September Prayer Letter

Jesus is spreading His name in Statesboro!!!

September Prayer Letter

Longing for Statesboro...

Chris and I are both now at home raising support. We enjoy spending time together and having the time to study the Bible and pray...

However, it's hard not to think that we've been raising support for a year now and are around 70% of our monthly goal. It's hard not to think that we don't have any more contacts to call. We desperately long to be at Georgia Southern doing ministry on campus... sharing the gospel with students who do not know Christ.

But...
We have a God who loves us, who is in complete control, who promises that he will see us through with his grace, who promises he will provide for us. There is a reason we're not there yet.

So...
While we don't know that reason, we can trust that God is doing this for our good and be content with where he has us. We are praying that God would allow us to believe his promises and truths and have faith that he will provide! He has also provided for us so much already monetarily, emotionally, and physically, so why would he not continue to do so?

Please join us in praying that God would provide the rest of our support so that we can start doing ministry at GA Southern. We need about $2000 in monthly support before we can start doing ministry. A different way to look at it...
20 people at $100 a month
40 people at $50 a month
80 people at $25 a month

integrity

INTEGRITY: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Working at Chick-fil-a, I witness numerous people who leave where they ate with absolutely no accountability to how they left it... and I definitely think that is why some people leave their space utterly gross (I'm not just talking about crumbs on the table and the floor). When it's busy, there's no way for me to make sure I wipe each table clean and sweep under it before the next person sits down... so some other customers have to deal with the previous customers' mess.

I started thinking about what prompts people to do this, and I realized that they really don't have much integrity. It doesn't effect them after they leave... they don't eat there again and are not held accountable for how they leave it. So what does influence or encourage them to do right at all in life? It's when it benefits them. When in reality, we should do right to glorify God and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

While thinking about this, it also made me think about what I read in Exodus yesterday about God's grace. I thought about how much I have sinned and not been selfess towards others (a whole bunch) and how many other people have sinned as well... yet our God is merciful and gracious. He gives us His son Jesus' sacrifice to redeem us and also gives us His righteousness!

"The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." Exodus 34:6-7a

So while I definitely tend to get angry at these people (and complain about them), I need to remember the abundant grace God has given me and give it to them as well... praying that God will work in their lives to show them the grace He offers them through Jesus Christ.

writer's block

So I haven't written on this blog in a long while... I guess because I feel like our life has been pretty boring :) I work at Chickfila for 30 hours a week and Chris makes calls and emails during the day. We haven't really met any new friends, so all we do really is hang out with each other and his parents (we are going to work on that by visiting another church... an Acts 29 network here since we are members of an Acts 29 plant in Athens). I am getting adjusted to Augusta life and starting to know my way around. We have seen some movement in support today... which is a HUGE blessing because it's been pretty much dead for a month. We got another supporter today as well as an appointment to speak to a Sunday school class in Statesboro on Sunday. I am going to be praying for BIG things to happen on Sunday. We are praying for $2000 in monthly support to come in in May... that would move us from 45% to 71%. This is BIG but I know that God can do it. We really want to be in Statesboro by August so that we can minister to the college students at the start of the school year. Sometimes it is a little frustrating... thinking about Luke 10:2

[And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.]

because the harvest is PLENTIFUL at GA Southern... I think there have already been 6 people who have accepted Christ since just TWO staff arrived in late October and multiple other students who are commiting their lives to LIVING for Christ and not just viewing Christ as fire-insurance. So we are really desiring to be down there to labor for the Lord, but are raising support... but we know that the Lord works for our good, is completely sovereign, and will do everything when He knows it's time.

10 inches...

GONE!

Yesterday I went and was going to chop off 8 inches, but she ended up chopping off 10 to give to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program... which gives free wigs to women suffering from cancer who have lost their hair. The minimum to give is 8 inches for the program. Even though I was a little upset she cut off two more inches than I wanted, atleast that means I'm giving more...

I haven't had my hair this short in probably over 3 years... I'm going to have to get used to the no ponytail thing, atleast for the first few weeks!

new happenings

So I might get a part-time job at Chickfila being basically someone who greets and serves customers (getting refills, taking trays to people's tables, assisting Mom's with children, giving balloons, etc.). I find out tomorrow if I got it or not... it would be really great because it's really flexible hours which we need due to raising support!

