"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water in my name..."

Hello! Well, I am discovering why this place is called the windy city! It is frigid cold, and walking around in the blowing snow is not at the top of my list of things to do on an afternoon. the other day, one of my roommates (debbie) and I went to Jewel(a grocery store nearby) to pick up some stuff we needed. It was so cold, and we bought more food than we could carry...so we asked if we could borrow a cart to bring the food back (Jewel is like 4 or 5 blocks away) They said yes! So we started pushing our cart of groceries back, but the sidewalks were to slushy and snow covered, so we ended up having to carry all of the bags back...needless to say, it wasn't much fun.
Yet, I should not be complaining...i have a warm room to come back to, blankets, food...and there are many who do not even have a place to sleep-unless you count the bridge where there are roads stacked upon roads- a giant cement structure that is only meant for traveling through...some men call that thier home. Last night we (some of our bro-sis) went down to the bridge and passed out hot-dogs, water, socks, and hot-chocolate to some of the homeless men who stay down there in the winter. We were only there for a few hours, and my hands and feet were so incredibly cold...they have been there for several months. We walked along the sidewalks and stopped at mounds of blankets, giving water in Jesus' name and in this case, hot-chocolate as well...It is crazy that people live like this--one man, Arnold, we were talking to-he had a Bible passage taped to the wall- Part of Luke 12.
"And he(Jesus) told this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, 'this is whatI'll do-I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.....But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Then Jesus said to his disciples:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or what you will wear. Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

In Galatians, Paul is writing to the church there...basically getting up in their face and confronting them about things-accepting false teaching-putting too much emphasis on the law. Along with that, Chapter 2:10- he adds this. "They agreed that I should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continueto remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

Have we gotten so comfortable in our Christianity that we have pushed aside the most obvious and important command? Love God and love your neighbor. And a heart that is truely loving God will produce fruit-that will be seen as an overflow of thier life. When we have gotten to the point of stagnancy-and seeking our own personal comfort and convienience- we have gotton to the point were we are decieving ourselves.
I can spend all week drawing from the well-taking these amazing classes from amazing profs, reading my Bible every day-praying, journaling...but faith without deeds is dead. If you take a cup and fill it with water and just allow it to sit there-it is going to get gross-water that is not moving is never safe to drink-it is often poisonous...we need to be constantly pouring out-because unless we are, our lives will be but stale, dim and fruitless.
I so often get caught up in my "ministry..." or "Christian stuff" that I forget the greatest commands of Christ. How will people known us as followers of Him? By our love.
It was so incredibly convicting to walk around amongst those men who have nothing. So I give this challenge to myself and everyone else- Share the well.

Comfort Zone...can't even see it anymore

So, I have just returned from my PCM again tonight...and I should be reading for classes tomorrow, but thought I would take a little time to write something. Tonight went pretty well-it is so crazy that I am doing this-i met the only other Moody student who is helping out at the after-school program, and because our usual ride was not able to come, he had to drive us out there(it was only his second time driving in Chicago...) we made it though, and I am extremely thankful that I did not have to drive. There were about 40 kids there tonight, and though chaos was a part of the night, so was a chance for them to hear the gospel.
We help the kids with their homework for a while, and tonight, i encountered a crisis....are 5th graders supposed to be subtracting mixed fractions with uncommon denomonaters??????? (see...i don't even know how to spell denominater) I was no help to a couple of my girls because of this...and after being extremely angry with myself upon returning back to the dorm(angry because I always excused my math skills with the phrase "i will never use this...i want to go into ministry...") Well..never say never...especially when it comes to ministry...anyway...i made my friend meghan show me how to do that...and I am bound and determined to help those girls somehow next week. I told one of them, "I will show you how to subtract mixed fractions next week." and she looked at me with this raised eyebrow as if to say "no you won't.." That just makes me more determined...so if my studies slack off this next week-it is because I am learning math.

I am totally out of my comfort zone on this one...May God's glory be more clearly seen in my life through my weakness and insufficiencies....it is cool, though, as I look back over the past few years, I can see how different ministries that I have been involved with may contribute to helping me prepare for this one.

