Well... I've been contending for my little sister for about 6 years now to come to know the Lord with her life. We were best friends until I was 19, we did everything together. Due to family circumstances we have been disconnected since and it was a dream come true for her to come and share my life here in Kansas City. I had envisioned her getting captivated by the heart of Father God and I was prepared to disciple her into the Kingdom of God. She arrived during our Friday night Encounter God service just in time for the message. She was quiet and didn't seem to have any response to the service (which I expected because it was pretty mellow.)
I showed her around the city a bit before work on Saturday and we just had some hang out time.
I went to work Saturday night and I noticed I wasn't on the schedule past the following weekend, I talked to my boss and he said unless I was willing to quit school and commit more time at work, he would have to replace me. I completely understood and felt peace about it and went home.
I went to work early the next morning and left my sister sleeping in bed and after work she wasn't home. I went to football practice and finally got a hold of her on the way, she said she was on the internet at Starbucks and would see me later. After practice she called and said she needed to talk so we went out together to a quiet place and she said she was leaving, she couldn't stay here. She said that I live in a wicked, evil place and that my church is a cult. She spent 6 hours researching IHOP-KC as a cult on the internet and got a headful of information from the father of lies. Long story short, I asked her to give me some reasons for her belief that we could measure it with the word and she said that her feelings were enough. She said she sees demons all over me, all over my school and all over my house and she can't stay and neither should I.
We met again the next morning to try to iron things out, but I guess it's just not the Lord's timing for her. I'm trusting that what seems like a giant leap backwards in the area of her salvation is all part of the Lord's greater plan of redemption and restoration for my family.
My little sister is heading back to Washington state to re-unite with my mom.
My heart is disappointed, but at peace, I feel covered in prayer and bathed in the tender mercy and grace of the Lord.
Thank you for standing with me for my unsaved family! The Lord WILL prevail in His perfect timing!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
You must watch this!
This is a 700 club interview with a man from IHOP-KC who started a ministry to raise awareness and prayer to end human slavery....
Sunday, September 25, 2011
I feel like I've been hit by a train!
So... I worked from 9-3 and went straight to football practice, our coaches kicked our butts with exercises and running and pattern drills and... I played the runningback and quarterback today in our practice, I even got to blitz a few times. Aren't you impressed with my football lingo? I learned that all today. :)
We have a great team, I am pretty confident we are going to win the tourney in a few weeks... My body hurts sooooooo bad though!
We have a great team, I am pretty confident we are going to win the tourney in a few weeks... My body hurts sooooooo bad though!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Did I mention football?
I forgot the most intriguing part of my update! I have joined a women's football league (that's touch football for those of you entertaining thoughts of me bare-knuckle-boxing poor unsuspecting victims.) My body feels like I got hit by a train after my first 2 hour practice and I feel much like Forrest Gump probably felt when he first started to play the game with really confusing rules. Once I understand the point of the game I'm sure I'll get it all ironed out but in the meantime I've had to resort to asking which direction I need to run and who to stop. Anyways, it's fun and it's exercise and have you ever known me to pass up an opportunity for some healthy competition? :) More to come!
September update...
Hi friends!
Since many people haven't been receiving my updates from my other e-mail, I've decided to send this update from my school e-mail. I do hope it works!
Thank you so much for the prayer and encouragement! I have definitely felt the grace and mercy of the Lord these past few weeks amidst the craziness and being utterly buried in commitments and homework. Praise God!
Jesus is so good!
This semester is in full swing! I have a 20 page exegesical paper due here pretty soon and I am learning a TON about studying and applying the word! In my hermeneutics class I am learning how come to a passage with an open mind/heart, rid myself of as much pre-supposition as possible, study the passage in greek and hebrew, then do a full study on each word in the passage (each word takes about 3 days), incorporate any cultural, political information I can find as well as what was going on in the lives of the intended readers at the time, discover any parallel's found in the rest of the bible and then and only then make my interpretation and conclusions based on my findings. It is really difficult, but at the same time extremely fascinating. I feel like the scriptures are opening up in a whole new way for me! I am blown away by how much I have improperly interpreted and applied scripture in my life!
My little sister should be moving in with me this week if everything goes as planned! It has been a long 3 months of prayer and waiting for her to arrive, the end is in sight, she gave her notice at her work 2 weeks ago on Sunday and she is training her replacement as we speak. In the meantime I have re-organized my bedroom and life to make way for another person! The Lord has been giving me dreams about her, I could use some prayer for her heart to be open to the Lord and also to my speaking into her life. Our background has been rocky and I'm afraid her opinion of me isn't that wonderful. I so want to see her encounter the Lord while she is here and I don't want any past hurts to hinder that.
I love you all very much! I am working on getting some pictures of my school and my life in Kansas City to upload on my blog. I'm working on that in my "extra" time. :)
Since many people haven't been receiving my updates from my other e-mail, I've decided to send this update from my school e-mail. I do hope it works!
Thank you so much for the prayer and encouragement! I have definitely felt the grace and mercy of the Lord these past few weeks amidst the craziness and being utterly buried in commitments and homework. Praise God!
Jesus is so good!
This semester is in full swing! I have a 20 page exegesical paper due here pretty soon and I am learning a TON about studying and applying the word! In my hermeneutics class I am learning how come to a passage with an open mind/heart, rid myself of as much pre-supposition as possible, study the passage in greek and hebrew, then do a full study on each word in the passage (each word takes about 3 days), incorporate any cultural, political information I can find as well as what was going on in the lives of the intended readers at the time, discover any parallel's found in the rest of the bible and then and only then make my interpretation and conclusions based on my findings. It is really difficult, but at the same time extremely fascinating. I feel like the scriptures are opening up in a whole new way for me! I am blown away by how much I have improperly interpreted and applied scripture in my life!
