Pictures from COMMIT

I know I've taken forever in posting this, but finally, here are some pictures from the conference I went to in Nashville a few weeks ago! Just to give you a little glimpse of my week:






These are the wonderful girls in my group: Nasia, me, Caitlin, and Hannah. There were also two other girls, who aren't in the picture, Emily and Christina. We had a great time together!!






Our group presentation--not the best picture of us, but...we did it for God's glory! :-)


Girls listening attentively during one of the sessions




Elisabeth and Jocelyn, sharing what they've learned about getting along with brothers and sister! Yes!






The student choir and orchestra singing "It Will Be Worth It All!" the last night of the conference. It was really awesome to be able to sing with all of the other young people!!

Irritations

It started out as a simple overview of the life of Joseph. Pastor Wayne began his sermon, "An Introduction to Joseph" by going over the main events of Joseph's life. After about fifteen minutes of introduction, he finally went back to Genesis 37, and began his sermon. :-)

The main theme of the message was "irritations" and reasons for why they arise. One point that Pr. Wayne brought out and emphasised several times is the fact that irritations don't cause division; rather, it is my response to irritations that cause division. Pastor then continued to list three reasons for irritations, using the life of Joseph to demonstrate them:

I. Rebuke or correction in my life. (Joseph's brothers were doing wrong, and Joseph told on them--Gen. 37:2)
II. An injustice is done to me. (Joseph's brothers keenly felt the favoritism that Jacob showed to Joseph--Gen. 37:3-4)
III. God's sovereign blessing in the life of others. (God chose to bless Joseph with the dreams--Gen 37:5-11.)

I guess the reason I'm writing all this is because I was challenged through this message, and felt like it was just for me! How often haven't I justified my reactions and responses by saying (or thinking!) that it was simply normal that I responded that way as a result of the way he or she acted! But in reality, I am the one responsible to determine whether I am going to allow a little irritation result in rifts and divisions between me and those around me. It is in my hands, or as often said, the ball is in my court. I have two choices: I can choose to respond negatively and simply make matters worse, or I can determine to react in a Christ-like manner, resulting in character that is more like Christ. While at the time the irritation may not be pleasant, I can cling to the promise of Romans 8:28, saying that "all things work together for good...." My prayer is that from now on, with God's strength, I will respond to those many irritations in life as Joseph did--allowing them to make me more like Christ.

How have you responded to the irritations that God allows in your life?

From Medora, Kansas

To say the least, the last few weeks have been very busy. At the time of my last post, I was headed to Nashville for a Bible conference. That week has come and gone, along with many other things. However, let me share a little of what the last few weeks have been like for me!

Although the conference only began on Tuesday night, the 27th, I had to attend a leadership meeting for the girls' sessions that I would be helping with. There were about 15-20 (I'm not sure how many!) other girls who were also leaders. It was very touching to go around the room and have each one share a "high" or a "low" in her life, with the other responding to that specific situation. This time of sharing helped to give a feeling of unity and oneness amongst the group.

Probably one of the best sessions of the entire week was on Wednesday afternoon, a session for just the teens/college-age students. Several young people got up and gave a testimony of how God had been working in their lives. While it would take too much time and room to write all about each of them, it was very challenging to hear these young people share how God had transformed their lives, and challenged them in specific area of their lives. I was especially challenged with the testimony of one guy, David, who shared how God had called his family to the missionfield, then allowed David's brother to die while they were there. David then ended with a phrase that is true for everyone one of us: "A passion worth dying for is the only passion worth living for." How true! If you really stop to think about it, if your life passion and goals aren't worth dying for, then they probably aren't worth even living for!

So where are we living? Well, one of our churches, Medora Community Bible Church, has provided a house for us! My family and I are sooo thankful for their generosity and kindness! I am especially excited as this is the first time that I have had my own room! To make it even better, the curtains are green--my favorite color! yay!! It has been interesting though, as the house is hardly more than a few yards away from a busy highway AND a train track! In fact, it is so close, that when trains pass by, you can practically feel it pass, not to mention hear it! :-)

By the way, here is a link for some pictures from before we left Brazil, that I added to my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3705&l=8bc40&id=1206606263
I want to add some pictures from the last few weeks sometime too.