Home is where your heart is

I'm heading home!!




Each time I head back to Cincinnati, I feel a multitude of emotions. I'm excited to see my friends and family, eat the amazing food Cincy can offer me, and see all of my favorite and familiar sights. I do feel a bit of nervousness as I am traveling back to a place that can bring up past issues and things I am working through. All and all, I know that I love and serve a God who is my rock, my foundation and my fortress; I shall not be shaken. (Psalm 62:6)

Please pray for me as I travel home to reconnect with my ministry partners and hopefully find new ministry partners. The mid-west is getting BLASTED by storms this week, so please lift up my flights home in prayer.

If you're in Cincinnati and you're reading this AND we haven't had a chance to set up a time to get together, please call me! I would love to see you.

After my trip home, I travel to Colorado Springs for a couple days of meetings, back to Long Beach for a day to repack and then off to Blythe! I'm celebrating the 4th of July with Heidi and Alissa :)

Love you all and I'll see you real soon Cincinnati!

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.

A year in review!

I finally figured out how to put this on my blog! I hope you enjoy! This is a little taste of my first year at Long Beach. As always, without you, this year would NOT have happened! Thanks for playing a part in this :)

I think the picture is a little off center... if you have ideas on how to fix that, please let me know!!

He fights for me.

I looked at my blackberry this morning (per usual) and saw that I had an email from a donor. They were writing me to let me know they were going to discontinue their giving. This isn't too much of a shock because they informed me last year they would only be able to give for one more year. I had peace when I read this email, yet I still needed to fight all of my typical anxious feelings regarding the topic of fund-raising.

I've been reading in Deuteronomy for a few weeks now. Seriously, one of my FAVORITE books of the Bible. I came across this passage and my mind went immediately to fund-raising.

"And I commanded Joshua at that time, 'Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.'" - Deuteronomy 3:21-22

Just as Joshua has seen the miraculous ways God has fought for him, I must remember that I've seen God provide in ways I never imagined. Last year, when making the decision to continue on into Staff-in-Training, I was told by my regional director that my reasoning for NOT doing staff could not be fund-raising. He reminded me that I have seen God do way too much to doubt in His provision.

Would you join me in prayer for this summer? Not simply that I would become fully funded, but that I would remember God, how He has fought for me and that I would not fear the task that has been set before me?


Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.

Also, I'd love to hear any encouraging verses if you have anything!

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.