It’s 5am. I’m in Albania. I should be asleep. Instead I’m being awakened by the unfamiliar sound of the imam and his call to prayer. I jump up in my little hotel bed and forget where I am for a moment. Someone is chanting, it’s dark, I’m by myself (a creepy feeling, I can assure you). I then look around and remember that I’m here in Albania and that there is a Muslim call to prayer every morning at 5. It’s something I’ve always known happens, but something I’ve never experienced myself.
At first I think it’s kind of cool, to experience something this foreign to me. And then I think it’s kind of annoying, to be woken up at 5 am by someone chanting for what seems like an awfully long time, especially when you can’t understand the words. And then I’m reminded of how important it is that my friend Zef is pastoring an evangelical church down the street. I am reminded of how much a country like this desperately needs the love of Jesus and the hope that he has to offer. And I know it’s important that I’m here, to bring life and encouragement and find out how we can serve. And then... then I’m struck with the notion that these people, 5 times a day, like clockwork are reminded to pray. And they do. They pray to a god who I don’t believe can redeem souls and bring peace.
Here I am. Laying in bed annoyed that I’ve been awakened by a call to prayer to Allah and it’s not until then that I’m truly awakened to the fact that these people have something I don’t. They are dedicated to praying to their God, 5 times per day, without fail and they call others to it and remind them to do it because they believe it matters. And me? Most of the time pray when I feel like it, when I’m afraid, when I need something, when someone else needs something. I don’t pray continuously nor to do I very often call others in my life to prayer.
So the second morning in Albania, something different happened. I was awakened by the imam’s call to prayer and I welcomed it. I laid in bed and I prayed, to a God I believe can change everything and answers prayers. I prayed for the Young Life banquet that happened to be going on at home at that exact moment. I prayed for the people God has put in my life. I prayed for the church here in Albania and the groundwork that Zef and Altin are trying to set. I prayed for people’s lives in Albania to be changed because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I prayed for the imam and others, that they might know Christ. I prayed for things I haven’t been reminded to pray for in years. And at that moment I was very grateful for 5am and for the imam calling me to prayer because prayer matters, especially when it’s prayer to a God who hears, receives and answers prayers. God is changing me, in ways I’d least expect. I’m humbled and thankful for this journey.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
.an adventure with Jesus.
i am here in Amsterdam. and STOKED about it. i'm just at the airport but i can't WAIT to come back here next week and hang out with my family for a few days before returning to the states. the smell of Dutch pancakes (pannekoeken) cooking, the Dutch cow art exhibit and the tulips planted all around is making my heart happy. it feels like home. you're right mom, i am so Dutch (and i blame you... and dad).
before i continue i must let you know that i DO plan on blogging about the remainder of my 30 before 30 list including last week's epic celebration, just give me a little time.
now back to this adventure. i am here for only 8 days in europe. it seems to short, but i know it's as long as i could get away this time of year & just as long as God wants me here. i left yesterday in a pile of tears (thank you boyfriend for your prayers and kindness through it) and was just feeling really unsettled and somewhat anxious about the whole thing. while i know in my heart that God's got me in the palm of his hand and that this is really no big deal, i couldn't convince my head of that. partly because it's my first overseas solo adventure and also partly because i hadn't taken the time to spiritually or mentally prepare for this trip (possibly due to an epic celebration consuming my time last weekend).
but we're cool now. me and Jesus. by the time i got to LAX & got checked in i'd changed my tone. me and Jesus are on a european adventure this week. i got to spend some time on the first flight praying for each of the people i'll be meeting with and the ministries i'll be seeing. He's invited me in to see what's going on in his kingdom in Albania and Romania and my job is just to show up and to love people and hear their stories and offer what we can as IMPACT to help them further their piece of the kingdom. when you put it that way, it's a pretty sweet gig. packing/preparing/flying the first leg was the hardest part. home free from here!
i'll be trying to email updates/post blogs as often as possible, and my parents & my guy will be getting texts from me, so if you want to know the text updates, contact my mom (barb) via facebook & she'll gladly add you to the "update me" text messages. but i should get wireless just about everywhere i am so this might be the easiest way to keep up with me & Jesus in europe this week. feel free to send texts as receiving them is free on this end. just can't send them for free from here.
