Wheels, or Lack Thereof

My little car that has carried me around for six years now, has hit the end of its road. 

Metaphorically speaking. 

We didn't crash. 

Well, we did, actually. 

Metaphorically speaking...

This is becoming a cyclical story. 

My car's done-zo. 

I wasn't too worried, because I like to drive my dad's pick-up truck that he rarely uses. 

Until that broke on my way to World Series Mayhem 2012. 

A couple of years ago, I tried to learn to drive a stick shift after my dad bought me a car to take down to school.

Long story short, I never learned, and also wrote off my brain as being incapable of multi-tasking. 

I then took a couple lessons this past school year with a very kind friend that wanted me to be able to travel. He was very patient. 

But I still didn't really learn. 

Well, ta-dah. 

It's time to learn. 

I'm getting nauseous at the thought. 

I'll be sure to keep you updated on that adventure; I'm sure you're dying to know how many times I'll freak out and stall on this wonderful hill that I brag about but now have to learn to drive on. 

Great. 

P.S. 

Needtobreathe tomorrow in Davis, CA with six lovely ladies that I cannot wait to spend the day with! The Jelly Belly Factory does not know what's coming. 

P.S.S. 

Umm... We won the World Series. Kim wrote a great re-cap. I'm sure I'll get some pictures up here eventually. 

Haters gonna hate. 

The Flashing Red Light

I have always loved living on the hill that my house is located on. It makes it difficult for friends to park sometimes, and people fly up and down the street like it's the Autobahn, but it's always made for a pretty fantastic view. We can see for days from up here, especially after the rain. What's with the rain making everything so much clearer? A parallel to the way Christ refines us through pain that draws us to him? I think so.

The ability to see so far away, drew my attention to a flashing red light at the beginning of high school. It sat far off in the distance, and I never really knew its location. It's a red light high up on a pole, and I sort of always assumed it was for low-flying airplanes that were coming in for landing at SFO. In fact, that theory may even be accurate. I just don't really know.

But the night that I found that flashing red light, was a night I was in huge trouble. Like, humongous trouble beyond what I am really willing to admit. Like, not allowed to leave the house for months except for school, trouble.  Like, trouble that led to me having little more to do than stare out across the city of San Mateo and notice a small flashing red light.

I wasn't the best behaved high-schooler. It's fine.

I had hit a place where life was spinning so far out of my control, that God used a little red light to speak into a young heart that did not yet truly know Him.

That light made me feel small.

It calmed me.

It still calms me.

That light reminds me that there is greater purpose to this earth than what I could ever hope. It reminds me that the Lord has far greater things in store for me than I could arrange for myself.

Because even a small red light no more than ten miles from my home, does two things all at once. It makes me feel so very small, while reminding me that He reigns over each and every little thing.

Whether it's been a week or three months since I've been back home, that light still reminds me to calm down and know that He is greater.

I've stared at that light by myself, with my parents, with boyfriends, and with friends. I've stared at it from the living room window, from the deck, from across the street, from parked cars, and from the roof. I've stared at in each and every stage of life that the last eight years has brought to pass.

But I can never seem to find that little light on the horizon from any other vantage point but the one that comes with this property up on the hill.

Sometimes we have to remove ourselves, get higher, and dwell in the Almighty in order to get real perspective on this world and be shown just how intricately He has knit together His people and this planet.

We are His.

Hallelujah!

Be Lifted High

Be Lifted High - Elevation Worship

Two Calls

I absolutely love it when what I am currently reading in the Scriptures lines up with what one of my devotionals is talking about. Reading through Ephesians in the last week has been somewhere between encouraging and overwhelming, wrestling through ideas of thanksgiving, the Lord's will, and being absolutely ruined at the truth of how caught up in the flesh I am. So, you can imagine that upon getting to the second chapter's concepts of being saved by grace through faith, I am swimming somewhere between "dazed" and "confused".

