I am finished!! Grades are posted and I finished out the semester maintaining my 4.0.  Apparently, the 72 pages I wrote between Thanksgiving and December 7th were alright. I am thinking I should consider a career in writing, although few people are probably interested in the effects of bureaucracy on the country of India.  The more exciting fact is not only am I finished with this semester, I am half-way through my master’s degree. One year is officially D.O.N.E!

I wish I could say after one year I have a clear direction and know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life and have figured out how to save the world and end poverty and human trafficking. Sadly, all I can really tell you is I can write about 8 pages an hour when I am under pressure, article abstracts are a gift from heaven, and reading your textbooks is overrated. I am no more sure of the future than I was a year ago and change my mind most weeks on what I want to do next. Ironically, I have become very much at peace with the unknown. I am learning the joy of living in the moment and being thankful for Christmas breaks and long weekends. I am learning how to be content right here right now. I am learning to take deep breaths and be thankful for the wonderful life I am living.

See, I have always been a “hurry up and get to the next stage” type of person. The destination has been the focus, not the journey and I would rarely stop to smell the roses. I was usually more frustrated about the “thorns” tearing up my skin and keeping me from running as fast as I would like to the next milestone. Eventually, I get there-wherever there is– a tangled mess and wait just long enough to stop bleeding and start the process all over again in pursuit of the next destination point. The past year, life has taught me the beauty in the journey. I have learned how wonderful life can be when you slow down and smell the roses. Although slowing down is a metaphor and not an actual picture of my life. Between juggling a full-time job, two master’s level classes, several volunteer opportunities, a relationship, and an avid workout schedule, slow is anything but descriptive of my life. The difference is I am not rushing to get anywhere. I am digging in and throwing in here. I am learning to be at peace with today. I am learning the value in not complaining and in viewing life as an endless array of opportunities to love and give. Oh, and I am learning how much of a nerd I truly am! No matter how much I may rant, I secretly love every minute of graduate school, of writing papers and skimming textbooks (because let’s be honest, who in their right mind really wants to read 200 pages on bureaucracy in India:) ).

Something amazing happens when you stop rushing to the next milestone.  You start to notice the colors around you and see how wonderful and vibrant life is right here right now.  You embrace the moment. And you do things like drive 14 hours to see your grandparents for a day. When you see life for what it is today, you are able to drink in the moments as they come and appreciate the fleeting minutes you have with those around you. Life becomes more about the people you share it with, the memories you make, and the experiences at hand.  No, it’s not a tropical island and some days I still miss my life over there, but that experience has made the rest of life so much richer and full.  And if I hadn’t moved back to Evansville, I would not have met the man of my dreams, found a church I love, and discovered how truly wonderful life can be when you dig in and invest where you live.

So take a minute and stop and smell the roses or a Christmas tree and remember the importance of today and the value of those around you.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10

For the past several years, Malachi 3:10 has been one of my favorite verses. I have given until it hurts at times and constantly tried to stretch myself in the area of giving and being generous of my finances, time, and talents. Never for personal gain, but because I genuinely believe we cannot out-give God.  

In taking this journey, God has really tested my ability to trust Him. I left Saipan without a job or a plan.  I moved back to Southern Indiana with a job and started a Master’s degree. I have fought hard to trust God with the future, my finances, and my health. And He has never failed me. So a few months ago when I knew very clearly God was calling me to Myanmar, I once again had the opportunity to trust God to provide.  I will admit, I have never had any desire to go to Myanmar.  Odd because I am pretty game for going almost anywhere, but Myanmar scared me. And my heart was so broken in Africa, I was not sure it had room for more orphans and widows. But the door opened so clearly, I knew I had to walk through it. I had no idea how I was going to swing it, but in everything I believe God is faithful to provide.

You see, my mother instilled in me at a very young age the belief God would provide. She has never worried about where food or clothing or money to pay the bills would come from and despite my father being unemployed for several extended times over the last ten years, she has never worried.  I paid very close attention to her amazing ability to trust God. And even now when I struggle or stress out about my finances, she is always there to remind me we serve a God who is in the business of providing for our needs if we will just trust Him.

