Life Blessings, Challenges, and Encouragement

It's almost midnight - my weekend is almost over - i still need to study - but that is another story. I am coming off of the longest, busiest, awesomest (had to stick with the "est") weekend I have had in quite a while. I'm still processing through things... but I can't help but share some of what happened.

To Save A Life

First of all, I went with a former small group girl/current student leader/friend - Kayla Koontz, who is just simply amazing and such an encouragement in my life. We finally got a chance to get away and talk about life and upcoming events. We headed down to Columbia City to see To Save A Life and I walked out of that theater with so many mixed emotions and thoughts - things that I am still digesting but it's a good thing. That movie challenged me as a leader, friend, sister, daughter, roommate, future counselor, and random stranger. It's one of those movies that I can't just watch and not change how I live.

Hoops of Hope

Saturday was such an amazing day. A lot of work went in to making this event possible - a lot of people gave their time and money to make this event as successful as it was. It was encouraging for me to watch all of the Upwards kids come in and give it their all, as well as all the students who volunteered their time. It was such a humbling experience for me and I can't help but to be amazed at what God is doing in the hearts of students in this youth group as they Gain Awareness, Give Sacrificially, and Live Differently for Kids In Need. So awesome!

Dominican Republic

Had another meeting today and I think I am starting to encounter my fears for this trip. The biggest one is probably that this is a brand new experience for me. New people that I barely know, if at all. A new country. A new organization. and It's not the church. In my comfort of doing everything with the church - it's hard to break away from that - but I am. I'm excited for this trip. I'm excited for what God has in store for me and for my team and for the people in the DR, but I keep having to remind myself that this is going to be totally and completely different than the other trips that I have been on.

Blessings

I am continually reminded that I am so blessed. The more that God reminds me of that, the more selfless I become. The more selfless I become, the happier I am. Huh... amazing how that works. Thank You Jesus for my amazing family and friends, for my church and my freedom to worship you whenever I please. Thank You for my opportunity to be educated and continue to be educated and for all of the other blessings you have placed in my life.

Life... Meet Busy Weekend...

My "To Do" List for this weekend is as follows:

- Tonight is date night with Kayla Koontz. Supper and To Save A Life. PUMPED!

- Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be at the church from 7:30 to about 3 (at least) for Hoops of Hope - an awesome event that kids of all ages from the church are involved in to raise money for K.I.N. It's going to be a long day for sure... but I'm so excited to watch this event unfold throughout the morning and afternoon!

- Tomorrow after Hoops of Hope I will be spending the afternoon working on support letters for my DR trip... which are due Sunday... I have tons to do!

- Tomorrow night will be spent with one of my best friends, Dani, who is home for the weekend from school. I love her. I cherish her friendship greatly. I cannot wait to spend time with her! :)

- Sunday is church of course... then back to school. DR meeting from 3:00-4:30 then the rest of the evening will be spent studying for my neuroanatomy test and doing other homework that I haven't had time to do yet... oh yeah... and watching the superbowl all by myself (only for the commercials. Lord knows I don't care about the game HA)

Busy weekend... looking forward to all of it... except the studying. God if you could give me an abundance of energy that would be fantastic. Thanks. :)

You Can't Always Get What You Want

I'm listening to this song... and it inspired me to blog :)
anyways... I don't know how many times I have heard this phrase in my life... but it has been a lot! Usually from my parents after I begged for something that I wanted. But it also reminds me of what we are talking about in the series we are going through at church on Sunday mornings as we go through the Jeremiah 29:10-14.

"I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity..."

For those of you who don't know this song... the phrase is followed by this: "But if you try sometimes, you find - you get what you need!"

How often do we want to live by our own plans? How often do we want the control of what happens in our lives? How often to we want things to happen when we want them to?

But just as my parents always said to me, God says the same thing. "You can't always get what you want - because I know what you need!

I have not by any means perfected this. Sometimes I'm not even good at it. I like to have control and I have to surrender it daily because I know that my plans and dreams are so small compared to what God has in store for me. It's not easy - but it is one of my favorites of God's promises to live by.

I'm Going To The DR!!!

Before I started my junior year here at Bethel a friend threw out this challenging question - "How is this year going to be different?"

Honestly, I didn't know how to answer that question. I knew I was coming into a tough school year and I guess in my mind that was an excuse for me to stand back and let other people make a difference. And to be honest... that's what I did, at least here at school. All of my volunteer hours are devoted to church, which isn't a bad thing and in fact I absolutely love it. But something has been stirring in my heart this year to get involved in something here at school. Something that will make a difference. Something that God would use to work in and through me.

2 of my roommates went on Task Force trips last summer. Kendra went to Honduras and Serena went to the Dominican Republic. I have heard stories from both of them about the amazing experiences that they had and I think that's when the stirring began. Then, of course, I also have influences from church who have a heart for missions. For example, Kristy, who has practically been everywhere on this planet (ok not quite... but I think she has been to more countries than anybody else I know). Being my best friend and someone who challenges me in my life, she has often told me to consider taking a trip with Bethel, whether it be a semester abroad or task force. So... after an announcement in chapel and seeing posters around campus everywhere I go about the task force trip to the DR, I decided that God was wanting me to do this. So I applied online.