Last night I went with a friend to study at a coffee shop a little bit farther away from Moody...called uncommon ground. There was live music, we ordered hummus and coffee, and studied. As I was sitting there reading my "Encountering John" book (for Gospel of John class), it just hit me how amazing it is that I am here now...It is only because of God. And also, how cool that I was sitting in a coffee house, in a city, reading a book, while listening to live music, such a cool atmosphere-I love it here.

My first week, a sprained ankle, and tons of reading

Well, i have successfully survived my first week in Chicago...the sense of direction is already starting to improve. I am loving my classes, and am so excited that I get to study the Bible...so amazing...i am still amazed that i am here... God is so incredibly good.
Moody is going to be a lot more work than I anticipated...i estimate that I will probably read btwn 100 and 200 pages a day on top additional assignments, tests, and quizzes...i am taking 16 hours, but they are all classes that I am thus far excited about going to. Please pray that as I am reading the Bible for my classes and reading other books, that I would never view the Bible as a textbook, and that I would keep Jesus my first love-that my studies would not get in the way with my relationship with God.

I went to my PCM for the first time on Thursday (practical christian ministry). It is down on the south side of Chicago and is a branch off of Sunshine Gospel ministries. I had no idea whatsoever of what to expect, but it went very well. I am working with inner city kids, 7-13 year olds, helping out in an afterschool program. We play games with the kids (aka run off thier energy) and then we tutor them, help them with thier school work(some of them are smarter than me...10 year olds aren't supposed to be on exponents are they???) and then there is a brief Bible teaching time (not too long-short attention spans), and then we eat food, and they go home. It is so cool, and it will probably be the most challenging thing I have ever done, but through my inadequecies, though I am unqualified, God's glory can be more clearly revealed, and then maybe I can get out of the way so he can work...God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
There are only 2 or 3 other moody students helping out with this ministry, and they are in need of some more volunteers-so that is a prayer request with that, and just for me, that i will have wisdom, discernment, and an amazing heart for these kids.
So, i sprained my ankle at my pcm...i was playing frisbee with some kids and stepped in a hole in the floor as i leaped to catch the frisbee-anyways...it didn't hurt until a few hours later, and now I am wearing a brace and icing it....so dumb...
anyways...i hope all is well with all of you. have a wonderful weekend.

Hello from Chicago!

Well...i am sitting in a room at Moody Bible Institute writing this. How crazy and amazing to think of how I have ended up here. Orientation went very well-i was able to meet tons of other people, have been getting to know my roommies, and have caught up with several people that I know. (by the way...our room is AMAZING!!! We are in an old apartment complete with kitchen, large fridge, oven, cupboard, we each have our own closet, a linen closet, and our own bathroom-we also have two large rooms...one for sleeping,one for studying..and the best part is our amazing view of the city.) We have been having a blast, for example: last night we went with our brother floor (each dorm has a brother or sister floor who hang out together and do fun things..) to Giordonnos(Sp?) pizza and hung out, got to know some more people...It has been incredible thus far. Today I had two classes, and am now done for the day-they both went really well: one is evangelism and disciplemaking, and the other is Christianity and Western Culture.

You know that feeling when you know you are totally where you are supposed to be? Yeah...pretty much feeling that. Don't get me wrong..i know this won't be the easiest thing I have ever done...i know there will be struggles-but looking back over the past year and a half, i can say with confidence that God has brought me here right now, for a reason. May he be glorified in my life, and I hope that I will be used, stretched, and broken in ways I have never been before.
Have an amazing week-

Happy New Year!!

It is so hard to believe that it is 2005. I am starting to feel old(now, I can't say I graduated last year-i have to say I graduated 2 years ago...) I have decided to make a list of New Year's Resolutions.

1. I will eat more fruit
2. I will actually finish a movie that I start to make on my computer
3. I will memorize more scripture-all of 1 John by the end of the year
4. I will drink more water throughout the day
5. I will actually study for my classes
6. I will not watch as many movies (ok...this one is kind of cheating because at Moody we aren't allowed to watch movies on campus i don't think)
7. And finally, the continually renewing resolution for me (I think I decide to do this every year...) I will be more organized!

Thursday I leave for Moody! Only a few days away. I am so excited...my next update will be from on campus. Have a beautiful week!