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I'm taking a class called Perspectives, which focuses on the World Christian Movement. It's a fifteen week long class, and while it talks a lot about missions, it's about so much more. This blog is my avenue to write, to share what God's doing in my heart, and to share the things that He's teaching me. He's teaching me a lot through this class, so I thought I would make a series out of it. Each week, I'm not sure which day yet, I plan on sharing a little bit about the week's lesson and how the Lord's using it to impact me, and hopefully it will impact you as well. If you've never heard of Perspectives, my hope is by the end of this series, you'll really consider taking it. My heart is already so thankful for God's perfect timing in having me take this class. So buckle up. We're riding into a new series. And as a warm up, I just want to share a few thoughts from what I learned the first week. Tribal people. When you hear the words tribal people, I'm sure you already have an image coded in your mind. The man that taught the first lesson, which is on God's purpose, worked with a tribal people in Venezuela for many years before he and his team were forced to leave the country. I could write an entire blog post about the interesting things that this man shared about his experience with the Yanomamo people in Venezuela. But as I thought more about tribes after this man's talk, I thought I would share some thoughts from my journal and talking to the Lord about His plans and purposes: Thinking about tribes - LORD you watch over all of these people for generations. You watch them succumb to the devil's schemes and his kingdom, living in fear, sin, and slavery. Yet You're waiting for Your people to go to them, to preach the truth and the gospel, to set them free. It just blows my mind to think and ponder about the fact that tribal people live for centuries, often secluded from other people groups. And God watches them. He looks after them. He wants them for His own, but He's waiting for His people to go to them. That changes my perspective on missions. I want to go. I want to go to these people. I want to see more and more people go. Because these people don't even have the opportunity to know about Jesus. They don't even have the Bible in their own language. Their language might not even be written down yet or coded. Who will go? This is just a small thought that this class and the Lord has prompted. I'm looking forward to diving deeper with you in this series: It's All About Perspective. 
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For the past (almost) five months, I've been working on a yearlong group film production for my film thesis, and last Monday was our last day of shooting. If I'm honest, I never thought our wrap day would come. When my group started production close to five months ago, the idea of making a film of this scope (even though it's only 20 minutes), felt daunting. A lot of work goes into making a film, even if it isn't feature-length (90 minutes). There's a lot of people to organize, details to figure out, long days of shooting, and now we're moving into long days of editing. For our last day of shooting, we spent 10 hours in a diner, shooting 3 key scenes. Ten hours is a long time, and it gave me time in between recording the sound to think about the past few months and how I've really grown to love the people that I get to work with. It also made me think about how blessed my team has been throughout the entire process. The Lord's provided for our team financially through grants and support. He provided an awesome cast, and He made way for some pretty stress free filming days. Even though there's still a long road ahead when it comes to editing and post-production, it's been a pretty cool experience getting to work on a film of this caliber with a group of creative and talented people. So to celebrate finishing shooting, here are some stills from our last day.     And finally, what I did for ten hours. Listened to and recorded amplified sounds. Sweatshirt, no make-up, and messy hair = the life of a busy film student.  That's a wrap.
Now onto editing. There are seasons in my life in which the Lord provides a song that speaks truth into where the Lord has me and leads me to worship and praise His name with tears and laughter and singing. "Because He Lives" by Matt Maher is one of those songs. I first heard it while on the long drive from college to home, and it lifted my spirit and fixed my heart on the one that overcomes. And it reminded me that my life's song joins the one that never ends. Here are the lyrics, and the link is below. I hope you take the time to listen to it. Watch the video and listen to the song here. I believe in the Son I believe in the risen One I believe I overcome By the power of His blood Amen, Amen I’m alive, I’m alive Because He lives Amen, Amen Let my song join the one that never ends Because He lives I was dead in the grave I was covered in sin and shame I heard mercy call my name He rolled the stone away Amen, Amen I’m alive, I’m alive Because He lives Amen, Amen Let my song join the one that never ends Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives Every fear is gone I know He holds my life my future in His hands Amen, Amen I’m alive, I’m alive Because He lives Amen, Amen Let my song join the one that never ends Amen, Amen I’m alive, I’m alive Because He lives Amen, Amen Let my song join the one that never ends Because He lives Because He lives Enjoy my friends!
