Turning Another Page

Thank you Chic-Fila! Last week I heard on the local radio station that Chic-Fila would be giving away free chicken sandwiches on Thursdays in September from 6-7pm. A little skeptical, my roommate and I decided as poor graduate students it was worth a try! We get out of class at 6:30 pm on Thursday, so we booked it to Chic-Fila ASAP! Alas, it was true with no strings attached! We had free dinner at Chic-Fila two weeks in a row!


Classes are going well! I am still really enjoying the privilege of sitting under such amazing professors. A sense of gratitude and awe still overwhelm me at times. The course load attempts to as well, but by the grace of God I maintain the perspective that grades are not of foremost importance. That isn't the best way to glorify God or learn effectively anyway. My highest aim in all that I do here is to work with all of my energies invested for the sake of God's glory and those I will be impacting. It's not easy juggling three-plus jobs with graduate studies while maintaining excellence in all things. However, God is gracious. When I depend on Him and trust Him with the strength for now, and leave the next thing to Him, I am at peace. He will not fail me.

Work is ministry. Since I am a nanny, I have the opportunity shed light on kids and families. God is gracious to give me wisdom to know just how to interact with these kids in such a way that they know they are loved while providing much needed boundaries. There is a delicate balance between discipline and fun. Each child has their own way of testing. Again, I trust God to give me wisdom in how to lovingly guide these kids toward the truth.

Opportunities abound! This is just a taste of how my work schedule can be: Yesterday I babysat three different times. My day begins at 6:45 am with Sasha, the little boy I take to school in the mornings. I help him get ready until 7:30 and drive him to school. Then at 8:30, I was at NWB Church doing childcare for their MOPS program until 12:30. I went home and had lunch, did homework then left again at 3:20 to pick-up Elizabeth (7) and Nicholas (3) from school. I pick them up four days a week and keep them until 6:30-7 pm. Their parents are going out of town today, so I am staying with them overnight for the first time! It should be interesting!
You are probably wondering when I have time for school. I have the same thought sometimes, but somehow it works out. He gives exactly what is needed for the very thing He calls us to do!

Elizabeth and Nicholas

Re-connecting

Yay for connecting with old friends and new ones!

Liz is an old kindred spirit from my college days in Campus Outreach. I haven't seen her since she got married five years ago, but we've kept up with each other through newsletters and Christmas cards. Her and her husband, Jeremy, have spent the past five years in Austin where he is finishing up his PhD in Sociology.
I got a surprise email from her the other day saying she was in Dallas for the week and wanted to get together. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself! As you might imagine, there was much to catch up on! Not to mention, this was my first time meeting little Annie, the newest addition to their household!

Isn't she a doll?!

What If, Perfect Grace?

Choose one characteristic of God's personality and describe how this characteristic would appear in your life if you were as perfect as God created and requires you to be.

(Class assignment)

Grace. This particular character trait of God’s personality absolutely confounds me. I am mystified by the perfection of His grace toward mankind and what that should exactly look like in my own life. Though intrinsically impossible, when I imagine displaying perfect grace as God does and requires of me, I can only think of one scenario: Adopting a child out of life of complete poverty and despair. I imagine a child that is scarred by the pain of loneliness and rejection, harboring distrust, anger and hostility. I imagine a child that is marred and undesirable. His parents have discarded him for mere convenience' sake. I imagine this child wallowing in mud along with the swine at an attempt to bathe himself. He doesn’t even know that he should belong anywhere else. Survival up to this point has depended on his ability to lie, steal, cheat and fight his way through life. This is the only identity he knows up until…

I come along, manifesting God’s perfect grace, swoop this child out of his current conditions, bring him into my loving care, and claim him as my own. After holding him in my arms for a while, I take him home and clean him up. Though he is still very skeptical of the genuine nature of my love so he continues to lie, cheat, and steal. He has never had anyone protect or provide for him, much less show him an ounce of love. I take time to explain to him God’s extravagant love and grace as I am displaying it in his life. In spite of his reactions, I continue to lavish my love on him by spending hours each day sitting with him, listening and telling him how much I love him. I give him a room in my house to call his very own with toys to play with and new clothes to wear. I take him to school and church to meet new friends and learn new things. I help him with his homework and cook nutritious meals for him to eat. No matter his response to my love, I continue to give and give and give. Though my heart aches because he doesn’t return my affections, I continue to lavish it upon his undeserving little soul. It is perfect grace that enables me to love something deemed so unlovable and undeserving. My love toward this child is what you call unconditional love. He did nothing to earn my love nor did he go so far as to ask me to love him. In fact, he turns his back on me and is unresponsive to my love at times. Though my heart aches for the return of his affection, God’s perfect grace will not allow me to withhold good from this little child.