Some thoughts on Transformation...

I shared this with my church in Cincinnati. I figured I should post it on my blog as well.

If I had to sum up this school year with one word, I would choose: Integrity. Throughout my time here in Long Beach, I have begun to experience the fullness of this definition, which is, “The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished; a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.” I love that this definition describes what God desires for our lives.

One verse that I have strongly clung to throughout this year is Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

The parts that stand out to me are in verse 3 where it says, “to grant to those who mourn a beautiful headdress instead of ashes…” I love this because I see a picture of God transforming the broken and hard places of my heart with His truth. The verse continues on to state God’s reasoning for doing this, “that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” God desires to be glorified through my life and must do a work within me that transforms, redeems and brings freedom. As I continue to work with the Navigators, I desire to share this same message with the women I meet on college campuses.

There is one woman that I have had the best time hanging out with and getting to know this year. She has a church background but never really took ownership of her faith until our spring break trip to the Grand Canyon. As she was staring out at the vast beauty of God’s creation, it became evident how much God is fighting for her and wants to personally impact her life. Since our trip, she daily spends time reading the Word and meeting with God. It is a complete joy to watch the Lord transform this young woman and to see her receive a deeper understanding of how Christ not only brings her salvation, but also provides a healing transformation in her life.

I wanted to thank you all for praying for me this year. As I said before, I've watched God transform and do an incredible work. Recently, He gave me a new verse that I think provides a perfect description into "inner healing"...

Psalm 62:6 says, "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken." Things from the past... past sin or brokeness... when those things are touched upon in the present, they tend to hurt. They tend to cause us to react or bring us back to places we thought we would NEVER go back to. I see the healing power in this because those things will not be what I stand upon. I will stand firmly upon the rock of Christ who is my salvation and my fortress. I won't be shaken by anything.

Please continue to pray as the Lord and I keep walking through this process of healing.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.

End of the Year?!

Last night was our last Nav Nite of the year. Two more weeks and this school year is over...

The end of semester Nav Nites are quite possibly my favorites. Each time, we invite the students to come up and share how they've seen God at work throughout the year. I am amazed by our wonderful and very active God. He has used His Word, hardship, brokeness, joy, scripture memory, boldness and many other things to invoke change in the lives of my friends at CSULB. Some shared about the hardship of the semester and the various lessons they have learned by walking through trial. Others shared about finding joy in just about every situation. Some even shared how fun/challenging it has been to attempt to figure out God and what He's doing in our lives. I think everyone who shared was incredibly thankful to have found the Navigators and to have made life lasting/impacting friendships.

I, too, have been blessed to be apart of the Long Beach Navigators. My life has been drastically impacted by the faith of my amazing friends at CSULB.

Psalm 37:4-7 was mentioned. It says,

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of
your heart.
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.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers
in his own way, over the man who carries out evil devices!"

One student shared his love for this verse because it talks about what deep commitment to the Lord looks like and what it does for us. We can trust in God because He will act; God impacts our heart and desires to become more like His; good must come from being committed to the Lord and following His way; at times, we must wait patiently for God but when He moves, it's always amazing.

I love that these thoughts are coming from our students.

Thank you friends for being apart of my life. I love watching the Lord work and transform you!

What's up Cincinnati?!

Its the most wonderful time of the year again... the ending of yet another school year. I feel like I blinked and all of the sudden, April flew by. Many of you have asked what I'll be up to this summer and it looks like I'll be....

FUNDRAISING!!!!

I'll be posted out here in L.B.C for most of the summer with an exception of June 20-28th. During that time, I'll be in Cincinnati for a wedding and hopefully reconnecting with those of you who live out that way. If you're around during that time, I would LOVE to grab some Skyline and catch up for a bit. I'll be calling to set up times.

You stay classy Cincinnati. I'll see you soon :)

I'm also up for meeting over Graeters ice cream and/or LaRosa's pizza. You pick!

Hmm...we should catch up!

Lots of life has happened in the past few months.

In a nutshell:

•March 5-8 I took two fun loving freshmen women to D.C for the African American conference
•March 22 I saw RENT! with three ladies whom I deeply cherish
•March 27-April 2 I went on an EPIC spring break trip to the Grand Canyon
•April 25 I had the privilege of visiting my former campus ASU and participated in their 3rd annual Navigator talent show. I do NOT have video of this, but I'm sure I could find one for you. •The sound: Daft Punk "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
•The look: foil covered boxes as helmets, tempera paint on our limbs which showcased the lyrics.
•The talent: A really awesome dance number that blows people away. :)

•note: this is me and my friend Monique as we danced the night away at the Nav Halloween Party in Long Beach. These are the outfits worn for the talent show I danced in with another friend at ASU.

Anyway, sprinkle in counseling sessions, training sessions, a staff training retreat + time with students and this all equates to one hectic schedule. I decided to take a little bit of a break to catch my breath. If you're interested, you can check my picasa site for pictures from these crazy events and more.

Talk soon.