Last week I received an email saying it was time to start the interview process. I had my interview last Thursday and it went very well - leaving me hopeful about making the team. Saturday morning I received the email confirming my spot on the team and AH! I'm so excited!

Right now I know nothing about this trip other than it will be the first 2 weeks of May. Throughout the rest of the semester we will have team meetings. I know 2 others on the team and that terrifies me but I'm excited to get to know the others. I'm excited because this is a brand new experience for me and not going to lie, it's also kind of scary, but I believe that I am on this team for a reason and that God has some awesome plans in store for this trip.

Join me in praying for:
My Team - for unity and that God will begin to stir in our hearts what His will is for this trip. for 0pportunities - here at Bethel as we prepare and in the DR, that there will be opportunities to grow together and challenge each other.
The People There - that God will begin to work in their lives even before we get there.

I will keep you updated as I find out more about the trip and am given more specific things to pray about. Thank you to all who have encouraged me and prayed through the application and interview process. I can't wait to see what God has in store!

This Weekend I...

This weekend I... am going to spend a night with my roommates (tonight) and play Ticket To Ride... quite possibly a new favorite game... similar to Settlers... but much less confusing :)

This weekend I... am going to be spending an entire day with some fellow Sr. High leaders in Fort Wayne... and I hear it is going to be fun :)

This weekend I... probably should be working on my Research Methods paper, start studying for my BioPsych test, and read a lot... but... I am not! and dang it I'm going to enjoy it!

This weekend I... will wait very patiently (and excitedly) to find out if I am on DR task force team :D :D :D

This weekend is going to be a great weekend!

Help Them Out

I mentioned Derry and Janelle in my last post and their adoption that they are working to make possible. Currently they are trying to raise money through coke reward points and through t-shirts that they have designed, as well as wallets that Janelle has made (they are pretty sweet!) As of right now they do not have enough t-shirt orders to place an order. If you are interested in helping this awesome couple out, go to http://janelleprenkert.blogspot.com/ and print out an order form and you can either give it to Janelle or Derry yourself, or give it to me and I will get it to them. :) or you can order online at http://www.prenkertphotography.bigcartel.com/. Shirts are $15! Orders are due this Wednesday, January 20 so get them in! You will be helping to give this child a better life

I Stay Amazed

God likes to provide me with encouragement in different ways, whether it be from His Word, worship songs, friendships, etc., but today I am encouraged by other peoples' testimonies. I was thinking about the people that I have in my life... in particular... ones that I can look at and say "wow... God has done some incredible things in their life to get them to where they are now!"

I think of Megan Rendall, one of my best friends and someone that I have known for several years. A friend that I have had many arguments with and never thought that our friendship would ever survive, but now is stronger than ever. A girl who was not raised in a Christian home, but God has completely transformed her life. When we graduated she didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life. I'm still not sure that she knows for certain... but I have seen a growing passion inside of her for student ministries. She now works at the church and is a jr. high small group leader - a great one at that! I love hearing her talk about her girls and watching her interact with them. Most of all I love watching God work in her life. I may have played a small part in getting her to church and introducing her to God, but it is minimal to how much God has done in and through her!

I also think of some of my small group girls, both past and present. There are several that I have had in past years that I have watched "get it" and in return, put God's truths into actions. This year has been a huge year for a lot of them - doing Kids In Need and watching them work through the burdens that God has laid on their hearts and their passions to DO SOMETHING about those burdens. I love what God is doing! I also have girls now who are currently going through the questioning process of who God is and how He works, and that in itself is so encouraging to me. Right now I have 10 girls in my group and each one of them is at a different point in their walk with Christ. Sometimes I find myself discouraged, not because of where each one stands, but because I don't know how to make something relevant for each one of them. However, in those moments when I feel discouraged, God taps me on the shoulder and reminds me that my only job is to be there for the girls and to speak His truth into their lives - He is the only one that can change their hearts. And from the questions that I have been getting from some of them lately, that is proven to be so true! God is stirring in their lives and I love having the opportunity to witness it!

I think of Kayla Koontz, a senior girl who was actually in my first small group when I was a student leader my senior year. I have had the opportunity to watch Kayla grow the last few years and really develop these passions for Christ. Kayla is now my student leader and I love so much watching her with our girls. They love her a lot! Kayla is getting ready to go on her 3rd IMPACT trip which is awesome and I'm so excited for her. God has really laid missions on her heart and I am so proud of her for taking the steps to get out into the missions field as much as she can.

I think of Derry and Janelle Prenkert and their adoption. A couple years ago, after much prayer, they adopted Katylynn and I love watching them with her. They love her so much and that child is so blessed to have them as parents. They are currently working on their second adoption, this time from another country. While they don't know for sure yet who this kid will be, they already love [it] so much and they are going to great lengths to make it possible. For example - coke rewards - I as well as many others are helping them collect these coke reward points so that eventually (there is a process here) they will have money to put towards their adoption. They love this kid so much that they jump into dumpsters to find these points - now that's love! haha. but seriously, they are doing what they can to make this possible, and are living examples of what it means to help kids in need. Awesome!

These are just a few examples of people or groups of people that God has used as sources of encouragement for me lately. God is pretty stinkin awesome!