The $10 Challenge!!

10 different people giving $10 each over the next 10 days: that is the goal of Open Arms Ukraine's $10 Challenge. If you've got $10 lying around, or would be willing to sacrifice your Starbucks or eating out once or twice this week, then go here to find out how you can be a part of it too!

My sister Anika and her friends started Open Arms several years ago, after they felt led to move to and love on the lost and forgotten orphans in Sumy, Ukraine. Read more stories of what they're doing at http://openarmsukraine.blogspot.com/ or look them up on Facebook! Be a part of what God's doing through them in Ukraine...it's so exciting to see!

"Let us not love in words or tongue, but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18

Different kind of love.

Lately I've been getting my fill of people. At least certain people. One-way relationship people. The ones who it seems like you're always investing in, calling up, saying hi to, but who never do it back. Sometimes they give you excuses, sometimes they don't ever seem to notice. But you notice. And you're tired of it. At least I have been lately. Tired of it and ready to throw in the towel, more or less, on certain ones.

But then today I went to the park and had some good Jesus time at a picnic table in the sun. I opened up to John 15, needing to be reminded of God's love for me and who I am in his eyes. [If you haven't read it recently, go do it now!] Verses 14-17 in particular jumped out at me: "You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: love each other."

Two lines in particular jumped out at me: you are my friends if you do what I command. This one caused me to pause a second...I don't know about you, but I know I do not always do what God commands, personally. So often I downright stink at all that "abide in me" stuff it talks about in the earlier verses of chapter 15. I get so self-centered and caught up doing my own thing my own way, I don't even take the time to think about letting God have his say in the matter. Yikes. So God, does that mean we're not always friends?? Then came along verse 16: you did not choose me, but I chose you... And I was like...well, maybe I'll just retype my journal entry...

We did not choose to be friends of God, he chose us. Us, with all our baggage and halfhearted ways, who so often put nothing back into the friendship ourselves. Talk about a one-way relationship! I get so fed up with them myself, yet God still loves me when I do that to him. It doesn't make it right, it doesn't make it good; it makes him the best friend ever, it makes him God. And I am called to be like him...oh crap... [really, I wrote that] That means I can't just give up on those people who drive me nuts sometimes, doesn't it?

Maybe what you need is a different kind of live, one that you have never seen
Maybe all you are is a part of a star on a long journey
Maybe what you need is a better kind of love, one that you could only dream
Maybe it'll take all the sorrow away and let you feel free
[Brendan James, "Different Kind of Love"]

Tongue-tied.

Today at work, while describing some of my travels and the reasons for them to a couple of co-workers, they laughingly responded with things like, "I need to be a Christian! [so I can travel too, was the implication]" and "You're such a do-gooder!" Maybe it was the way they said it, maybe it was a little unexpected out on the playground, surrounded by kids. But I found myself a bit tongue-tied as to how to respond. I kind of shrugged and said something like, "Well, I like to serve and help people out, it brings me joy to do it." Not a bad response, necessarily. But after the fact I felt a little bit like I'd missed an opportunity to share more about why I do what I do--because I've been blessed by God and all that he's done for me, both in taking care of me for this life and for the life to come, and I want to show my love for him by loving on others. Or something along those lines. Easy for the words to come after the fact; harder to spit them out at the time. Ugh.

Tomorrow's a new day....with new opportunities.....new chances to share about the hope that is in me...........

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel...pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." [Eph. 6:19-20]

Fine print

Do you ever feel like you're just missing something? Like you've been shown the way to go, the things to do next, you just don't realize it? It happens all the time on one of my favorite shows, The Amazing Race. Teams get their next clue and race off to finish the task--only to discover on their umpteenth try that if they'd read the clue a little more carefully, they could have been done a long time ago! They kick themselves for not doing what they've been reminding themselves to do all along: read the fine print.

That's kind of how I've been feeling lately, like I'm missing out on the fine print. I've been working so hard to make things happen, to not be lacking in action while I'm in this time of waiting to see if/when/how God will come through. Yet time and time again, it seems that the doors I've been sure are going to stay open, the doors that have to stay open keep getting slammed in my face. It's discouraging. It's frustrating. And it makes me wonder: am I missing the fine print?

I am such a dork.

