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God prepares hearts for divine appointments

As Lexie (name changed) was leaving campus, her path crossed with two Cru staff serving at her school in East Asia.  That day Lexie was down, struggling with school, and just wanted to go home. Fortunately, God had been preparing her heart for this moment. Lexie is a rarity in East Asia: she speaks English, knows a Christian, and was interested in learning more about Jesus.

While talking with Lexie about spiritual things, she admitted- "I have evil in me...I don't deserve Jesus."

These two staff members walked through the gospel with her, explaining that Jesus loves her just as she is, and he died for her. She did not have to do anything to deserve Jesus, He gives himself freely to those who invite Him in as savior.

Lexie was overwhelmed by this good news, the grace that God gives us through Jesus. God had been preparing her for this moment, and opened her eyes to see her need to accept Christ into her life.

Our God is sovereign and works in mighty ways to bring people all over the world into a relationship with himself. Lexie now understands how great grace is, and she wants others to be able to hear about Christ's love for them. Lexie is a huge answer to pray for this staff team in East Asia who have been praying for someone to be an ambassador for Christ on her campus!

Expedition: Ukraine

Last week, our Expedition Cru team arrived in Lviv, Ukraine via an overnight train from Budapest. The Expedition team is made up of 5 recent college grads, who will spend the next 10 months in Eastern Europe. Each month they will travel to a new city, in a new country. They will seek out believers in churches and on college campuses who want to their fellow countrymen for Christ. They will train and equip these believers, who will launch spiritual movements. Then, it's on to a new city.

Jordan, the team leader writes this about their first few days in Ukraine:

"We got in a van with a Lviv Cru staff member to head to Ivano-Frankivsk, our first ministry city in western Ukraine. For parts of the journey we were on the worst roads I have ever been on! The rest of Sunday was spent securing an apartment and getting settled in.

Monday morning, we gathered to pray and then we went to meet with an area youth director. He had invited three other men. They all have a heart to reach international students with the Gospel, so that those who are studying here will return home and impact their cultures and friends. These are primarily Islamic, Hindi, Buddhist and Atheistic students.

Tuesday, two of my teammates met with Baffour, a student from Ghana. Baffour has started to organize a Christian student movement on campus, and is also already sharing is faith on his own. He types John 3:16 on thin slips of paper, cuts them apart, and then shares his faith with others by explaining the Gospel and then giving out the slips of paper. Baffour was ecstatic when we showed him the evangelistic tools that Cru Ukraine uses to share their faith. He will likely be another key volunteer as he is so eager to learn.

In two days, we already may have met two key volunteers. God is working mightily and this is just the start. Pray for endurance, discernment and to be Spirit-led as we move forward."

No doubt you've seen Ukraine in the news lately. But we are trusting God to use our steps of faith in the country to launch and grow movements of people who follow Jesus, and want to share him with others.

Reflecting on a Summer in 4J

I've heard it takes one day to recover for every hour of time change you experience when traveling. Returning home from the Middle East meant 8 hours of jet lag recovery, which I think was pretty accurate.

After 6 weeks overseas, I feel like it's taken another 6 weeks to get back to a sense of "normal." But here we are, a few days away from the kickoff of another school year, and I realize I haven't spent much time blogging about the summer I had in the land we in Cru call "4th Journey."

This is the 4th country I’ve had the privilege to travel to in the last 2 years, and what I continue to find in every city I visit is that people are searching for purpose and hope in their lives. They are searching for something to put their trust in. Most put their trust in their government, or themselves, or their religion, or their family.

There are many stories I could share with you about students that we met and conversations that were had. I will tell you one story, about a man I will call "E." Our mission team met E early in the summer. Some of the guys on the team noticed that E had a tattoo in his arm that is from a video game, and decided to strike up a conversation with him. The guys talked about video games, and also got into several spiritual conversations about what E believes. One day, Troy, a student from a school in Wisconsin, had some free time. He decided to call up E and see what he was up to.

E was free and wanted to meet up! Troy knew that we only had a few days left in our city before we left for America. He decided to take a chance and be honest with E and share his life story with him. In the past, Troy had a serious drug problem, and nothing in his life made him happy. Troy explained that when he found out who Jesus was and what he had done for Him on the cross, he realized that everything he was searching for could be found in Christ. The hope and joy and purpose he was looking for could be found through a relationship with God. E was amazed; he never heard anything like that before!

