Happy Thanksgiving

Today has been a weird, emotional, introspective day for me so far, so I thought that I would blog about it! That sentence sort of sounds like I am depressed, but really I couldn’t be more the opposite right now. Allow me to try to explain myself.

This morning started out like many other mornings (except for the part where I didn’t get out of bed until 10!). I turned on my kindle (thank you Joyce) to read what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to say for the day. Today was astounding. Here it is:

“When God casts the spell of His love, it binds us not only to Him, but also to His passion for our world… If God’s Word simply adds a bit of information to our knowledge, and if God’s love simply adds a bit more warmth and security to our lives, then we are hardly likely to make great changes and commitments in their wake. But where God’s Word challenges us to the very core of our being and God’s love radically transforms us, then great commitments and sacrifices can be expected. God does not charm us with His grace and love so that we will remain mesmerized by His presence, but so that we will serve Him freely and boldly in our world.”

Today as I reflected upon this I became very thankful. I am thankful that God has mesmerized me by his transforming love. I am also very thankful that I have a family at home that loves me so much as to accept that the repercussions of this transforming love is to be obedient and sometimes that means be TOO far away. So, as Thanksgiving Day is here I miss my family and friends deeply. However, in missing them I realize that the reason that I am not with them is far greater than my momentary discomfort, that His Name might be known among the nations.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hungry for God's Power

Hello All. It has been a great last week here in Amman. We had a women's breakfast at our center that turned out wonderful. The women that came enjoyed a wonderful meal and then heard some truth in Arabic from the pastor's wife at our church.

When the event was drawing to an end I asked one of my friends what the message was about. She told me that the lady spoke about a watch. It was a special watch and it stopped working. The person took it to many places to try and get it fixed and no one could figure out the problem. Finally the person took the watch to the man who made the watch. He was able to fix it quickly. He said that he knew what was wrong because he had made it. Then she continued to relay the message that our creator created us uniquely and we should go to him in all situations. I am not sure if that was actually what was said, but I thought it was a beautiful picture! We are having lunch together tomorrow and I am very excited to hang out with her.

After seeing the reactions that the women had to the message, and their pure joy in being invited to such an event, my heart is becoming desperate to see God work powerfully in their lives. :)

Today I spent time with another friend. We were doing some reading and she was prompted to tell me about her childhood. She is from Africa and grew up in an orphanage. In her country education is a huge privilege that not many have. She told me about many cases where people would just hold the bible in hopes of understanding, and in many cases they were able to read and understand the message. She has experience God in a way that is hard for me to imagine. Today I was encouraged in the miraculous.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a girl who was teaching english in a foreign country. She was on her way to class, but needed to run back up to the office for a second. She decided to take the elevator so that she could have a few last sips on her coffee during the trip. As soon as the elevator started to rise it suddenly got stuck. Yup. It sure did. Welcome to my morning! :) Today I am thanking the Lord for my cell phone! :)