continue to pray for safe travel & for rest. i'm exhausted, but excited. i'll have been traveling over 24 hours by the time i get to albania tonight. yikes! next stop... Rome.
i can't wait to make new Albanian and Romanian friends and i'm VERY excited to see where Jesus takes me on this adventure. thanks for your prayers!
dewey (Dutch for goodbye!)
before i continue i must let you know that i DO plan on blogging about the remainder of my 30 before 30 list including last week's epic celebration, just give me a little time.
now back to this adventure. i am here for only 8 days in europe. it seems to short, but i know it's as long as i could get away this time of year & just as long as God wants me here. i left yesterday in a pile of tears (thank you boyfriend for your prayers and kindness through it) and was just feeling really unsettled and somewhat anxious about the whole thing. while i know in my heart that God's got me in the palm of his hand and that this is really no big deal, i couldn't convince my head of that. partly because it's my first overseas solo adventure and also partly because i hadn't taken the time to spiritually or mentally prepare for this trip (possibly due to an epic celebration consuming my time last weekend).
but we're cool now. me and Jesus. by the time i got to LAX & got checked in i'd changed my tone. me and Jesus are on a european adventure this week. i got to spend some time on the first flight praying for each of the people i'll be meeting with and the ministries i'll be seeing. He's invited me in to see what's going on in his kingdom in Albania and Romania and my job is just to show up and to love people and hear their stories and offer what we can as IMPACT to help them further their piece of the kingdom. when you put it that way, it's a pretty sweet gig. packing/preparing/flying the first leg was the hardest part. home free from here!
i'll be trying to email updates/post blogs as often as possible, and my parents & my guy will be getting texts from me, so if you want to know the text updates, contact my mom (barb) via facebook & she'll gladly add you to the "update me" text messages. but i should get wireless just about everywhere i am so this might be the easiest way to keep up with me & Jesus in europe this week. feel free to send texts as receiving them is free on this end. just can't send them for free from here.
continue to pray for safe travel & for rest. i'm exhausted, but excited. i'll have been traveling over 24 hours by the time i get to albania tonight. yikes! next stop... Rome.
i can't wait to make new Albanian and Romanian friends and i'm VERY excited to see where Jesus takes me on this adventure. thanks for your prayers!
dewey (Dutch for goodbye!)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
.#22 - give away 10% more.
"give" - to entrust to another, usually for a specified reason
this is the definition of "give" that most lines up with and inspires why i chose this one. the Bible calls us to give, to share the resources we've been given, to walk in the knowledge that NOTHING we have is ours. all of it is a gift. we've done nothing to deserve the gifts we have; therefore, they should be abundantly shared and given away. it is NOT AN OPTION in the kingdom. so my goal in this was to live in such a way that the kingdom of God would more and more be manifested in and through my life - that i might be changed by the giving of my resources to others and that the kingdom might be advanced as a result.
the extra percentage was so that i might learn what it's like to "sacrificially give." by this i mean, not just give out of the excess but give up something that i myself would like to have in order that someone else might be blessed. God is working in me. i won't lie. he has called me to save money for some things i cannot yet see. he's called me to give to some causes i really believe in and to give to some places i've never heard of. he's called me to help friends in need and to go to other countries and love on people in his name. he has called me out. out of comfortable, out of myself, out of where i'd like to remain. at some points in this last year's journey, i've wondered why the heck this was on my list and why it was something i was learning in this season. this week - the week that i turn 30, i've just started to learn some of those reasons.
some of my best friends, the goodfellows, are taking their 4 little kids and moving their lives to Peru for a cause called krochet kids which essentially brings life and a future to many women without hope. they are giving up their ENTIRE LIVES for this cause, that they may be the hands and feet of Christ in Lima. i love them and can't wait to join them in their journey.
some other friends, the fox's, are jumping into a church plant that i absolutely can get behind and are needing to partially raise their own salary. this is huge kingdom stuff, effecting the lives of thousands of college students and young adults. i believe in it.
some other friends are adopting from ghana and others from uganda and can't carry the weight of adoption fees on their own. i am blown away to get the chance to invest in bringing their boy home and caring for an orphan who would otherwise have no home and no parents.
