Well, i made it through the spring semester! structures and geotech are out of the way forever. it is hard to believe that i only have 6 classes left to take at auburn. so far this summer is looking great. i should be able to give all my focus to my senior design project. another thing i am looking forward to is meredith being in auburn this summer. i can’t wait to have lunch dates with her this summer!
over the break i have had the chance to just relax, hang out, think and study. i was afraid that these two weeks between classes were going to drag by but i have stayed productive and busy, ie. helping friends move, going on road trips, reading some books and going to see movies. so far here are my movie ratings… Wolverine (B+), Star Trek (A), Angels and Demons(B+). i have been able to spend some time relaxing by going to the beach and to the lake and the pool. i love the fact that i haven’t been sunburned yet. finally, i got to see coldplay sunday night. by far, the best concert i have ever been to. it was cold and rainy and coldplay came out in the rain with us and played. love it. well worth the trip up to atlanta.
my favorite part about the break has been seeing and reflecting on where i have been and what God is doing all around me. WOW. that is the only way to describe it. as i see my friends preparing for hong kong, i am constantly encouraged and excited to see how great their opportunity is. the conversations i have had and observations that i have made, i can tell God is moving thru missions more than i have ever seen or been aware of. WOW. one of the coolest things about the experience is that it is not just them that are being molded, shaped and changed. I AM TOO! it has totally changed my way of thinking and perceiving the missions field. God has been preparing me to support them… prayerfully, financially, emotionally, etc. WOW. all of these situations and conversations have been backed up my what i have been studying and reading. and that leads me to the topic of the post – love.
so love… i am reading and devouring every word of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. chan takes things i know and things i am familiar with and applies them to practical things or gives examples of this is what you think you need but this is what God intended or how to get the most of something. the thing that he talks about that was gotten me is the idea is Christ enough for you? this will radically change you if you think about it and start to examine every area of your life. Chan says ” Many of us believe we have as much of God as we need right now, a reasonable portion of God among all the other things in our lifes… God is not someone who can be tacked on to our lives.” WOW. am i willing to say, “God you can have whatever you want?” or do i believe and rely on him for everything every day. i can see this question in my friends going to hong kong. they are leaving their homes to go to a foreign country with just a few possessions. they are having to rely on God to provide financing for them to be able to go. they have to rely on God to use them. they have to rely on God for everything. can you imagine if christians everywhere grasped onto this idea? WOW.
Chan quotes John Piper talking about is Christ enough… “The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and not human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?” WOW. i bet you were thinking that this place is pretty great… i know i was. real gut check there.
Chan ends the chapter with this prayer…
“Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with you on my own. I can’t do it, and I need you. I need you deeply and desperately. I believe you are worth it, that you are better than anything else i could have in this life or the next. I want you. And when i don’t, i want to want you. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have your way with me.”
WOW.
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