One Tee. One week. One Cause.

I love when I find a business that manages to support ministries in a creative way so I have to share my latest find (well, someone showed it to me so i'm really just passing it along..) It's called Sevenly and they sell t-shirts to support different ministries/causes around the world. Each shirt is uniquely designed by the Sevenly team and for every shirt sold the ministry it represents gets $7. It's an easy way for ministries to raise money and awareness for their cause. Each shirt is only available to order for one week which means you have to move quick and check back every week for the new ministry and design.

Enough from me, just check it out!

1 Corinthians 1:25

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Poland

It has taken me a few weeks to readjust to being home and to process my summer. In the month of July I was only in my house for 7 nights and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every minute of being away!

This summer was packed with lots of adventures; two youth summer camps and two trips to different continents, Nicaragua and Poland. I came home at the end of July exhausted yet revitalized and more torn than ever on where I’m supposed to be.

Poland was an incredible opportunity to serve in a way that I’m not used to. Every mission trip I’ve been on has been centered on serving some of the poorest people in the world and I almost went to Poland with an arrogance because I didn’t think it was going to “get me” like my other trips have. Of course, God proved me wrong and humbled me right away. While Poland may not be as financially poor as I’m used to seeing Poland is extremely spiritually poor. The population of Poland is 40,000,000 and it’s estimated that only 0.01% of the population are evangelical Christians. There are currently 39 evangelical churches in the entire country. These figures are still staggering to me and impacted me greatly as I ministered to the people in Poland.

Proem Ministries was a pleasure to work with as they are making great progress in the country in terms of raising young Christians to be a light to the country. Our team had the privilege of helping run a basketball camp that focused on teaching youth adults (ages 12-early 30’s) about Jesus. Every morning and evening we had a worship session, very similar to ones we put on at Roll Hill, and during the day we ran basketball drills and games. We also had the joy of seeing 54 young adults accept Christ for the first time, which is an incredible number when you think of the overall number of Christians in the country! Please join me in praying for their walk with Christ as there is not a lot of support outside of Proem Ministries and their sister church, Tomy Church.

I went to Poland excited to serve in another country and to get a better understanding of one of the trips Roll Hill offers every year and I came home longing to go back. I am confident that while the last ten months have brought about a lot of unexpected transitions, God is placing some really cool ministry opportunities in my path that might not have been possible without those changes. I am looking forward to continuing this journey of discovering where God wants me to serve.

I am extremely grateful for your support, prayers, encouragement and friendship. I ask that you please continue to pray for me and the different ministry opportunities God continues to reveal to me.

Challenges

"Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you." 1 Peter 4:12

Okay, so we know trials (challenges) are going to come our way and even though God's word says we should not be surprised by them we still manage to be shocked when they do, myself included. Recently I've been caught off guard by challenges that have been placed in my path but instead of crawling in a hole (like I've often felt like doing) I've decided to take this opportunity to work on myself, try new things, expand my comfort zone, and push myself. So far (among some other things) I've gotten two new tattoos, a new ear piercing, made new friends and smoked a cigar. However, the things on my calendar for the weeks to come are even more exciting. In a couple weeks I'm going skydiving, in October I'm running a half marathon in San Francisco (hills galore!), a full marathon in December and at the end of next month I plan to go to Nicaragua with my roommates.

We've been given an opportunity to work with the International Women's Coffee Association (IWCA) through my roommates families coffee company. The IWCA works to "empower women in the international coffee community to achieve meaningful and sustainable lives; and to encourage and recognize the participation of women in all aspects of the coffee industry". We know that trials are going to come our way yet for many women around the world life is a constant trial because of the circumstances they live in. I'm excited for the opportunity to go work with some women that are striving to improve their circumstances in order to raise healthy families.

The challenges I've been faced with have given me an opportunity to take more time to travel and work with people in other countries that have challenges of their own.

More to come on my adventures...

Mexico Changes People

I love mission trips. I love them because the people who serve come back changed and the people who are served are changed. I spent the last week in Mexico building 7 houses with 120 high school students and leaders. We built 7 houses in 3.5 days. On Thursday night, when the houses were complete I went to bed thinking about the families spending their first night in their brand new home-a home they waited years to receive, a home they couldn't build themselves, a home they couldn't pay for. It was an incredible feeling-it is every year.

Not only was this trip another life changing experience because of the work that was accomplished but for me this trip was another milestone in rediscovering myself. The trip went really smooth and at the end of the week I realized I can do this on my own. I can plan, organize and lead mission trips successfully and while I had a whole crew of leaders to make it work I was able to pull it off.

At a young age, I learned (from my beautifully strong mom) how to be an independent woman. I just recently realized how much my identity became wrapped up in my former husband. It's hard to tell when you're in it but once you're out of it you begin to see glimpses of how it really was. I'm an independent woman whose identity is in Christ Jesus and I can do this thing called life with Him and through His strength.

New Starts

It's been a while since I've been active in the blogging world and man oh man a lot has happened!
It's been six months since my husband of over three years told me he was resigning from his position at our church and also walking out on our marriage. The last six months have not been the easiest, to say the least, but I have learned so much about myself, forgiveness and the promises God offers. I am finally at a place where I can recognize the good in the divorce and am able to forgive him for the pain he caused and the promises he backed out on.

Forgiveness is not an easy or quick road to walk down but it is one that I feel benefits me more than it benefits him. Just yesterday I was able to send him an email explaining to him that I had forgiven him for the pain and chaos he threw into my life-it wasn't about releasing him from any consequences of his actions or validating his choices, it was about releasing myself from the burden of his decision and letting myself move on. I forgave him because Christ first forgave me. Did he deserve my forgiveness? Maybe not but then again I don't deserve the forgiveness Christ has given me either.

So, what is "and this happens" now about? It's about the adventures I take as a single woman rediscovering herself, her purpose in life and her purpose in Christ. It's about seeing the silver lining in what seemed like a very dark, thick cloud.

On to 2010...

or 2KX as some of my friends are calling it. It is interesting to hear all the variations, I wonder what will be most popular by the end of the year.

I ended 2009 with one of my most challenging accomplishments which was running a full marathon. I finished it in 4:30:36 and never walked! I had a great team of friends and family supporting me the whole way-through the training and during the actual run. It felt amazing to complete my challenge from CIY and to also raise $1100 for a well in Malawi, Africa. And, to answer your question-no, I have not run since! I have been working out but no running-my body needed a serious break after 4 months of training. However, I am registered for a half marathon in March so I need to get myself back on the road! My goal for 2010 is to run two half marathons and I have already registered for one and am close to registering for the second! I'm not sure I'll run another full one but I can sure do a half!

I am looking forward to 2010 because we have lots of exciting things to look forward to. As I'm sure you have done, I've set some goals for myself and can't wait to see how God works through me to accomplish them.

At the end of March we are planning on taking about 115 high school students and adult leaders to Mexico to build houses for the poor. We had to cancel this same trip last year due to the media hype but we are going full steam ahead this year! We are going with a new organization this year which not only focuses on building houses but also focuses on teaching communities about the love of Jesus Christ. I can't wait for this trip...when I was a senior in high school I went on this trip and it totally changed the course of my life.

Another thing that I am really excited for is a new adventure Matt and I have started with a couple of our friends. Every year we take high school students to a conference but there aren't really any great, affordable conferences for junior high students. This lead us to plan one on our own! It is a huge task but we are really looking forward to offering a high quality conference for junior high students in Northern California-so look forward to more information about Collision 2010!

I think that's all for now! I hope that you have a great 2010 and can't wait to see what 2KX has in store!