The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Since many people are making resolutions for the new year, I thought I would copy the following statement which precedes the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (there are 70 of them).

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake."

How comforting and freeing!

Christmas in Florida

I was so happy that I was able to go home to Florida for Christmas this year. It originally looked like I wouldn't be able to go home and would be celebrating with a friend and her family. Due to some last minute changes in my work schedule, I was able to go home for 4 days. It was a quick visit, but it was a great blessing to be able to spend Christmas with my parents.

My flight on Christmas eve was on time and the airport was remarkably calm. To top it off the plane started to descend just as the sun was setting below the clouds. It was so beautiful!

Christmas dinner at my house is not your typical American Christmas dinner. We had bacalhau and passion fruit mousse for dessert. It was fabulous! I'm really not even sure what most Americans eat for Christmas dinner. For special occasions at my house, we typically have Brazilian food (I will get to enjoy more in just a few weeks in Brazil). It was also great to be surrounded by the things that have been in all our homes, like the nativity we bought while we lived in Mexico. Next year I will probably be in Africa for Christmas enjoying completely different food. =)

I enjoyed the warm weather and good food. I got to have some great conversations with my parents about engineering. I slept in everyday and got to really relax. I even did a little shopping for skirts to take to Sudan (much easier to find than in Richmond).

My Christmas gift this year was a new camera which I had a lot of fun playing with while I was home. When we were out a restaurant for lunch I got a little carried away taking pictures. I took pieces of the pictures and put this together. This is what you get when an engineer tries to get creative. =)

Prayer Letter

I just sent out the Christmas edition of my prayer letter. I hope you will all forgive any misplaced commas and incorrect grammar. =)

Please let me know if you are interested in receiving my prayer letters by email. Just send me an email with your name and email address. ChristineOlmeda@gmail.com

On another note: This is a picture I took of the BEAUTIFUL full moon a few days ago. It was incredibly bright and clear.

Preparations

The last months have been filled with many blessings as I prepare to leave Richmond. These are just a few of the ways God has been at work in my life.

I am blessed to be a part of a church that loves missions.

• I went to wonderful missions dinner where I shared more about my call to Sudan and enjoyed a WONDERFUL meal.
• I shared in the joy of a young family being called to serve with World Harvest in London.

I am blessed by God's provision.

• God provided a young engaged couple from RUF who will be able to use the furniture that I won't be keeping.
• God provided opportunities to share my testimony. Even this past weekend I spoke at a local Brazilian church in my very rusty Portuguese.

I am blessed by amazing friends.

• I will be traveling to visit my family in Brazil with a dear friend that I have known for more than a decade.
• I spent a wonderful weekend in State College with my oldest friend from Penn State.
• My mom encouraged me and helped me prepare to speak in Portuguese about Sudan when my first draft was filled with words in Spanish and made-up words.

I have four weeks left in Richmond, and my preparations for Sudan continue. I am so thankful for the ways God has blessed the time I have left in the US as I spend time with the people I love.

Stunning Visualization

A stunning visualization of the interconnectedness of scripture:

"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. "

http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/bibleviz/index.html

Thankful

This year I wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving, but I had a wonderful Thanksgiving right here in Richmond. I rejoiced and gave thanks with a church full of people in support of the lost boys of Sudan and local Sudanese believers, walked through the woods of beautiful fall afternoon, took pictures and laughed with friends, played Settlers of Catan, had a potluck Thanksgiving meal with many young adults who I am thankful to call my friends, and roasted marshmallows on a bonfire in the late hours of the night.

Below you see what happens when you throw a handful of sawdust in the bonfire. Science at work!

It was not a traditional Thanksgiving day, but it was a great day. I was blessed by great friends, the opportunity to pray and rejoice with the local Sudanese community, and conversations by phone with friends and family who I wasn't able to see in person.

This last picture was candid. I really have no idea what I was doing here... =)

What will Sudan be like?

Michael and Karen have posted some pictures in their web album and written about their first two weeks in Sudan on their blog.


http://whmsudan.blogspot.com/

http://picasaweb.google.com/mkmasso/SelectedFirst2WeeksInMundri#

It is hard for me to imagine what Sudan will be like since I have never been to Africa, but I am always excited to read their updates and look forward to the day that I will join them with all the other team members.