E also had a history with drugs and was searching for joy and purpose in his life. E and Troy walked to E's house, and along the way, Troy explained the Gospel to him. E said he had a desire to follow Jesus, and asked Christ to come into his life right then and there. A few days later, E was able to meet the long-term team of missionaries in our city, and go to church for the first time in his life.

I hope that in the coming months and years, as I stay in touch with the long-term team in our city, that I will hear stories of how God uses E to reach his city and country with the Gospel.

What a powerful story of God’s work. It was encouraging to see our students take steps of faith and share their beliefs- but also to build bridges with people who believe something different than what they believe. Building these bridges because we love others as God has loved us, was our goal this summer, and should be our goal in and every day no matter where we are.

Our team had spent the summer prayer and fasting for God to work. Towards the end, our students were starting to realize that even though we were praying for big things, we might not see God bring someone to faith in Christ while we were in country. We had many conversations about the purpose of our trip: to plant seeds of the Gospel and to wait expectantly for God to grow them. We are not in control of the growth. We cannot reason someone into believing in Jesus; If we can "convince" someone into believing, someone else can "convince" them out of it. I think we all understood in a new light the "definition" of successful witnessing: stepping out in faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. We really understood this concept in a new way this summer. After talking through this, we saw E make a decision, which was like the cherry on top of an already awesome summer!

Final week in 4J

It's hard to believe this is our last week in the land of "4th Journey"! This week we will have final goodbyes with our friends as well as a final picnic where we will introduce students that we've met who are truly seeking God to the staff team that is here full time. At the end of this week our team will head to the capital city in our country for a few days of debrief and touring, then it's back home

It's been a crazy summer full of fun memories, sweet stories of seeing God work on campus, and deep growth happening in our lives. The students on our team are incredible - they are so passionate about seeing the Gospel impact this land where there are so few believers and where hearts are hardened towards the free gift of grace. We are trusting that while we may not see any visible fruit from our summer here, God is pursuing hearts of people here. We know that he is sovereign and he cares about this country - even more than we do.

Second update from 4th Journey

We have had a great first couple weeks on campus here in 4th Journey. By the end of week 1, our team was able to meet hundreds of people, and had spiritual conversations with 79 people. With 32 other students, we were able to do a full Gospel presentation. We were also able to re-meet 4 students for a second appointment. We have started counting these individuals with pasta to give us a visual representation of the influence we are having here.

We also have written down every person's name that we've counted thus far so we can pray for them daily. We are definitely seeing the need to cover our work in prayer, that the Lord would bless our efforts and somehow break through the spiritual walls that people have constructed in this place.

We're learning a lot about the culture and language. For a vast majority of the people we've talked with, we are the first followers of Jesus they have ever met. Despite this, there are lots of lies they have been brought up to believe about the Bible, Jesus and the trinity. Please pray for God to open hearts and minds of people we talk to - there are so many obstacles to people understanding. We know it could take many months, maybe even years, for these students we've met to come to believe in Jesus and his work on the cross- if they do at all. But, this hasn't stopped us from pursuing people, because you never know who you might meet and how God might have prepared them to hear about Him.

The team is doing well and most of our students can't get enough of meeting with their new friends. Even though we have a small team of 8 male students and 5 female students (plus me and 3 staff), it is evident that the Lord brought the right students here. They are so passionate about living lives that honor the Lord and making new friends with the hope of sharing Christ with them. They encourage ME daily!

Week 1: Ben Yaptim

Our first few days on campus have flown by, and we're seeing God provide some unique opportunities to share the gospel with Middle Eastern college students. Over the first 2 days, our team had spiritual conversations with 30 people, and presented the gospel to 20 more people. We weren't sure what to expect but we are thankful for each of these people we've been able to connect with. We also have bibles that are printed in our country, in the local language, which is a huge resource for us. We hope to go through our entire box of 20 new testaments over the course of our time here.

I'm enjoying learning about the culture here and trying my hand at the language. Along with that comes many embarrassing and awkward moments, but luckily both sides have just been able to laugh them off.

One thing that's surprised me is how many people think that we are German. There is actually a decent number of Germans here, and while most of us on the team are of German descent, I guess I assumed it would be obvious that we are all Americans. Today I was mistaken for a Middle Eastern, (which I thought was hilarious).

I have dubbed this week "ben yaptim!" week - which means "I did it!" As I order food on my own, navigate the bus routes and subway lines, and find my way around campus I am excited to learn I can exist in a foreign place. It's a feeling I've felt a few times before, but also different now as I lead the team and help others live in a new place.

