Currently Reading The Namesake: A Novel By Jhumpa Lahiri see related

Future plans :)

Currently Reading Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books By Azar Nafisi see related

Graduation . . .

   Yea for graduation! I am  off ically a college graduate. I survived papers, novels, and exams all in time for graduation- thanks to the Lord. I have never worked so hard in my entire life. Now its time to find a job til the end of June when I head to Israel til the middle of July.  After that, well we are waiting to see where the Lord leads.  Some doors have closed and others are still wide open- starting to wonder if it was always suppose to be this way. ;) hmmm something to ponder. Anyways, looking to use my major for a summer job and hoping to find something with decent pay that I enjoy doing.  The search is on . . . To all the other soon to be graduates out there, best of luck to you all and i hope you finish well. Many blessings all!

Currently Reading Girl Meets God: A Memoir By Lauren F. Winner see related

Now granted, I have like 5 large novels, memoirs, etc to read, yet boy do I love reading a good book.  Total dork I know, but there is nothing better than a good book that challenges you and makes you a better reader and a better writer.  Hence, I shall be brilliant when I graduate. ;) kidding! Still always seek to read and learn new things that you do not always agree with, but that will stretch you and mold you into the person God desires for us to be.  Test all things, and hold fast to the good! :) Blessings to all!

"Writing is the shaping of letters to represent spoken words which, in turn, represent what is in the soul." - The Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun

Currently Listening X&Y By Coldplay see related

Who would have thought...

"God doesnt call the qualified; He qualifies the called!" For some reason, this invaluable statement did not come to mind until I was having a conversation with my sister over my feelings of inadequacy in the area of work I feel the Lord is calling me to after graduation.  I find that this statement really takes the burden off of my shoulders and places it on the Lord's shoulders instead. It seems that every time I feel as though I can not possibly undertake the work the Lord has revealed to me, that He is always faithful to follow through and empower me with the skills I need to accomplish His task.  I do not know about you, but this has truly kept me in a place of complete dependency upon Him in whatever He leads me to and through. 

Love the fact that God has to continually reteach me this concept.  Ever find yourself in the same situation again and again with the Lord, and then one day you realize that maybe if you had just responded the first time like the Lord wanted you too, that you would not have to do the whole thing all over again? There is some food for thought! ;) Got to learn the lesson and not repeat the same mistake again.

So, ya know how I was saying before that sometimes I just wished the Lord would throw a huge sign in front of me to get my attention.... yeah well I think this happened on Tuesday in my missions class. Random, and crazily ironic story really. But I must first explain the background to the story...

About a year ago, I began to look for a place to do an internship overseas for my major. Due to my past few trips to Israel, I truly felt that God was showing me that this would be a real possibility for my internship.  So, I got some help from my professor at the time and he put me in contanct with a missionary in Jerusalem who had a small school geered toward reaching mostly the Arab population in the city.  During Christmas, the particular missionary called me and we discussed my situation - deciding upon not pursuing my internship there, yet still wanting to look into this possibility for after graduation. Anyways, along the way, I ended up deciding to go to Russia to intern, which was truly a blessing and made a huge impact on my life.  However, I never forgot that missionary in Jerusalem....

Now to the main part of the story...so tuesday morning, i got to class early and found our room empty.  I sat down though and waited for the rest of my classmates.  All of a sudden, this guy who had been wondering around out side, comes to the door and asks if my class was the 1035 missions class of Dr. Houlihan's.  I nodded and he came in and sat down.  As we sat there in silence, I decided to make small talk with him and asked him if he was a speaker or just a visitor.  He replied that he was a missionary and had come to talk to our class. I asked him further where he was working overseas- to which he replied the Middle East. To which i asked where- he said Jerusalem- and then (myself realizing the incredible possibility that I may know him) I probed further what his name was- to which he said Ross Byers. To which i totally burst out, "Oh my gosh, i talked to you like a year and half ago about interning, and I have been trying to reach you ever since!" Needless to say, I freeked him out a bit!

Now how incredibly crazy is that?! I had been searching the night before on the web for ministry opportunities in Israel, and then wam- God drops one in my lap in the middle of my mission class! Who the heck would have guessed? ;) So now- well im thinking good and hard about this opportunity and wondering if this is exactly what the Lord wants from me after graduation. The pondering/prayer begins....how truly great is our God! ;) Just ask and He will answer. Pray that i too am sensitive to the whisperings of the Lord as well as a discerning spirit in the area of this opportunity that just dropped in my lap! Not my will but yours be done oh Lord!

  So im thinking that this week last week was definitely a time of pondering the future. Whether it was in my Pentateuch class or missions class, i was faced straight up with the whole idea of deciding my future or what to do with my life post-college.  When asked what I was going to do with my degree after graduation this Christmas, I put forth the idea to my relatives of doing either grad school or immediately going overseas.  To which most of them replied- heck grad school is a better choice and you will make more money with a Masters degree.  My response, yeah thats true, but I want more experience before going for my Masters and I have a sense of urgency in my mind to go overseas.  The relatives response- are you crazy? What you really need to do is to think more rationally and practically about this.  Needless to say I was a bit discouraged. Ive never wanted a great deal of money in whatever job I ended up doing. I know it sounds bit idealistic, but I have always prefered to enjoy what I am doing over the financial benefits of that job. Some of my relatives dont get that. To them, the mission field is a good idea in theory, but not for a young, single woman like myself.

Now, I am thinking that popular opinion is not necessarily what matters.  What matters is my obediance to the Lord's call on my life. But even explaining that can be hard.  I was always the one growing up who was told over a period of time what the Lord was leading me into.  I never had the voice of God audibly speaking to me; instead, I had His constant whispering in my ear through the years.  Even with going overseas as a missionary, it wasnt until my third mission trip overseas, while I was helping lead a tour in Israel, that I knew that God was leading me to work overseas.  And it was not until after my internship this fall, that I knew that any other choice in occupation would never be as fulfilling or God glorifying.  So now what is the problem, I dont know where to go after graduation...

During break, I took part in the Passion 07 conference in Atlanta. Passion 07 was amazing! Imagine 24,000 college students gathering for four days in one city, to seek God, and bring praise to His name. Through speakers like John Piper and Beth Moore, and worship leaders like David Crowder, Matt Redman, and Chris Tomlin, 24,000 college students sought the Lord's will for their lives.  One of the key issues hit upon was foreign missions and the need for workers overseas. I can not tell you how it broke my heart to know I would not be heading overseas this semester, but back to school.  Trust me when I say I know that school is important and I know I am suppose to be at SEU now, but it was still frustrating.

Anyways, all that is to say is that I know God has placed in my heart a specific desire to see the nations of this world worship Him as Lord, but where do I go next.  Opportunities are definitely there, but none of them do I have a very evident peace about.  I know that the Lord tends to tell me things about the future as soon as I must know them, but regardless I am still impatient and a bit worried.  As I told a friend today, the only sure thing I see in the future is my working in Israel for a couple of weeks this summer for the Grafted Summer Hands-On Tour. Come to think of it, Id love to stay there and keep working in Jerusalem. ;) The Lord knows the future and this is something I must give up to Him.  Until then though, Im going to keep searching and keep trusting that His plans are best and the only thing that is really worth desiring.  Well, now that I have definitely avoided studying for my science test for way to long- must hit the books! shalom to all! :)

note: some good pics from Israel this summer! Come on the Grafted tour this summer and you can have some amazing pics like this as well!  You get to spend the night in the middle of the Judean desert, drive from the Galilee to the Dead Sea, swim where Jesus walked (aka Sea of Galilee) and drive jeeps through the desert!