New beginning

Since I finished my Philippians study, I had to start to plan what book of the Bible I would go through next. As I trucked it across campus (aka a 30 second walk) to the new student center, I was pretty excited to get out of the office and spend some time with the Lord OUTSIDE. I started flipping through the pages and realized that I hadn't read through Hebrews since my mission trip to Macedonia about- gosh 5 years ago now?! So I started reading. The little summary that the wonderful editors of my ESV Bible included said that Hebrews was written "to encourage people during a trial. The author did this by focusing on the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ." So basically focusing on who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross should be an encouragement- enough so to get me through some tough times. After reading through Chapter 1 Jesus had a pretty impressive resume about being the

• heir of all things
• creating the world
• upholding the universe by the power of His word
• making purification of our sins
• never changing
• creating the heavens out of His hands
• and many other things.

Obviously the author of Hebrews was trying to show the people of his time that Jesus was not just ANY other person- He was the Son of God. This morning I was listening to a "Truth for Life" podcast by Allistair Begg and he mentioned how when Jesus was on trial, Pontius Pilate asked Jesus "Do you know who I am? I have the authority to release you and authority to crucify you." I almost stopped my car. Did Pontius Pilate seriously give Jesus attitude by asking if "He knew who HE was?" Hello! Did he know who he was talking to?! That list above- that's who Jesus was!

As a side note, I always tell people that I struggle with relating to the "wicked people" in the Bible. I always look at people like the Pharisees and pretend I'm next to Jesus saying " you tell 'em!" When in reality Jesus is looking over at me wondering who's side I'm actually on. Wellll God's been great in showing me I'm actually much more like the Pharisees than I think I am. Definitely a humbling feeling. This is how I was with Pilate this morning- thinking I would never ask Jesus "do you know who I am?" Well, the more I thought about it... the more I realized I have. Even just recently with our car situation. Most of you know that we have this plan to pay off our debt, and now getting a new car is definitely going to set us back a couple months. And, I have to admit that when I realized how much it would set us back, I prayed to God saying "Don't you know the plan? Haven't you seen how close we are and what Dan and I have been doing?"

So, in conclusion, during this "debt trial" I need to remember who Jesus is. If He's holding the universe by His power, I think He's got our "debt timeline" under control. I'm encouraged already :)

Summmmerrr

It is finally here!! One of the things I love most about our little place in Arlington Heights is being able to sit out on our balcony and read. Even though it's not very private (you can tell by how close the apartments are across from us lol) it's still wonderful and will be one of my favorite memories of our first place
Another fun aspect of our summer is going to be looking for a new car! At Trinity I got promoted to the Coordinator of events and guest services and while I enjoy being an admissions counselor, I love event planning and am pretty pumped to start my new position :) Unfortunately, I have to turn in our new 2009 Honda Accord. I can assure you the car we purchase will not be as nice. BUT, if anyone has any advice for finding good cheap cars pllllease let us know! We are on the hunt and have a good solid month of searching before I need a replacement!
Also, this past weekend we had our last Junior High of the year :( Although it is nice to have a break and like I said earlier, Sunday afternoons free. It is really sad because Ed and Val won't be with us next year. They have become such great friends to us and we have grown so much in ministry with them and we are really bummed to see them go. But, so many churches are interested in Ed right now so I'm excited to see where God takes them! Since Ed and Val went to Trinity and have helped in recruiting some students, Val and I got to go to a Cubs game last week!! Here is a picture of us from the game:

And, we had a great end of the year party at Twin Lakes park this past weekend! It is crazy that our little 6th graders are a whole year older!! Here are some pictures from that:
So excited for the warm weather :) Looking forward to doing absolutely nothing this weekend but relax and be outside!

Seminary

It is seriously SUCH a blessing to be able to take classes at Trinity. Dan and I just finished our counseling class for the summer (well... we still have two papers and a final to take.. but the class portion is over!) and after sitting in class from 8:30am to 2:15pm and attempting to get in some time to work so we didn't run through our PTO, is it weird that I was actually SAD that class was over?! We probably had to read through close to 2,000 pages and although it was a lot, I loved every bit of it. God has me (and Dan) at a place where He is showing us what it looks like to love people well, and how the church is called to love and care for the body well. Christians have just as many issues as the next person, and grasping the gospel is not an easy concept to take a hold of. We have a spiritual formation project due Wednesday... I'm sure I'll have more to say on this :)

Also, probably the fact that we only had 10 people in our class helped. I was thinking as I was walking on campus Friday how neat it is to be at Trinity where it draws people from all over the world who are living out the call God has on their lives. One guy is here only for a year to finish his degree from Brazil. Another works at a church in downtown Chicago and is running an ULTRA marathon.. 56 miles.. in South Africa with World Vision. Actually.. he's running it right as I'm typing this! Another guy was a pastor in Indiana.. another a french pastry chef in Rockford. I feel so privelaged to be at a place where we are all at this unique place in this short life where God is preparing to send us out. And, we had our last jr high last night for the year :( Aloha night always comes with mixed emotions... relieved to have Sunday afternoons back, but sad to not see the leaders and kids every week! I will post pictures later this week! On a lighter note.. I had to post this video... there is another one, too if you want to watch it... I just love the ending. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM&feature=related

Inspiration

My dad showed me this short journal entry from a Max Lucado book in high school and it always inspires me to daily commit my life to Christ. I thought this was approriate via my last journal entry :)

It's Quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of the solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love...No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness, I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy...I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace...I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience...I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness...I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness...I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness...Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that they father will not come home.

