The Earth is Shaking. I'm Dancing.

Last week, and especially last weekend, was incredibly busy.  Thursday night was Old Testament class (and we usually go out after to continue conversation), Friday was Pizza Palooza (a Women of Hope event), Saturday was Small Group Leader training, and Sunday is always game day for us.

I was able to find rest, though.  At times, I had to fight myself for it - there's always something that could be done - but it's a battle worth fighting.

This week, however, I have more free time.  Tuesday was very chill, and this morning (Wednesday), I had coffee with Megan, went to Target, baked cookies, and then I'll have class soon - at 1:30.  It's been a good morning to just relax and breathe and not rush.  I have nothing scheduled for this Friday or Saturday - those will be great times to unwind as well.

I feel like I finally have my feet under me.  That, by no means, means that things have settled down.  The earth is still shaking under my feet.  But I've hit my stride.  I've caught the rhythm for now and am moving in time with it.  It's kind of like dancing.  And it's beautiful.

Love.

Clothe Me with Joy.

"You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever." - Psalm 30:11-12

I love these verses.  Tonight, as I was doing my Old Testament reading assignment, I came across them once again.  They were already underlined in my Bible and for good reason.

My heart has been restless this past week, feeling sorrow and longing for things that aren't yet meant to be mine.  But God turned that sorrow into dancing yesterday and today.  Even if He doesn't give me what I'm wanting, He brings me joys in other ways.  He is faithful to do so.

Worth mentioning:

- Ministry Expo: my favorite Sunday of the year.  Having a ministry fair for the difference ministries at Hope is great.  I love helping people get involved.

- Setting up half the gym to turn it into Sunday School classroom: Hope keeps growing (we had 649 people just at first service last week!), and we're making space wherever we can.

- Loving my classes, especially Old Testament and Systematic Theology.

- Film and Theology on Friday: finally saw the Hunger Games and had great discussion about God afterward.  Tons of people came!

- This Friday is Pizza Palooza!  So excited!

- This Saturday is Small Group Leader Training.  My small group will start meeting October 1 - I can't wait!

I'm trying to rest up this week after the craziness that was last week and the craziness that will be this weekend.  

Love.

Looking for Blessings in All the Wrong Places.

So I just finished Exodus.  Not of my own choosing, but rather for my Old Testament class.  You might have heard me talk about being concerned that my times in the Word for class would just be an intellectual exercise - that I wouldn't connect with the Lord during those times.  I was also afraid that what happened during Mark Study would repeat itself - that my mind would be too tired to read outside of the OT.  Well, God has come through once again!

This past week, as I was reading Exodus,  a couple verses really spoke to how I've been feeling.  Let me give you some context for the first one.  Moses has just led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea.  They complain about a lack of food and water; God turns the bitter water sweet and provides manna and quail (for a better telling of the story, check out Exodus 12-16).  So in chapter 16, when God provides manna and quail, God tells the Israelites not to gather on the Sabbath - they are to rest on that day.  Yet, in verse 27, some in the group are disobedient.

"Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none." - Exodus 16:27

What?  Really?  God told them not to - what were they expecting to find?

That's what I've been asking myself the past few days.  God has guided me into certain situations and away from certain other situations (that was vague, right?).  He has told me to look here for provision and not somewhere else.  Why do my eyes wander, asking what lies nearby?  Didn't God promise to give me something?  No.  Not yet.  Not on this day.

So, I kept reading.  And came across a verse that complimented the previous verse pretty well for me:

"Then Moses said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." -  Exodus 33:15

This verse was super encouraging to me.  I was originally told not to look for something - but now I've been told to go where God's Presence leads me.  It's comforting to know that I'm not just told not to do a certain thing - God provides direction to fill that gap.  It is complete.  The void is filled.

Now on to Leviticus and Numbers.

Love.

"One Perspective of Trek One - 2012"

A fellow intern sent this to me a few days ago.  I had to share.


