February 9, 2012

It has been a while since I have been able to blog since I don't have internet access at my house. This doesn't mean however that I have been slacking. I have really been looking forward to the time where I actually had time to write down some of the thoughts and things that have been happening. So I'm going to break these up into a few different posts so I don't end up with one giant one. The first thing that I want to journal about is that I got to go watch KU Basketball at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in my life! It was an incredible experience being there with all the people, noise, and hype. Not something that I will forget anytime soon. The seating capacity in Allen Fieldhouse is 16,300 and as we were sitting there with everyone else around us, I was reminded of the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000. And if you have 5,000 men not counting women and children I think it would be fair to guess that there could have been close to 16,000. It was really eye opening to have that many people tangibally sitting in one place and then imagining that they were all listening to Jesus speak, and then even more astonishing is that they were all fed with a few fish and some bread. And in Scripture everyone was full. I'm not sure the amount of food served that night at the basketball game, but I can tell you that it was a lot, and I know that not everyone was fully satisfied. I guess the biggest thing that hit me was how incredible that story is, and it happened twice! I could just imagine all of us sitting there in Allen Fieldhouse ripping off a piece of bread, passing it onto the next person, them ripping off a piece, and it just continuing. His miracles are amazing...

January 31, 2012

I really can't believe that it is going to be February tomorrow. Time has flown by this past month. I am currently reading through St. Benedict's Rule for my next class session. It has been hard to get engaged in. The gist of the book is dealing with Monastic life and what that should look like from the times of prayer to sleeping arrangements to dealing with somebody who doesn't follow the rules. I am looking for the things that transcend just the Monastic lifestyle, but so far those have been few and far between. I took a walk with Audrey this evening and saw God in the beauty and creation of the sky, clouds, and sunset. It was so gorgeous outside. I really can't believe how warm it has been lately. I will totally take it!

January 29, 2012

I have really been enjoying every aspect of my Masters this semester. The reading that I have done has been stirring within me. The times that I have met with my mentor/partner to discuss the good and beautiful God. And even finishing up my first paper have all been life giving and God inspired in my life. God has been using all of these different ways to grow and stretch me, and I believe, prepare me for the future. I am seeing this time in my life as very formative for the rest of my life. I feel that through my Masters course work I am learning more and more about myself, my passions, my giftings, other people, and God.

January 15, 2012

I have started my next semester of my Masters Course Work. I am excited about all that this semester has to offer, especially how God is going to show up in all of the reading and conversations between classmates and professors. The book that I am currently reading is, "Streams Of Living Water" by Richard Foster.
There have been quite a few things that have struck me in this book, but maybe one of the biggest is the draw that God seems to have placed in my heart for the Charismatic Stream. When I was reading about St. Francis of Assisi, I was utterly struck by his faith in God, and by some of the amazing things that God did through his life. I think that the draw is that I haven't really experienced it very much. The Contemplative Stream is something that I am very famaliar with, and I think that I can grow a lot through looking more at the Charismatic Stream.
That is something that I want to go deeper into.

December 6, 2011

I just finished up my paper for Spirituality and the Transformational Journey a few days ago. The main part of the paper was a Rule of Life to keep my soul healthy in the midst of leadership. I didn't include journaling in my Rule of Life, but thinking about it now I probably should have. This is something that helps me process my feelings, emotions, and gives me time to think about how God is working in my life. I haven't been as faithful writing on here as I would have liked when I started in the beginning, but moving and transitioning in life has a way of sucking the life out of some things that we would like to do. It is my plan to be more rhythmic with my entry posts in the future, once life here in Kansas seems to be a bit more settled. I have finished the Good and Beautiful God for the second time. It is a good read, and as I was talking this morning with my mentor/partner we discussed how freeing it was to read the false narratives and know that we don't have to live our lives under those anymore. One of the biggest ones that stood out to me was that our worth and value doesn't depend on our actions. It is not a productivity gospel.

November 28, 2011

I went for a run this morning in the dark. It was probably about 32 degrees out, but it didn't really feel too cold. When I started the run I thought this might not be so great, I didn't take any music and I just wasn't really feeling too inspired to be out there. After about a mile I said, "Okay God, here I am, what do You want me to do?" This simple question turned into a great time of prayer and conversation with God while I finished out my run. God wanted me to look around and see the beauty of His Creation. It was a great time of worship and renewal.

11/17/11

God is so good. God is so good. God is so good, he's so good to me.
He answers prayer. He answers prayer. He answers prayer, he's so good to me.
I love him so. I love him so. I love him so, he's so good to me.

This might be one of the simplest songs, but it completely fits my life right now. God has been here for me throughout everything that has happened in my life in the past month. I really can't believe how much has happened in such a short period of time.

It almost doesn't seem real.