 Sunshine yesterday and snow today. Two of my favorite forms of weather. Give me anything but plain gray days! I shared yesterday about struggling with contentment while being home and how I'm reading a book called: Each chapter in the book focuses on a different verse from this psalm, and a verse that I've been meditating on is He restores my soul (vs 3). In this chapter, the author talks about something called casting. To be cast means for an sheep to be on it's back, feet in the air, with no way to turn over and get back on her feet. A ewe (a female sheep) can easily become cast when she lays on her back, trying to rest, but finds herself rolling back too far. Her feet leave the ground and enter the air. She lays there and struggles, trying to get her feet back on the ground. Meanwhile, the gases in her stomach cut off her oxygen, if she isn't helped she will slowly die. A shepherd that cares for his sheep is always on the look out for sheep that might find themselves cast and helpless. When he finds one of his sheep in this position, he runs to her and sets her back on her feet. Usually he even has to rub her legs and body and help her readjust to being on her feet. She's wobbly for a bit, but then she returns to her state before being cast. There are times when I feel like the ewe who finds herself helplessly cast. How fitting is it that humans are compared to sheep? I am constantly in need of my Good Shepherd, especially during seasons when I feel like I'm cast. I've been in a season of life lately that feels like that. I'm helpless. I have no way to get up or get back on my feet on my own. That's when my Good Shepherd comes and shows his loving care and kindness by placing me back on my feet, reminding me that He is the one taking care of me in any and all situations. Today's snow feels like a gentle reminder of that. It might not sound like a good reminder, since most people don't like snow, but snow is a precious gift from the Lord to me. I usually pray for it, and today it came. The Lord is restoring my soul and putting me back on my feet. Much like I am dependent on my Good Shepherd, my little buddy, Spice, is dependent on his good humans. And he loves the snow too.    Sunshine AND Snow!!  Being home is hard for me. It's not that I don't like home or the people that make this place home. I just struggle with finding contentment while home. Mainly, I don't really have a "job" or a purpose. During these long breaks, my main job is resting hard in between semesters. If you've been keeping up with this blog, then you know that I struggle with resting physically and spiritually. Well, I've had plenty of time to rest over the past few weeks. Too much time to rest. In fact, I'm quite restless. The fact that I pulled my back a week ago didn't really help my restless soul. In fact, it taught me a lot of lessons about joy, contentment, humility, and the value of a family that loving cares for you despite your silly injury. But thanks to my injury, I've been stuck in the house for a week. The past few weeks here have been pretty dreary weather-wise, and I couldn't remember the last time I saw the sun. And thanks to my injury, I missed a week of church, and I didn't realize how much I missed and needed real live fellowship until yesterday. Church was a sweet balm to my aching soul after a week of being an invalid. Even though Christ alone is the only one that will bring me true joy and contentment, sometimes I just long for sunshine and fellowship. So I started praying for these things, and the Lord graciously removed the gray clouds today, letting sunshine fill my room at home, and He provided sweet fellowship with a friend from school. He also prompted me to start reading this little book below, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. I'm only halfway, but I love it already! A man who spent most of his adult life being a shepherd goes verse by verse through Psalm 23 and shows the Good Shepherd's love and care towards his flock. It's a great read!  After a few weeks of dreary darkness, this morning's light, time with Jesus, fellowship, and time in a good book was refreshing and much needed. Like King David in Psalm 30, I cried out to the Lord, and He brought me joy in the morning. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:1-5  Yesterday I shared about my quirky resolution, refusing to dye my hair for a year. Today, I thought I would share my "serious" resolution. It shouldn't really be called a resolution though; it's more of a goal/how I would like to grow over the next year. There's this trendy thing now when it comes to resolutions. Instead of deciding on resolutions, a lot of bloggers that I follow pick a word. Some bloggers pick words like "slow" or "rest" or "gratitude." For some reason, the idea of focusing on a word seems interesting, so I started praying to the Lord for a word, or specifically what area(s) He would like me to grow in over the next year. I've prayed about this for the past few weeks while going through the small but meaty book of Titus with women from my Christian fellowship at college. As I prepped with my friend for this Bible study one day, it surprised me how often the word "self-control" is mentioned. Paul urges Titus to teach the people under his care to exhibit self-control. As I prepped with my friend I couldn't help but wonder why Paul is so insistent about the early believers exhibiting self-control. I continued to ponder on this as I started reading through 2 Timothy in my quiet time with the Lord. And then I read 2 Timothy 1:7... For God gave us a Spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. The word "self-control" kept popping up during my time in Scripture. For some reason I even looked up the fruit of the Spirit one day, and do you know what is mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit is? You got it: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control: against such things there is no law. