Steadfast Love

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever... Psalm 136:3-4

Spending time in Psalm 136 today reminded me to rejoice that God's love is not based on human emotions, human works or how well I perform. Even when I seem to get in the way, I'm reminded it is God's love that remains and is steadfast...enduring...patient... kind...unchanging.

Amen.  

Surveys on Campus!!

The new school year has started and TOMORROW we have the privilege to be on campus during lunch and dinner, outside of the dining halls, to conduct surveys in order to see the spiritual temperature of the students on campus this year. Please pray for these times! New to our surveys this year, we have a question asking if there would be an interest in seeing The Bridge, a 5-minute illustration that shows the main point of the Bible, based on Romans 6:23. 


Please pray: 

• That we would connect well with students
• For clear communication in sharing the Good News of Jesus
• That God would move hearts to respond to the Gospel. 

Constantly, I'm humbled by the thought that we are free to share openly on campus about Jesus. What an incredible blessing!


Thanks for praying!

Some thoughts about God and His provision

Truth is a beautiful thing. It corrects, encourages, restores and brings healing in ways that seem unthinkable. Prayer is also something that is beautiful. Its a sweet communication between the LORD God and His children.

David says in Psalm 27: 25 -26, "I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and His children become a blessing."

TRUTH: God will not ignore the needs of His children. He will ALWAYS provide.

TRUTH: God is my Daddy, and I am His daughter. I will be taken care of... I belong to HIM and He will not forget me. If you are in Christ, this a truth applies to you as well. You are His child.

TRUTH: God has all the power, strength, ability and means to provide... even when the situation seems impossible.

What I love about verse 26 is that God's children become a blessing. I like the thought that God provides and gives to us so that we can be a blessing. He doesn't give out of obligation. He doesn't give compulsively. He doesn't give because I've begged 1,282.3 times. He gives because He loves me and wants to use me as a blessing for His kingdom.

With this, I ask for your prayers. I need AT LEAST 25% more of my budget to return to campus full-time. Contact me if you want more specifics. Will you pray for God to provide the rest of my budget? Pray for God to continue to provide people around me that I can be a blessing to. Pray for me to remain encouraged by God's Word and His promise to provide... Pray that I would trust and run to His word when the world around me feeds me thoughts of doubt.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.

Its good to praise!

Praise the LORD. He is worthy to be praised!

I've been camped out in Psalm 37 for a couple of days and the biggest lesson I see from this chapter is the promise that God will not forsake His children. He will take care of them, always provide and receive all the glory.

With that in mind, I looked back at previous blog posts where I was complaining about not getting many hours at work. I just added up the hours I've worked from these past couple of weeks and new hours for next week and God has been hearing my prayers. I've been working consistently 15 - 22 hours per week. This is a far cry from where I was even a few months ago.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. - Psalm 37:5-6

Other ways I've seen God's faithfulness:

I'm seeing the women I've been investing in have a heart to invest in others and I'm experiencing God answer their prayers alongside them. This is a feeling that has been blowing me away and I'm absolutely awed.

Please be praying for M & K... these freshman ladies are reading & discussing the bible with a third year friend who has proclaimed to be an atheist for years and has finally decided to try out reading the bible. I also saw this friend come to church with these ladies last week and I'm praying for her heart to be drawn to the LORD.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying :) Continue to praise our good and faithful God!

Looking Back & Looking Ahead

I can't believe the first month of 2011 is already almost over! Time seriously has been flying by. I think I've spent most of 2011 under the weather, so hopefully the rest of this year will be a healthy one.

This past Saturday, I was BLESSED to host our Student Ministry Team retreat at my house. During the time, we spent a little while reflecting what we saw God "do" during 2010. I will definitely say this time was my highlight of this year so far.

What we saw:

Mirsa, a freshman, started hanging out with The Navigators, started walking with Christ and has read all of the Bible in just a couple of months.

Athena shared Christ with a professor and is planning to read the Bible with him this semester.

Caitlin and Cherenda led two international student women to Christ and have been walking alongside them, helping them grow in their faith.

Twenty-eight international students from fourteen different countries came to our bonfire... just a few days after we prayed for God to continue to lead us to people from different nations

Justin has been able to read the Bible with two international students and has led one of them to Christ.

Rachel prayed for God to give her one person to pray for in class... this led to a professor sharing his beliefs and journey in reading the Bible from a literary standpoint in class. She now has someone to pray for and to have conversations with about Christ.

Melissa was able to share with a friend and help her to seriously start walking with Christ.

Andrew trusted God for an opportunity to naturally share about his love for Jesus and God allowed for a conversation to happen with a friend who would not have otherwise listened.

