Daughters and Needs

So Wednesday night was yet another stressful night at the church. Don't get me wrong- I love those kids and I love being there. But the stress? That's another story. A frustrating thing happened on the bus with kids before we even got to the church. Some of the older boys love to yell out the windows of the bus. Try as I may, they won't stop. Wednesday night was the final straw. We had pulled into the apartment complex to pick up a slew of our kids. We were parked there and lo and behold, the yelling began. I started hearing things like "Hey girl! Can I have your number?" Ok, these boys are in elementary school!!! Well, all of the sudden they start shutting the windows and sitting down and getting really quiet- very suspicious. This girl's father had climbed over the fence, walked over to the bus, and started telling the driver how we are supposed to be a Methodist church and every week we pull in and those boys start yelling at his daughter and he doesn't think a church should be acting like this. He's absolutely right. My heart sunk in that moment because this is exactly why there are people who are so skeptical of Christians. I also felt horrible because I had all but given up on trying to get those kids to listen to me. This ends next week.....

I also wanted to share the following quote from a book I am reading called The Marriage Builder. "When by simple faith I accept Christ's shed blood as full payment for my sins, I am brought into a relationship with an infinite Being of love and purpose who fully satisfies my deepest needs for security and significance. Therefore I am free from self-centered preoccupation with my own needs; they are met." I must have read this quote about 20 times over and over again. This is a very honest word that I need to hold onto. I am ridiculously in love with my wonderful fiance, but he can't be my everything. The Lord is my everything and only He can fulfill my deepest needs!

In His Mercy.

Random Collection of Thoughts

A lot of random, theological discussions have occurred between my friends and I over the past few weeks. The one that pops into my mind at this moment is about this man from the pacific northwest who is pregnant. By now, I'm sure most people know the story, but here's a quick re-cap: he was born a woman, was a model growing up, but decided that she felt like a man. She started to take testosterone, had some re-construction surgery (got married before all this) and then decided "he" wanted to have a baby- good thing "he" kept "his" ovaries.

So Oprah had him on her show a few weeks ago. The most disturbing thing "he" said was that he always felt that he wasn't "supposed to be a woman." This really, really bothered me. As someone who has a strong grasp on my identity in Christ and what it means to be created in God's image, I cannot accept someone saying that they feel like they weren't supposed to be a woman. If they weren't supposed to be a woman, then God would have created them to be a man. Starr, Rudy, and I got in a discussion about how the church should deal with issues like this. It's something to think about because the reality is that with today's medical procedures, it's pretty easy to accomplish sex changes or any other cosmetic changes. So the question remains: What is the church's role?

Think about it.

In His Mercy.

And the Beat Goes On

It's amazing how crazy life can feel. I'm only taking three classes this semester, but yet find myself scrambling to get things done. I came back from Spring Break on Monday only to realize that I had two assignments due this week that somehow slipped through the cracks. So, I had to take care of that.

Last week David and I went up to Connecticut for 5 days to wedding plan. We got a lot done. I think our run-in at Bed,Bath, and Beyond to do our registry pretty much sums up my life right now. We were standing in front of the wall of kitchen utensils and I got so frustrated and overwhelmed that David and I had to work through some tension. Kitchen utensils....that was my downfall.

I guess I just feel like Wilmore at this point is old news. I'm tired of being here and I'm tired of this whole long distance thing with David. He is what matters most to me (After the Lord, of course) and I can't even be in the same state as him.

The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm beginning to see it. In a little more than a month I'll be packing up my stuff and heading down to Georgia. A line from a Waterdeep song keeps coming to me: "Though the world moves like mad, you O Lord are faithful." Praise God that He is a rock I can stand on and His promises are true!

In His Mercy.