Today I was able to sit down and talk with 9 different women on campus, which was really fun - especially because I was with Hayley, a girl on my team who is a student at USD. We met two women whose names mean "Secret" and "Melody" in their language; they were especially fun to meet with. Please pray that we'd be able to meet up with them again in the coming weeks.

I hope to share some photos this weekend, so stay tuned for another update :)

We made it!

The 4th Journey summer project has hit the ground in the Middle East! Our first 48 hours together as a team were pretty eventful as we traveled to our secure location.

We gathered together on Sunday, May 18 for a final night of briefing and then took off from MSP airport on Monday, May 19. On our first flight from Minneapolis, we sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting for a lightening storm to pass. Luckily it moved fairly quickly!

We landed in DC with plenty of time for a bite to eat before boarding our 5p flight to Frankfurt. An hour after take off, someone had a heart attack on the plane and we made an emergency landing in Boston. After 2 hours of sitting on the tarmac while the pilots worked on paperwork and the passenger was removed, the pilot announced we would be taking off.

Shortly after taxing to the runway, the pilot announced there was a problem with the engine and we would need a replacement part, if they could fix it at all.

We waited in our seats while a tow truck came to tow us to the gate, the maintenance crew replaced the fuel valve in the engine, and then the crew did more paperwork.

After another 2 hours on sitting in the tarmac, we were ready for takeoff again.

We landed in Frankfurt at Noon, 5 hours after we were scheduled to arrive. Since our connecting flight to our country was scheduled for 9am, we weren't sure when we'd be re-booked.

Because we were so late we had to deboard the plane on the tarmac, where we waited for airport buses to pick us up and shuttle us to the main terminal. We then waited in line after line to get our tickets rebooked.

Thanks to a wonderful Lufthansa ticket agent named Christoff, we were able to get seats on the 945pm flight to our final airport.

We landed there about 1am, and then spent 2 hours getting through customs and picking up luggage. Thankfully this all went smoothly - and we even got a toblerone on the flight :) I think this is also the flight where I lost my iPod, but I'm not totally sure. I'm still hopeful that I might find it, but it's probably gone forever.

Now that we were in the right country, we had just a 2 hour ferry ride left to our final destination. Because they only run a few times a day, we had to spend the night in the city. Luckily a fellow staff person met us at the airport and arranged for a hotel and bus. It was 4am by the time we got to our hotel, and we were so tired from our travels we slept until Noon the next day!

After grabbing some wonderful middle eastern food for lunch and touring around a bit, we walked to the ferry station. We were quite a site: 17 Americans who had been traveling for 60 hours trying to navigate the narrow cobblestone streets with 2-3 bags per person. We only walked a kilometer or so, but it felt like several miles!

The ferry ride was 2 hours, and once we docked, we boarded another bus to take us to our apartments. By then it was 9pm and we were greeted by the staff team here and some yummy lamb pizza. Needless to say, we were relieved to be "home"!

Federico's Full Story

In my last monthly newsletter I shared about a tool that Cru uses called "Soularium." Because we live in such a visual culture, we've developed a tool to use photos to initiate spiritual conversations. It's easy to use the photos to learn more about the person you're meeting with, and also easy to transition into a Gospel presentation after the photo survey is done.

I love this tool. I've even used it with my Cru staff team and modified the survey so that we can learn more about their lives and where they are at in their walk with the Lord. Another great benefit of using the photo tool - it's FUN!

Anyway, part of my letter briefly shared the story about a college student in Uruguay called Federico. He has a pretty great story and I couldn't fit it all into my newsletter, so here's the full story. There are a few typos and odd statements but I wanted to keep the full integrity of his letter. It's a long story, but definitely worth reading. Enjoy!

Federico writes:

I once believed in God, when I was little. My family raised me Catholic and so we “believe in God” but the truth is, like most people in my country, we seldom practice religion.

I stopped believing in the existence of God when I entered High School, since then my faith had only declined: from professing Catholicism I became agnostic only to quickly embrace a strong atheism. My reluctance to religion was such that I even thought for a long time that Jesus, the man, had never existed. Furthermore, in the “spectrum of theistic probability” that Richard Dawkins talks in The God Delusion I placed myself –like Dawkins– as a 6.9 (the spectrum goes from 1 to 7).

When I was in my first year of College a group of US students approached me wanting to do a survey with images. It wasn’t until later that I found that it was a spiritual survey called Soularium. I don’t know why but I didn’t start a debate about religion and God like I usually did.