I choose gentleness...Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control...I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control.

I will drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

Indianapolis Half Marathon

So we survived. Weeks of training (for me.. for Dan it was more like 5 runs lol) finally paid off. One of my good friends, Val, mentioned to me a while back to start doing more interval runs during my shorter runs to bring my time down on my long runs- and it definitely worked! The goal for our last half was just to finish; to not pass out on the side or get picked up my the car that picked up the people who were running too slow. This year we hoped to break 2:15. The morning was freeezzing, and we didn't get to the start until a little after 7:30 (when the race started!) and had to jump the fence, but we were with Brittany who has run this half before and she assured us it was ok! I think the best part was when Elliot, Brittany's brother, started screaming "water, water!" about 10 seconds into the race lol

Because we jumped the fence.. we ended up with the fast people, so that definitely made us start out faster than we normally do. We trained to do our long runs in 9:45/ 9:30 pace, and we started out around 9:08. Well, when we got to the first mile, our time was off. My watch said it only took us around 9:15 to do the first mile, but according to the race time it took us 10 minutes. I didn't think too much of it until we got to mile 6 and I checked my watch and it thought we had run 6.75 miles when we really had only run 6! This was not good- because it meant we were running slower than we thought we were! Such a bummer. So, we picked up the pace! My hamstrings were killing me by mile 9, but we managed to keep a steady pace to the finish getting 2:14! The best part about it was that I learned I could actually push myself during our race. Hopefully this was good training for the full 26.2 in a couple months!! Overall though, it was a great weekend of seeing the fam and hanging out with friends :) My mom and dad drove in from Ohio and Jon and Holly came and cheered us on! It was so fun for them to be there, and we got to hang out with them which was great. Here are some pictures!!

On side note, last week was such a great wake up call spiritually for me. The past couple weeks before the 6th grade sleepover were really exhausting. I was prepping for the sleepover and had just gotten back from Louisville and had to write two papers! We had a good talk in Bible Study about what is our "sun" (basically the sun is difficult things that God allows in your life that can cause you to produce fruit.. or cause you to wither) and my sun is busyness. Every time life gets busy my time in the Word gets less and less and I get nastier and nastier. I'm going through Philippians right now and last Thursday read Philippians 3:

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. "

I bolded a couple words that really stood out to me to me in this verse because I can't say right now that I am really straining toward holiness- that I am pressing to make time in the Word and allow God to transform my life. I have more of an attitude of "hopefully if I have time I can pray and read today." So, starting tomorrow I hope to wake up early and spend time in the Word. To go into the day with a renewed mind that I am being perfected in holiness through every little happening during my day. So I won't get worn down by the mundane things in life such as cleaning, dishes, and laundry. CS Lewis once said:

"The thing is to rely on God... Meanwhile, the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing has yet been done."

Daily, I have to recommit my life to God. Daily, I have to understand that life is busy and I have to fight for time in the Word. Daily, I need to seek and ask for God to be the all sufficient One in my life.

Recently...

So there has been SO much going on!! Dan and I are finishing up our counseling class here at Trinity and I loved it. But, our next class starts on May 17th. We are going to attempt to complete a 3 credit class in a week, while working full time. Wish us luck lol. But, then we're free for the summer! This past weekend we celebrated Rachael's birthday at the Piano Bar -this cute restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights and it was a blast! Here are some pics:

Then, the previous weekend we had a 6th grade sleepover at the church for my girls, and it was SO fun (and very tiring)! Rachael planned this awesome scavenger hunt that involved toilet paper, painting faces, putting puzzles together and lots of other crazy 6th grade things lol Tiff led worship, Melissa was our awesome MC, and Melanie, me and Sarah led sessions on dating, beauty, and spiritual gifts. I haven't uploaded those pictures yet.. so those are to come! THEN, we were in Louisville visiting Paul and Kimi and Josh the weekend before! We went to thunder, this huge party in preparation for the Derby. We also went to their church, Sojourn, which was awesome! You should check it out and their worship: http://sojournchurch.com/

It's been busy.. and now we're headed off to Indianapolis today to run the half marathon on Saturday! I'm sure we'll have plenty more to say about that trip!

Oh, and in other fun news, we decided that we are going to run the Chicago Marathon! Although registration closed, we're going to run it with World Vision because its a great organization to raise money for and we really wanted to run our first (and most likely last) marathon in Chicago :) 10/10/2010