Also, Chris and I have started exercising due to the convenience of a TREADMILL in his parents house! But before I started running on the treadmill, I had to overcome my fear of it. I had an accident when I was younger getting caught on one when it was on and got bad burns on both my legs from the knee down. But I'm happy to say that the fear is gone!

We're going to come up with weekly goals for ourselves to build up some endurance... mine is to run 12 miles a week and Chris' is to run/walk 10 miles a week. Neither of us had exercised since we got married... and I was running about 4 times a week before then. I'm so excited because I'm up to 3 miles so far in only one week! Who knows, maybe once I get further I can start running races or something!

Support is slow but continuous, so we're still just truckin' along...

We're done...

MOVING!

Thank goodness. Last Wednesday we packed up our whole apt (got done around 1 AM), I couldn't go to sleep til 4 AM and then we were up at 7:15 AM to eat breakfast and get the 16' Budget truck. Then we pack up the Budget truck and 4Runner with help from Andrew and his girlfriend... then Chris drives the Budget truck and I drive the 4 Runner to Statesboro. We unpack everything into a 10x10 storage unit... which the guys did AWESOME packing... boxes were packed to the ceiling!! Then we drive to Augusta and drop the Budget truck off and then eat dinner... so we're back at our apt. around 10:30 PM... then showers and bed...

only to find that after I had made our pallet on the floor and taken my shower, Chris took his and we found we had our THIRD leak in our apartment out of the tub faucet of WARM water... and this time it was a good amount of water! Our property manager said that it wasn't an emergency so they wouldn't send anyone out... we'll see if we get stuck paying that bill. So after that fiasco, we eventually get to bed...

and then wake up to pack up the rest of our apt. (what was coming with us to Augusta) to find that all of the rest of our stuff barely fit into our two cars... I don't think we could have fit anything else in them! Then we cleaned our apartment... and then we drove to Augusta and arrived around 10PM.

Saturday Chris played golf with his Dad and brother while his mom and I babysat his niece and nephew all day. Then Sunday when we get home from church, we go through all of Chris' room... the one he has had since childhood! That took all day until late at night. Then Monday morning we woke up and started unloading our cars and putting stuff up in the room... and finally, WE ARE DONE! Chris' childhood bedroom has been officially transformed (for the time being) into our room :)

Now I've just got to learn my way around here...

Our first snow and Valentine's Day married!

We had fun celebrating our first snow and Valentine's Day as one :) Cara came over and got snowed in with us while we watched Gilmore Girls season 6 all night and ate enchiladas and Valentine's Day cookies.

catching Chris eating snow from the kitchen window... he didn't want to come inside!

this was the top of the bushes... they looked like rolling hills

On Valentine's Day we took some bites of the top of our wedding cake that had been frozen for 5.5 months after we ate at Mellow Mushroom. Needless to say, it didn't taste good after being frozen for that long!

the cake behind us

the flowers Chris got me for Valentine's... he brought me the rose and cereal in bed in the morning and then surprised me with sunflowers and yogurt/dark chocolate m&ms in the afternoon, and then a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at night :) I am so blessed to have a sweet, sweet husband who treats me special everyday!

revelation (that I wished I had a long time ago!)

Two songs that I can't stop listening to:
The Truth- Jason Aldean
Do You Remember- Jay Sean

So I had a revelation last night... I realized that truly EVERY good thing comes from the Lord. I used to think that I did well in school and stuff because I was so productive, because I would get what I needed to done. Well now that Chris and I are raising support, I truly realize that I did none of that on my own. It was by the grace of God that I was able to be productive and self-discipled, even though I thought I was relying on my own strength (when really, I shouldn't have beat up myself for not relying on God, it was God all along... I should have said thank you).We've been struggling with self-discipline lately, so I've been thinking "what's wrong with me? This isn't me, I'm a productive person." When really it's not about me at all, it's about depending on the Lord for everything I need... even being able to be productive. And... if I ever think that I'm doing something good by myself, it's totally not true... anything I do right is by the grace of God in His strength.

In ministry news, the students at Georgia Southern had their first community gathering for Campus Crusade, which they requested!! 24 students came... our director, Jay, gave a talk and all the students involved in Crusade through different Bible studies got to meet. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few... please pray that our support comes in so that we can go labor at GA Southern!

some previously/newly discovered favorite things

Brooke Fraser's music

Just saved money on car insurance by using Georgia Farm Bureau... they give discounts for missionaries or people in education!