John Piper puts different application to the fifth verse of chapter two, focusing on the inability of men to do "missionary work" outside of the work of God. I love what Piper writes, especially as he compares our inability to God's sovereign ability to save souls and change lives. He writes, "the great missionary hope is that when the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, God Himself does what man cannot do - He creates the faith that saves". God's call "raises the dead" and "creates spiritual life".

As men, "we can waken someone from sleep with our call, but God's call can summon into being things that are not".

"...as it is written, 'I have made you the father of many nations'—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." Romans 4:17

God's call is one that our own "call" cannot even comprehend; one that raises the dead, gives new hope, re-routes lives, and saves the lost. 

I want to cling to that, and never, ever forget it. 

When I watch friends stumble and fall, slamming their figurative heads and hearts against a wall for months, if not years, at a time, I want to remember that God's call is what can waken them from their stupor. 

When days and weeks of trying to coax young boys off of the street and teenage girls out of the dance bars seem to be unfruitful, I want to hold fast to the fact that God's call can overcome all resistance. 

When there are days that I quickly forget how faithful God has been in this life, I want to remember that God's call in my life, summoned into being things that were not. 

Trust in the call of the Lord, friends, for His call and His grace are the sole things that can raise the dead, re-route the lost, and provide hope for the weary. 

P.S. Nepal this summer? I'll keep you updated (:

(Below is Piper's devotional for October 24th.)

"Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:5

"What missionary has not looked on his work and said, 'It's impossible!'? To which Jesus agrees, 'Yes, with man it is impossible.' No mere human being can liberate another human being from the enslaving power of the love of money. 

The rich young ruler went away sorrowful because the bondage to things cannot be broken by man. With man it is impossible! And therefore missionary work, which is simply liberating the human heart from bondage to allegiances other than Christ, is impossible - with men! 

If God were not in charge in this affair, doing the humanly impossible, the missionary task would be hopeless. Who but God can raise the spiritually dead and give them an ear for the gospel? 'Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ' (Ephesians 2:5). 

The great missionary hope is that when the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, God Himself does what man cannot do - He creates the faith that saves. The call of God does what the call of man can't. It raises the dead. It creates spiritual life. It is like the call of Jesus to Lazarus in the tomb. 'Come forth!' (John 11:43). 

We can waken someone from sleep with our call, but God's call can summon into being things that are not (Romans 4:17). God's call is irresistible in the sense that it can overcome all resistance. It is infallibly effective according to God's purpose - so much so that Paul can say, 'Those whom [God] called he also justified' (Romans 8:30). 

In other words, God's call is so effectual that it infallibly creates the faith through which a person is justified. All the called are justified. But none is justified without faith (Romans 5:1). So the call of God cannot fail in its intended effect. It irresistibly secures the faith that justifies. 

This is what man cannot do. It is impossible. Only God can take out the heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Only God can draw people to the Son (John 6:44, 65). Only God can open the heart so that it gives heed to the gospel (Acts 16:14). Only the Good Shepherd knows His sheep by name. 

He calls them and they follow (John 10:3-4, 14). The sovereign grace of God, doing the humanly impossible, is the great missionary hope."

-Desiring God, Multnomah Books (Colorado Springs, CO), pages 234-235

Wordless Wednesday

 

All things bright and beautiful You are
All things wise and wonderful You are
In my darkest night, You brighten up the skies
A song will rise

Azusa

Slow mornings in a house with nine other girls that put Jesus on display. 

Getting to see all the boys and girls I miss so much.

Not much better.

"And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." Ephesians 2:17-21

Taxi Ride

Just for you, a typical taxi ride in Nepal.

And yes, we always put at least 4 in the back, if not 5, and sometimes 2 in the front. 

You know, the norm. 

Thy Will Be Done

"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'" - C.S. Lewis

So often, the only prayer that comes to my brain in the light of the mornings, in the doctor's office waiting room, as the phone rings, as I open my e-mail, and when I lay down at night, is "Thy will be done." 

But there is only one reason that that specific prayer is even on my spectrum of awareness. 

Because my plans are futile. 

"Thy will be done" is the only thing that provides comfort to this heart and calms this sinner's anxiety. 

For so long, God said to me "All right, then, have it your way." And I continued to sin, to stray far from him, and to flee from repentance and grace like an approaching tidal wave. 