"We have a personal ministry because that is the patten Jesus set," said by my teammate, Josh. It has been exciting to walk alongside these students at CSULB who are actively engaging in personal ministry and following in the patterns of Christ. I'm looking forward to what God will bring in 2011.

Prayer Request

I am praying for a new part-time job. Things at the mall are proving difficult, and it is becoming more apparent that fighting for work hours is taking more energy than necessary. Please pray with me. Finances are tough and its really hard not to become discouraged.

Thanks!

You Make Beautiful Things...

Tears of joy streamed down my face as I left her apartment complex tonight. In the car she said to me, "I believe that Jesus changes lives. I want to work on trusting Him with my life." These are the precious words of my dear friend who is studying english here in the states for the next few months. Before leaving her home in Korea, she had no idea who Jesus was nor of His importance. Six months later, she's wondering what He would do for her life.

Please join me in praying for my dear friend Sheila*. Pray that she would decide to commit her life to trusting Jesus. Pray for the two of us, as we search the scriptures together, practicing english and learning about the Savior of the world, that God would continue to reveal Himself to her. Praise God with me for the ways that He draws His creation back to Himself.

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. -- Isaiah 42:16

SMT Retreat :)

30+ students. 6 staff members. Wednesday & Thursday... All coming together for the Student Ministry Team retreat!!

Please be praying for us as we gather together in Mission Viejo for a time of re-connecting, vision casting for the school year, encouragement and prayer!

60 days until travel

... to Cincinnati :)

I'll be coming home to Cincinnati August 10th - 17th. I'll be meeting for funding and I'd love to catch up with you if possible. God has been doing awesome things lately, which I should probably blog more about...

Anyway, please continue to pray for my summer & my time here in Long Beach. Pray that I would continue to grow more intimate and close with the LORD. Pray for my heart to be protected as I travel home for funding in two months. Pray for my time in Cincy as well...that it would be a time that is focused on vision casting, funding, encouraging and restorative.

summer study update

This is a blog to thank you for praying! Study last night went really well. My friends from the language school asked if they could come back and actually want to start hanging out with some of my Nav friends. Please keep praying for S & J. Pray that they would really connect well with our students. Pray that Christ would be revealing Himself to them and that they would come to know Him as Lord and Savior. Pray for Andrew and I as we continue to lead this study. Pray also for my friends at Long Beach... that they would continue to love and speak as "men [and women] of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ." (2 Cor 2:17b).

Summer Study

Tonight, we are having our second meeting for the summer Bible study :) We will be reading through 2 Corinthians this summer and I'm really looking forward to studying this book with my friends from Long Beach.

Please be praying:

• For our time in the Word tonight. Pray that we would be encouraged from reading God's Word together
• For good fellowship with one another
• I'm bringing a couple students from the school where I taught ESL for a few weeks. They are not followers of Christ, but are very interested in learning english, making more American friends and are open to hearing about Jesus. Please pray that they would be able to hear and receive something from the Lord tonight :)

Ask and you shall receive

God really answers prayers!

Today, I received a text from a friend who teaches ESL to Japanese and Korean students. Her school needed a person to teach a class for the month of May and she immediately thought to recommend ME!

Ah! I've never really taught before... outside of leading Bible studies and speaking at our Student Ministry Team training seminars. So I'll be coming up with lesson plans and taking these students through conversational english and teaching about the LA area.

This is awesome!

If you have ideas for me or would like to give ANY input at all, please please please leave comments.

As always, please keep me in prayer. Pray for my lesson planning, ability to be a friend with these students and for my time with them. Pray that God would be using me to impact these lives and His kingdom!

Still in process...

A friend of mine sent me a message and asked me about what God had been doing in my life lately. I felt really cliche´when I told her that God was teaching me how to trust in Him more. I feel like that is a lesson He NEVER stops teaching... sometimes, we (or at least I) feel like there is a point in the lesson where the conclusion has been reached and there is no longer a need for teaching...

I went into Aerie to pick up my schedule today and was greeted with one shift this week... I already knew of this, but was secretly hoping that I had an extra shift somewhere on the schedule. When I inquired why this was still happening, I was informed that new hires all have to wait out a 90-day probationary period where they receive one or two shifts a week in order to prove themselves worthy of working more hours. Hmm...

Here's where trusting God comes back into play. I realize that when I was hired at Aerie, I immediately stopped looking for jobs. I took my resume offline, discontinued all of the job update emails I had been receiving and was completely convinced that this was it. I no longer needed anything and that God had completely met my need. God was done working.

I'm learning that God isn't through with this process yet. He's teaching me a lot about what it means to trust Him, to seek His kingdom first and how to be in the present season where He has led me.

Please continue to pray for me. Pray that I would trust that where I am is exactly where God Himself has placed me and that I would continue to have an open/soft heart to receive what He has to teach me.

