Leaving Comfort

My whole life I have been comfortable. I have had the most amazing parents anyone could wish for. I have an incredible family. I know that people say this a lot, but obviously I am bias. I mean I know we have our flaws, but who doesn’t? I am coming to find more and more each day that there are so many things to learn from in having imperfections. Thanks family, you have taught me so much and mean more to me than you will ever know.

I have also lived in the same house my entire life. A home that I knew was safe and where the doors were always open. A special place that I will forever know as home and hold dearly in my heart. And a place that I will always leave with a full stomach and a happy heart ;)

I’ve grown up in, for the most part, a safe town. I’ve attended a church that is filled with some really great people. The kind of people that are always there for advice, and that you can always count on to have a good time. WCBC is filled with some of the most Godly people I have ever met. Thank you.

Friends... Wow am I blessed! I have friends like Rachel Lundgren who have remained close even after she moved in the 8th grade. I’ve been friends with Emily Leismer since the first grade in Miss Jones’ class. Then there is Sarah McBride, my partner in crime. All of these girls are stuck with me for life. But there so many many more people from youth group, high school, and college that have played an irreplaceable role in shaping me. Thanks.

A couple weeks ago I had this overwhelming feeling of knowing that I was in the right place at the right time. Taylor University is the college that God called me two years ago, and still today I am convinced that it’s perfect for me. And so many things didn’t add up for me to go there (especially the finances). But after a lot of prayer and so much convincing everything ended up falling right into place.

I live on the 3rd floor, on the South end of English hall. And man did God once again wrap his arms around me and provide me with great people. The girls on my wing have helped me in ways I don’t even know yet. Their love for the Lord is amazing, and we really just have so much fun together. They’re just great!

As most of you know, college life has been somewhat crazy for me. I have decided to graduate in three years which makes for a busy experience. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

So you are probably wondering why I am rambling on and on about things that most of you already know. Well all of this is just to say that my whole life I have been surrounded by more love and comfort than I could ever deserve. I have an awesome family, great friends, and a God that is constantly faithful.

And today, while these people are still very much a part of my life and always will be, I will leave them. I will leave a country that I love. A country that has freedom and those who willing fight for my safety.... things that I far too often take for granted.

I’ve come to the conclusion that goodbyes wouldn’t hurt so badly if I wasn’t so blessed. So I guess I’ll take the rough goodbyes over losing any of the amazing people I have in my life.


So today I am going to embark on a journey that will be nothing like everything else that I have known. A new chapter starts today and this chapter will be filled with a lot of adventure, and so much growth.

At 6:05p.m. I will start my trip to Dublin, Ireland.

Wait. Yeah, that's right...

IRELAND!!!

I really can’t believe it. I have never been overseas and really only been out of the U.S. once...but if you ask me a quick lunch in Canada in the 6th grade hardly counts...

The background of the cover of my journal is of old maps and there is a verse on the front that reads Joshua 1:9 “For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

So although I am saying goodbye to so many things, I can take with me one familiar thing, the Holy Spirit. Praise God that no matter where we are, and who we are with (or not for that matter) He is always there, never leaving or forsaking us.

Wow, I am sorry that this post is so long, hopefully most won’t take you so long to read.

My bags are finally packed, but I still am not fully comprehending all that I am getting ready to do.

I am a little nervous, but for the most part extremely excited!

There will be so many great things to see on this trip and I hope that this blog gives you a glimpse of that. In addition, there will be so much that I will learn and I hope this gives me an opportunity to share some of it with you. I will also have a little more time, and less credit hours, so that is my motivation for keeping this updated!

I am sorry if it is boring, if the grammar isn’t always perfect, or if it doesn’t always make sense, but I think it will be a good way to debrief.

I hope it helps us keep in touch!

Peace and Grace,

Julie

The Intentionality of Christians:

Being in a Christian there are terms that I hear and use frequently. But I’ve come to realize there is a four words phrase that I hear or say everyday. If I don’t say them, I hear from someone else.

What are they you might ask?

