Spring is Just around the Corner
What's been happening Hello insanely amazing support team! Wow the past month has been amazing! So many changes are happening! I am so grateful and excited to be in the midst of some amazing work that God is doing! Recently I have finished the official period of language learning and cultural acquisition! I still feel as though I am not fully ready but it is possible that I’ll never really feel that way! I continue to practice and learn more Hungarian daily and I feel deeply convicted that it is a necessary way to continue to pursue ministry here!... Read more
The Bit about Betrayal
I know a little bit about betrayal. Almost two years ago, I found myself in an airport crying alone because I had been betrayed. The specifics aren't important, but basically, my best friend had lied and hurt me deeply. I looked at my hands and wondered how I could hold so much hurt when I was so weak. The truth is, I couldn't. I couldn’t handle being betrayed, so I held onto the words of a choir song derived from Psalms 139: "If I should descend into the abyss or ride on a blade of light and escape to the heavens you are with me." I was not alone because God was there, and I knew that I was... Read more
Letter to a Future Goer
Dear Future Goer: I want to share my story as being a wildcard member of the missions community, if there are people that don’t feel like they directly fit into the missions’ field in some way, shape, or form. I’m sharing you my story of change, grace, and maturity. It’s also important for me to share that this is also a story of struggle and watching God in just how mysterious His ways are, There are many times that what God does or doesn’t do cannot be justified, and when God does bring favor in how much joy it does bring. This is the wisdom gained through how God sent me to Berlin,... Read more
Apples, Teaching, & Other Fruits
“We might not be called to vocational ministry, but we are all called everyday ministry.” What does this statement mean? I may not be a preacher or have a pulpit, but like every believer, I’m called to live out life like Jesus. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:31 For the past two months, I’ve learned what ministry is in a classroom, not a church service. No, not as a student studying theology but as a teacher. When I’m not fighting crime and support raising by night, I substitute teach Pre-K through 12th grade in two of the... Read more
The Story of Job: Pleading My Case
We have our moments. Moments where we feel like things aren't going right because they aren't going our way or the way we think they should go. When we go through times of suffering and adversity, we feel like we have been abandoned and sometimes hopeless. When we get to this point, we feel like we have the right to plead our case to God. This is where Job was. This is where I am. Now I am not saying that I am currently going through a time of suffering, but how I relate to Job is what you will understand in just a moment. As I am going through the story of Job, I have been stuck on Chapter 9... Read more
Liminal Living
The word liminal, in its most simplistic form, means “in-between” or “transitional.” In anthropology, the word is traditionally used to describe the temporary stage of transition during a rite of passage in which a person no longer holds their previous status but has not yet obtained their new status. This liminal phase is often described by anthropologists as ambiguous and even disorienting because the person in transition lives in what we colloquially call “limbo” – that uncomfortable gray area in the middle of a previous ending and a new beginning. Liminal living is a perfect description... Read more
What is my identity?
"My identity is in Christ..." "My identity is in Christ..." "My identity is in Christ..." I have to keep telling myself this whenever I don't think it is Is it possible for a 22 years old to go through an identity crisis? I heard of a mid-life crisis, but I am not at that point in my life. I want to answer by saying no, but in some cases it can happen...right? I feel like I am losing myself. I only been on this earth for 22 years, but it seems like forever. I am constantly reminded of the things I should be doing or need to do because that is how the world goes. Is there a secret code that... Read moreLes Ténèbres
Lately, I’ve been able to do a French Bible study with someone who speaks French, and it has allowed me to study scripture in a new way. We’ve begun working slowly through the book of John, and even though I know the passage very well in English, reading it in French is like reading the text for the first time. Going slowly is especially important not only because of my own gaps in knowledge, but because French words carry different meanings than English. I am forced to really consider what the words are saying rather than skimming what I already know or what I think I know. Recently, I’ve... Read more