Instead, we talked and exchange Facebook profiles and never talked again. I didn’t know that they were part of a Summer Project held by Cru.

My story continues two years later when a series of highly coordinated events took place. First I enrolled to a seminar by mistake. The seminar took place five Thursdays and in order to get the credit you had to attend four of the five talks. I went to the first one but then I missed the next two. When I went to the third I talked with the teacher about it and he said he would see what he could do. I knew I wasn’t going to get the credit and the seminar wasn’t something I wanted to do in the first place, but anyways I attended the last talk and it blew my mind. The topic of the seminar was “Philosophy between Science and Religion” and the speaker was a teacher at my university that has a P.H.D. in the field and is one of the most respected philosophers of South America –things I didn’t know until the last day.

What started as a way to get a credit ended with a conversation that made me realize the existence of God. But I wasn’t prepared to have a personal relationship with Him or similar, instead what my teacher explained to me was that it is one thing to philosophically understand the existence of God and another very different thing is religion. So I was fine accepting God but not religion, especially because I wasn’t sure what religion was right or different from the others.

And here is where Cru gets involved again. First I met one STINTer at one of my college campuses, but I had to go, so I only grasped his first name. Then, two weeks later I was studying for my finals and so when I passed the entrance of the college I see a girl holding the same pictures from the survey I took two years before. I knew they were from the US so I walked into them and asked to take the survey. After finishing the survey they explained to me what Cru is, their mission and vision, and doing chitchat I asked if they knew the guy I met two weeks earlier and they said they did.
 
So I met with the guy again and he explained Christianity in a way I had never heard before. Then he invited me to the last Cru meeting of the year. I wasn’t sure but I decided to go anyways. At the end of the event they presented a camp, I was on my vacations so I went. It wasn’t what I had in mind but I liked it in some way. One of the last nights I finally accepted Jesus. Later, talking with the stinters, they told me that it was very odd how I met them: I was the only one who the first stint/er talked with in that campus, and the second group that I encountered in the other campus said they never went to campus in the morning.

The last day of camp the staff of Cru invited everyone to a Summer Project, pointing out the theme of the camp “Formers of Movements that Transform the Nations.” For my perspective it was God who was calling me to go, so I did.

At first I was going to stay just for a few days, but seeing how much everyone was excited to share and the love of the family that was hosting us I prayed to stay the whole first week. And I could stay! Then out of nowhere my parents allowed me to stay until the weekend after that. I was learning so much about Christianity and how to develop my personal relationship with God that I liked every moment of the camp, especially the times when we shared the Gospel.

So I prayed again to stay the whole second –and last– week because I couldn’t stay but had to study for my exams instead. But God surprised me again and I could stay the whole Summer Project (Amy here -- this project is similar to our American summer projects and was the first time we tried them in Uruguay.)

Those three weeks –one at camp and two at the Summer Project– felt like a year, but in a good and special way. From being a strong ten-year atheist I became a Christian willing to share the Gospel, the change of my life and His grace with everyone I could (family, friends and classmates).

Recap of TCX 2013

At the end of December we hosted our annual winter Cru conference, Twin Cities Xperience (TCX). This 4 day event is a chance for college students from around the Upper Midwest to get together with other believers, get encouraged in their walk with the Lord, and be equipped to reach others with the Gospel.


This year, students heard from 3 powerhouse speakers -- including KP Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia. He encouraged students to read as much as they can now- especially books that will "make your life miserable...like mine." He was referencing his book Revolution in World Missions, which you can get for free here. I can say, it changed my view on global missions, and a lot of other things. I read this book right before I finished raising support and took my Global Missions Operations job (which is a reminder for me of God's incredibly perfect timing!) It's a great book, I highly recommend it.

My years attending this conference as a student greatly impacted my relationship with God. Not only did I get to see other believers live out their faith, I got the chance to deepen mine. I learned about the sacrifice and perseverance it would take to walk with God for a lifetime.

Even though now, as Cru staff running the event behind the scenes, I see God doing the same things he did in my life in the lives of college students today.

Students today are passionate about living lives that matter. It's an incredible feeling to walk into a room of 1521 college students who are investing time in developing their relationship with God. These students are the future leaders of our cities, states and nation. They are future leaders in business, medicine and law. Investing in their spiritual life now will bring a great return on the investment.

Would Jesus Eat Frybread?