The hard part was, I live very tightly to a narrow budget. I save my money, give a pretty good portion away, and try hard to spend very little. I don’t have cable, I haven’t gone to a movie in almost a year, I keep my apartment hot in the summer and cold in the winter to save every penny I can on electric bills. I shower at the gym to save water. I save a good chunk of my pay check every month. Sure, I may be a little extreme, but I want to have the ability to give and bless others so I live pretty tightly.

As of this week, I have all the money I need to cover my trip which is a miracle in and of itself!! God is soo good and I am so thankful for the people in my life who contributed to my trip and sacrificed so I could go. However, I only have one week of vacation and I will be gone for two so I was a little worried about covering all my bills in January. Sadly, just because I won’t be here doesn’t mean I can skip on my bills.  Which brings me to the point of this whole post.

This morning I went to pay my electric bill because it is due on the 19th and I just got paid. It was actually really cheap this month because I hadn’t run the heat or air for the whole month prior! When I logged on to my account it showed there was a negative balance which was weird to me, but I figured it was just a clerical error so I paid my bill and got a message saying “The amount paid is more than the amount due.” I called Vectren and there was a payment to my account for $200 earlier in the week. My jaw almost hit the floor. I didn’t even have $200 in my bank account earlier in the week and the lady on the phone assured me several times it was an actual payment. She refunded me the payment I had just made and told me to have a nice day. I hung up the phone and just sat there, tears in my eyes, and an overwhelming sense of peace and thankfulness. I have no idea who paid my bill. I have no idea why. But I can tell you my heart is broken and humbled by the willingness of a stranger to cover something so practical and meaningful.

So thank you. Whoever you are. Thank you for blessing my life. Thank you for believing in me. And thank you for giving of your hard-earned money. I have no doubt it was a sacrifice. I also can assure you I will pass on the blessing to someone else.  

I will be the first to admit I am not a political person. In fact, I do my best to avoid politics. However, during an election year, avoiding politics is about as easy as living under a rock. It is everywhere-the TV, the newspaper, my Twitter and Facebook, and even in many of the conversations people want to have. However, I have always struggled with how involved Christians become in politics. As I read my Facebook feed this morning I was utterly disappointed in my Christian brothers and sisters. One post referred to Obama as the anti-Christ, others were speaking of how “disappointed” they were Christians failed to vote “right” (whatever that means), and most were just full of gloom and doom.

We live in one of the most prosperous nations in the world. We have the freedom to vote in a democratic election. We have the freedom to worship as we want, say what we think, and pretty much do what we want. Today our little girls will head off to school without fear of being shot in the head. Today majority of Americans will eat at least one decent meal, most of us will eat three or four. Today we have an elected leader who will continue in office peacefully. No blood was shed. No lives were lost in this election.  We are a nation pouring millions of dollars into the  restoration of the devastation caused by a natural disaster. We will rebuild our homes, roads, and buildings.  Our lives will continue on. There is hope.

I suppose I am most disappointed in it all because I feel like as  Christians we have forgotten our mission. We have forgotten why we serve the Savior of the world. It is not so we can have a say in who is elected to a man-made throne. We serve Him because He first served us and died for us. In that death, He called us to love the brokenhearted, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and go and make disciples. He called us to be His hands and feet in this world.  Quite frankly, I highly doubt the hands and feet of Jesus would be bashing our elected leader. In fact, I am pretty sure Christ loves and cares for President Obama just as much as He loves and cares for you and I firmly believe that if the American church would step up and truly decide to become the image of Christ on earth, it would not matter who was in office. If we would spend less money on building projects and more money on serving the needs of those around us, we may not need Obamacare. If we loved and accepted everyone equally, we may not have to worry so much about whether abortion was legal or not. And if we all got together and rallied around a mission to love and serve the world, no government would be able to stand in the way because with God on our side, who can be against us?

So today, before you make another remark on how awful our nation is going to be because of an imperfect elected leader, remember who you serve and who is ultimately the judge and ruler. Otherwise, I am going to stop claiming some of you as friends because you are just embarrassing me.