O Praise the ONE Who Paid My Debt!!!

Today is the 7th anniversary since I gave my life to Christ. For some reason this seems like a milestone occassion and I have been reflecting on God's work of salvation in my life for the last several months. The fact that this day has fallen so close to Easter this year has made it all the sweeter. It has been a blessed and challenging journey so far, and God has taught me a lot about Himself and myself in the process. This is my story:

I grew up in a Christian home, but not a church-going home. My parents taught me about God and encouraged me to pray to Him and read my Bible. I know that the Lord used this upbringing as the foundation of my salvation. I can remember having an awareness of God's existence, but I saw Him more like a bigger Person who I went to when I needed something. I had no concept of a relationship with Him. In fact, I considered myself a Christian for the longest time because my parents were Christians. I focused on being a "good girl” and excelling at whatever I did, but something was missing. I lived with this kind of underlying unsettlement. I desired so much to make a difference with my life but didn’t know how.

When I was in the 7th grade, my good friend Melissa Toppins (now Sebastian) invited me to the Wednesday night youth service at Meadow Heights Church. I, being the people-pleaser I am, reluctantly agreed. The evening was filled with games, food, and a message from God’s word. The youth pastor there at the time was also my seventh grade English teacher Bryan Mills and I found that his teaching style and messages really impacted me. I returned almost every Wednesday. I refused, however, to attend the Sunday services. I had no desire to (evidence to the fact that human nature does not naturally desire God). It was during these Wednesday night services that God began to tug at my heart. Throughout the invitation at the end of the message, I felt a pull towards the altar, but because of my shy nature, I stayed planted in my seat. This struggle took place almost every Wednesday evening.
When Bryan became the lead pastor at Meadow Heights, I started attending the Sunday morning services. God's tugs at my heart were becoming harder to ignore. I considered myself a "good person" and did not see my need for Christ, but I perceived that accepting Christ was something I should do. I finally yielded to the Holy Spirit's beckoning during my junior year of high school (thank God for His patience!). After I got in from work one Saturday evening, I told my dad that I wanted to accept Jesus. We went into the living room and prayed together and on March 25, 2001, a little after midnight, I gave my life to Christ. I was baptized and became a member of Meadow Heights a year later.
Since that time, the Lord has taught me so much about who He is, who I am, and how to live in obedience to Him. Meadow Heights has played a major role in my walk with Christ by teaching me to surrender my all to Him, how to have a daily quiet time, and the importance of the local church in the life of a believer (this was a long, hard lesson for me since I was raised believing that church was not important). I am so thankful to God for this amazing and faithful church family and miss them tremendously.
It was until after I went to Missouri Baptist University that I realized my actual need for Jesus as my Savior. God used the course Discipleship and Evangelism taught by Mr. Braden at MBU to show me the weight of my personal sin and the ugliness of my inwardly rebellious nature. We read the book Changed into His Image by Jim Berg and through it I learned that I was not "good" like I thought I was. I was utterly sinful and deserving of God's full judgment. The Good News, though, is that Christ became my sin and took my judgment for me. That is why He came to die. That is why I needed Him.
My journey now continues as I seek to know and love Christ deeper. God has used His Word, my church, my experiences at MBU and Southern Seminary, and the writings/sermons/lives of John Piper, Louie Giglio, and Jim Elliott to mold me into who I am today. I vividly remember asking God to give me a passion to "sell out" for Him during one of the youth services at Meadow Heights, and I believe He is progressively answering that prayer as He conforms my desires and will to His. Jesus has given me a purpose for living and He has filled my life with peace. The more I learn about my Savior the more I love Him and want to serve Him. Time will tell what all He has in store.

"Oh, happy day, happy day! You washed my sin away. Oh, happy day, happy day! I'll never be the same. Forever I am changed...Oh what a glorious day, that You have saved me. "

Worth noting: We had 32 baptisms at Meadow Heights last weekend! Most were at the AV campus and almost half of them were from All-Stars (5th grade and under). That gives us like 77 since last August! How amazing is the God we serve!?!

Prayer Request Update

I just got off the phone with my mom. They are letting her go home today! They found a Home Health nurse to take care of her and give her the antibiotics by IV. Praise Jesus! Please continue to pray for her recovery. I can't wait for the day when she can use her foot normally again!

Thanks for the prayers!

