Puppy Love

I found myself flipping through the channels the other day when I came across the ever-popular tearjerker flick, “Marley and Me.” The effect a dog has on a person is nothing less than impressive. There I was, sitting in my room, tears streaming down my face (I share this with the utmost honesty and see no shame in showing emotion outwardly). Any pet can bring joy into a person’s life. Cats are debatable, but dogs have such a love for humans. Despite the dog’s incessant behavior to dig up the trash or mark it’s territory in the house when an unwelcome dog comes to visit, we, as owners and dog lovers, still find a special place in our hearts for these adorable creatures.

I’ve been missing my dog a great deal recently. Tessa is a labradoodle and a big lovable white fur ball. We often think she is a human being in a dog suit. Her eyes are expressive and her feelings can get hurt very easily. Now, in all honesty, when I read blogs about other people’s dogs, I can get a little bored. I mean, who wants to hear about someone else’s dog when you know your dog is far better than anyone else’s? But here I am, missing my dog and wanting to talk about her. Feel free to tune out, but be advised, she’s a unique character.

I’ll tell you, she’s not perfect. She farts, on average, about 15 times a day. And they smell about 15 times worse than any human flatulence. On the upside, whenever one of the family members rips one, if Tessa is in the room, we blame her. She’s a wonderful excuse. Another imperfection is her fu Manchu. This Asian-looking mustache always is a little moist, so a person must maneuver their hand around the moving muzzle in order to dodge her wet nose and pat her on the head. Because she has the appearance of a dread-locked sheepdog, she requires frequent grooming and the occasional bath to remove the smelly lab odor.

With all these imperfections, you would think that having a dog like this would be a chore. And it is. But Tessa is one of the most caring, engaging, and endearing dogs. She treats you like her puppies. When she sits under the table at dinnertime, if your feet are close to her, she’ll tenderly lick you in between the toes with her warm tongue. Yes, it’s gross, and sometimes I hate it. But I know she loves us and it’s her way of showing it. She’s getting to be an old lady, so she’s falls asleep easily. You can always hear her little happy sighs as she dreams about a field of puppies, all for her to care for. She’s such a mother, and we love her.

While I’m at school, I miss being around dogs, so in order to get my puppy fix, I look at pictures of adorable dogs on pinterest or Katelyn James’ new cuddly puppy, Bokeh. Man, I can’t wait to live in my own house and get a dog of my own! For now, I’m just a hopeless puppy lover.

With her Christmas present,

or more like our Christmas present

A Bad Day Prayer

Do you ever have those days when you wake up with the intent of having a really great day? You have a really great breakfast with the Greek yogurt you love, match together the cutest outfit, have all your books together, and head out the door to class. One thing, you skipped your quiet time. You step out only to find that five minutes later it begins to rain. Great, you left your umbrella in the room. You get to class and find out you forgot to print out your reading response that was due at the beginning of class. The rest of the day, you only think of the negatives and forget everything great that happened earlier that day. Oh, and no one complimented you on your cute outfit. Guess you’re not wearing that shirt again. You become Debbie Downer and your day suddenly becomes self-centered and just an overall bad day.

As a woman, I get these days frequently. I make all the bad things that happened that day define how good I felt that day or just exactly how popular was I. I don’t know if males experience the same good-day-bad-day rollercoaster feelings women do, but I think a few girls can commiserate with me. When my day does not consist of some sort of interaction with the Lord, my spiritual growth slumps. The truth is, when we face negative feelings or thoughts, we feel inadequate to receive God’s blessings. But in reality, God’s blessing does not depend on our performance.

As human beings, we think that God’s blessing on our lives is somehow conditioned upon our spiritual performance. If we performed well and had a “good” day, then we feel like we can receive God’s blessing. Oh of course we know God’s blessings some to us through Christ, but we also have this notion that they are also controlled by our behavior.

Thinking like this is even more evident when we experience our “bad” days. We convince ourselves we’re not good enough. And when we think like that, we’re doubting God’s power and falling into sin.
Whenever I experience these “bad days,” I repeat this prayer to myself. I know it looks long, but I encourage you to read it and reflect on your own life.

