Lost and Found

This weekend I took some time to give a much needed cleaning to my apartment. While I was cleaning I found a ceramic jug that I had painted with stars and moons. After removing the cork, I discovered several folded pieces of paper inside. And then I remembered. My senior year of high school in a girls Bible study at church we had written letters from us to God and from God to us and sealed them up in these jugs. I had been a Christian for less than a year at that time. I couldn't remember when we were supposed to open them, so I decided now was a good a time as any, so I broke open the jug. The words on those pieces of paper were bold, filled with awe at the creator and creation, and joyful. Finding the jug and reading those words this week in particular was a beautiful and perfect gift to me from God. Today I read the words I wrote six years ago about the truth and power of the gospel.

It has been an interesting week. My phone collapsed due to exhaustion most likely. I had fixed it three times recently and this time I resorted to duct tape. I went to my service provider to review my contract and see if they would replace my phone. The best option they could give me was to buy a new phone (the cheapest one they had was $200). After asking some questions about my contract, praise God, I got a new phone for free! So now if I call you to talk to you about God and Sudan, hopefully the call won't be dropped.

This week was hard, and I am still somewhat in the middle of everything and processing. I have felt more under attack this week than I have a in a long time. But God has provided mercy, encouragement, and truth in the most beautiful ways including the words that many of you have shared in Bible study, in blogs, and by email about your trials and doubts and about God's grace and mercy.

I know I have been posting a lot recently. I hope that those of you that are a part of my life and ministry to southern Sudan are encouraged by these two stories of how God has met me in the midst of support raising. I pray that you will also see God at work in the found objects and free cellphones of your life.

And now for prayer requests. Pray for Sudan. Read the recent news online. Pray for me, that I would keep the truth of the gospel central in my life.

DISCLAIMER: Current posting frequency may not reflect future posting frequency. =)

Pray for Myanmar

PRAY:
If you have been reading the news the last few days you have undoubtedly read about the cyclone that hit Myanmar and the death and destruction that resulted.

The headline today read "Dead are thrown into rivers as the living wait for aid". The situation is complicated by a political situation which I don't pretend to know much about.

It hurts my heart to know that people are suffering, asking why, and waiting. It hurts my heart to know that people don't know where to turn.

Pray for the people of Myanmar.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1215_6_ways_to_react_to_the_cyclone

ENGINEERING MISSIONS:
Last year I attended a missions conference where one of the breakout sessions was specifically to discuss the role of engineers in missions. A lot of the conversations were focused on disaster relief. Many have a limited view of what engineering missions might look like, but the opportunity for engineers to serve in disaster relief is tremendous. Logistics, organization, and transportation are just a few of the areas that engineers would be able to serve an area after a natural disaster.

Parabéns pra mim

My birthday is always a good time to reflect on the last year. This year I have learned (or relearned) many things. I thought I would share a few of them.

First of all, I have great friends. I have friends that tell me the truth. I have friends that love me even when I am at my worst. I have friends that listen to me when I am wrong. I have friends that encourage me. I have friends that know me well enough to not need words. I hope that I can be the kind of friend that my friends are to me.

Second, God has good plans for me. Those verses about waiting on God's timing are right. I have been praying about serving overseas for a lot of years, and God's timing is good. The path to this point may not have looked straight at the time, but in retrospect God has been working in my life in specific ways to lead to this place at this time.

The third thing is something that I am continually relearning. "O Lord, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." ~ St. Augustine. I continually fail to rest in Christ, rest in the promises of scripture, and rest in my identity as a child of God. But the joy and hope that I have when I rest in Christ is one of the best evidences that God is real and that He loves me.

This year I couldn't be with my family for my birthday, so I celebrated my birthday early with three wonderful chemical engineering women in NYC. We walked around the city, played spades in Central Park, and had a great dinner together. It was a beautiful day with friends.