Small World

So today at B&BW I met a lady named Anita from Missouri. I am not even sure how the conversation got started, but she happened to mention that she was from MO and I, of course, told her I was from the grand ol' Show Me State myself. When I told her I was from Fredericktown, she immediately embraced me and told me that she and her husband just bought a plot a land there. Whoa. Very few people here are from Missouri, much less know where Fredericktown is. She went on to inquire if I lived in or out of town. When I told her out of town, she responded and I quote, "Oh, you are a country girl? I am looking for a country girl for my son." Ah, geez. Did she really say that? Anyway, she wanted to know the whereabouts of where I lived. I told her I lived off of E Hwy which, it turns out, is where her plot of land is located. Anita is originally from Clarksville, IN (next to Jeffersonville) but now lives in Bismark, MO with her husband. She is in town visiting her sister. Their father just passed away. Remember them in prayer. We chatted some more and I made mention of my home church, hoping she would inquire. She took the bait and asked where I attended. I told her and gave her directions. Hopefully, she will drop in. :) She departed to do some shopping, but met up with me again before she left in which she took my picture and gave me another hug. You never know what the Lord is going to throw at you on a daily basis. He sure makes life interesting.

All I Have to Give to Him is Adoration

The meaning of Christmas and the reality of who Christ is has been weighing heavily upon my mind and heart lately. This I am very thankful for because it has made this Christmas season the most meaningful ever. The Lord has reminded me through both my home and local churches of the significance of Christmas. I think it is so awesome the way that the Lord has orchestrated both churches to preach on the same topic. The messages have been very enriching to me. Just think about the story: Jesus Christ came to the very world He created to rescue a fallen, sinful human race to the praise of His glory. Think of His humility: He, the King of Kings, took on flesh and was born in obscurity in a stable; as an infant He had to be fed, protected, and cared for by the very people He Himself created; and as He grew He was submissive to His earthly mother and father. I have tried to think of scenarios in which I could make an earthly analogy of His humility but none would suffice. Praise God for His inifinite wisdom and glorious grace!

"For the glory of it all He came here.
For the rescue of us all that we may live.
For the glory of it all. For the glory of it all...
We will never be the same."

Sonrise

I am home now. I arrived safely yesterday just in time to pick up Kristi and go to church. :) God more than graciously answered my prayer for a safe trip that was free of sleepiness and gave me alertness that carried me through the day. I am convinced I was running on His fuel. I left before dawn so I was able to watch the day come in. I absolutely love watching the world wake up as the light slowly chases the darkness away. The power of light is amazing and got me to thinking about God. He is Light and in Him is no darkness (1 John 1:5). In fact, there is no place where the light of Christ cannot penetrate and overcome.

"He wraps Himself in Light
and darkness tries to hide
and trembles at His voice.
How great is our God."

No Puedo Dormir

For some reason I cannot sleep. I crawled into bed several hours ago excited that I was going to be well-rested for tomorrow. Maybe I was a little too excited because here I am at almost 2AM still awake. :) I have tried to be productive while I was waiting for exhaustian to set in. I finished reading Glocalization (thoughts on that in a later post) and have been in prayer over some prayer requests I received today.

On the agenda tomorrow:
1. spend the morning with the Lord
2. clean the apartment
3. pack
4. meet with Ms. Kannapell
5. check tire pressures and "top off" (NASCAR terminology, hehe) fuel tank
6. work (7pm to midnight)

I leave for Fredericktown Sunday morning. If the Lord wills, I plan on leaving in time to get in town for the 11:15 service at MH. Caffeine will be required. :) So if you for some reason you are awake at 4:30 CST/5:30 EST, say a little prayer for me as I hit the road.

:)

5 days 'til Christmas. 3 days 'til Missouri. 1 day 'til the weekend. Much to be thankful about. :)

This week God has been answering my prayers. My primary petition was that He would give me wisdom and guidance with reference to the various employment opportunities He has set before me. By His leading, I accepted the tutoring position and turned down the job at Southern. I had actually considered doing both, but the Lord reminded me why I am in Kentuckiana--to learn more about Him and His Word at the seminary. I am also taking over a job for my roommate in which I will be assisting an elderly lady several hours a month with various projects/errands. Remember when I didn't have a job? Now I have three. Praise the Lord for His grace and provision! When I cried out to Him, He heard me, and answered me. Though there were many times that I was tunnel visioned in my circumstances and felt hopeless, He remained faithful. I have been reflecting lately on His sovereign care. Last semester I worked a total of 5 weeks. 5 weeks! And every bill was paid and every need was met (though at times I wondered if they would be). This is the God I serve! I am so thankful that the Lord Almighty is concerned with the details of life. Even when we don't see Him, He is sovereignly orchestrating events to His glory and our good.

Lessons from God this week: humility, refocusing, inner beauty, and dependence.

A Reason to Celebrate

These past few weeks have been filled with ups and downs. The downs were mostly related to financial stress and the ups have been due to quality time spent with the wonderful friends God has placed in my life. I have to admit that there have been times when I thought I would smother in my circumstances, but I know that God is at work behind the scenes, even though I cannot see Him. I am once again on the job search (for a second job that is). The tutoring job at Educational Resources did not work out. In short, she decided I didn't have enough experience and didn't want to give me any students...though she knew my background when she hired me. From this disappointment I realized that I was placing my hope and trust in this job rather than in Christ my Savior. I am now looking into tutoring with another organization and into a job on campus that Southern contacted me about. I have been trying to focus on Proverbs 3:5-6 as I pray for direction from the Lord. I seem to get in my own way during times like these...always trying to figure things out rather than relying on the Lord. He promises to light my path, though, and in His promises and timing I must trust.

