Its now less than two weeks til I depart from Portland. So the time crunch is on, trying to pack/clean and at the same time see all my friends "one last time" before the summer. There has been some talk of a "going away party" but I'm not sure yet. It seems a bit silly to me right now to have a going away party when I'll only be gone for three months. Its a fine art I think because you're "saying good-bye" but at the same time its only three months. So its more I suppose a "see you in a few month" and to me it doesn't feel the same. Maybe its that I've moved so much, or that I've had so many "going away parties" only to return several months later but this time around, I'm just trying to do this leaving for the summer thing a bit more quietly. Yesterday I had my last Sunday at Evergreen til fall. It was cool to be able to share with them what I'll be doing this summer and then they all gathered around and placed their hands on me and prayed for me, sending me off with their blessing. I am really looking forward to returning to Evergreen when I return to Portland. I really do love this city. It seems there is always more to discover, more to experience and I love that. So Portland and Evergreen, I'll see you soon. Today I went to lunch with my roommates. I will miss these two ladies. But they will have fun full summers as well and I will catch up with them when I return.
The power of love. Do you believe in it? What is the power of love? What does it make you think of? For me, to be honest when I first hear that phrase I think of Marty McFly on a skateboard and the opening credits of Back To The Future 1. Hughey Lewis and The News "that's the power of loooove". But really, I think that love has more power than anything else in this world to soften hearts, to mend brokenness, to bring about forgiveness and to transform lives. I find that sometimes I forget this simple but real truth. I think that sometimes I need to say something. To put in my two cents to shake people awake again. When that's really probably not the point. I think that more often than not love and humility will change lives faster than frustration and bitterness. I know for myself, when I was running from God a couple years ago if somebody had approached me in frustration or bitterness and told me to "get my act together" or whatever it would have probably made me wait a lot longer to come back around to God. But my heart was softened, my life was transformed by love. The love of my friends Eli and Mandy toward each other, toward me, toward their baby girl and the love of God that was shown to me through their love. I've also been thinking a lot back to past camps. The thing that the students who don't know God (yet) notice the most is the love we have for each other and for them, a love we have because of God's love for us. That is what Jesus said in John 13:35 "your love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (NLT) Also been thinking on "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT) So it has been good to think again on these truths as I'm seeing a couple friends of mine, who in the past have been huge examples in how to live this life w/Jesus, just choose to make decisions that are not good. There are times when the truth needs to be said, when the truth should be defended, but even then, I believe it should always be done in love. To share truth just for truth's sake is to miss the point. I am sure I will have more to say on love in future posts but for now I need to go clean my room and get ready for work.
Prayer/Praise
*PRAISE God for bringing in ALL the money I need to go to CZ!!! Thank you guys so much for praying for this. It was amazing to see it all unfold. In a matter of two weeks I went from having not even quite half to all!!!
*Will you now please pray for my teammate Sarah to get all the money she needs to come!
*Pray for me to get everything wrapped up here, to figure out where to store my car and stuff and how to be able to see my family and friends before I take off.
*Pray for me to continue to be humble and teachable to all that God is teaching me.
Love you guys, thank for reading and being part of my life!
Em