[orangecounty.craigslist.org]
SPACE MOUNTAIN LINE - w4m (DISNEYLAND)

7:30pm. You were the tall, blonde guy in the gray sweatshirt, there with 4 other friends, oh-so-sneakily chaining them to the line posts. I was the girl behind you in line. You asked how many loops there were on the coaster; I said 5. I lied. If you see this, let's be friends.

PHASE 2: Complete!

Jr. High camp officially ended today, all 150ish kids back snug in their own beds tonight. What a week it was. Kinda tough for me; being a lead in Thailand this year has been sweet, but definitely makes it harder to connect with kids when you're not sleeping in a cabin with them. And these kids were just different from the jr. highers I'm used to. More independent, less I-want-to-hang-out-with-you-always. Most (but not all) of the times I tried to strike up conversations about anything other than boys or the latest gossip went something like this: "So what have you thought about Chris' teaching this week?" "I love it! He's great!" "Awesome! What's stood out to you, anything you've learned?" "Yeah, totally." "Sweet! Like what?" "Ummm....." Oh jr. highers. Kinda tough for a lot of us, but God was working in some cool ways through the staff as a whole, and it was awesome to hear some of the stories and interactions that came out of the time at camp. This week I prayed for God to use me wherevever, however would be the most needed. It seemed it wasn't always with campers, and it was cool to be able to encourage some of the staff girls and counselors from some of the different schools here. Had some sweet conversations with them about what God's doing in their lives and around them, passions and dreams and desires for the future, how best to love on these kids. So although my time looked a little different than I expected it to at times, it was still sweet.

And then tonight!!! What an amazing opportunity our team had to go to the Yee-Peng Sansai Ceremony (and I have the "Foreigner Guest" sticker to prove it!), which corresponds with some phase of the moon which just so happened to fall on TONIGHT. So we drove out to a temple in Chiang Mai, where thousands of people (mostly Thais, but a few othe foreigners like ourselves) had gathered for the buddhist tradition of lighting and releasing THOUSANDS of giant paper lanterns into the night sky, based on the belief that their sins are being sent away/atoned for in doing so. Sad, to be sitting in the middle of all those people during their chanting and meditation, not knowing of the grace that could so easily be theirs. Spectacular, to be able to light a lantern with my friends alongside them and watch these countless lights ascend into the night sky, saying a prayer for these amazing Thai people. It hit me from a ne perspective: the whole reason we come out to Thailand is for these people! The camps we run for these missionary kids, they're going to be a big part of impacting this and many other parts of the world for Christ, of being a light in the darkness here in Thailand and all over the world. So as I watched my lantern disappear into the cloud of lights in the night sky, I couldn't help but be in awe and hopeful of the future for the people of Thailand. God is at work out here in some amazing ways, and he's not giving up on them yet--not by a longshot.

[to catch a glimpse of what we saw tonight, go search it on YouTube!] :)

Phase 1: complete!

Well, the HS phase of Thailand '09 is officially done! This morning after chapel the 350+ campers loaded up on a multitude of songtaews and waved their last goodbyes to us tired and sweaty Hume Lakers on the steps. It all happened so fast. I wish we had at LEAST a full week to keep getting to know these kids, hearing their stories, their hopes and dreams, what God is doing in their lives. Wish I could have talked with some kids more. Oh-so-thankful for the wonderful things that are Facebook and Skype for keeping in touch despite the distance that will soon once again separate us. But let me tell you, being here with these kids again was FANTASTIC.

These kids are ones who will change the world. They've lived everywhere, experienced so much, seen God work in some amazing ways. So many of them have a wisdom that is beyond their 17 years. How amazing to be even a small part of God shaping them and preparing them for lives of service that are so outside of my comfortable little box. Amazing to get little notes saying that my brief e-mails and chats both here and there in the last two years have been big encouragements to them, that I'm like an older sister. Blows me away that God would use insecure and shy me for that. To God be the glory!

So thrilled to be here again, to see God at work this time around. Today is our day of rest, and Thai massages and the night bazaar are going to be AMAZING. But then tomorrow, it starts again. Give or take 150 jr. highers will roll in, and Rich and Chris and the band and all the rest of us will do it all over again. And I can't wait.