So, I think it's time for an update, no?
Music:
Today has been a Charlie Winston day. I've just discovered him with new eyes. Thanks to the help of Ariana, I have been exposed to him for several years. But I had to listen for myself, and today I spent a good portion of my time finding new youtube videos that he has made. There is a whole series of him singing some of his more famous ones early in the morning on the streets of Paris. Apparently he couldn't sleep, so he decided to go out and find people to film him while he played his songs on the guitar and sang. It was so glorious and humorous and...I don't know how to describe it...VIBRANT! Also, he has a darling music video starring himself and Audrey Tautou. If I had tried to resist him before, there is not trying after that. Here are some of them:
Books:
My project over the past few weeks has been to read ahead of time as many of my required books as possible. So, I have just finished Daisy Miller by Henry James, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, and The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (whew!). I have finally finished reading/listening to them all, and though I feel very full of literature, I am pretty depressed (or was it just O, Pioneers! getting to me?). I am now dreaming of summer when I can read a few books of my choosing. I think I will begin the summer with Quo Vadis but I also have big plans of reading TONS of C.S. Lewis this summer. One of my more embarrassing facts is that I have never read...get this...The Chronicles of Narnia. I should start looking into child abuse allegations against my parents, am I right? Anyway, I also want to indulge in some more poetry since we are mostly out of the poetry section of Victorian literature (and I am having withdrawals).
Current Excitement:
God is good. I am currently in the midst of fundraising for my student missionary endeavors next year. Can I be redundant? GOD IS GOOD. Each day I am getting texts from my mom telling me how much has come in. I am always overwhelmed and having to shout up little silent prayers of Thanksgiving. Strangely, I find myself still doubting God. Sometimes I think, "No matter how much people send, I still won't have enough." But then I have to immediately revoke it and pray, "God, I am putting this entire project into Your hands. I trust in You completely." It is awesome to see how God speaks so LOUDLY sometimes.
Future Excitement:
Well, if you haven't heard, God seems to want me to be a student missionary in Chad, Africa next year! He is working it out thus far at least. I have tried to say this to about fifty people, but there is this strange set of paradoxical emotions that threaten to burst me from within. I am unbelievably excited, especially since I really feel like God has chosen this position for me. But I am also absolutely terrified. You can't really romanticize Chad. Maybe you can imagine other African countries and dream about all the lions and giraffes that will wonder outside of your windows in the morning. But in Chad there is desert. There is 110 degree heat almost every day. There are thousands of starving children coming to your hospital annually to die. Not a very romantic picture. I am praying fervently that God will prepare me for this position in every way--physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Wow. Here we go.
Also, another very EXPLICIT move on God's part in my life, He has seen fit to make me the Girl's Director at Cohutta this summer. I feel very humble. There is so much that this position means, and so much responsibility. Prayers for both Chad and Cohutta would be greatly appreciated. There is quite an adventure in store in the near future.
God:
On the God front, I feel like I am a new Christian all over again. After a very challenging past few months, where I have had to deal with a few issues that I never would have believed, God has been speaking. He is pointing out all of the lessons that He taught me through my tough time. He is lifting me up to new heights that I have never known or expected. He is calling me to Him EVERY SINGLE DAY. I have never felt so attracted to Him before, and I've never felt so grateful. He has also been pointing out His subtle presence to me in a few ways: my new developing friendship with Cassie. She has been SUCH a blessing. And after so many months of spiritual famine, she has been an instrumental part of leading me to the oasis. If she ever reads this...thanks Cassie. I am praying for you and love you. Also, for the first time in my life, God is showing me how my weaknesses are my greatest strength. Not because I am capable of doing anything good with them; not at all! But it is through my weaknesses that I have to continually turn and run back to God. This has probably been said about a thousand times in my hearing, but God knows that it takes personal experience before you will believe it. Everyday I find that when I feel weak, or angry, or unhappy, or depressed, I have to return to Him. What a blessing.
Well, that is quite a good enough update, don't you think? I hope to return to this blog a little more often from now on.
No comments:
Post a Comment