"It is September 1.


LDI began on August 1. 31 days.  One tenth of our year.  Slow down please.  (Except --- how do you slow down this much JOY?!)

We walked into the Fireplace Room and became Trek 1.  Jordan, Stacy, Nate, Erick, Daniel, Josh, Marilyn, Erica and Rachael.


We heard Cor read an email from Daniel Mick from Trek 1 last year. He said that he had "walked into the Fireside Room last August to meet a group of strangers and in June walked out as siblings".


...

It is time for the Dube Retreat next.  We each get our 15 minutes of fame. We do love languages and leadership.  We talk about the Sabbath.  (We TALK about it. Can't wait to do it :-) )  We laugh, eat, talk, sleep, celebrate people and party, boat, sit at the fire until 2:30, study, and jump off bridges. We get advice from  NASCAR about competing with horses and prayers to Baby Jesus about having a blessed year.


Most put in extra hours at Hope East and at Elliot Park etc.  We buy presents and we dance & sing at Naty's.  We have a luncheon at Hope and are welcomed onto the staff.  We learn about job titles.  Seth Prince: "I have no freakin' idea what mine is right now".  Naty says that the only one who needs more attention than her is Tim Johnson. Tim points to Dave Hammond.


We learn about humility and that it is impossible to draw attention to Christ and your self at the same time.


MARK STUDY: Why does everyone who has done this become overly nostalgic when asking us about it?  We will soon find out.


NOSTALGIA:
THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
"The house in Capernaum needs a legacy campaign to fix the roof". Erick
Shannon gives us the wrong OT verse to read and it's about not having tattoos.
HE TAUGHT WITH AUTHORITY.
One man is worth 2000 pigs.
"The response to Jesus and the loaves should have been a slow clap" Nate
"Nate's hair makes him look like he is blown away by what he is learning" Dan
I HAVE NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS BUT SINNERS.
Shannon calling her Diet Coke - "My Precious".  All of them.
Erica, Jordan and Stacy: This side of the room rocks with research.
Mark Hintz that they wanted to be healed.
Mark -- Spitz on the man's tongue.
WHO ARE MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS?
Mark 6:7. McVersion. (This makes The Message look like Piper's favorite version)
"And He sent out the 13 (9+ Hugo, Shannon, Rob and Laura) and gave them authority over the unclean kitchen, Vikings Parking Lots and Hope East. He charged them to take nothing for their journey to Chipotle and Spaghetti Factory except a staff (Shannon)- no bread, no purse, no money in their belts- but to wear sandals (maybe Chacos) and not to wear a sweatshirt yet." We are bonding/living like Disciples and following Jesus.
PARABLE OF THE SOIL
Hollywood mentor/teachers like Shannon from Karate Kid, Disney, Top Gun etc.
IF I TOUCH EVEN HIS GARMENTS, I WILL BE WELL.
Being invisible woman in the kitchen to Josh and Rach at 1:00 am.
Hugo taking over when Shannon leaves the room.
RACHAEL  ---Oh Canada . . .---GO HOME.
HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEM.
It is 9:45 pm on  Tuesday night. We are all trying to think. Someone is thinking counterintuitively.
Someone else is crying.
HE SAID A BLESSING AND BROKE THE LOAVES. Eucharisteo.
Shannon. "Could someone read nowish?"
BUT THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDENED.
Jesus does his first 'remote control' healing on a Gentile girl.
Dan "I am going to leap out that . . ."
BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES.
Bacon and eggs, M&M's, fruit snacks, vegetables, Mt.Dew (Ps. 133:3) Melted spoons/crock pots.
LIGHTNING!!
HE HAS DONE ALL THINGS WELL.

Baptism Sunday. "I kinda grew up in a Christian home but didn't understand until LDI last year. Now my mom's an intern." DJM.  Lots of food. Lots of cars. Lots of Hopesters.

