Thankful For This Weekend

I started writing a status on Facebook probably four or five times already trying to concisely sum up this weekend and I can't do it. I'm gonna try here on Blogger:

I made 200+ hand turkeys. 
Taught 15 Thanksgiving lessons to grades 1st-6th.
Slept minimal hours. 
Ate a HUGE Thanksgiving meal with people I absolutely love. 
Almost died from laughing too hard multiple times. 
Suffered from minor Narcolepsy. 

Wrote and rewrote logistics for the Swing Dance Fundraiser. 
Prayed hard for the blessing of the Lord for all our efforts.
Slept minimal hours. 
Had several meetings with people I absolutely love, about an issue dearest to my heart. 
Almost died from laughing too hard multiple times. 
Suffered from minor Narcolepsy. 

CRIED out for the Holy Spirit to take hold of my rock-solid, rotten heart and make it more into the image of Jesus Christ.
Sat back in complete SHOCK when I found out we raised the equivalent of $3,865 USD at this Swing Dance. 
Gave out more HUGS than I can count. 

Sat back several times and just SMILED at how full my life is right now. 

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

October/November Ministry Update

Prayer in ballet class

I finally have the chance to write this update! Haha it’s the end of November….oops! Sorry about that.  I’m sitting in the back of my 6^th grade class waiting to teach and typing up a storm. Here goes:

First of all, the ballet classes have been so much fun! We have a pretty solid mix of university students, high schoolers, and teachers that come when they have time. It feels like I’m right back “where I belong” in the ballet studio. The policy is that we always open and close my classes with a word of prayer- just to remind us who the Author of all dance is.

Sharing my testimony and why I love to dance with my
students.

Also, my friend Megan and I will be putting together a ballet piece for the church’s Christmas Eve service. This year, the service will be held in JingChung’s cultural center. It’s a pretty big place- so our rehearsals will be a little different this year. That’s another thing you can be praying for- it’s going to be a whole new challenge choreographing for and dancing on the huge stage.

Guess what!? We get to do another Swing Dance! This Saturday, November 24^th, we are having our big Fall Swing Dance Fundraiser. This time, the proceeds will go to support my friend Naomi Hamilton’s organization, Safe Refuge International. Her ministry is based out of the Philippines- right outside of Manila. Right in line with our purpose for having the Swing Dances, she works with women who have been trapped in the human trafficking system, yet providing maternity help in addition. Her ministry works in all levels of the issue- helping young girls, new mothers, and mothers with young children. We’re really excited to support her ministry this time around. Lord willing, there should be a pretty solid group from the community at this Swing Dance- please pray that God will use this event to touch the hearts of the community and be a gift of love for Safe Refuge.

Speaking of events, we’re also planning a pretty big Christmas event with the university students. Just like last year we want to involve all the English clubs and the International Cultures club in the execution of the event- we just need to get them started and give them a bit of direction along the way. I’m also inviting the Shamei (a small town close to the university) pastor to come out and share the Christmas story and the message of why Christ came. Please be praying for this event, because, just like last year, we plan on having a ton of fun; but also like last year, our prayer is that the Gospel is proclaimed throughout this event.

3rd grade Trick-or-Treaters

On another note, at the beginning of this month, I got to take a weekend out to see the Kirov Ballet company perform Swan Lake! For those of you that don’t know, the Kirov Ballet company is known as the absolute best in the world…so obviously I was on “cloud 9” as I saw them dance, in Taipei, with a live orchestra, and excellent seats. I went with two dear friends, got to dress up, and seriously had the best evening ever. Sometimes I just have too much fun. ;)

My team and I have been really challenged by the Lord to stick to the Gospel this last month. As you can see in my recent posts, the Lord’s been really challenging me to focus on Him, and Him alone. I’ve been noticing how the things that should have been peripheral elements in my walk with the Lord have been central to my relationship with Him. In the Christian life, it should never be: JESUS + _______= SALVATION, JESUS + _______= SANCTIFICATION, or JESUS + ________= FREEDOM. That’s not Biblical or edifying. There is a freedom for those who sit at the feet of Jesus and rest in only following Jesus. Everything else in life- character, freedom, and true success- will fall into place for the man or woman following Jesus wholeheartedly. This has been something that’s been burning on my heart for the last month. The world doesn’t need more self-help. It needs Jesus. I want my life mission to be just that, proclaiming and living in the light of Jesus.

My lovely team

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"Let Us Keep to the Point"

"God does forgive, but it cost the rending of His heart in the Death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the Divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. When we have been convicted of sin we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less; the love of God is spelt on the Cross and nowhere else. The only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of my Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied." 

("My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers; 11/19)

"Christianity is not discipline, though discipline will enter into it. Christianity is not morality, but the moral laws will be followed. Christianity is not following a great example, but this will be done. Christianity is not living by laws or rules, it is living by grace. True Christianity starts with a new birth. "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7)  The new birth is God coming into your life and giving you a new nature- a nature of love to God and man. Nothing in life can make up for the lack of this, nothing can take it's place." 

("The Disciplines of the Christian Life", Eric Liddell)

word. 

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GLORY to GLORY

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from GLORY to GLORY, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18) 


Dude, "GLORY to GLORY"!? 

That's amazing if you let it sink in- in Christ, each one of us is a picture of His GLORY. We get to project Christ crucified to the world through our lives. 

Seriously, sit back and let it sink in that He chose you today to magnify His name and proclaim His glory in this world! He chose me! He chose us- broken, cracked, beaten-up vessels- to SHINE His marvelous Self to the world. 

"...children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..." (Philippians 2:15)

And the best part is that He hand-picked us to represent His glorious name while we sat in the mud of our sin; while we shook our pathetic little fists at His face in rebellion and hatred; while we purposefully ran down our own little path of self-destruction. 

"... just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love..." (Ephesians 1:4)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

So that GLORY #1 just amazes me beyond all else...until you get to #2:

Okay so, beyond that, there's one day in which we'll be transformed from these temporary "tents" into the perfect, glorious image of Himself. We'll be perfect images of His grace. Unlike in GLORY #1, we'll just reflect JESUS. Our whole being will be wrapped up in who He is and His immense, overpowering love for us. I have no idea how to concisely expound on that.

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)

That's just crazy. I certainly don't deserve that. Yet, He offers it. He offers it to all of us daily. 

GLORY to GLORY. 

The point of surrender where everything changes.

"The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!'" (Revelation 4:8)


[I know I'm far overdue for a ministry update. I'm working on it right now. Promise.]

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