So much happens each month, that there's no way I can cram it all into my monthly newsletter! Last month a couple of my teammates traveled out to Toppenish, Washington for an annual Nations conference called "Would Jesus Eat Fry Bread?"

Nations is a movement of Cru for Native American college students, one of Cru's many contextualized ministries (more about this later). The ministry exists to honor Native American students and faculty by restoring their lives and culture with Jesus Christ.

The "Would Jesus Eat Frybread?" conference is a chance for Native students from around the US to gather together to learn from each other. Similar to TCX (our regional Christmas Conference), students hear from speakers, worship with each other, and have a chance to get to know other Christians who are also Native.

The conference is a partnership between Cru, Intervarsity (another college ministry), and the Calvin Institute of Worship. Over 175 people attended, representing more than 55 tribes from places like North Carolina, New Mexico, South Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska.

For many students, this was the first chance they've had to talk about their questions regarding their identity as Native Americans and Christ-followers- Am I native enough? Can I be a native and a Christian?

I mentioned the word "contextualization" - this is the process of making the gospel accessible within a particular cultural context in an understandable and culturally meaningful way without losing the truth and integrity of the message.

For our Nations movement, this means providing worship using Native drums and languages. This means getting the blessing of a tribe and it's elders before hosting an event (hence my trip out to Washington earlier this year, months before the conference began). Last year, students at the conference took communion using frybread and grape soda, staples in native culture. Instead of staying at a hotel and meeting in a conference room, the gathering was held on the reservation with chairs set up in a circle.

The point of contextualization is to put the gospel in a more understandable, culturally relevant form by using elements of a people's language, customs and traditions. The message of the gospel, that redemption and salvation are possible through Christ, does not change. The method of presenting and transferring the gospel is dependent on the culture.

The website "Reaching Internationals" clarifies this concept with a great list of what contextualization is not:

• It is not a watering down or compromising of the gospel.
• It is not assimilating one culture into another.
• It is not segregation. It is not separate but equal. The goal of contextualization is communication. Contextualization may result in more separation but only to the degree that is necessary to produce truly indigenous leaders and movements.
• It does not mean each culture only reaches its own (whites/whites; blacks/blacks, etc).
• It is not going after corporate ‘diversity’ as an end in itself.

It was a privilege to be a small part of this conference. Due to my other travels this fall I stayed back in Minneapolis and did not attend, but I was able to assist in some of the travel arrangements for participants, booking more than 50 flights for students across the US.

(Next year, the conference will be held in Northern Minnesota on the Fond du Lac Reservation so I'm hoping to attend in person).

Expedition.

This year, Cru sent out 2 teams of interns on European missionary endeavors. The teams are called "Expedition" Stint Teams and spend one month in a different city, for a whole year. Here's a brief update from their time in Rovno, Ukraine earlier this fall:

"While one of the teams was in Rovno, Ukraine, a local pastor saw how the students were challenged with the gospel and how well they responded. Taras, the pastor, shared, "It should not have taken a team of Americans to motivate us to do the work that we should have already been doing ourselves, but it did. Thanks to this group of Americans, we (in our church) will now be taking the Gospel to students." 

As with any short-term missionary endeavor, it can be easy to question effectiveness. Our Expedition teams are no different, as they spend only 1 month in each location. But the above story is an example of lasting fruit left behind after our team moves on.

We seek to be what Jim Elliot prayed to be many decades ago:

“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road;
Make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another
on facing Christ in me.”                   - Jim Elliott

A line on a page.

This fall I took a Church History class online. On almost a weekly basis I was astounded at how little I knew about the history of Christ followers. It was fascinating to learn more about whole centuries of history, and people who sacrificed so much to make the name of Christ known.

Our textbook for the class was 500 pages (no, I didn't actually get all of it read) and it covered pretty much the entire 2,000 years of Church History.

I happened to be paging through the last chapter one day, when a familiar phrase jumped out at me: Campus Crusade! We showed up in the textbook on page 499, in reference to Pope John Paul II, who attended a Cru retreat as a young man in Poland (here is a very interesting article about his interactions with Cru).

After reading the textbook, listening to hours and hours of lectures, and memorizing dozens of names of important people from church history, I was surprised to see Cru get even one line on the second to last page of my text book.

There have been so many instrumental people, churches, groups and movements throughout the last 2,000 years. Seeing Cru near the end of the book really put into perspective how small the organization is in relation to everything else that's happened in history. It's easy to assume Cru is the end-all-be-all when you immersed in Cru culture - even though that is certainly not true.