SoulCare:  Jordan having 20+emotions. Erica has 4.  Erica and Marilyn talk.

Coming alongside a person
Ask questions that lead to the heart
Respond with God's wisdom
Enjoy the person

RESTORING HOPE
Cliches, Facts, Opinions,Feelings,Needs

Hermeneutics:  Trike- "This is fun cause I usually don't use a Bible anymore."
I know the plans I have for you . . .
Eph. 3:10. "So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places".

I end this month realizing the truths of 1Cor 7 where Paul talks about the unmarried as free to serve the Lord and not be anxious about serving worldly things (spouses etc). I realize how true this is as I watch the freedom that there is in this statement.

I look forward to September and the routines of each week in place.
I am SO IMPRESSED with each of you and count it a high privilege that I can walk with you.
Thank you Lord for this blessing.
Breathe your life into us!"

This is from the lovely Marilyn Mick.  A source of wisdom, joy, and encouragement in LDI Trek 1.

My Soul Cries Out

The past week.  Hmmm.  I feel like it can be summed in the title of this post (isn't that the point of a title?).

A week ago, we had Soul Care Training - we talked about how we can better care for broken people.  It was really helpful to talk out certain scenarios and see how the Gospel applies to all situations.  And it does.  Jesus really is the answer- if He's not, you're asking the wrong question.

After that seminar, I decided I want to spend a lot of my ministry time working with Restoring Hope.  Restoring Hope is a type of counseling service that Hope Community Service provides.  They counsel individuals on a non-permanent basis, usually up to 6 meetings.  They meet with people struggling with addiction, sexual sin, anxiety, depression, and many other struggles.  Now I will be mentoring 2 or 3 young women regularly (I'm sure you'll hear more about them soon!), but Restoring Hope offers a very unique opportunity to meet as a short-term mentor with someone.  I might meet with some people, but I would mostly function as someone who could hold someone accountable - checking in with them as often as needed during a specified amount of time determined by the counselors.  Anyway, I'm hoping to get more involved with that.  You'll be updated, of course :)

The day after Soul Care Training, we had a Hermeneutics seminar.  Hermeneutics refers to biblical interpretation, and this particular seminar was taught by our senior pastor, Steve.  It was a day long, and it was rich with information.  We talked about different Bible study methods and how there are good ways to interpret the Bible and bad ways to do so.  I feel far more prepared for my upcoming classes.

Wednesday night, I got to help out with the end of summer Youth picnic, and Thursday we had the Women of Hope Vision Night.  Both were a lot of fun and made me even more excited for what's coming!

By Thursday night, though, I was longing for Thursday and Friday.  Since August 7 or so, I feel like I haven't had a legitimate day off.  Normally, Friday and Saturday are our days off, but this month, things kept coming up.  But as the week progressed, Friday and Saturday stayed open.  I was able to rest both days - actually rest.  I pushed "work" (I hate calling LDI work - it's laboring for the Kingdom) out of my mind for the most part and spent time with good friends.  I also finished unpacking, which I'd put off for far too long.  I even built a bookshelf with some old dresser drawers (with the help of my friend Mike!) (pictures to come!).

Sunday was game day once again - the service at Hope was spectacular, and many new people were there as well as many college students who have returned to Minneapolis from the summer.

I was blessed with another day off for Labor Day as well, though this day was much less restful.  Everything that needed to be done kept creeping into my mind.  And while I had days of rest Friday and Saturday, I didn't take advantage of them to spend ample time along with the Lord.  I'm feeling that today.  But I'm hoping that will be remedied soon (as in tonight).

It's difficult, however.  For many of my classes, beginning with Mark Study, we're in the Word so much that when I pick up my Bible to spend time with the Lord, I just don't feel motivated to do it.  My brain needs rest from reading.  Because of that, I've been able to spend so much more time talking with God, which was something I've never been great at.  But my soul thirsts for Him, so if I can't meet Him in His Word, it's going to find another way.  I'm pleased with this, but it's been a slow transition.