Prayer Request

As many of you are aware my mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis. A couple of years ago she had a nodule removed from the bottom of her right foot. The recovery from that operation has been a nightmare. It has been infected with Staff and Strep numerous times and any time the foot appears to be making progress, she has a set back. She has seen a vast array of doctors and wound specialists who have determined her a "difficult case." The most recent set back came last week. Her foot started hurting her and she started running a temperature and having chills. When she was taken to the doctor, they did an MRI on her foot (which in my opinion should have been done a long time ago since they knew they were having problems healing the inside of her foot) and discovered that the infection had spread to her bone. She is now in the hospital where they are giving her strong, concentrated antiobiotics through an IV. She has to be on these antibiotics every day for six weeks. Unfortunately, the wound center is in Bonne Terre which is 30 miles or so from our house. Since she will not be able to make this trip everyday, the doctor is looking in to sending a Home Health nurse to our house. If he can't get a nurse to go to our house, my mom will have to be admitted into a nursing home for six weeks until she has finished the prescribed round of antibiotics. Please pray for my mom. This has been a discouring and difficult few years for her. Pray that she will cling to Christ, that she will not have to stay in the hospital long or go to a nursing home, and that God would bring healing to her foot as He alone is wise enough and powerful enough to do so.

Thanks.

Snow & Seminary & Psalms

Life has been rather busy lately but good. I am so thankful for the enriched times I have been having with the Lord and for the many blessings He has lavished upon me.

Last weekend we got 7.5 inches of snow. My roommate, Melissa, and I took advantage of this time off from work (as she got to leave work early and B&BW called and told me not to come in and my babysitting opportunity cancelled). We watched Lost (parts of seasons 2 & 3) for two days straight (sickening I know...but what can I say? We are addicted). We also played in the snow--we made snow angels, built a miniature snowman, I let her bury me in the snow...

Finances are still tight, but the Lord is providing. With this tutoring job where students (aka work) are not guaranteed, I am definitely learning to trust Him more. I am applying for a few scholarships. Please pray that He will provide a way for me to pay for school. I know this is where He wants me...He brought me here and I know He will carry me through.

Speaking of school, I am praying about the degree I am pursuing. I could do a Master of Arts which would allow me to graduate as early as next year or I could continue towards a Master of Divinity (2 more years). The former would be easier (20+ hours less and no Greek or Hebrew), but right now I feel led towards the latter. As crazy as this sounds, I don't think I am ready to be done with seminary in a year. Yet I am at the Lord's disposal, so please pray for direction concerning this as well.

I have been reflecting lately on the wonderful things the Lord has been teaching me in and outside of seminary about Himself as well as my ownself. His Truths are beautiful and pure and right. They are my comfort and delight and I long for them to penetrate every aspect of who I am. When I think of all that I am learning, however, I become a little afraid. The Apostle Paul teaches that "knowledge puffs up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). This has been an underlying fear of mine since I enrolled at SBTS. I know how subtle pride can be and I know how much the Lord hates it. It is my daily prayer that He will keep me in awe of Him as He teaches me such marvelous things.

This month I started reading through the Psalms. My friend Carol told me that you can begin with the Psalm that corresponds with the date and then add 30 to get to the next Psalm and continue to do that until you are at the end of the book (i.e. today is the 11th, so I first read the 11th Psalm, then read Psalms 41, 71, 101, and 131). You will read 5 Psalms total and if you do this every days of the month on days 1-30 you will read every Psalm. For the 31st day of the month, she suggested reading Psalm 119. I am very excited about becoming more familiar with the Psalms and so far reading through them has been such a blessing. It is amazing how each day's Psalms relate to one another or have the same theme. I pray that as I do this, the Psalms will become imbedded in my heart.

Lessons/themes from the Lord this week: living with urgency, marriage, the Treasure of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, the importance and worth of the cross.

Quick Notes

(These are in no particular order.)

*I greatly enjoyed the two days of gloriously warm weather and miss them already.

*The Lord has blessed me with a much larger income tax return than expected. I am praying as to how to use it wisely and in a way that is pleasing to Him. He is so gracious!

*I discovered a wonderful verse today in the book of Psalms: "When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul." (94:19)

*I never thought I would see the day, but NASCAR has come to Southern Seminary in the form of a life-size Carl Edwards cut-out poster advertising Vitamin Water. The thought of it just makes me laugh. If only they knew he is being accused of cheating to win last weekend's race...

*I have been reading about Biblical womanhood and it has been encouraging, inspiring, and refreshing. What wisdom God has in the way He created mankind male and female!

*I tasted African tea for the first time.

*I also tried ribs for the first time (STL BBQ style!) at Famous Dave's.

*Three of some of my favorite people got engaged last month. What's more, none of their wedding dates overlap. Can we say summer of weddings? 4 and counting...

*LOST is back and I love the direction the writer's are going with the show. I am still just as confused and unsure about the storyline as I was when I first started watching it, but that is why I love it. :)