The movie Up

the Twilight book series

Cooking/Baking... allrecipes.com is a good site... you can search for recipes by the ingredients you want to use... which is how I found this super easy and yummy quick chicken parmesan.

My three down vests

Boot slippers

My new turban hair towel

Matrix Sleek Look Shampoo/Conditioner and hair products... really protect my hair against heat damage

FHI Straightener... was without a nice straightener for a week once and my hair got split ends and broken within that week

Radical Abandonment

So my husband and I went to eat and go to a movie at the $2 dollar theater (where we preceeded to pay with coins) to see Where the Wild Things Are. I was pretty excited... but we found it to be pretty weird. Chris said, "well, if you see so many movies, one of them is bound to be a dud."

So, we were at Campus Crusade for Christ's student conference over the winter break (we are on staff with them) and the speaker, David Platt, talked about how we spend our money. He talked about how, as Americans, we try to fit Jesus into our culture and ignore what Jesus says in his word. Jesus is concerned about the proclaiming of his kingdom and for the poor and oppressed to be helped. Lots of people use the excuse: well I'm not called to do that. However, Jesus calls all of his people to be a part of proclaiming his kingdom and helping the poor... with whatever resources we have (ex. time, money). We shouldn't ignore the billions of people in this world that do not know Christ, people who are being oppressed, and the poor who are dying from diseases and hunger. We are ignoring Christ's call and his desired will for our lives if we are ignoring those people and being content with not doing anything about their needs.

One of the quotes:

"I want to call you this morning and over the next couple mornings, I want to call you to abandon your hopes and your dreams and your ideas and your plans and your possessions and everything the culture around us beckons us as Christians to settle for a Christian spin on the American Dream... I want to call you to abandon it all in radical abandonment to Jesus Christ and the purpose for our lives that he has put before us."

One of the illustrations he used helped explain some things... so what if you lived in Italy your whole life, but you were visiting the United States for a month. You couldn't take anything back with you to Italy from the United States, but you could send it forward. Would you spend all your time and money dressing up your hotel room and making sure you had all the comforts possible for that one month? No... you would be spending your resources sending things back to Italy, where you will be for a lot lot longer time. So if we are only on this Earth for a speck of time when considering eternity, why do we treat this time like we're going to be here forever? why do we not focus more on storing up our treasures in heaven?
(which makes me think of Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”)

It was really an eye opening time... you can listen to his talks here. So I'm pretty sure that God wants Chris and I to be learning about how we can use our money to glorify God... considering that we are currently raising support, heard these talks at the conference, and our pastor's next sermon series is called "money". I'm looking forward to learning more!

So my challenge for myself and all of us is for us to look at what we spend our resources on... what we spend most of our time and money on... and seeing if they are aligned with God's will for us... are we investing in proclaiming the kingdom and God and helping the poor and oppressed?

something funny

I tried to think of something funny to have as my first title, but I couldn't think of anything... sorry!

After thinking about it for a while and seeing how neat other people's blogs are, I decided to create my own.... wanting it to be a place where I can talk about what I'm learning about Christ and doing in life in general...

The title of my blog, Living Hope, refers to the only hope any of us have in this world: Jesus Christ, who is the son of God, who loved us so much He left His throne in heaven to come into this broken world in human form, to live a perfect life and die an undeserving death that was meant for us because of our sin... that by the sacrifice of His perfect blood we may be forgiven of our sins and therefore have a reconciled relationship with God, and not only that... but by Christ's resurrection, His defeat of death, we may have new life as He did... promised an inheritance of eternal life in heaven with Him.

It's so amazing that our God who is all powerful, the creator of the universe, completely just, is also completely faithful and loving to His people and desires for us to know Him. He loves us and is faithful to us even when we do not love Him and are not faithful to Him... He keeps pursuing us. I'm thankful for that because I definitely know I am not always faithful to Him and obeying His word and in drawing near to Him in love... but I have hope that my God is alive and is always faithful and loving towards me despite my actions. I don't have to prove myself to God or act a certain way for Him to love me more... He already loves me perfectly because of what CHRIST did for me, not because of anything I've done.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you..."
- 1 Peter: 3-4