"Sometimes the heart rejoices; sometimes the soul cries out."

Love.

Mark Study: Part 2

Oops, it's been longer than I wanted it to be between posts.  I've been busy (not a valid excuse).

The past week, we've had Mark Study every day.  I believe I explained what Mark Study is in my previous post.  So if this is a foreign concept to you, please reference that post :)

The week of Mark Study was amazing!  And exhausting.  And overwhelming.  And awe-inspiring.  And unable to be described in just one word obviously.  I'll try to tell you about it.

Mark Study

It's hard for me to decide what exactly to say here.  Do I talk about what I specifically learned?  Do I explain how we interpreted difficult passages?  Do I give you a timeline of what we talked about when?  None of these will give you an accurate picture of Mark Study.  Nor would the 3 combined give you an accurate picture.

I guess if I had to choose, I would pick the biggest application point that I took from Mark Study.  After looking at 8 chapters of Mark, seeing what Jesus did, said, and didn't do (we have so many misconceptions, even as Christians!), my teacher, Shannon, asked: "How are you going to respond?"  How am I going to respond after getting just a small glimpse of Jesus?

With awe.
With wonder.
With obedience.
With love.

I've known Jesus for a long time.  But sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in what I'm doing for Jesus as opposed to being with Jesus.  And that's just silly.

So this week, especially before classes start next week, I'm going to be spending a lot of time with Jesus.  Because I want to.

Love.

Mark Study: Part 1

I know I said I'd post often, and I promise I'll try.  I know I said I'd keep these fairly short, and I promise I'll try.  But dang, these past 5 days have been packed which leaves me no time to write and long posts.  Ugh, my life.  (Just kidding, I'm loving this.)

What have been up to that makes me so busy, you ask?

Monday: we had staff hang-out for women at Naty's house.  (Naty is a staff woman at Hope.)  It was great to get to know the women that I'll be working with this year better.

Tuesday: I was just at Hope, both replying to emails and being available to do whatever task needed to be done.

Wednesday: Staff Meeting!  It was great to finally hear from the different staff how I can help them this coming year as an intern.  Hope has many different ministries so there are a lot of different ways for me to serve.  I plan on trying our some different things - more on that later :)

Thursday and Friday: Mark Study!  That's what the rest of this post shall be about!

What is Mark Study?  It's a class that is done retreat-style.  We're at Hope all day with food, drinks, and our Bibles, going through the book of Mark.  This Thursday and Friday were half-days: 8:30-12:30.  Next week will be full days.  We basically just go line by line over the book of Mark inside a few parameters:

- you can cross-reference anything in the Old Testament.
- you can use Bible encyclopedias or dictionaries.
- you can't reference the New Testament.  At all (except what the text in Mark explicitly says).
- we spend the majority of time making observations from the text.  Don't interpret what it means until the end.

This all sounds easy, right?  IT'S NOT.  We constantly want to jump to conclusions and think about what the text means.  But can we do that properly if we're missing the majority of what the text actually says?  Not really.  It's been great to just go slow, get a feel for how the original readers took certain things when they read Mark, see how Mark's narrative connects to so much in the Old Testament.  My mind has been blown away.

Here are just a few things that have hit me thus far:
- the parallels between John the Baptist and Elijah are far more extensive than I originally thought.
- the scene where Jesus is baptized is so much more than just a baptism.  It is God the Father announcing Jesus as King.
- Mark's way of wording things was proclaiming to his readers that Christ is God and the promised Messiah.

There'll be more to come after a few more days of class!

Love.

It's Finally Begun!

It's finally here! I started my internship with the Leadership Development Institute at Hope Community Church on August 1. Want to hear about it in detail? This is the place to do so :) I'll still be sending out monthly updates, but I want to keep those to only 1 page. Also, I want those to be more of a place where I talk about what I'm doing: events, mentorship, etc. My plan for this blog is to talk about what I'm learning and to give you more details about events that don't fit in one page. So, as Marcel the Shell with Shoes On would say (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta9K22D0o5Q&feature=relmfu): "Read on!"

