Glimpse

Today I was at a gas station, and a well-dressed, middle-aged woman stormed in. She jumped in front of me in line and slammed her hand down on the counter. Angry woman proceeded to scream at the poor lady across the counter. Angry woman was ticked that the pump machine wouldn't take her card; the worker apologized, and the conversation ended when angry woman screamed, "THAT's the reason that machine is out there - so I don't have to come in here and look at you!"

WOW.... crazy! I just stood there with my mouth open, not even trying to hide my disgust! This whole incident got me thinking that that's all it takes - one little moment might be all you convey about yourself to someone else. How frightening. It scares me to think what glimpses of my character other people have seen. Don't hear what I'm not saying - I'm going to mess up. And people will see that. But regardless, I've got to keep in mind that my public actions and choices are just that - public, and accordingly, representative of God and of my character.

What glimpse am I giving? What glimpses are you giving?

Update

The group arrived in London earlier this morning EST. They boarded a plane headed for Dubai at approximately 9 am EST today (11/19) and will arrive in Dubai approximately 12 hours later. Next, there's a 3.5 hour flight into Kolkata. Please coninue to pray! Thanks!

I have amazing friends!

As I write this, my friends Kayla Beth Moore, Cara Hedges, Megan McSwain, Ah-reum Han, Pam Gray, Katie Hayes, and a handful of other Carson-Newman students are heading to Kolkata, India to spend about 10 days working with Freeset, an organization that works to free women from the sex industry by offering them legit jobs making free-trade bags to sell worldwide. It's a chance for these women to start over with freedom they were told would never come. My friends will also get to visit the places that Mother Teresa and William Carey worked, including Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying. Their lives are going to be impacted by the people they see and interact with, and in this moment, they have the chance to be Jesus' hands, feet, and heart in a distant land.

I echo Paul's sentiments in Colossians 2:5 when he said, "For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ."

I'm thankful to God that my friends will get to experience this life-altering and eye-opening trip, and I'm thankful for friends whose light of Jesus shines warmly and brightly.

Will you join me in prayer for them today?

God has been teaching me....

....nothing. Nothing, you say? That's right - the reason God hasn't been teaching me anything is because I haven't been reading my Bible. It's been a conscious effort on my part not to hear and apply the wisdom of God. In the past 2 weeks, I've probably picked up my Bible 3 times. This is a time in my life where I need God and His Word the most. I've been looking to others for vindication and allowing their opinion of me to shape my opinion of me.

That's just not okay.

Because I've allowed that to happen, my opinion of myself has swayed with the wind. Certainly, we should be aware of our own triumphs and downfalls, but at the end of the day, God's opinion of us is constant, never-changing. I know that my sin hurts Him, but His love for me does not change the way our human love so easily does. So I know I haven't written in a while, and this post is particularly brief, but take this post as an act of confession. I need prayer to keep going and specifically, to read my Bible.