MAC-edonia! 2010

5 weeks from today we will be in Macedonia for our annual YoungLife service project! We had our chili fundraiser today and in honor of that I made a short video of last years SP(sorry that it is really ghetto but I didn't have a whole lot of time). Just watching this makes me excited for this years trip! I am not only excited about the manual labor we get to do(which in order of my dream jobs comes only behind 1)working for younglife and 2)working at the Chick-fil-a headquarters) but also for the fact that some of the students we are taking will be hearing and talking about Christ for the first time and even those that have heard before get another chance to talk about him! I always come back from the trip amazed at how God has been working in their lives LONG before I ever met them. Just thought I'd give you a taste of fun times to come!

Ski break 2010

So one year ago I was in a car accident on the way to germany where we were supposed to go Boarding with some students and my arm ended up looking like this after a surgery that involved a plate and 6 screws.

SO this year we decided to give it another try-why not?! BUT instead of driving we flew:) Our flight ended up getting cancelled and then delayed so we sat in the airport for 7 hours-fun times! At least I had packed some games in my carry-on so we played lots of uno, nerts, banana-grams and solitaire. But we got there safely in the end!

So there's something you should know about me- I have only been skiing once-and that ended with me doing a full flip in the air-NOT on purpose! so this was going to be an adventure to be sure. Nathan-our snowboarder in residence(in the white jacket) promised me he would be patient with me. So we went up the first gondola where you put your board on the outside. then Nathan shows me how to strap the board on one foot and we get on the second gondola-the kind where it is open and you have to board off-problem was-they all got on the one in front of me and i was by myself. The thoughts running through my head included- "I am going to die, how do i get off this thing?, what if I can't get off and they have to stop the whole thing?, i wish these other people on here with me spoke english!" So sure enough we get to the top and I fall off and have to duck in order that the chair does not knock me out(thank goodness for helmets) and I crawl over to where the others are cracking up! Nathan then shows me how to strap my other leg into this death machine called a snowboard and I look down the hill. (this is a picture from the bottom)

Now the thoughts running through my head come out my mouth as I ask Nathan if this was really the easiest hill he could have taken me to learn on? of course he answers, "no" and I'm like- then why am I staring down an ice covered cliff? could he not have taken me to the bunny slopes to start with. I guess that what you get when you let a 17 year old guy teach you snowboarding! needless to say it was an interesting journey down and was followed by me going and getting a proper lesson(with me and all the 8 year olds!)

So I boarded for 1 1/2 days and decided that my butt and knees could take it no longer! Really I do not think anyone over the age of 25 should take up snowboarding. But the hot tub was a nice reward after all my hard work:)

I also got my fill of games and was able to shock and awe everyone with my ability to play Buzzword-being old does have it's advantages sometimes:)!

All in all a much more enjoyable trip than last years! and to top it all off- while I was in Germany I got an email from one of my favorite people-Fiona- telling me Kelly Clarkson was coming to Brussles on Sunday night. Now I have NO musical talent and am truly not obsessed with music but I AM obsessed with American Idol and so fell in love with Kelly about 7 years ago(or however long Idol has been on) As a matter of fact I have only been to 3 "real" concerts and they have all involved Kelly:) so of course I jumped on that-thinking- what girl doesn't want to rock out to some female angst?!!

Me, Fi, and Megan at the concert-

funny thing happened when we were there-we got there for the last song of the warm up act and when the lights came up we looked around and saw a seating section in the back(most of the hall was standing room) and Fiona says-look at the losers sitting. And of course I was in TOTAL agreement(I mean you need to be able to rock out to Kelly Clarkson) and I look in the front row and I see Lizzy-one of my awesome YoungLife girls! so of course I SCREAM her name before I have a chance to think I might be embarassing my British friends- oh well-it was fun to see her:) Anyway-Here's Kelly "Doin' her Thang" and you can't see it but we were jumping around with the best of them!!

Obedience

Lately I have been facing the challenge of wondering what the heck I am doing and why I am doing it? I mean there are days when I get an absolute rush out of doing what I get to do but there are many days when I ask the question-what in the world am I doing? I mean why me? why here? why alone? It’s so easy to look at other people in other places who have teams, spouses, roomates . . . and question what is God doing in, with and through me. Why am I going at this seemingly alone when that is the LAST way I want to go after anything.

What I have been learning is that God is calling me to obedience. He is calling me to be faithful in what He has set before me to do. Though there are days and even weeks when all i want to do is run “home” to the States, or to some other place where life seems easier-I know that God has called me to Brussels to live here and love people here. Every day that is a challenge for me. Every day that involves choosing to do things that go against everything in my flesh.

I was at the gym yesterday (on the stair stepper-oh yeah!) and I was listening to a message. The guy asked the question- if you could choose would you choose to A) have an easy year- one where everything seemed to go your way. You and everyone you loved stayed healthy, you met the man of your dreams and got married, you loved your job, etc. But at the end of that year you were the same person. You hadn’t grown at all in your relationship with Christ. or B) have a year with a lot of challenges, where things didn’t go your way, where you struggled with being alone, with having days where you hate your job but at the end of that year you were closer to God and knew Him in ways you had never thought about-- WHICH would you choose?

In that moment-i chose A. I mean -Haven’t I had enough challenges? Don’t I deserve to be able to come up for a breath without feeling like I just went for a long dive? Isn’t it best for me to be part of a team? I could really use all of that right now. BUT then the reality of that choice set in with me-IS THAT really best for me? or does God have different plans for me. Does He want to use those challenges to CHANGE me and make me more like HIM. Sometimes i am sick of changing. Tired of change-it’s exhausting. I just want some constant in my life. I deserve some constant in my life.

And then I am reminded-God is my constant. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is just as powerful, just as loving, just as present as He has ever been. And he is calling me to be obedient to HIM. Obedient even when that’s the last thing I want to do. When I can’t even fathom what is going on.

And God promises so much in return

John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

LIFE-that’s what he promises! LIFE! Life beyond what I can imagine or fathom. REAL life-not the “perfect” life I imagine but the life that God gives. The life that comes from knowing him and serving him. Life that is ETERNAL.

WOW-I still have so much to learn but I am grateful that God continues to speak to me and still loves me when i am not so obedient and continues to pursue me with an undying and unconditional LOVE when I turn my back on Him.