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, and God gives believers a Spirit that exhibits self-control. Self-control is huge! Yet, it is a discipline and virtue that is so often overlooked and undervalued. Who generally puts self-control as a strength on a resume? Self-control isn't something that's usually talked about, but it's important. Even though I was given a spirit of self-control when I became a Christian, self-control is something that I should practice and pray to grow in, which makes it a contender for my "word" of 2015. I'm still praying and thinking about what it will look like to grow in self-control over the next year, which I hope will become a habit for the rest of my life, but I've thought of some areas to implement growing in self-control. Taking Care of My Body The Lord has given me this body to care for and steward. Over the next year, I want to grow in self-control through eating modestly and exercising regularly. This is something that the Lord has been growing me in over the past two years, but I'm interested to see how being more intentional with self-control in this area will affect how I care for my body. Watching My WordsI want to grow in being self-controlled with my words. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing Proverbs 12:18 Spending Time in ScriptureWhen life is busy, it's hard for me to be diligent in spending time with God and reading His Word everyday, but I desire to grow in diligently exhibiting self-control by setting aside time each day to read from Scripture. Creating a Bible reading plan would help with self-control in this area. Working Hard For the LordThe area that I struggle in the most when it comes to exhibiting self-control is sitting down to diligently work on my school work or other projects that might come my way. I generally enjoy the work that I do, but it takes me a while to sit down and do it. This usually leads to procrastination and stress. I could blame it on "senioritis," but it's actually just me being lazy and not being self-controlled and disciplined in getting my work done. So there you have it. Self-control. That's the main thing I would like to grow in over the next year, and there are four main areas I would like to see it affect. However, I don't just want a surface behavior change. I want a real heart change when it comes to self-control, and a heart change leads to lasting change. I'm still praying about what this will look like, but I hope you join me on the journey of growing in self-control. In the future, I plan on looking more at how the gospel encourages me to grow in self-control. Here's another translation of the 2 Timothy 1:7 verse. It will probably be a verse I repeat throughout 2015. 2 Timothy is a great epistle! Check it out.  Each year, I generally do a weird thing as a New Years Resolution of sorts. For 2014, I wanted to grow in wisdom over my spending, so I resolved to cut the number of books and movies I buy each year down to 1 per a season. I actually didn't end up buying any movies in 2014. I rented most of them or watched them online or borrowed them from the library. And I only ended up buying four books (I don't count textbooks for college). Everything else was either borrowed, from the library or friends, or I just read what I already owned. It was pretty freeing! But that's a topic for a different day. For 2015, I decided that I'm going to go a year without dying my hair, which is HUGE for me. I really enjoy dying my hair, and I've dyed my hair since I was a junior in high school. My hair has been the entire spectrum - a light strawberry blonde, bright red, warm brown, dark brown, ashy black, dark reddish brown. My hair has been primarily red though, and I guess it's because my hair really picks up red tones. Despite the belief of many people, I'm not really a red head. In fact, I've dyed my hair so much that I don't really know what my natural hair even looks like. So for 2015, I'm fearlessly going back to my roots (literally).
Now, I'm not doing this for a pious or a holy reason (although I'm sure there is a lesson to learn). Primarily, I just want to see what my hair looks like naturally, even if it means a few awkward months where my hair is two colors. On the plus side, I'm going to save a lot money by not dying my hair all the time. So here it goes, a year without hair dye! Anyone else want to join me? For your enjoyment, here are some of the various shades my hair has been:
This is my quirky resolution. Look forward for my more serious resolution soon, or rather how I would like to grow in 2015.
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