 August 1 saw the official start of LDI. We had 7 hours of orientation: learning the ins and outs of the building, filling out forms, being told how to use the printer, and stuff like that. It was very informative but slightly overwhelming. But I'll pick stuff up as I go, I'm sure.

While at Orientation, Pastor Cor, the Senior Associate Pastor at Hope, went through Acts 4:1-22 with us. I've read this passage, but we dove deeper than I ever had before. This year is going to be one of the hardest of my life. I'm going to be challenged and stretched and pushed. God is going to grow me in ways I've never grown before. I'm going to succeed, and I'm going to fail. But like Peter and John in the Acts passage, none of this is going to be possible without the Lord. I can do none of what LDI will have me do without the Holy Spirit. And because of this, all of the glory goes to Him. But more on that later.

After Orientation, I went home for a few days. It was great to be with my family, though the time was far too short. I returned to Minneapolis on Sunday, August 5 for my first Sunday as an intern. Bright and early, I arrived at Hope to put the inserts in the worship folders. At first, I was concerned that I wouldn't enjoy these small tasks. I'm excited for the classes I will be taking, but when I decided to intern, I wasn't excited about the smaller, service-oriented tasks, if I'm being completely honest. It's not that I don't want to do those things; I do. They just don't excite me like classes do.

However, God's surprised me. Thus far (I'm only two Sundays in), I'm loving this part of the internship! Working behind the scenes to make it easier for people to hear the Gospel is far more fulfilling than I thought it would be! But let me tell you, a servant's heart isn't a natural thing for me, so God sure is doing something. Be praying that He continues.



The LDI Retreat was August 6-8. All of the first year interns (there are 9 of us) and 3 of Hope's staff (Laura, Rob, and Cor - you'll probably be reading a lot about them this year) spent 3 days at a cabin in western Minnesota. We spent time in the Word together, got to know each other better, and were able to relax on the lake. It was lovely, and I feel like I'm much more ready to start off this coming year after that.

Two particular things that we talked about really stuck with me. First, we talked about the importance of a Sabbath. For most people, this means not working on Sunday. However, a Sabbath is much more than that - and I might go as far as to say that a Sabbath isn't that at all.

We spent time in Hebrews 4:1-13 (and other passages) looking at what it means to actually take a rest. We are commanded to rest (Exodus 20:8-11), and God took a rest from His own work (Genesis 1:31-2:3). I've known for a long time that I'm really bad at actually resting; I always felt lazy when I was "resting", but that's because I had a wrong definition of what rest meant. Talking with Rob and others at the retreat, I was really challenged to find what is restful for me (reading, writing, going for a walk, spending time with God) and make intentional time to do it. If I'm going to grow this year, I'm going to need rest. I'll get burnt out quickly if I go 100 miles per hour all the time. College taught me that well :)

The second big thing that I'm taking away from the retreat is that I need to make time to spend with God. I think I've been decent at this throughout my life, but it will be difficult to do that this coming year. I'll be studying the Bible for class a lot and doing ministry most of the time, and I don't want to fall into the trap of doing for God as opposed to being with God. I'm so glad that they addressed this at the beginning of the year. I was already concerned about what worship on Sundays would look like for me: it's my job to be at all 3 services at Hope, to greet people, to make sure what needs to get done gets done. But it is more important to find time to worship the Lord and catch the sermon. We were very encouraged to do so and to take our days off (Friday and Saturday) as time with God.

I learned so much more the 3 days of the Retreat, but this post is already getting long, so maybe I'll share a different time. Getting to know my fellow interns more intimately was such a huge blessing. I can't wait to see the friendships that grow from this year.

I plan on posting what God's teaching me regularly (hopefully a couple times per week)! So be prepared for God to rock my world :)

Love.