The Way Home

The thin veil of dense mist filled the canyon.  The street lights created small, warm glows in the midst of a dreary landscape.

It is so very cold outside.

The cold cuts to the bone and steals the breath from your chest.  No matter how many layers you wear, the cold still finds somewhere to penetrate through, creeping in like an unwanted guest.

But the fog is beautiful.

It is eerie and reminds one of Anne Radcliffe's Gothic landscapes.  However, eerie does not always mean scary.

Eerie can simply mean atmospheric.

The atmosphere and mood created by the fog reminds me of life's complexities.  Sometimes, we are walking blind.  

But we have hope and belief that these warm pockets of light will lead us home...

Continuum

Continuum: Faith Connected is the name of the non-profit organization I am planning on establishing in the future.  Here are some details of the organization so far.   The area of non profit work in the world has exploded exponentially over the past few decades. There are now literally hundreds of thousands-maybe even millions-of organizations working to help the oppressed and save the needy from poverty.

Mission

1. This organization will seek to help those in need regardless of race, heritage, ethnicity, language, or religion. 2. This organization will focus its main efforts on those most desperately in need. It is impossible to categorize "levels" of pain and suffering. 3. As stated in the above point, categorization of pain and suffering is impossible. Therefore, this organization will strive to do its utmost to prioritize every need on a micromanagement basis. 4. This organization will hire the best and brightest in individual's various fields of study and/or interest. In order to do this, the first priority is to establish a team of individuals with a heart for administrative work and networking. 5. This organization will always remember that the end NEVER justifies the means. The means is the journey we take to get end justifiable causes.

Room

A room. Empty…except for a handful of boxes.

It’s dark…but looking closer you find frames

On the walls.

Old memories…smiling faces. Reminders of

A life that was.

She walks in. The pictures seem to light up.

She smiles as she thinks of those times…long ago.

In her hand,

She holds a watch. It’s old…attached to a gold

Chain…but still ticks faithfully.

Her heart is confused. Sorrow…joy…regret…

It’s been many years since she visited this place.

Her face is…

Uncertain. She loves this room…but it’s no longer

…home.

She closes the door and puts a key in the lock.

She doesn’t know if she should lock it…she may want

To come back.

But she’s certain that this room is her past.

It’s time to move forward.

She locks the door.

Home

She walks on the pavement,

A smile on her face.

But her eyes are averted--

She's homeless . . .

She sees on the walkway

A friend hug another.

But her heart is unmoved--

She's lonely . . .

She's sees in the woods

A couple in a moment

But her eyes they role up--

She's longing . . .

She feels in her soul

A longing to live.

But she can't grasp His hand--

She's desperate . . .

She opens her heart

And her soul starts to sing . . .

She opens her mind

And her thoughts start to soar

She opens her will . . .

And His love fills her up . . .

She's home.

Afghanistan

This picture breaks my heart. This woman's name is Aisha. She is the face for the woman who suffer in Afghanistan.

What we cannot see in this picture is that her ears have also been cut off.

You can see in this image, Aisha is beautiful. Her eyes are piercing. You can see into her soul. You see she has been hurt, abused, and treated as less than a beautiful, precious princess of the King.

But the longer I look at this picture, the more upset I become at the men who did this to her. I find myself wanting to beat the crap out of the man who looked at her thinking, "You are not worthy of being treated as human. You belong to me."

What can I, a poor college student far away from Afghanistan, do to help this woman and others like her? How can I show the love of Jesus to a woman I have never met?

One thing I know, I will be praying for Aisha. She is flying to America for reconstructive surgery. I pray someone will show her the love of Jesus. I pray that she will understand she is beautiful. I pray she will find peace, happiness, and redemption.

The following is a link to part of Aisha's story in Time Magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007238,00.html

Life

So I've been in Singapore for over a month now. Things are becoming familiar and falling into place. But not completely.

