Ladies Retreat

Wow, last weekend was awesome! I went to the valley Bible Church women's retreat and boy did I get fed! (Spiritually and physically, the best of both worlds) Friday night we had fellowship and we played Taboo. On Saturday I got to hear from several very wise and faithful women, it was touching and convicting. We were focusing on the gospel centered life and I was reminded that being a Christian isn't about moving on from the gospel after receiving it but instead God wants me to ground myself daily in what He did for me on the cross, making it possible for me to have new life in Him. Thank you to everyone who helped make that great weekend possible!

On another note, the Lord has really been teaching me to cling to Him (Joshua 23:8 "But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.) I need to depend on Him for everything, my paycheck was very small this last month because the school district will not put half of my hours that I worked until next month so money is tight, but I know the Lord will take care of us on way or another. When I realize Christ is all I need and material things are nothing to worry about, then I can truly worship Him and find comfort. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Matthew 6:27-29

School is now in session

So Justin and I had a nice and reasonably relaxing summer and we thought that it would continue until late August. Then we found out last Sunday that classes would continue starting September 2!! Ahhhhhhh! Luckily Tacoma Bible College let us register late and we started classes last Tuesday. It was a bit of a shock to us but it's kind of nice being back in school and all of the classes we are taking we are very interested in. We are taking four classes per week so we will be very busy and we hope to see the light of day some time in November. There is some good news, I got my job back at Pioneer Elementary so I get to continue helping children learn how to read. Yay! It's funny because I applied to about 25 jobs this summer and heard nothing but I ended up back where I started. God had it in His plan all along but I needed to be faithful and persevere through the summer of uncertainty. He wants me to believe and say to others, with or without a job, God is good! "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." Philippians 4:4-5.

"Czesc" Poland, here we come!

"Czesc"(cheshch) means "hi" in Polish. So Justin and I had dinner at Ryan and Amy's house with Doug and Lila Growth Monday night, it was wonderful. We had the opportunity to talk with Doug and Lila (missionaries in Poland) about what we would be doing on the short-term mission trip with them. As it turns out we would mainly be helping them hand out Christian literature to the general public going door-to-door in Krakow, a major city in Poland. They said we will have other things to do there and we'll see what that is as we get closer to the date. According to Doug, Poles have an easier time accepting things like Christian books from Americans as opposed to there own people. We are so excited to see what the Lord will do when we get to Poland but for now please pray:

1. That the Lord will prepare their hearts receive Him.

2. That we depend on God to properly prepare us for going to Poland.

3. For the quantitative and qualitative growth of the ministry that the Growth's have there.

4. For the funding to come in for the trip.

Our trip is set for March 19th and we will be there for two weeks.

Being satisfied in God is our calling and duty

I just finished a great but challenging book called The Dangerous Duty of Delight by John Piper. My pastor, Ryan gave everyone in our flock group a different book to read over the summer and at first I was sceptical, I am not much of a reader, I usually keep it simple and just read my Bible. Luckily the book was smaller than everyone else's so I figured I could deal. I soon discovered that I shouldn't judge a book by it's page numbers because wow! It was not a light read, every page was packed with a truth I never quite realized before. "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." To pursue pure joy in God is what He desires for us in this life and the one to come. I know I can get so wrapped up in just doing my "duty" for the Lord and I forget that it is wrong for me to not be getting joy out of it. " I delight to do your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8. Your mind and your emotions are to be fully engaged in the joy of God in every aspect of life; money, marriage, work, worship, everything! Romans 12:8 says "show mercy with cheerfulness"."He created you so that you might spend eternity glorifying Him by enjoying Him forever." (Piper) If we are not enjoying Him, we need to ask the Lord to check our heart. Not that you won't go through times where affections are absent but if there are only decisions in your life and no affection then it could be that your heart is far from Him. The Lord used this book in my life to convict me of my lack of delighting in Him daily and to show me emotions are good as long as you don't replace the true God and His true Word with just feeling. I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the even more in depth version of this read called, Desiring God.

My life as of now

Currently I am between jobs and I am waiting to see what the Lord has in store for my work life. I was a Para-Educator at Pioneer Elementary and I am looking for a barista job. I love working most with children, it is so fulfilling and a great opportunity to show kids that may normally not see love at home, Christ's love. My second love is making coffee, it is exciting to know the in's and out's specialty coffee and it is a job based on good relationships with people and the love of coffee! I will be continuing school this fall at Tacoma Bible College and in a way I can't wait to start but another part of me dreads all the time and hard work that will go into it. My gracious Heavenly Father keeps reminding me, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." Colossians 3:23.

New Blog!

My dear friends Jenaya and Rachel made a blog for me and it was really....interesting.... one word to describe it, MEERKATS! It was scary and disturbing but that is behind me now so this blog will actually be authored by me and much more serious.