Father, I have sinned against You. I’ve been negligent in the spiritual disciplines that I know are necessary and helpful for my spiritual growth. I’ve been irritable and impatient toward those around me. I’ve allowed resentful and unkind thoughts to lodge in my mind. I repent of these sins and claim Your forgiveness.
You have said you justify the wicked. Father, in view of my sins today, I acknowledge that in myself I am wicked. In fact, my problem is not merely the sins I’ve committed, some of which I may not even be aware of, but the fact that my heart is sinful. These sins I am so painfully conscious of now are merely the expressions of my sinful heart.
But despite my sins and my sinfulness, You have said, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Given my awareness of my sin just now, that seems to be an incredible statement. Ho can I be without condemnation when I have so willfully sinned against you today?
O Father, I know it is because Jesus bore the sins I’ve committed today in His body on the cross. He suffered the punishment I deserve, so that I might experience the blessings He deserved. So I come to You.

Adapted from Jerry Bridge’s The Discipline of Grace

(note: I really didn’t want this to sound like a sermon, but please know that this is more like a note to myself, so I can always look back whenever I feel like I’m having a “bad” day.)

October's Bright Blue Weather

I’m not going to be the girl who apologizes for not updating her blog recently. I have a life, and therefore writing a post is not on the top of the most important thing on my to-do list.

Fall is finally here! September 23 donned the beginning of the season and was also the day of the Cru retreat. Like always, I had an absolutely wonderful time at the retreat located in the quaint Camp Piankatank (I’ve got Microsoft Word stumped on this one). Every year they split up the guys and girls for an evening of Men and Women’s Time. Women’s Time is my favorite part because it gives us females that chance to open up with each other and just be honest. And who doesn’t like to talk about “relationshipy” stuff without the influence of the opposite sex. This year was different than last, though. I didn’t feel like I was alone on certain topics we discussed. It felt much more open and I was truly blessed by the women around me. Hearing their stories and knowing we’re going through the same thing brought a sense of comfort. For me, I never like it when Christians feel like they have to put up a front and cover their insecurities and struggles. In reality, we all struggle with the same things any other person does. Women’s Time was a reminder of that and I knew that every one of the women there were authentic and honest. It was such an encouraging time and something I really needed.

I am currently home on my Fall Holiday. The leaves in the Shenandoah Valley have begun to dress in their royal reds and oranges to say farewell before they fall to the ground to be raked into a beautiful pile of earthy tones. Fall never ceases to inspire me, and I find myself looking up every possible recipe that uses pumpkin and cinnamon, my favorite fall flavors. Amy and I went on a bike ride yesterday morning and I almost started crying from all the beauty around me. I could’ve been hormonal, but I’d like to think I was so blown away from the heavenliness of the scenery that it caused me to tear. Speaking of being blown away, the autumn breeze is so different than any other breeze. There’s a crispness to it that I just can’t get enough of…granted I have a hat and scarf.

I hope you all are enjoying your fall. Here is a poem to encourage your Autumn cheer.

October's Bright Blue Weather
By Helen Hunt Jackson

O sun and skies and clouds of June
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fringes tight,
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks
In idle, golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunt
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers hour by hour
October's bright blue weather.

O sun and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.

CNU: Celebrating 50 Years

This is why I love CNU.