Here's the thing about life: I don't think we were meant to be comfortable in life. Maybe that was the original plan but we messed that up in the Garden.

I'm not saying that life should be a string of uncomfortable and frustrating events. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." But if we're really laying down our cross, our pride, and our hearts to follow Christ, should we be comfortable? I don't think there's anything easy about giving parts of yourself up.

But here's the beautiful thing: we don't do it alone. We've got Christ...and Christ in us is invincible (thank you Travis for such an awesome reminder).

We also have friends. Thank You God for friends! Abby Moore, Kasi Svoboda, Travis Cochrum, Amy Cochrum, Tandiwhe Kongela, Joyce Roth, Dana Gallup, Amy Wery, Jere Witherspoon, Anna Nieboer, Andrea Lawrence, and Megan Borjesson...you guys make my life so much fun! I love you all so much. I thank our God that He is a God of community. No matter where you are and what you're doing, know that I am praying for you.

So...there's a song that says, "Life is beautiful, but it's complicated." Yeah, I think that's true. But...I think life should be simpler. Live like you believe what you say you believe. Love like Jesus has loved.

And enjoy it. Embrace the ups, downs, and everything in between.

Goodbye

Goodbye-oh how I hate you!
Your cruel intentions
Do not care
That my heart is on the ground.

Goodbye-oh how I hate you!
You do not seem
To see this-
We all suffer from grief.

Goodbye how I despise you!

Hoping you do not come around again soon...

What a false hope

Women in the Middle East

I have been reading this beautiful book called Reading Lolita in Tehran. It was written by a women who was a professor at an Iranian college before, during, and after the revolution. She tells the story of herself through the eyes of classic authors using her secret class of girls to paint a beautifully haunting picture of life in Iran.

Sometime my senior year of high school, God put the women of the Middle East on my heart. I wrote about the oppression of women in Afghanistan for my senior thesis and absolutely loved it. I put myself into that paper because I wanted to try and understand-if only in a small way-the way these women suffer.

And now...as I think about my future, I wonder if the Middle East is calling my name. Israel, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are currently on the top of my travel list. I would so love to spend my days loving on women who have spent their whole lives hurting.

Could this be what God wants me to do as well?

Singapore: ICS Graduation and Hanging Out

Sunset

Andrea Lawrence and Jana Tan: Friends for life

ICS Alumni: Class of 2008

Sofia and I. Known each other for...at least 10 years. Love you!

Tim *aka my little brother* and I at graduation

**A few images of the happenings over the past few days**

Oswald Chambers

What man is he that feareth the Lord? Psalm 25:12

What are you haunted by? You will say-By nothing, but we are all haunted by something, generally by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our experience. The Psalmist says we are to be haunted by God. The abiding consciousness of the life is to be God, not thinking about Him. The whole of our life inside and out is to be absolutely haunted by the presence of God. A child's consciousness is so mother-haunted that although the child is not consciously thinking of its mother, yet when calamity arises, the relationship that abides is that of the mother. So we are to live and move and have our being in God, to look at everything in relation to God, because the abiding consciousness of God pushes itself to the front all the time.

If we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties. We see now why Our Lord so emphasized the sin of worry. How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us? To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy.

"His soul shall dwell at ease." In tribulation, misunderstanding, slander, in the midst of all these things, if our life is hid with Christ in God, He will keep us at ease. We rob ourselves of marvelous revelation of this abiding companionship of God. "God is our Refuge"-nothing can come through that shelter.
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I love and hate Oswald Chambers. Love him because he's so good and so straight with important issues of our faith. Hate him because he is so matter of fact with his statements he makes me feel like a bad Christian sometimes.

The thing that I get from this is peace. Our God is I AM. My worries about...homework, love, packing, or anything should not trouble me. It's not bad that we have these thoughts...what is bad is to let them consume you.

I pray that I will understand this more. I pray that My refuge will continue to pour His grace into my broken heart.