The First Snow Marks the End and the Beginning

Woke up Saturday morning to glistening tree branches and glistening streets. I was overjoyed to see the snow! It was so bright. Light shone everywhere, reflecting off the snow. Reminded me of purity, holiness... I don't know what it was exactly, but something about light, gave me a sense of peace like no other.

This quarter is coming to an end - I don't think there's ever been a quarter that went by as fast as this one. It was literally a blur. When I try to think of my life these past few months, there's nothing solid for me to point to that can sum up my life. Perhaps that, in itself, sums it up. I felt pulled in so many directions and had to pour a lot of energy into so many things that at the end of each day/week, I was pretty drained. But through it all, God pulled me through. He gave me a supernatural strength when I was at the end of my own strength. He showed me that to go the second mile, requires His grace. The first mile may be accomplished out of my own strength if I tried, but the second mile can only be done through His power. And that's the truth, there's nothing in me that made me able to do all that I did this past few months... and definitely, I made mistakes and failed several times (with my professors, supervisors, life group members, pj, friends, and family)... I'm so thankful that God is a gracious God.

There were definitely moments throughout the quarter that are worth highlighting.

city life: going to downtown site wed nights & helping set up there

ministry teams retreat: going deeper this year, not wider.

new student week: hanging out at new student week events, kaleidescope, meeting new people

OCR: buying breakfast every morning, flyering/attempting to chalk over campus - failed. our hearts were not as big as we thought they were. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" - romans 12:3.

clinic: learned/realized that I do NOT like working at the JBVA hospital, gained perspective on what the next ten years of my life could look like if i followed the patterns of this world, but fighting to be transformed by the renewing of my mind thro

ugh Christ - romans 12:2

research: started with no idea what our proj would look like in Sept to being ready to test subjects and collect data! amazing progress.

classes: not slacking (as much) this year in my school work which means taking more time and effort to work on school stuff, part of growing mature, seeing that there's no dichotomy in my life, col 3:23-24 "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving".

sisters: God's been working in Teresa's life & Chrissy's life in amazing ways, I'm so blessed that they're my sisters. still praying for them and our relationships with each other.

helen: my steadfast roommate. so thankful for her.

sandy/ed's wedding: so chill, yet so classy. i actually made my own dress! with velvet like i imagined it would be made out of. i had planned to do this since early sept, but didn't think i'd actually be able to do it. felt quite accomplished ;) and the dress looked good.

-- insert picture of dress... for Diana :) --- it was literally cloth wrapped around me, sewed one seam, and tied up the top on one shoulder; i really think the velvet-y type of material made it look much better than it really was

vision sunday: 20/20 vision for HMCC ; seeing God's vision for the church and even my life, possibilities greater than i could imagine. inspiring stuff.

undergrad retreat: powerful night of singing praises to our heavenly father, giving Him the glory, 1st time ever, i felt the JOY of worship. i caught a glimpse of what it meant when it says that God inhabits the praises of his people. ("yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel" - psalm 22:3)

ET planning at i-teams: talkin & prayin about discipleship for our church and out of it was birthed a new way to do dship this year. exciting stuff. course, it's not a perfect plan but at least moving in a better direction

discipleship mtg: lamenting for our members, sowing in tears, not necessarily hard work, the deeper the lament, the greater the joy (psalm 126).

re-redeemed: when we met one last time for a 'pre-lifegroup' grieving and praying session. "we didn't divide, we multipled" quoting hong. i love every one of you guys.

word life group:

First LG in plex: we played a silly game where we tried to guess who told the truth. :)

when we shared as just girls - it was a powerful moment when we prayed for each other.

H-games: we managed to place last, and proud of it, yeeeeaaaaaaaahh. and also, planning & coming up with the games for h-games with helen & josh = fun times :)

Bonnie accepting Christ: 'nuf said.

Sharing about missions week: i will not forget the honesty and sincerity that could be felt as we shared, only by His spirit.

Praying with Amy: powerful time as south campus coming together to support our sister, living out biblical community, as one part suffers, all suffer, as one part is honored, all are honored - 1 cor 12:25-27

Thanksgiving dinner outreach: super crazy cooking on Sunday after Sunday Celebration. two turkeys at my place and the kitchen sinks weren't clogged!!! i was so blessed! God brought so many people (80+)... AMAZING because we hadn't had much time to spread the word cause of missions week. it was an awesome way to end missions week - by livin' it out. word.

amp the word party - fun stuff. silly apples to apples. intense mafia that almost brought division to our LG! (jus kiddin). "i want a beer!" - tim lin (in the context of Bang! of course ;] )

thanksgiving weekend: met a new friend, lillian - i can feel an amazing friendship developing

missions week/crazy school week: --- will update this later

Am so happy that God moves and works and is ALIVE today! He is awesome for sustaining me & allowing me to witness/participate in so many awesome things. Still, I am ready to be done with this quarter. I know I need rest and solitude time with Jesus. I can't wait til next week when all dies down :). Christmas is coming soon - I love Christmas time.

... back to writing my paper?