My little sister should be moving in with me this week if everything goes as planned! It has been a long 3 months of prayer and waiting for her to arrive, the end is in sight, she gave her notice at her work 2 weeks ago on Sunday and she is training her replacement as we speak. In the meantime I have re-organized my bedroom and life to make way for another person! The Lord has been giving me dreams about her, I could use some prayer for her heart to be open to the Lord and also to my speaking into her life. Our background has been rocky and I'm afraid her opinion of me isn't that wonderful. I so want to see her encounter the Lord while she is here and I don't want any past hurts to hinder that.
I love you all very much! I am working on getting some pictures of my school and my life in Kansas City to upload on my blog. I'm working on that in my "extra" time. :)
Thursday, August 25, 2011
See you on the other side...
I was sitting in class yesterday as my teacher was going over the course syllabus and class expectations, suddenly, this indescribable feeling of anger/fear came over me. It felt like I was losing control and the anger was toward my teacher and her expectations. For some reason I had this fear that they were trying to manipulate and control me.(Most of my school days are from 6am to 6pm.) I started to have thoughts of quitting and then I stopped myself...
Ultimately, I'm overwhelmed by the course load. All of my school experiences thus far have allowed me to skate by with the bare minimum and somehow I've always managed to come out on top. And... with little or no effort. For example, last semester I was working so much that I barely studied for the tests. Well... I did on the first few but they were all so difficult that I stopped caring so much. In all honesty my test grades showed, but with my perfect attendance and my good grades on my papers I still walked out of my classes with a resounding A. As I've been introduced to my classes this week, I'm faced with high expectation after high expectation and on top of that, my classes include about 10x the amount of work compared to the last two semesters. I will not be able to skate by this term and my flesh is having a conniption fit.
And then the Lord reminded me about why I left everything behind, and spent all my pennies on the move and tuition. I came to go deep in the word and fall more in love with Jesus.
I spend 25+ hours a week in the prayer room seeking the face of the Lord and contending for His Kingdom to come. My biblical hermeneutics class includes greek and hebrew word study, my sermon on the mount lifestyle class includes memorizing most of the book of Matthew, and my old testament survey class requires reading the entire old testament this month. Deep in the word? I think so! Challenged to grow in the Lord? Of course! Demanding? Absolutely!
As I sit here in the prayer room I am also reminded of all the character issues I've been crying out for Holy Spirit to help me with and I feel much like Paul in Romans 7, what I want to do I do not do and what I don't want to do I do! I want to be faithful when the going gets tough, I don't want to seek the easy way out. I feel like I tend to strategize about how I can finish my tasks in the shortest and easiest way possible. I don't want to do that in my relationship with the Lord. I want to be excellent in all that the Lord entrusts me with. I also want reformation in my motives, I tend to only enjoy doing things that get me something in return and I fail to give wholeheartedly into what I won't reap benefits from. Gah selfishness! My pride is such a biggie for me. Lord have mercy! I can't do it on my own!
I feel like in one semester all of these areas are being confronted in tandem with on whopping drop kick in the face. I think the Lord is putting my flesh in the incinerator. Goodbye self, see you on the other side!
Ultimately, I'm overwhelmed by the course load. All of my school experiences thus far have allowed me to skate by with the bare minimum and somehow I've always managed to come out on top. And... with little or no effort. For example, last semester I was working so much that I barely studied for the tests. Well... I did on the first few but they were all so difficult that I stopped caring so much. In all honesty my test grades showed, but with my perfect attendance and my good grades on my papers I still walked out of my classes with a resounding A. As I've been introduced to my classes this week, I'm faced with high expectation after high expectation and on top of that, my classes include about 10x the amount of work compared to the last two semesters. I will not be able to skate by this term and my flesh is having a conniption fit.
And then the Lord reminded me about why I left everything behind, and spent all my pennies on the move and tuition. I came to go deep in the word and fall more in love with Jesus.
I spend 25+ hours a week in the prayer room seeking the face of the Lord and contending for His Kingdom to come. My biblical hermeneutics class includes greek and hebrew word study, my sermon on the mount lifestyle class includes memorizing most of the book of Matthew, and my old testament survey class requires reading the entire old testament this month. Deep in the word? I think so! Challenged to grow in the Lord? Of course! Demanding? Absolutely!
As I sit here in the prayer room I am also reminded of all the character issues I've been crying out for Holy Spirit to help me with and I feel much like Paul in Romans 7, what I want to do I do not do and what I don't want to do I do! I want to be faithful when the going gets tough, I don't want to seek the easy way out. I feel like I tend to strategize about how I can finish my tasks in the shortest and easiest way possible. I don't want to do that in my relationship with the Lord. I want to be excellent in all that the Lord entrusts me with. I also want reformation in my motives, I tend to only enjoy doing things that get me something in return and I fail to give wholeheartedly into what I won't reap benefits from. Gah selfishness! My pride is such a biggie for me. Lord have mercy! I can't do it on my own!
I feel like in one semester all of these areas are being confronted in tandem with on whopping drop kick in the face. I think the Lord is putting my flesh in the incinerator. Goodbye self, see you on the other side!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Coming home!
I'm coming home for a visit!!! This week!!! In less than 40 hours I will be running into the arms of my loved ones in the Spokane, WA airport. If you are in the area, I will be having a little gathering at the Red Roof House on the corner of E. Sumach and Clinton St. in Walla Walla next Monday, August 15th at 6:00pm. Please bring your favorite tapas or appetizer and be prepared to get your tail kicked at Bocce!
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