Also here is a quick update for those who do not get my prayer letters. God has provided 75% of my support! I will be in Richmond through the second week in January, and then I will be very transient until I leave for Sudan. I am so thankful for all your support and prayer!

Running

This month I ran my first race. It was an 8k through downtown Richmond on the same day as the Richmond marathon and half marathon. It was a hot day for November and steamy due to overnight thunderstorms, even at 7 am.

I started running for first time in July. I would not have started running if it weren't for the women in my Bible study. We started running together twice a week, very slow at first with a lot of walking in between the running. As long as they were still running, I would try to keep running. With them by my side it was so much easier to overcome the mental battle in my head and not stop.

It was great running with these women twice a week for months, but on the day of the 8k, it was just me. No one else was there with me. Everyone was running their own race. We had met the night before to eat together and encourage each other, but most of the encouragement I got during the race was from people standing on the side of the road who didn't know me at all. With the finish in mind, I kept moving forward. Finishing the 8k was a great feeling, but there is another race that I am running with eternal significance.

Too often I start to walk in the race I am running for the sake of the gospel. Too often I want to be comfortable and not experience pain. In this race, it is not my own strength that will keep me running (believe me, I have tried). It is only by the strength of my savior that I can keep running. I am running this race by the grace of God and for His glory, and too often I don't strive to finish and win the prize. I say no to the difficult things God is asking me to do, and stop running the race in so many other ways. There is so much richness in the race metaphor!

And so my prayer is that I would run the race with perseverance, not growing weary or losing heart, with my eyes fixed on Jesus as described in Hebrews 12:1-3. I'm glad that running a race has brought me to consider the race metaphors in scripture prayerfully and understand it on a more personal level.

"Thus through him I may lay hold upon him in whom I am also laid hold upon; ... stretching forth not to what shall be and shall pass away but to those things that are before me. Not distractedly now, but intently, I follow on for the prize of my heavenly calling, ..." - Augustine, Confessions (emphasis mine)

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hiking

Sunday after church I met up with a friend, and we went on two short hikes through Shenandoah National Park. It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day, and the first hike we did was particularly fun since it had a long rock scramble with a stunning 360 degree vista. The best part of the day was sharing some great conversation in the car on the way there and on the way home. We discussed the sermons we heard earlier in the morning, books we have read, and a variety of other topics. We enjoyed the beauty of the mountains and laughed with each other a lot. Hopefully I will be able to get in one or two more trips before leaving for Sudan. It was great to get away from Richmond for a day and enjoy a hike with a friend. I didn't think about the details of getting to Sudan, raising support, or work. Sunday I just enjoyed God's creation and reflected on the character God who loves me.

Note: In the bottom right picture my friend is making her shadow tickle my shadow. She didn't know she was in the picture. =)

Eloquence

I found this article on Christian eloquence interesting for several reasons. (link below)

1) I have spent years taking classes in technical writing were the goal is to convey all the necessary information in as few words as possible. We were taught to write simply and clearly.

2) I often struggle to convey what I think and feel in words. I don't usually aim for eloquence. My aim is usually to be understood.

3) I appreciate eloquence in speakers and authors, but elegance in logic, argument, and design are far more appealing to me.

I don't think I had ever considered the benefits of eloquence (there are 5 that Piper discusses). I appreciated eloquence, but really hadn't thought much else about Christian eloquence. Eloquence isn't necessary. Christ is necessary.

But as I continue to study and practice engineering, my appreciation for beauty and elegance in design increases. In the same way I hope that as I continue to read and hear Christian speakers, my appreciation for eloquence will increase.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2008/3265_Is_There_Christian_Eloquence_Clear_Words_and_the_Wonder_of_the_Cross/

If you are going to read the article, you can skip the next paragraph. But if you weren't going read it, here is the conclusion.

"Yes, there is Christian eloquence. It is not the decisive factor in salvation or sanctification; God is. But faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word. That word in the Bible is pervasively eloquent—words are put together in a way to give great impact. And God invites us to create our own eloquent phrases for his name’s sake, not ours. And in the mystery of his sovereign grace, he will glorify himself in the hearts of others in spite of and because of the words we have chosen. In that way, he will keep us humble and get all the glory for himself. Amen." - John Piper