Rewrites and Edits

Emily and I spent the afternoon editing the Micah Project brochure and the website content. (For those of you who will check it out, the new website content is not published yet.) As we discussed and edited, we expressed a desire to share the call, share our passion, within the published word. I was reminded once again what a great opportunity this is--what a radical opportunity!

We are calling people to live a radically transformed life in an urban community. We are calling people to really heed the words "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." This isn't child's play--it isn't an easy call! We're calling people who will be radically obedient to the call of Christ--to make disciples of all nations! I want studs--I want those who will be extreme in following the call! This is a chance to create disciples--to create a generation who know how to love the people of our cities, who know how to be Christ there! This is a chance to bring the Kingdom of God to a community that is starving spiritually, emotionally, and phsyically!

This is more than a year-long internship with an urban mission church. This is more than giving up a year of your life to Christ. This is giving your life to Christ! This is saying "not my will but thine!"

I believe in the work that God is doing here! I am honored to be a part of it! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Amber recently posted a few poems about Christ that impacted me. Check them out, and be impacted, as well.

Thoughts on Living Alone

For the first time ever, I am living by myself! I have been for about two months now. This is my place--see the two doors next to each other in the middle of the plex? Mine is the one on the right. Emily lives in the one on the left. Next door to the plex is the PUMP House. Talk about a short jaunt to work! So here's a few lessons I have learned about living alone:

1) You are the master and commander of your ship. You decide when and how to swab the deck, when to settle in for the night, when it's time to restock the food supply, etc.
2) You are also every hand on deck--could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are. For those of you, my friends, who believe I have OCD, yes, it is a good thing for me.
3) Furniture is expensive. My books are getting very cozy on the floor of my office!
4) You are the DJ, the movie reel guy, and have full control of the remote.
5) You can choose to spend the night alone or you can choose to use that expensive cell phone you pay the bill for every month.
6) You can choose to go out every night, or you can choose to screen your calls, stay in, and pamper yourself.
7) When the neighbors are playing jazz music on the back porch, open all the windows, sit and enjoy!
8) Take joy in the little pleasures, ignore the little annoyances, and love the everyday joys!

That's the lessons I've learned thus far. I'm sure I'll be sharing more along the way!

Tag! You're it!

Tag was not one of my favorite childhood games; I was more of a Red Rover kind of gal! However, Kristi tagged me to share with you all my top ten music loves of the moment. Note this is just the moment because my tastes shift frequently! So here goes:

Bless the Broken Road, Rascal Flatts
Breathe, Lisa McClendon
Keep Singing, Mercy Me
Mighty is the Power of the Cross, Chris Tomlin
Much of You, Steven Curtis Chapman
Your Love is Extravagant, Casting Crowns
Incomplete, Asa
Someone to Watch Over Me, George and Ira Gershwin
Making Memories of Us, Keith Urban
Mud on the Tires, Brad Paisley

Disclaimer: These are in random order, and honestly, I cannot guarantee that these are the top ten. It could be a totally different list tomorrow! I would like to point out, however, that their are THREE country artists that made the list. Those of you who know me well know that is a BIG deal!

So I say all that to say: Ryan Porche, Amber Lehmann, Trevor Rose, Jackie Beth Shilcutt, and Katey Earles--YOU HAVE BEEN TAGGED!!! I am expecting to see some updates on music, and you must, therefore, tag five more people!

Bulls Eye!

For the past few weeks, I have been slowly working on my personal mission statement. Okay, thinking about working on it might be a more accurate statement! I actually sat down to start writing it out today.

I first came to the idea of creating a personal mission statement through the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey, and through the encouragement of Ike, minister at PUMP. (Ike and I have been going through the book together, and I'm greatly enjoying it! I would highly recommend it if you haven't read it!) It takes a lot for me to sit down and introspect. (Though through the past year, God has given me plenty of opportunity to do just that!) I'm not one for really looking at myself and acknowledging how I'm doing. But writing out a mission statement, requires a lot of introspection. It requires knowing yourself and knowing yourself well. You have to come to an understanding of who you are, where you are, and where you are going in life. More importantly, you need to have a good grasp of who you are in the Lord. I'm not sure if I know any of those things well. In fact, I probably don't know the true answer to any of those questions. So, I suppose my effort to write this down, is one more effort to get to know myself, one more opportunity to define who I am and where I'm headed.

I can't doubt that my mission statement will always be in draft form, constantly needing to be altered as God grows me and I learn new life lessons. But its exciting to better understand my own paradigm and to better define how I want to live my life. My hope is that this mission will be how I live my life instead of just something I decided to write down one day. I want to live life with purpose and intent. I want to be an arrow streaming toward the bulls-eye instead of lollygagging down a path that leads to Nowheresville!

Lord, help me to live my life with purpose and direction that is wholly dependent on You!

More pictures

Ain't he just adorable? Okay I'm not a proud Auntie or anything. Seriously though, I would appreciate your prayers as I'm dealing with great amounts of homesickness. This is a time that I would love to be with my family, and it is hard to be here. Thanks, I appreciate the prayers!

Stretchin' out for a snooze! 

Snuggling with Grandad! 

I'm an Auntie!

My first nephew, Benjamin Loyd Rinehart, was born this morning around 8:30! He weighed in at 8lbs. 6oz. and is 21in. long with a full head of hair. Mom and baby are both doing great, though mom is kind of tired. They ended up having to do a c-section, so mom, Jill, will be sore for a little while.

I get to go meet Benjamin next month! So I'll be in Lubbock the 8th through the 13th. Can't wait to see the baby boy!

My Nephew! 

Louie, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

What a beautiful, beautiful world! I'm currently sitting in my new livingroom with two lovely ladies, watching the classic Casablanca. I love this movie because it exemplifies the many choices that we have in life and the consequences that therefore follow. Do we take the higher road and fight for freedom and justice? Or do we deny the destiny we have for good or for evil? Do we try to escape ourselves and who God has created us to be? After all "the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world;" it is the choices we make for good or bad that either decrease or increase that hill.

So life updates are as follows:

Emily Wallace, PUMP's first Micah Project intern has been in Portland for officially two weeks. I cannot believe that all the work put in over the past year is finally resulting in Emily being here! I am super excited about her being here and have been blessed in so many ways by her already. I look forward to all that God will teach Emily and I through each other in the next year. If you would like to know more about Emily--who she is, what all she is doing here, etc.--check out the link to her blog on the sidebar.

My sister's first child is due in five days! In five days, I will be an aunt! Can you believe it? Boy or a girl? We'll find out soon. I'm planning to be in Lubbock Sept. 8th through the 13th to meet my new neice/nephew.

As I mentioned at the first, I've moved! I am now living right next door to the church house. Increadibly convenient for work and church! My place is cute! It's a red brick quadruplex in which Emily and I both have an apartment. Two-bedrooms, new appliances in the kitchen, a nice mint green color on the walls (not my favorite shade of green, but it works). I'm using one of the rooms as an office space which is incredibly nice to have after officing out of our living room for a year. The place is nice and cozy and I'm settling in nicely!

Personal update: I'm continuing to grow and be challenged in this mad, mad world of Northeast Portland. I didn't think mission work was supposed to be this hard! Okay, so I was a wee bit naive, but I'm learning. I'm learning about how God loves me and how to love myself better. I'm learning how to love others and make choices that result in a proactive lifestyle. I'm learning, I'm growing, and I'm being stretched daily. Okay so there's a lot more to it than that, but Lord willing, as I set aside more time for blogging, you will see the truth of where I am in me and in my walk come out more.

So that's the wrap up! Blessings!