that it's in God's hands so we don't need to do anything with it.  Well, I think that's blasphemy.  God has called us to fight for those who can't fight for themselves.  Numerous times in the bible He asks us to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, and even take them in, but why? 
Because God looks out for His children.  He wants to use US to take care of those who cannot jump start their lives on their own, or even get out of the horrible situations they are stuck in.  Social Justice is just another term for loving Jesus...


Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy. 
Proverbs 31:8-9


“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,  if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,
then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever."
Jeremiah 7:5-7