This is a day for the history books!

I grew up in a prodominately white area. In elementary school, I spent the first three years being the only black girl for the entire grade. So my foundation for making friends has never been based on skin color. Growing up in this type of environment has caused for plenty of people to ask me questions about race... If I even see skin color, how do I identify with people, do I feel like I fit in... Things like that. I can remember having conversations with my dad and being totally shocked that he couldn't understand my "color-blindness". My dad was not a racist man, he just grew up with a little more awareness of skin..


For example, my dad would tell me stories about how as a child, he couldn't walk all the way down his street because there were chains separating the black side from the white. He would tell me stories about not being able to have the same freedoms as other kids because of his skin color.

Today is a day that I wish my dad was still alive for. History has been made and that means so much for me and this country. I really don't care about politics or even who you voted for. Please celebrate the fact that history has been made and people who once were cleared off of busy public streets with fire hoses are now able to be elected into the leadership of our great country.

Barack Obama is not my savior. Only Christ has that role. I do not believe he has the power to fix the world's issues. I also don't agree with every policy that he stands for. I do believe he has provided a sense of hope for those who have always been told they won't make it... No matter who or what they are. I do think its good to have a change in office. I am praying for our new leader and that no matter what, God would be glorified.

It feels good to be a part of history.

Palm Trees

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ~ Psalm 92:12-15

I first came across this verse in the beginning of the school year... about a week before classes started. I love the picture that it paints of these majestic and tall palm trees. When I lived in Ohio, palm trees always reminded me of vacation. Typically because I only saw these types of trees when I went down to Florida for spring break or some other get-a-way. They always struck me because they were so different from the trees I was so used to seeing...so exotic and unique. Once I moved out west I saw them everywhere and it was kind of exciting.

I began to pray Psalm 92:12-15 for our students at Cal State Long Beach. I desire for them to flourish like these majestic trees I see strewn about Southern California. I ask that they would continue to stand tall in their faith when they face adversity on campus. I hope that they would remain rooted and continue to bear fruit even in old age. I pray that their walk tells of how the Lord is their rock and that He upholds them.

I'm claiming this verse for the students of Cal State Long Beach... would you claim it with me?

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying. Please continue to pray as a new semester is starting up on campus.

Homesick? Maybe...

I laughed at myself as I drove onto the 71-N entrance ramp from Rookwood... I thought about how I planned to move from Clifton to Oakley, get a cute 1-bedroom apt and work for a non-profit organization somewhere. I had everything planned and was somewhat excited about it. Little did I know that God would take me somewhere drastically different. The thought of actually leaving Cincinnati NEVER crossed my mind. During all of this thought process, I have had to fight the temptation to believe I had it so much better when living in Cincinnati. I look at the example of the children of Israel who always claimed that had it better way back when... especially when they were facing large tests of faith.

I picture myself standing at the water's edge. The water is rushing by and I don't know how to swim. I know I have to make it across, but honestly, there's no way to get over there. I keep hearing a voice telling me to trust because He can get me to where I need to be, but in true human fashion, I'm hesitant. Will I trust the Lord to stop the flow so that I can cross safely? Am I willing to even take the necessary steps? Or do I want to just sit on the bank and look back through clouded lenses attempting to convince myself that life was much better way back when...

At this moment, I don't want to leave to go back to Long Beach. Nothing against it... I do enjoy living out west... I think I'm just extremely sad to leave what I have here. I've been able to spend time with my best friends from college, re-live TONS of memories and do all the things I miss doing now that I'm with different people on the west coast. I'm going to desperately miss my family... my precious nephews Amir and Michael and my sister Dalena... This was probably the best time I've ever had at home and it flew by way to quickly.

Highlights from Cincinnati:
-I will never ever grow sick of eating Skyline Chili
-Watching my nephew Michael work his tiny fist mostly into his mouth and listening to him babble away at himself as he slowing rocks to sleep in his swing.

-Witnessing my six year old sports star of a nephew sink the ball at his Finneytown Little Cats basketball game
-Sitting at Mac's re-living the past and having a fabulous time in the present
-Photobooth pics in Lexington with Bizcuit :)
-Visiting my Grandaddy who will never cease to amaze me
-Kate, Emily, Linds, Jeff, Rich, Matt, Nick, Adam, CJ, Betsey, Dan, Doug, Katie... everyone.. its always fabulous to get time with these people
-Actually being present while one of my friends gets engaged... Congrats Emily and Doug!!!


Things I'm hopeful for in '09:
-emotional healing from deep deep past hurts
-close friendships outside of my Navs network
-to be known like (or somewhat like) I am when I'm in Cincinnati
-a church to call home
-new friendships on CSULB's campus
-more bible readings in the dorms
-more conversations about Christ and how He impacts life
-watching some pretty key girls that I'm really stoked about grow and become more excited in their walk with Christ

I'm sure there's more and I'll be sure to blog about it in a couple of months...

Anyway, thanks for reading. You stay classy, Cincinnati ;)