i am seeing how God is taking my idea of what i want to do with my resources and turning it upside down and saying, "no, these resources weren't yours to begin with, they're mine. the needs are great. follow me, you'll be amazed what i'll show you and how i'll change you through giving." so i'm on a journey with this. i'm learning what it means to sacrificially give. i'm not great at it yet, but i'm workin' on it. i told my boyfriend the other night, "i spend SO much of my time on money on building my kingdom and forgetting about God's because mine (the vacations, pedicures, dinners out, etc) seems so much more appealing and tangible than something I can't see." but you know what, it's empty, pale and poor compared to investing in God's kingdom and getting to see the amazing things he'll do in and through me.
as richard stearns puts it in his book "The Hole in Our Gospel":
so in this next season, i will take the needs of those around me - those i know and love and those who are strangers and i will do my best to "feed the hungry and stand beside the broken and to fight for the orphan" because those are things close to the heart of my God. i would, without a doubt say that this was my most life-changing 30 before 30 commitment and the one that will bring HIM the most glory. i am a work in progress and will keep you updated on how our good God continues to call me forward in this.
this is the definition of "give" that most lines up with and inspires why i chose this one. the Bible calls us to give, to share the resources we've been given, to walk in the knowledge that NOTHING we have is ours. all of it is a gift. we've done nothing to deserve the gifts we have; therefore, they should be abundantly shared and given away. it is NOT AN OPTION in the kingdom. so my goal in this was to live in such a way that the kingdom of God would more and more be manifested in and through my life - that i might be changed by the giving of my resources to others and that the kingdom might be advanced as a result.
the extra percentage was so that i might learn what it's like to "sacrificially give." by this i mean, not just give out of the excess but give up something that i myself would like to have in order that someone else might be blessed. God is working in me. i won't lie. he has called me to save money for some things i cannot yet see. he's called me to give to some causes i really believe in and to give to some places i've never heard of. he's called me to help friends in need and to go to other countries and love on people in his name. he has called me out. out of comfortable, out of myself, out of where i'd like to remain. at some points in this last year's journey, i've wondered why the heck this was on my list and why it was something i was learning in this season. this week - the week that i turn 30, i've just started to learn some of those reasons.
some of my best friends, the goodfellows, are taking their 4 little kids and moving their lives to Peru for a cause called krochet kids which essentially brings life and a future to many women without hope. they are giving up their ENTIRE LIVES for this cause, that they may be the hands and feet of Christ in Lima. i love them and can't wait to join them in their journey.
some other friends, the fox's, are jumping into a church plant that i absolutely can get behind and are needing to partially raise their own salary. this is huge kingdom stuff, effecting the lives of thousands of college students and young adults. i believe in it.
some other friends are adopting from ghana and others from uganda and can't carry the weight of adoption fees on their own. i am blown away to get the chance to invest in bringing their boy home and caring for an orphan who would otherwise have no home and no parents.
i am seeing how God is taking my idea of what i want to do with my resources and turning it upside down and saying, "no, these resources weren't yours to begin with, they're mine. the needs are great. follow me, you'll be amazed what i'll show you and how i'll change you through giving." so i'm on a journey with this. i'm learning what it means to sacrificially give. i'm not great at it yet, but i'm workin' on it. i told my boyfriend the other night, "i spend SO much of my time on money on building my kingdom and forgetting about God's because mine (the vacations, pedicures, dinners out, etc) seems so much more appealing and tangible than something I can't see." but you know what, it's empty, pale and poor compared to investing in God's kingdom and getting to see the amazing things he'll do in and through me.
as richard stearns puts it in his book "The Hole in Our Gospel":
"The point is He wants us to embrace a kingdom view of our money, possessions, and abilities, recognizing that all we have comes from Him. He wants us to hold them lightly and be willing to use them on His behalf. Three clear principles, then, differentiate the scriptural view of our money from the "American Dream" view:
1) It's not our money - it all comes from God.
2) We are not "entitled to" it but "entrusted with" it.
3) Got expects us to use it in the interest of His kingdom."
so in this next season, i will take the needs of those around me - those i know and love and those who are strangers and i will do my best to "feed the hungry and stand beside the broken and to fight for the orphan" because those are things close to the heart of my God. i would, without a doubt say that this was my most life-changing 30 before 30 commitment and the one that will bring HIM the most glory. i am a work in progress and will keep you updated on how our good God continues to call me forward in this.
