Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Shadows


(shadow of myself)

One day I will no longer be a shadow of myself. One day God will make me into a whole person and my potential as His will be realized.

What does that look like? Who will I be? I have to honest and say that I have no idea. Who am I to tell God who I should be? I am on a journey to realize who He has me to be now.

But the future? That is up to Him. And I am happy with it being that way.

The adventure of life is found in the journey, not in the end result. And so I am happy letting God direct the path of my adventure, adding some detail here, some detail there. Part of me might be in shadow, but another part of me is illuminated.

Slowly His light moves across the scope of who I am. Slowly, slowly, He brings me into focus. And it all makes sense. The true version of me emerges and the shadowy me melts away.

What a day that will be!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Grateful Friday

My list of thankfulness today:

*the sound of my puppy snoring on the couch

* a great song that makes my homework easier to bear

*the fact that I can do my homework and learn once again

*great conversations with dear friends whom the Lord has blessed me with

*adventures, whether large or small

*meeting new people and making new friends

*roadtrips

*clean clothing

*a long hot shower

*being reminded that the ministry in which I have found myself is one of lives changed and blessed

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Where In The US Am I?

That is an excellent question! I am currently sitting in the living room that I grew up in. So, I am at home in Dalton. For now. Until the next thing comes up!

I just got back from a 4 day tour of the Twin Cities/Mankato. It was so wonderful to be able to most of my dear dear dear friends from down there. I wasn't able to see a couple of people that I wanted to, but God knows what needed to happen while I was there.

I would love to post some pictures for you, but my camera cord is in Montana. So, I guess such things will have to wait. But anticipation is part of the fun right??

I am now back in Fergus for a couple of days. I hope! I found out today that I will be adding another stop to this marathon of mine so the days just got a bit longer. But I will have plenty of time to rest this winter!

Anyways, I will be in Fergus until late next week. I will take advantage of this time to see people and spend more time with those I love so very much. Then I will be recruiting at Oak Hills in Bemidji and heading up to Littlefork (by International Falls) to speak at a church. From there I will come back to take part in a Missions day at Good Shepherd. The next morning I recruit at my alma mater (Hillcrest) and then head back to Montana.

Am I mistaken or did I not JUST come home?? Wow. My head is spinning.

Monday, October 20, 2008

What do I want from life?

adventure

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Gratification Thursdays


i am a girl who likes alliteration. quite a bit in fact. but i do not like to feed into trends or cliches unless they fit my mood. therefore, i did not want to necessarily have a thankful thursday. but i feel that taking time out of your week to thank God is important. for the big and the little things.

my friend jeremiah sent me his cd last year and the first song on there has been running through my head these past few days. i believe the title is "the little things". i would check it for sure, but its in montana and i am in colorado and i am not willing to make that commute. sorry miah!

back to the point of this. in this song it talks about how it is the little things in life. new guitar strings and a cup of coffee. it is the little things that add up to the big things.

so here is my list for today. whether they be big things or little things, these are my things:

*playing nursemaid to a dramatic and beloved 4 year old niece and being the magical cure for what ails her

*playing Wii with my nephew because he asked me to and cause he knows he will win

*racing around my brother's mother in law's basement on wiggle racers. (do you know what these are? if not, find out now! these are amazingly fun things that i have not taken enough advantage of)

*watching a great movie on the big screen with an amazing sister in law. (fireproof is excellent. a bit cheesy perhaps and probably not an oscar contender and while it was about marriage it still had a great message that God had for me today)

*taking time out of life to spend with God (which is something that i do not do enough - and yet i feel that any break out of the ordinary is a great chance for God to really speak and for me to really listen)

*hot drinks, great talks and beloved friendships

*generosity of friends

*the comfort of knowing you have come home

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Appearances - Fact or Fiction?

Life does not always look like what I think it should. In fact, it often does not turn out the way I think it should. I know this is nothing new or earth shattering to think about but this is what is striking me tonight as I sit here in my pj's, hanging out with my sister in law and musing upon life these past few weeks.

Often I look at the appearances of what is and think I have the facts all figured out. Life is black and white and this is just the way things are. But then I take a step back and figure out that what I have been seeing is simply fiction. The fact of the matter is something completely different.

I am not even sure that what I will write about in these next few paragraphs will even come close to tying in with what I have just written, but at least that is a thought for the day!

Another little look into the psyche of Rachel (just beware the journey ...)

To give a little life update for all those wondering about my car: well, it definitely is not with me at the moment. I kept having more and more problems with it while I was in Montana. One day I was driving down the road at a good clip (the speed limit IS 70 after all) and it just died. Totally and completely died. It lost all the RPMs and my powering steering locked up. Needless to say, I was not the most happy person at the moment. I pulled over to the side and put it in park and then shut everything off. (which normally is the magical fix!) But alas, not so much. It kept cranking and cranking but not running.

So I hung up on my best friend and called Ted (thank goodness my family talked me into getting a cell phone and that I was actually on part of the road that has service ... welcome to montana!).

He came to look at it and found nothing wrong (of course). He was just going to help me push it to the side of the road but when I went to turn it to on and put it in neutral it started right up (of course). So, we drove into town and took it to the repair shop. The mechanic does not have a computer that is up to date enough to work on my car but he did do a couple of tests. He found nothing wrong (of course). So I drove off and prayed hard that my car would stay strong.

The more and more I talked with people and prayed about it the less and less comfortable I felt taking my car on the long long journey across North Dakota and all around the state of Minnesota. And also, after much hemming, hawing, and other thinking, it was decided that the most likely culprit of my car problems is my fuel pump. It was a bit stressful to think of coming up with the $300 plus needed for that along with getting ready for my trip. Since I didn't have the funds and Ted didn't have the time an alternate solution was needed!

But the Lord provides and takes care of us. This fall my friend Elisha has been out at camp off and on and it just so turns out that his off time coincides with my off time. Coincidentally his off time was going to take place in Minnesota, which is where my off time was going to take place. Voila! God provides a way where there seems to be no way (have fun singing that song all night - you know it's in your head now!).

Not only was he nice enough to give me a ride home (and cleaning out some of his stuff so I could bring all my junk!) BUT he was nice enough to let me use his car while I'm home as he will not have a need for it. Once again God blows me away with His foresight and generosity (and of course Eli's generosity! it took an extra level of trust with him as his car is a stick shift and while of course I have learned to drive a stick shift as any good farm girl should, it is not my, shall we say, most developed skill).

So here I am, in Colorado. (bet you didn't expect me to say that state did you??) Life is coming at me from the left and the right and the up and the down. But the journey is always the most fun isn't it?