Recent Thoughts

Well, summer is coming to a close and as I approach the beginning of college lots of deep thoughts have been going through my mind.

The first is as I think about myself, my future career, and the person I will become I have realized that every stage I went through, every hobby or interest I had, every previous career option I had.... has all come together into one. It's like all the loose ends of my life are pulling together and I'm starting to become the person that I will be for the rest of my life. I remember in second grade I wanted to be a teacher. However, I also wanted to be a missionary. I don't remember who told me, but someone said, "You can be both." I find it so interesting that now as I pursue an education teaching English as a second language, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm pursuing a career to be both a teacher and a missionary. How crazy that I knew what I wanted to be as young as seven or eight years old. And all of my hobbies and interests along the way, can be used in ministry. Singing, writing, drawing, being a musician, listening, giving advice. It's so cool to think that God has given me all of these talents with a very specific purpose in mind. I can't wait to see what he does with them.

Secondly, my family took a camping trip over this past weekend and as I was sitting watching the fire burn I had this thought. Jesus compares himself to both water (John 4:7-15) and the light (John 8:12). This is significant because water and light are both indestructable elements. When I was about twelve years old, I was at a summer camp and one of the activities we did was caving. When we were in the cave our guide had all of us turn off our flashlights. There was no light whatsoever in the cave. Then we turned them back on and we could see once again. The point was that the darkness could not overcome the light. Wherever the light reached the darkness could not exist. No matter what, darkness cannot take over light no matter how dark it is. Light cannot be destroyed or overcome, darkness however can. The other comparison is water. Water is also something that cannot be destroyed. Fire, which is essentially the opposite of water, cannot overcome water no matter how hard it tries. Fire can only thrive in the absence of water. And even though water can evaporate, it is never destroyed because it simply reused. Darkness and fire, both rather negative things, can only thrive in the absence of their counter part. How good to know, that we serve a God that is indestructable and good. And that as long as He is present, evil cannot thrive. Though it may seem that evil is taking over at times, he is always in control. That's the kind of God I want to serve.

And thirdly, tonight I went to my friend's benefit. I managed to sing a solo for entertainment and it sounded good, despite the pneumonia! But more importantly, it was simply inspiring. My friend that just recently graduated with me is off to Africa in the fall. And even though she's scared, she's still going. My heart is with her and I am praying for her adventure while she is there. It has amazed me how she has changed from the time I met her in freshman year to how she is now. Quiet, shy, and sweet as was and still is, she is brave. It is amazing how God works in people and changes them. My only prayer is that he does the same in me. "I want to do something so crazy that without God, it would fail."

So basically, it all comes down to one thing. God is awesome.