Friday, October 22, 2010
.#21 - purchase a really great dress.
while this is a sad story, it's also not so sad. i mean how could really great dresses be sad?!?! oh right, when you can't find one for your 30th birthday cruise. that's when they can be sad. right...
so i've been saving up this one for right before the cruise because my plan was to get a stinkin' cute yellow dress for the cruise and be able to wear it on my birthday and it be awesome. epic fail. i started looking last week and guess what? there is NO YELLOW TO BE FOUND in october. none. unless i'm a size 0 or a size 16 and it's all that's left on the clearance rack. therefore, this changes 2 things:
1) this blog post b/c there's no cute picture of a really great dress on the cruise (which was the goal)
2) my bitterness toward dress shopping & my new knowledge to not wait till the last minute to look
redeeming factor?
i did find a G-R-E-A-T dress earlier in the summer, not yellow, but awesome... and awesome with yellow accessories. i wore it to my boyfriend's sister's wedding in september, but i can prove it's greatness and i do believe it qualifies as "purchasing a really great dress" in the last year. you can't argue with that one.
so here it is, the really great dress.... far away and then close up (a.k.a. - lovely & then more like it). i <3 it.
thank you francesca's in la jolla. you've helped me complete number 21.
so i've been saving up this one for right before the cruise because my plan was to get a stinkin' cute yellow dress for the cruise and be able to wear it on my birthday and it be awesome. epic fail. i started looking last week and guess what? there is NO YELLOW TO BE FOUND in october. none. unless i'm a size 0 or a size 16 and it's all that's left on the clearance rack. therefore, this changes 2 things:
1) this blog post b/c there's no cute picture of a really great dress on the cruise (which was the goal)
2) my bitterness toward dress shopping & my new knowledge to not wait till the last minute to look
redeeming factor?
i did find a G-R-E-A-T dress earlier in the summer, not yellow, but awesome... and awesome with yellow accessories. i wore it to my boyfriend's sister's wedding in september, but i can prove it's greatness and i do believe it qualifies as "purchasing a really great dress" in the last year. you can't argue with that one.
so here it is, the really great dress.... far away and then close up (a.k.a. - lovely & then more like it). i <3 it.
thank you francesca's in la jolla. you've helped me complete number 21.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
.#20 - ravish me red.
oh the red lipstick weekend. i knew it would be epic, but i had no idea just how epic it would be. you see, i got a brilliant idea a few weeks ago... one of my best friends in the whole world is a red-head (actually 2 of them are, i'm so lucky). but the one that lives close to me happened to have her golden birthday last weekend and was planning on visiting. so my brilliant idea? to do "red lipstick weekend" on the weekend of her red-headed golden birthday. epic? i think so.
so erin arrived in santa barbara friday evening and i was armed with red lipstick in hand. it was called "ravish me red"
here are the weekend highlights:
- we were hardcore. and by hardcore i mean the only time we weren't wearing red lipstick was when we were sleeping. we wore it out to eat, sitting around the fire pit, on the beach, while we ate, even in the car.
- my awesome friend rachel even decided she wanted to participate in the fun... and yes, this picture did get sent to our boyfriends, i mean who wouldn't wanna kiss those red lips?
- speaking of kissing red lips, my boyfriend didn't so much want to participate in the wearing of red lipstick... at least not on his lips... sneak attack? duh...
- we discovered that there are people who wear red lipstick on a daily basis, so we might have been the only ones who thought we looked totally weird and out of place. i mean, we spent the weekend laughing at what is a normal daily event for some women. mind-boggling!
- by the end of the weekend we were quite comfortable with our red-lipstick wearing and decided it wouldn't be a huge deal to wear it again. in fact, by day 3, my boyfriend complimented me on my dress coordinating well with my red lipstick. epic, i tell you, epic.
and something i've always wanted to do... for the birthday brunch of my red-headed friend, we got mimosas and let me tell you, you knew which girls in the restaurant were drinking those mimosas... the ones with the red lipstick, duh... we left our mark.
so here's to red lipstick birthday weekend for my red-headed friend... (and my boyfriend for putting up with us all weekend and her boyfriend for probably being all the wiser and leaving the state for the weekend), and to many more epic weekends.
erin, your friendship has been an absolute gift in my life. my faith, my life and my love for all things red have been eternally impacted by you. thanks for participating in an epic weekend and for loving me well.
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