Succumb to the flood, friends. Be washed in the grace and mercy of the Lord who loves you and knows exactly where you have been. Soak in the overwhelming forgiveness and healing, and then emerge with one set of words on your tongue. 

"Thy will be done."

Baptism

Our little church plant turned two years old this past weekend and it was a beautiful testament to what the Lord has been doing in this community. I am so thankful that He has blessed me with the opportunity to be partaking in this body over the last two years, and especially the last few months. You can find a recap of the last few years at Hope over here at Kim's blog. 

We re-capped the most recent trip to Sudan, which you can learn more about here, Dave talked about what Hope is and what we hope to continue to do in Sudan. After service, we headed up to the Turdici's home for a big barbeque, the Niners game, and guess what?

I got baptized, surrounded by people who have walked with me through the last ten years of mountaintops and valleys, who have seen me both far from and close to the Lord since He saved me six years ago. Even my mom was there, which is just further solidification of the fact that He is so much bigger than we could ever fathom.  

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2nd Corinthians 5:16-21

 

  

 

  

  

 

 

Six of us got baptized this past sunday, October 14th, 2012. We are a funny bunch, with testimonies at every end of the spectrum. 

But we are all one in Christ. 

We have put on Christ, and Galatians takes on new meaning. 

"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Galatians 3:23-29

10 on 10 Fail

More like 3 on 10.

There are exciting Giants games to watch, cookies to bake, t-shirts to design and corndogs to be eaten.

My apologies to those of you who don't enjoy sports, but I think you're just plain crazy.

12 PM

2 PM

8 PM

Decided that my sweater and Bible should easily blend into the couch at Prayer Night. For disappearing purposes.

10 PM

Returned home from celebrating Brian's new job with Kim, Kevin and Mike, to find these socks on my bed. Gifts from the East Coast.

Pandas? Yes. Cats? No. Cowboy hats? What on earth...

Now It's Funny

When we were in Nepal, it was a general consensus among the majority of our team, that we could see ourselves staying for much longer than the six weeks of that trip. We would discuss what the one item from home you would want to have with you in Kathmandu that you didn't currently.

Relatively early on in the trip, I said that the one thing I wanted to have with me would be my wardrobe. You see, we travelled with backpacking packs, and wanted to be able to easily pack up and get around. When you check into a guest house in Nepal for six weeks, you can expect them to move you around the building a couple times.

But those who know me best, and had to travel with me throughout junior high and high school trips, know that I, 1. have a huge closet, and 2. have the hardest time not packing for every single potential situation that could ever arise ever ever ever.

Thus, the night before I left, Kayla and I were laying in bed for our last night together as roommates, and I realized I needed to downsize. I ran and grabbed my pack from the living room, and we emptied it, resulting in me taking about half of what I was originally planning on taking.

It was for the best. But it was hard.

At the start, I felt like I had approximately 1% of what I needed. But by the end, the clothes just did not matter.

So, my original stance? I wanted my wardrobe.

But then I spent an afternoon helping one of Tiny Hands house mothers do the laundry for fifteen children, and I realized I had more clothing at home then a whole children's home of fifteen children, two parents, and a grandmother did.

Convicting? I think yes.

When I arrived home, I was confronted with an unfortunate situation.

Some hooligans broke into my friend's residential garage, broke into my car, and stole my clothes.

You see, when finding places to store all my belongings while I was gone, I figured I would put everything but my clothes into locked cabinets, but that my clothes would be fine in my huge suitcase in my car.

But, au contraire. Clothing thievery is real, people.

My immediate reaction was anger. Like, who steals clothes? And what the heck do you do with someone else's clothes? Years and years and years of clothes. I guess you sell them at the Sunday swap meet. The city of Azusa is probably clothed in my last 8 years of clothing.

You're welcome.

Friends more than stepped up to the challenge, donating great clothes to my cause. My mom's co-workers even took a collection. They are too kind.

It has been a fun challenge to replace the basics, and do so while being thrifty and looking for things that will last me for the years to come.

