Still laughing...

This past weekend we had the joy of hosting my best friend, Becca. We much anticipated her visit, the inaugural trip for my best friend to see me in Denver. There is so much pressure leading up to a weekend visit, everyone with their own expectations and desires for packing in as much as possible into a few short days. We did have a blast. We spent good time in my neighborhood, went for a bike ride, shopped, ate swedish meatballs at ikea (you know, the typical Denver visit)...and mostly just enjoyed each others company.

It's difficult, though, being so far away from the one's you love. You never know how you are going to act when you know they will leave again. Separation is always at the end. All this to say, this season of life is a new one- which means both good & hard. I am bewildered most days at how I am supposed to be in this season, let alone do all the things I am responsible for (being a wife, starting a ministry, to name a couple). In the midst of all these things, there is one thing I know.

The photo above is from a concert we went to on Friday night, Page CXVI. They have re-written music to old hymns, inviting us into breathtaking worship. Tifah, singer & pianist, told of us of the season of life in which she re-did the song "Joy"...the night her father died from cancer, so snuck down to her piano to play melancholy keys and begun to sing. The words that spilled from her lips were these, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Down in my heart." Her story & the melody struck me. Haunted, even.

To be in different seasons of loss, separation, great and small, and to find joy. That is Christ.

I laugh deep in this picture for joy. We have found joy in Christ.

If you would like to check out Page CXVI's music, I would encourage you to.

Page CXVI

or watch Tifah & Page CXVI sing JOY here:

Our blood still runs ORANGE!

We miss UT, especially game days. Thanks CBS for streaming the game today against Florida online! In celebration of fall in the south, we made chili, ate orange cookies, and watched the game while screaming against florida. We wear orange proudly here in Denver, though no one seems to care ;)

"their life didn't begin when I walked in the picture..."

With all the people we spend time with in conversation on campus, most of them being through initiating randomly, it can be easy to believe that their thoughts of God began when I entered their life. You might think this may seem really selfish (it is) and silly to fall to. Yet, we often hear "I have never heard that before" or "wow, I grew up in church but no one has ever told me what the Bible actually says". This is both disheartening and common. It may be true that we have the opportunity to introduce students to the real Jesus for the first time, but God has not been absent from their story. 

God is still the main character in this life.

Sure, unless they know Jesus, they do not know God personally- and that is what we talk about all day long. But God has been working in their life long before we showed up. He is sovereign. He knows them better than they know themselves. And has written their story from start to....eternity. I would love to share 2 stories about 2 different stories, both with God as the author.

A sweet girl, Lina, has had a story filled with disappointment, pain, lack, beauty, art, and longing. When we met, she quickly shared with me her story. She is special. God has created a beautiful soul in Lina. Lina longs for a daddy. Though, she did not know that Jesus came to freely & graciously redeem her relationship with the Father. Last week, Lina shared with me a beautiful letter she had written from the perspective of God to her as a father. The Spirit, who has been long knocking on the door of her heart, opened her eyes to see Jesus as the One who walks her to a Dad who takes her into his arms, holds her, and will never leave. She trusted Him for everything. God is the Main Character and Author.

Another sweet girl, Ary, has had a similar story of pain, abandonment, lack, beauty, striving, hoping. We met today and talked through the Gospel. Again, she responded with "I have never heard this before, as you described it in the Bible." At the end of our discussion, she rejected Jesus verbally. It broke my heart. In reality, we are all like this- rejecting Jesus in our hearts, until He comes in and gives us a new one. I was no different than her before Jesus. Yet, was I to think that this was the first time God has stepped in to her story? No. God is yet again the Main Character and the Author. 

Whether they believe or reject, God is sovereign. He is the Author. He is good. This is difficult for me as we have hard conversations daily, but I am compelled (and delighted) to trust Him. I also have the hope that God desires all to know Him. I will step back into His story, looking to Him as the Author, and the Main Character- and trust Him for another day.