a new chapter.

Here we are: A stepping stone, a new mile marker, another link added to the chain.

It feels like I’ve been raising support at home forever now. But it’s amazing how one tiny shift in perspective can cause time to go by at warp speed. For my job with Campus Crusade for Christ, I’ve been meeting with others, sharing a little about my role with this organization, my vision for the college generation, and also inviting them to become prayerfully and financially involved in my ministry. Within the last year, I have met with a few hundred people and have loved the opportunity to expand my network of friends and meet others who are passionate about Christ and the Gospel. These people are the only reason I’m able to announce that I have nearly all that I need financially to fund my ministry and am completely overflowing with prayerful support.

Now, I’ve made plans to move to Orlando, FL to start my work with Campus Crusade as a graphic designer for their US Campus Ministry on September 3rd. Time seems to have picked up the pace as I hardly remember the month of August. I have exactly one week until I become quite acquainted with I-95 South and there are so many things that I still want to do while I’m at home; so many friends that I feel I’ll miss. Part of me wants to put on the brakes and dig my heels into the road that’s propelling me forward. Fortunately for me, the excitement from having everything I’ve worked for this past year finally becoming a reality is intoxicating! This new chapter in my life is finally starting and in only a few short days. Please pray for me and my transition to Florida, my new team, and the future of the US Campus Ministry. Look for my next update from the sunshine state!

the noise we make.

The book that I’m reading, Live A Praying Life, by Jennifer Kennedy Dean has been such an encouragement to me these past few months. The words she writes are so power packed and insightful. Today’s devotional was about seeking God in the midst of the busy, crazy, noisy world we live in. “We must be able to withdraw for a while from the fevered pace of our lives, from the noise and incessant demands, to listen for the still, small voice,” she says.

I began to think about easy it is to get caught up in the noise of this world. The noise of our lives. I hardly ever go into a room without turning on some kind of music, tv, etc. Any time I’m getting into my car it’s habit to adjust the radio before even putting my car into drive. We’re always “on call” in a million kinds of ways. Cell phones allow us to take a call or make calls anytime, anywhere and now with new and improved internet capabilities they allow us the ease to be distracted by non-stop facebook, twitter postings without taking time for reality. Much less our relationship with God.

Noise that we create. Noise that others create. We’re surrounded by it.

God has been teaching me today the fact that in our culture, solitude and a still heart can become such a foreign idea that it’s possible for us to not realize how far we’re actually moving away from God. We become completely saturated with noise, stress, calls, and life in general that we think walking and praying on our way to work is about the closest thing to giving God time. If it takes locking ourselves in a dark closet in order to focus on nothing but Him, let’s do it! If it means fighting for a scheduled time each day that we turn off our phones, shut down the computers, and quiet our ipods, let’s do it.

“Father, push back the noise.

Your secrets come wrapped in silence.”
—Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Heart’s Cry