Overflow

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.."James 1:17.

This week has been so full of good and perfect gifts, my heart is just overflowing with thoughts of how much God loves me as high daughter and delights in me and wants to give me good gifts.

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to hose who ask him!" Matthew 7:11
God used this verse to speak to me on Sunday at church. It was up on the screen before the service started and I had time to reflect on what it means. Later that day, driving in the car, God struck me with the thought that He wants to give me good gifts through other people. But I don't always allow him to do that. Pride gets in my way and I want to do things myself, prove that I can take care of myself and I have it all together.

The truth it that I never have it all together. I always need God's protection, provision, grace, mercy, and love. And I need to learn in my heart how to receive without thinking there are strings attached. God is not the only one who wants to bless me - my parents and my friends want to as well. Even strangers or those I don't know very well. But it all comes ultimately from the Lord and His love for me.

There has been a shift in my thinking and in my heart. I want to receive from God and learn how to just receive and be grateful and thankful. Only then, will I be able to have an overflow out of my heart of what God has done. And the overflow is where my motivation to share His love and His goodness with others comes from.

If I'm expecting that God will bless me because I read my Bible every day for 15 minutes, or pray with a friend at least once a week, or share my faith with my all my neighbors then I don't have the right attitude. I need to be so thankful, so blessed, so full of love for GOD and what He has done in my life that I cannot help but SHOUT IT OUT! "For out of the overflow if his heart his mouth speaks" Luke 6:45 So here's my shout out: God is Good All The Time!

P.S. Enjoy these pictures of the Bachelorette Party hosted by my lovely roommates! Thanks guys.

The Importance of Flossing

Ok, I just went to the dentist this morning and so now I feel that the need to get on my soapbox and plead with all of you to take care of your teeth. Regular brushing, flossing, and flouride pays off in the long run.

Now I have never enjoyed the dentist. It feels great to have clean teeth but I grimace my way through the poking, prodding, scraping, rinsing, and all the other necessities to get there. But taking care of your teeth and going to the dentist is necessary as I found out today. Not to say that my teeth are going to fall out or anything - but there are some shallow cavities to get taken care of soon to ensure they don't fall out in the future.

It made me wonder - what did Jesus do to take care of his teeth? How did he floss, brush, and rinse with flouride in Galilee? Did Oral-B exist back then? Now you can do everything conceivable for your teeth - they can put fake ones over your real ones, bleach your real ones, build bridges and crowns, and fillings that match your teeth color - what will they think of next?

But it all comes at a great price, mostly to our wallets. So take care of your teeth now to save yourself money in the future. And hopefully you won't end up gumming applesauce when you're 90!

Happy Brushing!

Summer Goodbyes

Today is the first day of June. I cannot believe it. How fast the last month has gone - how fast the last 9 months have gone.

Things are changing here in Portland. The start of summer marks the start of summer projects, training, seminary classes, trips overseas, support raising trips, and maybe a little vacation for those in the CCC world. These past few weeks the number of people in the office has been slowly dropping off as those with summer plans prepare and leave town.

I feel like I'm sitting here watching it all happen around me while I stick around. It's hard to see people go and realize that the next time I will see them will not be until July in Colorado - where there will be a ton of people and not a great amount of time to hang out and connect. And after that............who knows.

My internship is coming to an end and I feel like it's not a very exciting one. No going out with a big bang, big party, or anything. In a few weeks, I will probably be the only one left in Portland and then soon I will be moving home as well. I'm so glad for the chance to go to Colorado and connect with these friends one more time before my life changes in a big way. But in the moment it's sad to see people go. Saying goodbye is always hard to do and sometimes I find myself wishing it were September again and I could live this past year over.

What would I do? Build a few more relationships, connect with a few more people, go to a few more LOST parties, who knows what. But I cannot and I am thankful for the experiences I've had and the friendships that have been started - hopefully to carry on throughout life.

My comforting thought is that these dear friends are part of a larger family in Christ and that means we'll never have to say goodbye for eternity! What a joy to look forward to.

So here's to the last year in Portland - to those who I can now count as friends!

Old picture but most complete one I have of our Regional Office & the people I love!