Aerie :)

I should update...

I got a part-time job!! The LORD blessed me with employment at Aerie in the Cerritos Mall. Aerie is a store with the American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and specializes in bras & undies :) Sounds fun. I had my first day yesterday and not only met all of the goals set for me, but exceeded them. As my shift went on, I became more comfortable about approaching customers and helping out as much as possible. I'm looking forward to continuing to work there. This provides an opportunity to further ministry and make new friends that I wouldn't ordinarily have the chance to make. I'm so blessed to be working in this store and amongst the girls I'm with.

It's funny to me that as I am thankful for this part-time job, I still find myself feeling a bit anxious. This job is definitely needed, but receiving hours is not something that has been happening for me. I learned yesterday that sales associates receive hours based on how well they perform while working and how available their schedule is. So with my good day on Sunday, I'm hoping that next week I'll be granted with more shifts. So far... I've only received one 5-hour shift (which was yesterday) and I'm beginning to feel anxious about bills. I guess this shows me as soon as I received my one answer to the many fervent prayers that I (and many of you) have prayed, I assumed that from here on out, everything was going to be easy. Once again I'm reminded of how desperately I must cling to the LORD for my provision in all things. Just because He has provided for me (and this was a huge blessing) does not mean I do not need Him anymore. I must daily look to Him and also trust in Him.

Thank you for continuing to pray with & for me in this battle of finances... and in this battle of trusting God.

Please keep praying:

• For God to be glorified through the work at Aerie and in me
• For the women with whom I work: That they would know Jesus and find life...Proverbs 14:27 "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death."
• That I would continue to trust and see God provide for all my needs
• For more shifts at Aerie... not just for my finances but also to build relationships with the ladies around me.
• That I would continue to see God provide in abundant and unexpected ways.

remaining faithful...

even when it's hard and feels impossible...

I just wanted to post to thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I didn't get called today about the job... or at least as of 5pm I haven't been called for the job... so I'm back at applying for part-time jobs again.

Wow... large... large.. large.. steps of faith right now.

Please keep praying for God to provide and for me to remain encouraged.

Thanks :)

I need to go shopping...

So that I can get a suit for my group interview a week from Monday!!!

Thanks for praying :) Please continue to pray with me that this job would be a good part-time job for me!

truth

This weekend is going to be amazing :) I'm looking forward to gathering with the Sunland region to talk about the Good News of Christ.

Please be praying for us... 64 students and staff head down from Long Beach State this afternoon to join the rest of our region in Pine Valley, CA. We have close to 300 in total... California, Arizona, Hawaii and I think even Utah? Pray for safe traveling and great conversations in the car & planes :)

Last year, we saw two women from Arizona State make decisions to give their lives to Christ. Would you be praying that others would come to know Jesus this weekend? Pray for God to do great things in the lives of my friends from Long Beach. Oh! I'm also excited for the gospel choir that is happening Saturday night. Seriously, I'm really happy to see us exploring many different ways people praise and worship the Lord. Also, I hear its supposed to be cold and rainy (per usual of Pine Valley this time of year), so will you be praying for all of our health as we experience a really great weekend?

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying. :)

a little update...

So I went to the temp agency today and now I am waiting to hear back about any jobs available. Pending two tests on Word and Excel, I should be hearing about jobs as soon as they come in. I'm still attempting to remain encouraged, although waiting is incredibly challenging.

Meanwhile, I just applied for an after school program coordinator position... it's for a non-profit and meets the qualifications I've been looking for in a job. This was actually really exciting to apply for. So, I'm continuing to pray and learning a healthy lesson in waiting.

On another note... The Truth Conference is this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it! Some great new friends of mine from Long Beach will be there and I'm sooooo soooo soooo glad they decided to come with us :)

I'll keep you posted as I know more. Thanks for praying. I seriously appreciate all of the support.

Census update

So I took the census test on Friday... here's what I know so far:

• A score of 10 out of 28 is "passing" and allows the applicant consideration to be hired by the Census bureau.
• I scored 23 out of 28
• In the state of Ohio, a score of 7 is "passing" and a score of 22 clears the applicant to be hired for any position within the census.. I have no idea if a higher score is needed in the state of California
• I may only be considered for the enumerator position... those whom actually go door to door collecting info for the census
• Pending a background check... I won't know if I will be called for another 2 weeks at least...
• Also, this job is completely temporary... ranging anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks.

I'm still viciously on the job hunt. Tomorrow I go in for a meeting with a temp agency. Maybe this will return something fruitful... please continue to pray!

Tomorrow @ 1pm I will be taking the employment test for the census bureau....

Prayers appreciated!