“I’ll pray for you.”

Now these are very encouraging and uplifting words. And when put into motion they can mean the world to someone.

When I was thinking of a topic to write about I started thinking of things that God had been revealing to me lately.

So, there many times I tell a person that I’ll pray for them and then I’ll forget. Most times by the time I remember the event has passed and I once again miss an opportunity to bring their concerns before God.

I know that when I am down and sad, having someone tell me that they are lifting me up in prayer helps in ways that words cannot say.
I also know that there are certain “prayer warriors” in my life that I know are lifting me up on a daily basis and that gives me the strength to get through. I want to be that for others, but it is hardly affective if I forget.

I understand if a person makes an honest mistake, and praise God he already knows what we need—even before we ask.

But seriously I have been trying to work on this.

My Goal: If I tell someone I am going to pray for someone, and then I need to do it. It is an act of love if done. And an act of hypocrisy if not carried out.
My Solution: While it is still a work in progress, I carry a little notebook around with me. That way I can write down the requests right away and then I am able to reference it later when I sit down to pray.

So this is what God has been revealing to me, if I tell someone that I am going to pray for him or her, I need to make a conscientious effort to do so. And it may be something little, but I think it’s the little things that mean the most in the long run.

My encouragement to you that if you are good at this keep it up! But if you’re like me, try and work on it. I hope that at least after reading this it may trigger your memory next time you use that four-word phrase.

a little more Love and Grace is all it takes.

"In one of his organization's polls, Barna found that only 22 percent of non-Christians have a positive view of evangelicals."

What can evangelicals/born-again Christians do to change the negative view that non-Christians have about them?

I think as Christians often times we fail in loving people for who they are instead we only love them for who we want them to be.
I think that a major struggle for the church today is judgment. I think that we get too comfortable with what we are use to, or what is right, that we don't accept those who are different.
(Now at the same time I have seen too many churches accepting people to the point where they don't think they need to ever change. This isn't okay either. But I think that we need to better at balancing these two issues. But that is another topic for another time...)
The body of Christ needs to be all about love. I think the only way this generation is going to ever have a positive idea of Christianity and potentially even come to know Jesus it through love. Theology is not the answer most want today especially when it is being shoved down their throat's.
No one likes people looking at them because they dress funny or don't say something right. A person doesn't want to walk into a room and feel out of place like they don't belong.
I think that as a body we do this. We look at people like they are odd or like we are better than them. And although we may be uncomfortable, it still doesn't make it right.
We have been given so much grace, but we fail too often at giving that same grace to others.
So I think as Christians we need to love and show grace more. People don't want to be be judged and they also don't want to have Jesus shoved in their face.

Again, What if...

What would life be like if Adam and Eve had not sinned?

I truly cannot fully fathom the idea of what life would be like had they not sinned. I mean basically we would be living now in a sinless world (given that someone else along the way didn't "take the fruit").

We would be living in a world without pain or sadness or suffering.

So many many things would be different. In this world there is so much corruption. Each day we experience so much that is wrong, unsettling. The injustice that we see, the sin that encompasses our society and world would be

gone.

And we would be living in complete oneness with the Father. We would be walking and talking and living life with the creator of the universe.

It blows my mind to think that God could have been completely content living alone as God. But He created us in order that we would get to experience the greatness of Him. That is love.

We would be living in a world smothered by love not hate

of peace not war

of right not wrong

we would be living in an Eden.

But because Eve took the fruit and Adam allowed her to do so... we are here. An who's to say that someone else wouldn't have done the same.

Now the idea of life being perfect and never knowing sin is something to think about. But this was God's plan.

Because now when we get to heaven we can bow in total reverence and adoration at the one and only who lived life perfectly. We live in humility knowing that we can never be God.

There is no question that life would be different... better. But that wasn't God's plan so clearly what happened was ultimately for the best. And now we have a hope for something we cannot fathom. But someday we will have a taste of what that would have been like. Someday we will be in heaven and that is what is worth thinking about, instead of playing the "what if" game.