Modern Slavery: The Nightmare of Human Trafficking

Did you think we left slavery lying on the fields of the Civil War? Think again. With over 27 million enslaved people in the world, human trafficking is the battlefront of the century. Here are some cold facts of modern slavery you may find as alarming as I:

• A child is trafficked every 30 seconds. -UNICEF
• The average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old. -United States Department of Justice
• Human Trafficking occurs in 161 out of 192 countries. -The United Nations
• Pornography is a 96 billion dollar per year industry. –The Internet Filter Review
• Up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel they can’t. -United Labor Organization
• Human Trafficking is a 32 billion dollar per year industry. -The United Industry
• In some countries it is estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. -Victor Malarek; The Johns
• Over 27 million people are enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. -Kevin Bales; Free the Slaves

I know this is a rather heavy topic, but human trafficking is a nightmare that is spiraling out of control. A new documentary trilogy, Nefarious, is a “hard hitting documentary that exposes the disturbing trends in modern sex slavery” (nefariousdocumentary.com). From recruitment to victim liberation, this documentary exposes the abyss of sex slavery. I have not seen it yet, but the next opportunity I get to see it, I’m there. Human trafficking is something that scares me so much but still makes me burn inside with frustration, anger, and heartache. Nefarious I: Merchant of Souls was just recently released, but the second will hopefully follow soon. Some of my friends have seen it and…they didn’t even have words to describe it. Sex slavery is something that just leaves you speechless sometimes because you never imagine how bad it is until you hear it from victims of the trade. As soon as I see the documentary, I will do my very best to explain my reaction to this spine-chilling topic.

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble [and] I will deliver you.” [Psalm 50:15]

The Africa Project

I had mentioned The Africa Project (TAP) previously in my goals for the semester. For those of you who do not know what I’m talking about, let me enlighten you.

The Africa Project was formed last semester by a group of eight students passionate about children and Africa, more specifically children in Africa. Since the group was small last semester, we basically met once a week, spouting different ideas about how to raise $30,000 to build an orphanage in Tanzania. Having such a small number was good because we interacted really well as a group and we had a lot of really great ideas. But having great ideas isn’t enough. They must be put into action.

Why did we decide on Tanzania, you ask? Although the world is filled with areas in need of shelter for orphaned children, Tanzania's high a very high adult mortality rate due to HIV/AIDS forces parentless children to wander the streets in search of food from trashcans. The orphanage will provide not only shelter, nourishment, and education, but also a church for the surrounding community. TAP partners with International Cooperating Ministries (ICM), a non-profit organization located in Hampton, Virginia. ICM has pastors in partnership in Tanzania that will pastor the church once it is complete.

TAP did a couple of fundraisers last year, like hosting a dance party and setting tables up around the student union. It was a great time to put our name out there and let people know what our mission is. This semester has been completely different in terms of numbers. We’ve seen the group grow from eight students to about thirty-five weekly meeting attendees, which is awesome! We’ve received a significant amount of support from other people in the community as well. We have a facebook group as well, if you would like to be a part of it.

Some of the group at a soccer game. We raised over $200 that night! PTL!


God has provided so much for this project already. He’s literally been blowing our minds. The goal is to raise $30,000 dollars and we’ve already received $24,000. Crazy, right?! Our next big fundraiser is actually tonight. We will be hosting a benefit concert to hopefully raise the next big chunk of funds. Please pray for not only the concert tonight, but that God will continue to provide so that we can reach the children in Tanzania. Who knows what the Lord has in store, but we trust that He is a God with a plan that is better than any of us can imagine. Our hope and prayer is that this orphanage will provide a safe place for children to grow, not just physically but spiritually, becoming strong children of God.

If you feel called to donate, you can check out our website and donate there, or if you would like to send me a check made out to "International Cooperating Ministries" with "The Africa Project" in the “For” section of the check (I don’t know if there’s a specific name for that part, but I hope you know what I mean). You can also help us out by simply praying for the project. Pray that God would be glorified in this and that He would provide. That would be much appreciated!

TAP into lives!

Photo from samaritanspurse.org

Semester Goals

I figured if I put these up, it would give me more initiative to fulfill them. I may alter or add more in the future, depending on my confidence in actually accomplishing them all.

First. Stay organized!
Second. Learn Photoshop, and use it!
Third. Run at least 3 times a week (Still working on this one)
Fourth. Write letters/keep in touch with camp friends
Fifth. Quiet Time every morning
Sixth. Raise money for The Africa Project (more about this to come)
Seventh. Begin planning my study abroad trip