Seeing Cru in the textbook also gave me a new perspective on seeing how far we have come as a greater church body, and how close we really could be to seeing the Great Commission fulfilled.

Imperfections & First Impressions.

Over the last couple months my church has been doing renovations on our new building. It's been really fun to see the building transform into the home of New City Covenant Church. A ton of work has gone into our multiple kids' ministry rooms, our main welcome area that we call the "gathering place," and the kitchen/fellowship hall where we have a meal after every single Sunday service. Things are looking great! There are still some structural things to fix, but really the only main cosmetic thing left to do is the sanctuary.

The thing is, updating the sanctuary was the first item on the to do list, in my mind. I thought it would be the priority because it seems like it's the most important room in our building, and the place where people spend the most time.

A couple weeks ago I had invited a friend to check out New City, and she came today. And if I'm being honest, I felt a little bummed that the sanctuary didn't look nicer. Sure, we just put up new drywall and a gave the place a fresh coat of paint - and it looks really good! - but we still have scuffed floors and beat up pews and hobnail milk glass chandeliers that are so old they're likely worth a few bucks.

Yet, it didn't seem like the imperfections in our worship space mattered to my friend. After the service, she commented on how real we all were. We weren't putting on a show.

Cue the light bulb.

Why do I care so much about the faded carpet and well-worn pews? Three years ago when I started attending my small church plant, we met in a banquet room in a rec center (which also happened to host hockey games each week during our church service). The room was not very aesthetically pleasing, to say the least.

What kept my interest in the church was the people, the preaching and the praise (see what I did there, with the alliteration?) I was able to connect with others in a meaningful way, grow deeper in my faith through sound, biblical preaching, and worship God in a way that made my musical heart very happy.

I didn't care about the cold fluorescent lighting or having to navigate a noisy hockey crowd every week. The community kept me coming back.

Now that we have a building to update and keep up, why should it be any different? I hope we as a church don't buy the lie that we need to appear to have everything together in order for new people to like us. We're so much more than the color we paint our walls or the type of pews we have.

And I hope I don't buy this lie. I almost didn't invite my friend to come check out New City, because I wanted to wait until the church was completely finished. Then I could impress her by showing off our new digs. What's important is not the light fixtures above us or the carpet below us- but the people around us. I hope we continue to be a community of grace and truth, who seeks to love and serve Jesus and those around them.

When we want to know what's next.

In the last month, three friends of mine have gotten married. As much as I joke about going to/standing up in so many wedding...I love seeing my friends wed their amazing fiances. I'm so excited for each of them as they embark on a new chapter in their lives together. I can't wait to see where God leads each couple in the years to come.

I was thinking about one of these wonderful couples the other day, and a thought popped into my head: I wonder when they will have a baby?? I bet they'll get pregnant really quick. In fact I should actually make a bet with a few other people... I think I would win.

I dismissed these thoughts and went about my business. But later that night as I was settling in to sleep, I realized that my flippant thought was actually pretty similar to another flippant thought I often hear others voice, out loud, to my face:

Do you think you'll ever get married?

When I hear this from people, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I get a little flushed in the face. I start to sweat. Before the person (usually a total stranger, but also sometimes a close friend) can even complete their question, I know where they are heading.
 What I was doing to this friend (in my head) is pretty much exactly what others do to me.

For better or worse, we are always looking for the next big thing. Waiting in anticipation for what's to come. What is it about us that compels us to be constantly thinking of what we don't have, or what might be next, even if it's uncertain? Whether it's pressure from family or the people around us, or society in general- we must always be looking for what's next.

I refuse to treat my married friends this way, bugging them about when they will achieve the "next thing" - whether it's purchasing a house, having a baby or some other major life event.

Sometimes we do this without thinking. Maybe we're trying to fill an awkward silence or just trying to ask someone a more deep question than "How are you?" or "What do you think about this weather we're having?"

Whatever the intent, I refuse to "go there" with my newly married friends.

Excersing (the tiny) part of my right brain.

I'll never forget the day my Mass Comm advisor dropped a semi-huge bomb on me: I accidentally took the wrong class during my Sophomore year of college. Because of this, I would not graduate on time.

I was shocked. Because I was earning two separate bachelor's degrees (a BBA and a BS) I always had to be super on top of my schedule. Fitting in my 160+ credits was a nightmare. It was already going to take me 4.5 years to earn these 2 degrees (which actually isn't bad at all).

