prayer

I have just been realizing more and more this school year how good prayer is. Ah man... it is so comforting knowing that we can go to God and tell him anything and everything that is on our minds. And he hears us! This year I have felt really blessed to have a lot of one-on-one prayer with close friends. I hadn't really had that much before. To know that I have people who are watching out for me, and notice when I'm down is, well, an answer to prayer. It is also really humbling. A lot of times in prayer, I come before God having to admit that I am not strong enough to do things on my own, that I need God's strength.

If you have a couple spare minutes, I would encourage you to spend some time with God. Stop from whatever distractions you have, whatever is on your to-do-list and just breathe... be with God. be refreshed. be honest. God already knows what's going on in your heart, why not tell him?

Some prayer requests I have right now are...

-Brazil mission trip in January, we have to get our visas done this week

-my health, I feel sick and haven't had energy this week, or even joy for a while

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,

and it shall be done for you."

John 15:7

no sacrifice

To you I give my life, not just the parts I want to

To you I sacrifice these dreams that I hold on to

Your thoughts are higher than mine

Your words are deeper than mine

Your love is stronger than mine

This is no sacrifice

Here's my life

To you I give the gifts

Your love has given me

How can I hoard the treasures that you've designed for free?

To you I give my future

As long as it may last

To you I give my present

To you I give my past

- Jason Upton

Why is it so hard to give? to surrender? to release? It seems easier when I have things under my control. I have really been struggling with surrendering my life to God. Surrendering plans... hopes... time... relationships... I want everything to be figured out, to know what to do with my life. Why does his timing have to be so different than my own? I have been realizing that it is so much better when I place all of these things in God's hands. But it is so hard to do. The older I get, the more life seems really complicated. I feel really blessed to be at a place like CLBI, where I am surrounded by loving people who are so supportive of me. To be open and vulnerable in a safe place. being real... a good place to be.

.... I get to see my fam jam in two weeks! Can't wait. American Thanksgiving on the coast. oh yeah... :)

Light

We've probably all heard it said before that Jesus is "the light of the world." As Christians, I hope believe it, too. There is definitely plenty of scripture that says Jesus is our light. I was talking with my Nana tonight, and she was telling stories from when she lived in Nepal. She was explaining to me that people in Nepal would not go out in the dark because a fear of evil spirits. They would stay where there was light because they had an knew that there was something evil wherever the darkness was. There was one time when she was coming home from a wedding, and her vehicle broke down. She tried to get people to stop and help her, but no one would stop. She finally decided in order to stop someone she would have to go out in front of the next coming vehicle and take the risk by either getting help or getting hit. Thankfully, the next car was someone coming home from the wedding. What she found out later, however, was that the other people were afraid to stop because they thought she was a spirit. Here she was, out in the dark, alone, wearing a long, black coat, on the side of the road, trying to get someone's attention, and people think she's a spirit . Can you see how their culture would see it this way?

I think the Nepali people's view of darkness can help us understand what it means when Jesus says he's the light of the world. Although some of us have a fear of the dark, it doesn't mean quite the same thing to our culture today as it might have then. John 8:12 says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Never walk in darkness. For some Nepalise who become Christians, they find it so freeing to not have fear of darkness.

1 Peter 2:9 says, " But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Jesus calls us out of that darkness and to be free from the fear associated with it. We are chosen by God to live in his light. The next time you read something about the light of Jesus, or maybe even sing a song that has to do with darkness or God's light, think about what this really means. What is Jesus speaking to us?

Surprises

January 10th

I had a day full of surprises. I woke up this morning to the sight of girls coming into my room singing happy birthday, holding Tim Horton's donuts and hot chocolate. The donuts had special meanings behind each one, for example, Boston Cream because I'm American, a donut with sprinkles because I "sparkle," an Apple Fritter because of Jonnny Appleseed, and we think he's American :) It was such a wonderful way to start off the day!

Because the roads were not very good weather-wise, we didn't have class until later that day because the teacher wasn't there yet. We had chapel at 10. It was so fun to see everyone again. Because we had no class, I went out in the snow with my cousin and a friend. We climbed piles of snow, made lookouts in a pile of snow and tackled people in the snow. It brought me back to memories of playing King of the Hill and digging tunnels during recess at elementary. During lunch, I had to stand on my chair while people sang "Happy birthday" to me (It's a CLBI tradition). I went back in the snow after lunch and we wrote the letters, CLBI, all nice and big in the snow right under a bridge. We were pretty proud of our accomplishment. When I came back to my room, I was shocked to see a bunch of girls in my room with balloons covering the room! They surprised me with a bunch of messages that they had written on the balloons. Some of them were funny, like "Your eyes are like someone took stars from the sky and jammed them in your face," and "you're pretty fly for a white girl." Others were thoughtful things about me, like "You have a beautiful soul and it shines through in everything you do, love you!" Some friends cards were written on the balloons. It was quite the sight! After all the excitement, I spent some time to open a couple cards and listen to voice messages that I got on my birthday. Man, people are so thoughtful :)

After supper and class, I was hanging out with some friends in the cafeteria. We decided to head to the coed (an on-campus hangout place for guys and girls) to see if there were any people hanging out in there. When we got there, the lights were all off and I was thinking that maybe people were watching a movie. Then all of a sudden everybody popped up and shouted "Surprise! Happy Birthday!!!" I was completely blown away! Almost everyone was there, even the teacher haha. My friends had even gotten my favorite snacks and drinks. Some friends even made me my own cake. I also had to do this funny challenge of finding 19 gummy worms in a bowl of whipped cream. With my mouth. It was, uh.. interesting, and really funny. Did I mention there was a dance party? There was a strobe light and music. Even learned how to waltz :) Today was one of the best days ever. I couldn't have even planned anything better. A huge thank-u to Naomi who planned so much! And so many others who helped with everything-Lenea :) What thoughtful, wonderful, caring, loving people I'm surrounded by.

3 birthday surprises. 80 some balloons. 132 birthday wishes on facebook. Don't think this birthday can ever be topped ;)

*side note: I've always wanted a surprise birthday party, but of course you can't exactly plan that yourself ;) Also, I recently saw the movie, Patch Adams, and in it there's a birthday party where a room is completely filled with balloons from top to bottom. I thought that would the sweetest thing ever. How fun for these 2 wishes to come true :)

*be sure to check out the photos from this day in the photos tab!