buh bye 2007.

\\highs & lows of 2007//

highs//
(in no particular order)

interning at apex. road tripping to ikea with katie. the nehemiah series. my nephew turning 3. sitting outside starbucks til 3am talking theology. the van ride to west virginia for ski trip. finding out my sister is pregnant. frapp's at the dayton mall starbucks w/ kris, corey, john, or any combination of the 3. letting go of the past. leading the senior girls home group. best friend bonding over nose piercings. 3 friends here gave birth to 3 beautiful babies. sitting around bubbe's house where all is right with the world. movie nights with kp. discovering passion fruit & green tea smoothies at caribou. going to michigan with katie to visit matthew & see him perform in "the prodigal". road trip w/ heather to tennessee to watch kristen graduate. seeing dave barnes in concert twice & matt wertz once. showing my family around dayton. being offered & accepting an internship at a church in st. louis.

\\lows

my grandpa being in a coma for a month and a half or so after his kidney transplant. living in ohio during an entire winter. one of my dad's best friends was killed in a car accident. i realized how shady & not so much fun the world of retail can be. my senior girls graduated and arent youth anymore. jason & rachel left youth ministry (low for me.. high for them :) driving in a lot of snow for the first time. my car having to go in the shop twice.

2007 has been such an interesting year.
full of new & old friendships. road trips. concerts. (not enough) studying. apex. retreats, camps, re:unions, 5200's, and whatever its called now ;), home groups & laughter & starbucks. visits to home and wondering where home is these days. loving people & students & Jesus and figuring out what it really means to love. letting go of the past & looking forward to the future. knowing that God is sovereign & works all things out for His glory. thankful that He allows me to be part of His story. hoping to realize even more in 2008 that its not about me. hoping that 08 holds a humble spirit, a servants heart, a renewed passion, and more... so much more.. of Jesus. blessings to you and yours. happy new year.

come and listen.

come and listen
all you who know and fear the Lord
let me tell you what He has done for me.
psalm 66:16

sitting here in the first few minutes of Christmas dwelling on the faithfulness of God. the way He works all things out in the most perfect timing. the way He gives us the desires of our heart when we are so unworthy. the way my Abba truly has worked out each and every detail from the most insignificant to the seemingly impossible.


i could tell you about how i was browsing the youth specialties job bank late one night and came across this listing that caught my eye. how i watched this really sweet video and thought to myself that it looked like a cool church. how something made me email myself to the link to the sweet video just in case one of my former classmates might be interested. or how the few people i mentioned it to encouraged me to send my resume. "you can always turn it down" they all said. but i didnt. until i watched the video again. and decided id update my resume and send it off and see what happened. how i answered 2 fairly lengthy lists of questions via email that were followed up with a phone interview. how during the time that i began to feel an overwhelming calling to this church with these people and those students and that city. how God began to break down all the barriers that stood in the way of that. i could tell you how much it hurt in a bittersweet kind of way. i could tell you about the peace i had that God was certainly the one calling me to St. Louis. and i could tell you about the times when my faith was lacking at best and i just didnt see how it was going to happen. but how through it all God graced me with a desire for obedience no matter what obedience looked like.

and today it is official.
obedience looks like being an intern at this church in St. Louis. it looks like traveling back to Dayton to pack up my things and move them back home while praying & trusting that God is working out all the details that need to be taken care of before I make the move to a new city. it looks like meeting and loving new students so much that they cant help but see Jesus. it looks like learning & growing & stretching & changing. it looks like pouring out & being poured into and through it all knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

oh come let us adore Him...

thankful for the wintry weather that my selfishness wants to loathe.
thankful for the snow & the ice & all the ways God shows off His creativity.
thankful for the safety in traveling God graced me with today.
thankful for my little Ford that is currently sitting on the side of the highway 45 minutes away, knowing that most of this world have never experienced the convenience of owning a car.

what a day.


listening to this song on repeat.
adoring.
adoring.
the One who is worthy.

o come let us adore Him
o come let us adore Him
o come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord

for You alone are worthy
for You alone are worthy
for You alone are worthy
Christ the Lord

change.

im sitting here on my bed with my new laptop contemplating the goodness of God. that even in the midst of one of the busiest times of my life He still graces me with times of stillness. moments where the world is asleep & all is quiet & dark. those times when my body says "sleep" and my heart says "rest". moments when i am absolutely aware that resting in my Abba will refresh me so much more than a full 8 hours of sleep.

change.

i have prayed over the past few years that God would always keep me on my toes. i never want to become stagnant or complacent. i always want to see God as Creator doing something new. my life has had this theme of God always calling me to change, adapt, take a risk.. a call to faith that has been overwhelming at times but always worth it.


resting in the arms of my Abba & trusting that His plans are perfect & good.