We are a Patchwork.

Three weeks from today I will be in Madrid with a group of eleven other women. Together, with several others Spanish ladies, we will be doing a conference for many unchurched women at Peña de Horeb. The conference will use the pieces of a quilt to depict our relationship with God.

The front of the quilt displays the patchwork of our lives. The experiences and times that have made us who we are today. God uses these experiences, as chaotic and as unplanned as they may seem, to mold our hearts into what He needs them to be.

The batting of the quilt is what we fill our lives with. Do we seek God each day or do we fill our lives with junk? Do we desire things that will be good for us (keep us warm like the batting of a quilt) or bad things that in the end will do us no good (imagine if a quilt was filled with rocks or glass)?

The back of the quilt is Christ and our Christian fellowship. Christ gives us support, covers our sins and makes us complete. The Christian friends we surround ourselves with are the ones who will be there to hold us up and encourage us. They will help us grow and encourage us in our walk with Christ. The back of the quilt is important because without it, the batting would be exposed to the world and ultimately be destroyed.

Lastly, the binding of the quilt is the Holy Spirit working in our lives. He weaves all things together so that we can see how God has worked. Although the binding may be difficult to see, we know it's there because when a quilt is folded, unfolded, thrown around it remains in one piece. The Holy Spirit is the binding is our binding that is stronger than any wind or rain and will keep us together.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?" Psalm 139:7

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

I am so excited to have the chance to get  a small taste of the work Jeremy and I will be a part of. As we prepare to begin fundraising (our class ends this week) the reality of our calling is becoming clearer and clearer. I have no doubt we are doing what we need to do and we are going where we need to go. 

I can clearly see the hand of God working in our lives as we look forward. 

I am setting my mind on good things. I am claiming Ephesians 3:14-21 as my prayer for Jeremy and I as well the team already working in Spain. 

"For this reason I kneel before the Father,  from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." 

Ephesians 3:14-21

I am learning to pray big. As we look at the next 9-12 months, we have a big task before us. But it is nothing bigger than anything that has already been done. I have faith that we will accomplish all that must be accomplished in the right timing. Our God is faithful and He is punctual. 

Please continue to pray for us. We are so thankful for all of the support and prayers we have already received.

Jesus Across Cultures Pt. 2

You may want to go here first:
Jesus Across Culture Pt. 1

I am an Intercultural Studies major. This means that I'm not sure what I want to do with my life following graduation besides throwing a nice little party for myself. Maybe graduate school. Maybe straight into a new job (Sorry, Liz, makes me sad too). But who knows.

I chose this major because after years of dreaming of travel and new places and cultures I have never encountered before I knew that it was more than just a daydream, this is a calling. A calling God has placed on my heart to see His creation. To experience the hearts of His people across the world. I need to know not just through the television or internet or the stories of others, that there is a whole world out there that experiences the same God I do in ways that are completely foreign to me.

You see, we get into this rut thinking that "the church" is just our building with out sign out front, with our pews, with our pastor, with our sanctuary. You see, that's just not it.  You see, the church is so much more than just a building or a few certain people that we associate with. It's not just one denomination who sings similar songs or preaches similar messages. NO. The church is so much greater. So much larger. So much more beautiful than a steeple or a freshly carpeted sanctuary.

The church is God's children. His children who worship Him with unity only found in Jesus Christ who is our salvation. A unity found not in the color of our skin or the language that we speak, but the same love that flows down from heaven and fills the hearts of those who know God as their Father and Redeemer. The true church knows no boundaries. No walls, no confines to keep it from growing and loving.

The church loves the broken and wounded.
The lost and abandoned.
The scared and the scarred.
The poor and the rich.
Those in darkness who need the true Light of Life.
Those who seem so unlovable, they need the church the most.

These needs know no cultural boundaries. But neither does the love that cures them all.

Jesus Across Cultures

The children ran to greet us as we arrived on our great, yellow, well-loved school bus. They yelled, sang,  pulled, pushed and jumped all in efforts to get our attention. We made our way through the crowd and out into the village. The children followed us wherever we went, some of them attaching themselves to a certain member of the team and throwing themselves at anyone who had a camera. Luckily I know these children are not drawn to us, but the love of Jesus that is filling our hearts. 

Our bus driver pulled us into what seemed like someone's side-yard, turned the bus around and we filed out. As soon as we set foot outside a group of women greeted us with a welcome song that would bring tears to anyone's eyes. They brimmed with pride, excitement and a pure love of Christ. Many of these women have walked nearly all day to be here for their weekly Bible Study. They have gathered to study the book of Ruth which has lessons to teach them that many women of our culture could not grasp as tightly as they can. In this group there is a mother-in-law who came to beat her daughter-in-law over an argument they had recently had. When she arrived here she heard what they were discussing and took the message of Ruth and Naomi to heart. She is now a believer. Relationships between mother and daughter-in-laws are often difficult in this culture. But Jesus' love is still the same.

Nicaragua and Kenya are two of the seven mission trips I have been so blessed to have taken. I love culture. I love seeing people of other cultures coming together. I love seeing people of other cultures worshiping together. It, I believe, is one of the most beautiful things a Christian can experience. To feel the Holy Spirit moving in a place completely strange to you, in a way that seems so familiar and realize that HE is the same. No matter where you are, no matter who you are or who you are with, God still moves. Jesus crosses all cultures.