What time is it?

SUMMER TIME!

I am so stinkin excited for this summer. I absolutely love my floor and this semester, but now that I’ve experienced 60 degree weather… there’s just no going back. I love reading my textbooks in Elliot Park while wearing a skirt, I love parking on 14th St without feeling like I’m parked in the middle of the road because of snow piles on the sidewalk, I love having the windows open and fresh air in my room. It wasn’t a long winter – after all, last year it was still snowing in May. I am extremely excited to have this weather in March:

(Haha ok… I realize that this is a really bad forecast to all those in Cali who are reading this… but this is really good for Minn… 50 degree weather is shorts and a t-shirt for us who spend months looking forward to 20 degree weather.)

My best friends and I are all list people. Now that the weather is great, we’re dreaming about living it up this Summer (ironically, in November when it started to snow, we made a list of things we want to do before we die). Here’s part of my list for the summer:

1. Get an apartment for the summer & fall, or at least secure one for the fall
2. Rollerblade across the stone arch bridge, the statue gardens, and lake calhoun as much as possible
3. Start decorating the apartment
4. Work a lot and make the summer great for the ladies at Dale Ct
5. Get toned.
6. Get much more involved in my church
7. Buy a coffee maker
8. Go to California in June
9. Go to Washington D.C, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in August
10. 日本語をべんきょうします

Now… if only I could go outside and enjoy the weather instead of being inside preparing for a meeting…

The Message

ヨハネ　３：１６：”実に神は、ひとり子をさえ惜しまず与えるほどに、世を愛してくださいました。 それは、神の御子を信じる者が、だれ一人滅びず、永遠のいのちを得るためです.”

I was thinking today about Saki and Miki, two of the girls that I met in Japan. I remember sitting next to the beer vending machine helping them find and read their first scripture ever. They had zero concept of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the gospel message, or how they are supposed to “feel” in church. I remember asking them how they felt after accepting Christ and they said, “I feel warm inside” and “I feel like I can breathe now.” Wow. I love that honest description of the intimacy of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Sometimes I wonder how much of my desire to worship is born from a genuine desire to honor Him and how much is induced by modulations and swells in music. Then I read the scripture above, the same one Saki and Miki read, and I feel how they felt in that moment in the quietness of this seminary library.

I encourage you, if you’re feeling lost today or just “disconnected” from God, meditate on the scriptures. Give the Holy Spirit some time to work in your life. Try reading your favorite scripture in the Message translation.

John 3:16: “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”

Excitement

I have not felt as excited as I am right now since I arrived in Pittsburgh. I can hardly contain it. Cornerstone TV was amazing tonight – I spent an hour on the phones praying with callers, crying with them, standing with them while we prayed for everything under the sun. (Seriously. Catch me in person and I will tell you a crazy story!)

After CTV, we (P. Chris and P. Kate, Laura, Drew, Brendan, Bridget, and Holly) went out to eat. It was so much fun! I was really talkative (less than normal, but WAY more than normal in Pittsburgh!). I don’t know if I made a lot of sense, but I was so eager to talk about the amazingness of God after my time on the phone lines. I talked about the time Jolene got attacked at the Yellow Building and everyone came back to the sanctuary. I talked about that crazy Celtic band that played prophetically and the walls of our chapel literally shook. I talked about when that student got delivered at Praise Gathering! I talked about our beloved Sanctuary at NCU and how we spent hours into the night there. God has done so many amazing things at NCU! I don’t think I made any sense; I was too excited!

I forgot to talk about the glitter that appeared all over the altar and on people’s hands. (If you ever see me inspecting my hands at the altar, now you know why!)

I talked about God sized dreams ~ a few weeks ago, I was praying for Japan and I found myself praying that one person would get saved. I felt like God was telling me to pray bigger. So I prayed, “Fill the church.” Bigger. “Osaka?” Bigger. “Osaka and Tokyo?” Bigger. “Japan?!” Even bigger. “All of Asia???” I asked God. This seemed big enough, so I began to pray for all of Asia to be saved. After praying in faith for an entire continent, I realized how little my faith had been just minutes earlier. I couldn’t believe my dream was only for one person (this is not about the APC one person vision). God’s plans are so much bigger than ours! The only way they won’t get accomplished is if we don’t get on board! I don’t know about you but that makes me want to jump up and down with excitement! Imagine – not just the North Hills, not just Pittsburgh, not just Pennsylvania, but the entire US saved! ~ That’s a God sized dream that He can use us to accomplish if we’re willing and ready to dream God sized dreams and walk in God’s power to do His will!

Something else that makes me excited: Jesus Life House. This is what a friend wrote in her blog today:

梅雨やね~
it’in rainy season…
ジトジト暑いよ～
its so humid and hot recently…
でもチャーチは良い意味で熱いで！！
but！ church is hot in a good way！

(if the characters don’t display right, it’s in Japanese.)

That makes me excited!

I often joke that “excited” is the word I use most. It’s true at school. I get so excited I run up and down the halls screaming and dancing! I get excited for EVERYTHING. But that excitement has been lost at Allison Park. I don’t know what happened. But the past is the past. I’m going to try my best to keep the excitement I have right now going strong!

I’ll post a link of the CTV program here soon!

Unity

Ephesians 4:3-6: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

In March, I went on a missions trip to Japan. It was an amazing experience and I had an awesome team of people I went with. Before I tell the story that goes along with the verse above, I just want to clarify – I love my ninedays Japan team!

Okay, story time: About half way through the trip, one of the team members said something mean to me and I was really hurt by it. It almost ruined my entire day. Have you ever gotten upset by someone and spent hours thinking about what you should have said back, or crafting the perfect insult, or just sulking? That was me. I remember a few hours later I was still really bothered by what this person had said. I was walking on a train platform (which is what we did 25% of the time in Japan lol) and I actually asked the Lord, “Would it be okay if I didn’t talk to this person for the rest of the day?” Believe it or not, I actually expected God to say, “Yes. That person was wrong. You don’t have to talk to them.” Instead, He asked me a question.

“Is this petty argument worth sacrificing your greatest weapon?”

I knew He was talking about our unity. As the Body of Christ, it is so important that we stay unified. Once we start becoming divided, whether it be by actions that hurt, words someone said, or simple thoughts against one another in our minds, we cannot be an effective church. Think of an army (which is what we are). How effective would an army be if they were divided in battle?

It was hard for me to forgive the person who hurt me that day but in the end I knew that the silly words they hurt me with and my hurt feelings were NOT WORTH sacrificing our unity over! It is a challenge in my own life to quickly forgive and not let hurt feelings turn to anger or bitterness. But honestly, is there anything that is important enough to hand over our weapons to the enemy?

Nope!