Until they're potentially stolen again.

But the basics of this story?

God got rid of a stumbling block, the one thing that in my mind, would keep me from completely investing in overseas ministry.

So at the end of the day, I have to laugh. Praise Jesus for clothing thievery.

Scripture

Every day of this life I am living, is an opportunity to trust in the Lord. To trust that He knows what He's doing. To trust that He will bring the right people into my life at the right time. To trust that He is the giver of grace and the healer of hearts and friendships. 

Interested to know what has been helping? 

Un-ceasing prayer and the words He gave to His believers. 

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." 1st Corinthians 10:13

"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2nd Corinthians 3:4-6

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8

And a whole lot of cookies. 

InstaFriday

Well, when one lacks an Instagram, it is difficult to have an InstaFriday. But, fear not, those who feel like they don't already get overwhelmed by the amount of pictures on this blog! Because I am going to participate anyway. With un-edited iPhone pictures. Yeahhhh buddy.

One sad and freezing Giants game.

 

An afternoon with Hayden, whom I like to call "Hay-Ray", or "Hay-Bay-Bay". 

Learning about the oh-so-interesting lives of carnivorous plants from Jon Pham. Apparently, two weeks in Sudan and he still cares about these little buggers. Buggers. Get it? No? Dang.

More time with this superhero. Notice that I'm driving a different car, but he is wearing the same thing. He wears that Batman tee, with attached cape, and blue Crocs, MAYBE five times a week. 

A cheap, ghetto, simple case was in order for the iPhone 5 before Bass Lake. 

Happy Hippo. Roadtrip snacks, courtesy of Laura. And maybe breakfast too...

Okay, insert Bass Lake Weekend below. 

[Bass Lake weekend]

A new background image. It's my favorite so far. 

Anneke and I. Kayaking the lake away. 

Okay, at a standstill. Not kayaking at all. The truth feels better. 

Anthropologie sale shopping. One should never do it alone, it's a dangerous task. 

Accountability is needed. 

Finding weird, strange, creepy vehicles with Kim. 

This one took the cake. 

I found out that my spirit animal is a golden retriever. And that I'm an ENFJ. 

Take that as you will. 

But 30 minutes later, I found my spirit animal in real life!

Okay, it's Finn. At the house I nanny/chauffeur/PA for. And I knew he would be there. 

But still, the planets aligned. 

Highway 280. I love this drive. 

Welcome to Fall, I'm glad we're here. 

Pintertest Kitchen

I have known Jessica since I was in junior high, which was almost twelve years ago.

Sorry if I just really dated any of you...

But after twelve years, I have finally decided that I should really give this Pintertest Kitchen of hers a try.

Just kidding. Twelve years would be a long time.

But, after spending my lunch hour with Kim, she told me I should go Pinter-test something for once.

Challenge. Accepted. 

After one year, I decided I'd finally join.

Might have something to do with the fact that I have nothing to do these days, finally out of school for a while and lacking a job.

I decided to test two things!

The first is edible, the second is wearable. My two favorite kinds of items.

Let the testing begin.

7Up Biscuits

The recipe calls for Bisquick, 7UP, butter, and sour cream.

But guess what?

My Irish family doesn't keep 7UP on hand, or sour cream.

So... Beer and cream cheese it was.

And Jersey Shore. Durr.

I mean, they were good.

No part of me is about to be like "OH SKITTLES, go make these. Stat."

It is true that I made six, and have eaten five. But I also skipped lunch.

I think the sour cream might make this recipe what it is, so for me to leave it out might have been a critical error.

They also barely rose at all, and I was assuming the carbonation would make these things fluffier than all get out. But, au contraire.

My next little Test of the Pinter, was for homemade headbands.

Braided Headbands

The tutorial was really simple, and I made two while just sitting watching television one afternoon. 

Kept one for myself, and gave one to Kim. 

Also successfully left mine in Cindy's car for weeks and weeks on end. 

Sorry Cinders :)

I wear mine like so.

PinterTest, it's been REAL.

See ya soon.

Linking up with Jessica!