Wreckage

I have a problem.
I like my plans, even when I tell God he can wreck them.
I like to keep my fist semi-clenched around my plans.
I like to make justifications on how God can wreck my plans, as long as it's the part of my plan that I'm okay with being wrecked.

God is in control of my life and my plans, not me.
God has indeed granted my prayer of wrecking my summer plans to glorify Him, just not in the way that I asked Him to.

I posted this on here last week:
I'm not sure if you're supposed to necessarily pray for wrecked plans with how you'd really like God to wreck your plans, but if this is what God's going to wreck them for, well, BRING ON THE WRECKED PLANS LORD! (whatever they may be!)

Well, God answered those prayers. My summer plans have been wrecked. Instead of wrecking Argentina so I could have the missionary internship. God wrecked the Argentina Global Media program, the missionary internship that I could possibly do and my backup Costa Rica classes for Summer 1. All in all, it looks like I will be in the states this summer. (Or maybe I'll be in Brazil? Haha!)

This leads me to wonder what I'll be doing this summer...
all I know is that it will be for God's glory wherever I am, whatever I am doing.

I'm clinging to my lifeverse for this season because yet again it rings true for me: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

What's Been Bothering Me...

Something's been bothering me all week. Really, something's been bothering me since the first day that I stepped into my immigration class freshman year. What bothers me is the immigration issue in general and how God relates into it all because it seems very conflicting to me. I've been conflicted for ages and just when I forget, it seems to be brought up again. All the same old confusions and things that keep me up at night that I have known for so long are brought up, they mingle in my brain and yet still are not straightened out in a way that I feel like I can ever fathom what the correct response to immigration is, especially illegal immigration.

Don't be surprised if this isn't the last time you hear me bring up immigration. I know it's controversial, but I'm trying to figure everything out. These next three verses are ones that I perceive can see interlocking, yet seem to reject each other at the same time when they are perceived within the context of immigration.

Before letting you see the verses, because I know you can't just scroll down and see them, I want to say that I don't have the answers. There's so many shades of grey in my head over this that it is simply troublesome.

Please, read the next three verses pertaining with immigration in mind: policies, people, everything it entails, etc. and let me know what you think. How should we treat these people? Should we treat illegal and legal immigrants differently? Should we ship everyone back? Should we let them stay? Include anything you want to on the issue. Please do let me know what you're thinking though. Feel free to be anonymous if that makes you more comfortable.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. - Romans 13:1-6

" 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. - Leviticus 19:33-34

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'- Matthew 25:34-45

Comment away!

World Travellin'

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:21
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. - Romans 8:28

I feel kind of bad writing on here before calling home and giving the news in. I'll be calling my mom via cellular device once I push publish. Actually, it's close to midnight. I'll call first thing in the morning.

I found out that today I was accepted to the 5 week Global Media Argentina Program that I hoped on for this summer. This means, I'll spend part of my summer in Argentina for sure. Planned? Check. Everything ready to go? Not yet, but it will be.

Perfection, right? Mostly. I need to spend 10 weeks minimum abroad. This means that for the remainder of summer I'll have to be somewhere else. I've chosen a program in Costa Rica that's just classes and I'll be working with a missionary family down there in my free time and in the week before my program starts. I found out today while waiting in one of many offices on campus that it might not happen. No way around it. Over and out.

Right before that though, I'd gone to one of my advisor's offices and the forms I had couldn't be signed by her first which is actually how I ended up in the other office. I ended up hanging out in the office for a bit and in passing asked my advisor a question about if it was probable to be interning a missionary for credit. I ended up telling her a bit about the mission organization and the missionaries I'd be working with. Guess what? It doesn't matter if the program passes through the system. I'll have myself a missionary internship in Costa Rica.

I'm not sure if you're supposed to necessarily pray for wrecked plans with how you'd really like God to wreck your plans, but if this is what God's going to wreck them for, well, BRING ON THE WRECKED PLANS LORD! (whatever they may be!)

Legit.

What If I...

What if I?
Spread hope and courage, give more than I take, diffuse hatred through love and patience, begin to see others as God sees them, look for beauty all around and within me, reflect on what God has done and is doing, encourage creativity and innovation, practice silence every now and then, live for Jesus instead of me, and invite others in doing so?
-River Bend Youth Camp, July 2007

A picture of where the youth wrote this on a wall or bunk, etc. has been up on one of the tabs on my computer for weeks. I like it a lot.

Need Inspiration? Look No Further.

This posting of links that have impacted me in some way are chock full of the Compassion International bloggers trip to Kenya this past week or so. It's something that I could have easily skipped over and not thought about. I didn't and I hope you won't either.

You can't microwave spiritual formation. That line alone is something I think we all need to hear.

Kenyan for soccer ball. I absolutely loved the Third World Dictionary series from Shaun Groves.

Good Neighbors Don't Pray.

Music of the Masai.

A Father to the Fatherless.

Sight for the Blind.

The parable of the zebra.

Photoshoot on traveling, photography and fun? Yes!

Hobo Living Room. I like pranks. It's a problem.

Wishing the snakes would stop biting. Amen.

& Jeremiah told me to look this up earlier in the week. One of the blogs I follow posted to it as well saying that it was "Stupid Awesome". Agreed.

& Why not share two quotes that have been sitting in a window on my computer all week?

"Maybe the soul is a suitcase that holds the backup plan - a collection of keys and the patience we need to start again. Maybe it’s the thresholds that swallow us whole as we learn to let go, in spite of the dirt on our clothes." - Ryan O’Neal of Sleeping at Last

"If you have a beautiful story, it has to have conflict in it. It has to. We’ve lost touch with that. We are a conflict avoiding culture. One of the things I love about our source text as Christians, the Bible, is that it teaches us not to avoid conflict. It also teaches us that conflict existed before the fall of man, that in paradise there was conflict. It’s not wrong. God wants there to be conflict in your own life." - Donald Miller

My Undying Love... for breakfast.

