Been back for a year....dang...

Most days I can hardly believe that it has been (now over) a full year since I have been back in the states from my year long journey around the world. Some days it seems like I came back years ago while others it seems like just yesterday I returned. It’s ridiculous how the summary of this last year is so different from the previous- also weird that my years run from November to November :) And because I know that someone wants to see the summary, here it is (in no particular order) - I spent a few days in Cali and ran into an old friend from when I had previously lived there….also met a kind of strange man in the hotel lobby when I couldn’t sleep that first day - Went with my awesome friend Joe to a String Cheese Incident show for THREE days at the Aargon ballroom!! It was freakin’ awesome and I never thought it was possible to like smoke out a room – but they did. Unfortunately I also learned what it looks when bad things happen with people on drugs. I’m also certain that I had way more fun than any of the people on drugs! - My SISTER got married  It was such a joy to be able to be a part of the wedding. Since they pushed it to April, I also got to be a part of the shower and bachelorette party. Oh, and go to a drag show in the city. - I went to two other weddings as well: a cousin and a friend - I had two funerals: a great aunt who had been sick for some time and one of my boys from Mooseheart :( (some things you can never be prepared for) - Had a chance to pray for healing for my Grandma, who was in the hospital for a long time after a simple procedure went wrong. Praise God she is doing soo much better; that was a hard month to see her like that - Started working……at Walgreens – I mean really, the same place I worked ALL of high school and MOST of college lol – but hey, it pays the student loan bills. Not only did I start working there BUT they also promoted me. - I got to get involved with an amazing ministry called Teen Nite in Aurora (IL) where they provide a safe place for teens to hang out and learn about Jesus on Friday nights, to prevent them from hanging out on the streets - I made some amazing new friends. - I have a PHENOMENAL church (and homegroup) at Vineyard Aurora - Worked at Riverwoods summer camp, working with “at risk” teens from aurora & Elgin. The camp was an overnight camp Sunday night – Friday afternoon with the same teens each week, for 7 weeks. I learned so much from my girls (most about how out of touch I am with society) and had a blast EVERY day with them through it all. - Rekindled a relationship. Ended a relationship. Started a relationship. Ended a relationship – blamed for suicide attempts/visits to psych ward/etc/etc/etc. Re-Re kindled a relationship, one that is rooted in Jesus, mutual respect, honor, similar goals/passions, and Jesus……ya I think I got this one right finally. - God continued to show me bits and pieces of a desire He began to grow inside me in Africa about reaching out for the youth of Aurora. I have learned so stinking much about waiting- on His timing- about being honest, about trusting, about being joyful, about giving my burdens to God, about my passions, about my gifts (well still working on that), about what’s important to me, about leaving a legacy, about how awesome girl friends can be, about being myself, about prayer, about identity, and ya.

What God has joined together

In my homegroup we have been reading a book called "Lies Women Believe: And the Truth That Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. This week's chapter was about marriage, and well, I just wanted to share the truths that she put in the book about marriage. Some of the things she wrote I hadn't really thought of before. - There is no marriage God cannot heal. There is no person God cannot change. - The primary purpose of marriage is not to be happy, buy to glorify God and reflect His redeeming, covenant love. - God uses the rough edges of each partner in a marriage to conform the other to the image of Christ. Your mate's weaknesses can become a tool in God's hand to make you into the woman He created you to be. - True love- God's love- is unconditional and never fails. We cannot love another human being perfectly on our own. But God can love anyone through us, if we are willing to let Him. Love is not a feeling; it is a commitment to act in the best interests of another. By God's grace, we can choose to love anyone, even if we do not have warm feelings toward that person. - Marriage is a covenant. God is a covenant-keeping God. He kept His promises to the nation of Israel, even when they were spiritually adulterous and pursued other lovers (see Jeremiah 11:10, Ex 20:16, Hosea 2:13). The Lord Jesus keeps His promises to His bride-the Church- even when we are unfaithful to Him. Because He is faithful to keep His promises, it is never right for us to break the marriage covenant that was intended to be a picture of the redemptive relationship between God and His people. - God has commanded us to forgive without limit. - Your faithfulness and willingness to extend sacrificial love to your mate may be the means of his spiritual healing, even as Christ's suffering was the means by which we were healed (1 Peter 2:24-25; 1 Corinthians 7:12-14) - You don't solve your problems by putting another pair of shoes under the bed. (Statistically, second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages). - God's grace is sufficient to enable you to be faithful to your mate and to love and forgive without limit. - God will never forsake you. Regardless of what you must endure, He will be there to carry you through. - The rewards of faithfulness in this life may not be fully experienced until eternity. But faithfulness will be rewarded and it will be worth the wait! *I will make the disclaimer for her that she does speak of the importance of women being removed from abusive and volatile situations* Feel free to share any thoughts you may have :-)