Today, for some reason, I miss home. I will be there soon, though, if the Lord wills, for Christmas. I won't be staying as long as I would have liked, but it will be great to see my family and, hopefully, my church family. I leave one week from today. :)

I cannot believe there are less than 10 days until Christmas. Bath & Body Works is getting busier and busier. The amount of people--as well as the amount of $ they spend--blow my mind. I have met a lot of interesting people since I started working there. The reaction of the guys that come in are especially interesting. Most of them have the deer-in-the-headlight-look as they wander into the store, a few are just as involved in the shopping experience as their wives/girlfriends, and the rest make it a point to let me know that they are there with/because of their significant other. As I see every one husseling around to finish their Christmas shopping, I can see how the meaning of this special holiday gets lost in all the commercialism and pressure to find the "perfect" gift. Although, I don't get caught up in all the shopping, I have found that I do not reflect on the significance of Christmas as I should. Shame. My friend Carol reminded me of the power behind this holiday season. This was the day that not only love and grace but final judgment came upon the world. Salvation was brought to us as God took on flesh to reconcile the world to Himself. Those who accept Him would have eternal life and those who reject Him would be eternally condemned. Wow. I am afraid that sometimes we forget that the baby in the manger is the God who created the universe and Savior of the world. Thankfully, He did not stay a baby. He grew to be a man who led a perfect, sinless life and died on the cross for the sin of every man to appease the justice and wrath of God and demonstrate His great love for us. This is the reason to celebrate.
Merry Christmas.

Not Forsaken, Not Forgotten

Today marked my 5th working day at Bath & Body Works. I am really enjoying it there and am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to work there. Today I got to do something new. I had been processing shipments. They had received like 700 boxes over the past several days. Unreal. I thought I was going to be super sore after the first day of lifting, twisting, and moving boxes, but I was only a little. I guess bodily exercise does profit a little (1 Timothy 4:8). Hehe ;). This morning, though, I was assigned to the sales floor to promote our merchandise/sales and run the cashier. It was fun. I liked greeting the new customers and such (which could be why I was a greeter at MH for several years). I even got a customer to buy--Dana, don't laugh--a Lambie Blanket.

Speaking of blankets, my roommate and I made no-sew fleece blankets last Friday night. She bought the material and roped me in to helping her. :) It was fun! Her's is a bright retro-looking floral pattern on one side and a matching green on the other. Mine is checkered flag on one side and NASCAR printed on the other (of course!). They have been put to good use since it always seems to be so cold in our apartment. We plan to make our other roommate one too (by the way, we finally have a 3rd roommate!).

So I have survived my first semester of seminary. I almost don't know what to do with myself now. There are some things I would like to accomplish, though, before school restarts in late January:
1. Read books recommend by MAC
2. Familarize myself with my new camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-W80) which my sister so lavished upon me for my birthday a few weeks ago
3. Bake cookies with my roommates for our neighbors
4. Make a gingerbread house with my roommates
5. Go home the week of Christmas
6. Visit the MH-AV campus one of the first weekends it launches
7. Work...a lot

I started on #1 last Sunday. The first book is called Transformation and I am a third of the way through it. It is very good and I agree with the writer so far on his views of the American church, healthy church growth, evangelism, and discipleship. What is really awesome is that the night before I began to read it, the Lord led me to read Matthew 5 and 6 (the Beattitudes) with special attention to the verses about being salt and light to the world; then, one of the first chapters in the book mentioned and expounded on these verses. I love when God does that!

Yesterday, I got an email from Educational Resources saying that training has been scheduled...it's today at 6:30. Plus, I found out that I get my first B&BW paycheck at the end of this week!

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act." -Psalm 37:5

Is it Almost Over?!

I feel as though life is caving in on me. The financial pressure is almost more than I can bear. I am trying my best to stand firm on God's promises of provision, but my knees are incredibly shakey. Today I received yet another unexpected expense: a bill from my periodontist in St. Louis. It looks at though the insurance refuses to pay all of my procedure from last summer which has left me with the balance of $176. God has tested me in the area of finances before but nothing like this. I feel as though I have been stretched to the breaking point. Yet I know this is for His glory and my good. Even though I feel pinned in, I know He will provide as He always does for He is my perfect heavenly Father. This time it looks like provision is coming in the form of my sister. She has offered to sending me a check to help me until I receive my first one from B&BW and refuses to let me pay her back (despite my objections). Looks like God is serving me up a good dose of humility. Besides teaching me to trust fully in Him, I believe the Lord is breaking me of the pride of self-sufficiency. He is making me depend on other people...and I absolutely hate it.

I still have not heard word about the tutoring job that I was hired a month ago for. I have to admit I am a little frustrated. I sent the lady an email, but haven't had a reply. Furthermore, my friend who was hired a few weeks ago said she received an email saying training was this coming Wednesday. I know the lady doesn't know my financial bind, but I just wish everything was a little more organized. I hope in the Lord Jesus Christ to hear from her very soon.