What could be better than pancakes drenched with maple or blueberry syrup, fried eggs and toast buried under the sweetness of a freshly opened jar of blackberry jam, some pieces of bacon so crispy that you pick it up and it crumbles as you throw the pieces into your mouth and a glass of apple juice and a mug of coffee to top it all of? This is only one of the many meals that I would love to wake up to and have the time to fix every morning.

There's something so savory and relaxing about even the thought of a bowl of cheerios and a mug of coffee on the bistro table on my porch while I read the daily newspaper that I don't get at my house. If you have guessed that my college lifestyle doesn't have time for this kind of thing, you are right. In fact, this morning I grabbed two muffins I baked on Saturday night and carried around a cup of yerba mate as I got ready for my 8a.m. class.

I read a blog that is solely pictures of breakfast. The pictures of certain breakfasts the blogger creates cause my mouth to water with the sheer desire to be able to have that kind of time.

Breakfast, I love you.

Here's one of my bests "breakfasts" from this semester so far:

UNO, Not Just A Spanish Word

Back in my high school days, which really weren't that long ago. UNO year I decided to stop art classes and focus on journalism full time. I ended up taking a photography class that year instead. Later, I quit photography for several years because of school. UNO friend of mine really encouraged me to take it back up and here I am today! The first five pictures are really old and all from when I was in high school. The last UNO is a sample of the pre-wedding pictures I took this past weekend.

These are some of my first pictures that I can find. These are some friends from some of my UNO (first) journalism classes.

Teejay is UNO of my best friends. I tried capturing her birthday party here, but this photograph just doesn't seem unique or captivating.

Princess Party is UNO of the events that my sister Lori attends at our church. This is grainy and dark. It is also dark on the original, but the grainy factor comes with being scanned into a computer. Yay technology!

Juan is from Mexico, where the word UNO is used a lot. Here is in on a mission trip to Mexico, quenching his thirst for me to be a better photographer with his lemonade or just rehydrating himself.

Megan is extremely cute. I think that's all there is to it. She is UNO of the people that could be cute drinking from a pink waterbottle. Kudos.

This past weekend, my friend Brittany got married. This is her flower girl wearing Brittany's rings. It was UNO of the funniest things that happened that night.

Why am I saying UNO a lot? Well, I'm working (or rather not working) on a Spanish presentation. That's not the reason though. It's a challenge by Lauren Clark to win a free Brainwash session with her, which I would LOVE. unobylaurenclark.com is where you can go to find more information and laurenclarkphotography.com is where you can go to view her breathtaking photography. She is UNO of my favorite photographers!

Controversy

I hate controversy. Scratch that, I might like controversy a bit more than I wish I did. Sometimes though, I wish everything was just laid out for us in black and white. The world is not set up in that way though as there is a myriad of grey spectrums. However, wouldn't life be boring without those greys?

I just started reading a new, blogosphere renowned blogger this past week and what a week to start reading! Ragamuffin Soul this week dived into an area that most people wouldn't even want to be a bystander in: Homosexuality and the Church. He has addressed this over two days and I encourage you to read them starting with If A Fat Man Can Lead Church, then heading on If A Fat Man Can Lead Church - Ragamuffin Soul's Reply to and ending with his Welcome to Gay and Lesbian Church Leadership Week.

I'm not going to address my opinion's on this issue, if you want to discuss, there's hundreds of comments on Ragamuffin Soul's page for you to pore through. I will say that I fully agree with the following quotation I have painstakingly taken from the video on that last blog though:

"I'm going to sprint towards the things that everyone else in my faith is sprinting from because that's what Christ would have done. ... Dave Gibbons in his book, The Monkey and the Fish, puts it so beautifully in referring to Mark chapter 12 when Jesus was talking about the 2 greatest commandments 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Dave Gibbons said that the literal, cultural understanding during Jesus' day when he said to love your neighbor as yourself meant to find the person most unlike yourself and relentlessly pursue them in Christ's love. How are we doing that today? In our life? In our faith? In our church? How are we relentlessly pursuing the people most unlike ourselves in Christ's love?" - Andrew Marin

Bunnies can be quite terrifying.

I was upset earlier because my best friend, Laura, had to leave me on the phone to actually go do some work. I guess that's valid, she had called me from her job. It made me rather sad though because I was mid-story and I haven't been able to talk to her in awhile.

Then, I got an unexpected phone call from a junior high girl named Ashlee whom I love to death from back home. We proceeded to catch up on the week. She'll be coming to visit me next week! :)

This girl cracks me up! I was chowing down on some Julio's chips while I was on the phone with her and the crunch was cracking her up, which in turn cracked me up. I love how the simplest of things can make someone smile and laugh. It's such a gift from the Lord.

She told me a story of how she got scared of a bunny. This bunny chased her because she was wearing an orange hoodie. Beware of wearing orange hoodies around bunnies. They're quite ferocious and may mistake you for a carrot. I just want you to sit back and picture that in your mind right now. Just picture it. Now, picture a person dressed up in a huge carrot running down the streets with ferocious little bunnies chasing after him. This picture makes me crack up.

She just was sitting on a swing telling me that she "wishes that I could see her now as she sits in a swing with her feet up because a bunny might come and attack."

She just told me she saw a bulldog. She is not scared, however, bunnies are terrifying.

I love this girl and the fact that she can crack me up like no other.

This was written by me and was approved by Ashlee.

P.S. We decided that I really like food.

Daring

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." -Cecil Beaton