But now...a mistake? My adviser showed me the handbook. I had been using an old one to determine my graduation requirements, and I quickly realized that I took Digital Imaging instead of Photo Journalism. Probably not that big of a deal. But, I was stunned. I was always so on top of everything - how did I miss this?

My fabulous adviser ended up pulling some strings and got the Dean to sign off on the Digital Imaging class as a substitute for PhotoJ. Hallelujah. I could graduate on time and not have to stay a whole extra semester for one class.

Looking back on this situation now, I'm SO grateful I took the wrong class. Our professor for Imaging was a legit graphic designer with her own established company and decades of experience. She taught me so much about working with the Adobe Creative Suite- PhotoShop, InDesign, etc. She saw potential in me and really helped me push myself to tap into a creativity I didn't know I had.

I'm no graphic designer, but I would not have the design skills I have now if it wasn't for that scheduling screw up. It's funny how God worked that one out. Now, I love getting to flex my (small) creative muscle, especially in designing some materials for my church. Thought I'd show you a few things here that I've done. I also get to tap into my creativity when writing my monthly newsletter, and I've been known to do a project or two for friends. Enjoy!

Introverts and Extroverts.

I basically know nothing about Susan Cain, but I love her.

Her book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking," now holds a place in my top 5 favorite non-fiction books of all time. 

Several chapters in "Quiet" are devoted to introducing (and then debunking) the myth in our society of an "extrovert ideal" - that in order to be well-liked, successful, or a leader, you must be an extrovert. She defines this ideal as: "the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight...Introversion, along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness and shyness- is now a second-class personality trait.

Cain introduces an incredible amount of psychological and medical research in many of her chapters, especially those on the idea of personality and temperament. She closes, appropriately so, with a few chapters about living as an introvert in an extrovert world (and succeeding at it).

At the end of the day, I won't remember the intriguing stories, insightful comments or surprising statistics about anything Cain discusses in her book. But weeks after finishing the book I think about it daily, because it has greatly encouraged me to just be myself. It's given me insight into who I am, and helped me see that I need to be honest with myself about how God has made me. I have to live out who I am, regardless of what the world may think or expect of me. Dare I say, neither introvert nor extrovert is the true ideal - God made them both, made people to be one or the other or a mix of both. And that's good.

If you're an introvert, or dating/married to one, or you have one in your immediate family, or if you don't understand them, (...or even if you think you do)... I suggest checking out "Quiet."

For, or From? [continued]

For the last several days, I've continued to mull over this idea of living life from God, and not just for God (see previous post for more info). A key aspect of this concept is the realization, the fact, the truth, that we are able to live life from God. We, while living imperfect and sinful lives, have access to God, through Jesus. Because of this, He can be present with us. Throughout the last week, as I've been pondering this, I've seen it show up in my daily life small (but meaningful) ways:

First, in a photo that hangs near my bed. I took this in college, and had underlined that famous verse the first time I read it on my own. 
















 
I remember the imprint it left in my brain. But glancing at that photo one night before bed, I read the very last line, which is also the very last line in the book of Matthew:


And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.


Jesus has just commissioned his disciples to go forth and multiply, but does not leave them until he gives a promise of his presence with them. Forever.

Last Wednesday I was walking downtown and happened to pass someone on the sidewalk talking about Christmas. Lord... NO. I thought to myself. It's not even the end of summer, must we talk about Christmas already?? But I started thinking about why I love the Advent season- not for the gifts or festive Starbucks drinks or even being with family (though all of those are awesome).

I love Advent because it reminds me that God is here, and presence with me. He came to earth, in the form of a tiny little human, and walked among us. He is called "Emmanuel: God with us." I love that advent reminds us of this.

A final reminder of seeking God's presence in daily life happened today- New City Covenant Church marked our first official service in our permanent building today! It is a huge answer to prayer, and over the last few weeks the community has been putting in countless hours sanding, painting, throwing, organizing and building.

My pastor, John, was quick to remind the congregation about our history; for the first four years of our existence, we've built something intangible: a transformational community. While we have enjoyed working on the tangible aspects of our building, the intangible is still most important: God's presence in our community. John told a brief story about a church plant that split up soon after they had purchased a permanent building. The first sign of trouble was an argument over the color and type of color to purchase for the building. Heartbreaking, really. I so appreciate John bringing us back to what's important:  "what really matters is not the glory of our space, but the presence of God in our midst."

For, or From?

CSU has come and gone, and a busy fall is looming ahead. I took some time last week to reflect on the US Cru national staff conference (which is held on the beautiful CSU campus in Ft. Collins, CO (hence the conference nickname)). It was an awesome week, full of things like fun coffee dates with old friends, and challenging seminars from a wide variety of people.

One of my favorite talks was from Skye Jethani, who talked about the pendulum swing from consumerism Christianity to activism Christianity (which I wrote about in my most recent newsletter).

Jethani started out right away citing research that, more than ever before, the current generation treats God like someone we can go to get what we want, and can then discard or ignore when we have what we want. I've heard others describe this as treating God like a cosmic vending machine, taking verses like Jeremiah 29:11 way out of context. We go to God with our lists of requests, pray for blessing, and wait expectantly.

We eventually, hopefully, come to realize this isn't true Christianity. But somehow, the pendulum swings too far other way- into Christian activism. Life becomes about service. The more we serve God, the better our life is, even if it may not seem like it on the outside. But it is, because we sacrifice for others, and God is happy with us and all this good we're doing. We are supposed to wear our "I live for God" attitude on our sleeve- unfortunately, too many wear it literally.

We get involved in missions and service groups and human rights events. These are all great. There's nothing wrong with them. More than ever before, this generation wants to change the world, me included. I grew up on a farm, miles outside our tiny town - yet even as a kid I had this desire to grow up and change the world somehow.

But somehow, life becomes all about service. About "doing" for God. We base our worth on what we produce. How big is your new church plant that you spend lots of time volunteering in? What about your ministry, how is God using you there? What are you investing your time in that will make an impact in eternity??

Over the weekend, one of my facebook friends shared a wonderful post from Proverbs 31 Ministries:

"Sometimes I wonder…what makes my child feel loved? One morning last week I was driving my son, Andrew, to school and asked him, “What makes you feel loved?”
He thought for a minute and the he said, “THIS.”

“This?” I asked him.

“Yea. This. You being with me mom. When you drive me to school and talk to me about my day. And when you tell me that you’re gonna be there when I get home. That makes me feel loved and secure. Thanks mom, bye!” And, he hopped out of the car. As I drove away, I kept thinking – This is love?

You mean I don’t have to go out and buy his favorite toy or take him to a movie? Just being there is love."

Precious. Don't you think that's what God wants, too? He loves when you do nice things for him and for other people, when you seek to invest your life in something that matters and make a difference in this world. But I don't think he wants those things to happen at the expense of your relationship with Him.

I say "you" and "we" a lot in this point, but I actually mean me. As Jethani said in his seminar, "It's possible to be on mission for God, yet never really know Him."

I can so easily structure my day around tangible tasks that are important or significant in ministry... and also easily forget the purpose behind them. I often don't live my life from God, as Jethani says. I live it for God...and even then, it's a struggle. 

What do you think? What does it look like to live life from God, instead of for God?

Summer Friendships.

This week was a big one. I completed my Old Testament Survey class, finished the 5 week church discipleship group I helped lead, and saw all of my summer project students and staff return, (and took 3 trips to the airport in the process).

I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit so far, and summer is only half over! I've been pleasantly surprised with the way things are turning out. Two years ago I was still new to the metro, new to my job, and didn't have many friends yet, so summer was really hard. I was a little apprehensive about being in Minneapolis again: nearly all of my coworkers leave town, non-work friends travel or are more busy than usually. This city of more than a million people can get pretty lonely. Plus, I thrive on having a set routine, so summer just throws me off my game.

One surprising element of my summer has been the great friendships I've made and continued to develop. A major lesson I've been learning this year is to take advantage of the opportunities God puts in front of me, even if they seem a bit scary or are hard to do. This has definitely been playing out in my friendships this year, especially in the last few weeks.

It takes time and effort to build new friendships. It's risky. You have to put yourself out there and you don't know how the other person will respond. You don't know them well enough to know what their likes/dislikes are, or where they draw boundaries on certain things, but learning them is part of the process. You can't go in pushing your own agenda, and you can't have crazy expectations. You are not in control.

Looking back, the timing could not have been more perfect in the development of my relationships this year, and this summer. Very rewarding to take continual steps of faith in this area and see what God will do with my willingness to say yes to the opportunities he puts in my path (disclaimer: this doesn't always go well! I have many of those stories, too!).

You never know how an opportunity will play out until you just jump in and see.