His goodness

      First of all, I just want to thank all those who are continuing to pray for me and my awesome team this summer! I'm feeling so blessed to be a part of The City Project, which to a lot of yall is just a name you remember from me sending you a letter, calling you up on the phone, sending you update-emails.... anyway the City Project is one of the many things God is doing this summer; one of the many ways God is using His children to glorify His holy name. There are just so many people in the city. After recently arriving in NYC two Sundays ago, I was walking, thinking to myself, and commenting to a few others that I didn't really like the city. It's too busy. Too fast. Too many people.
      By the end of that night (and definitely by the end of the week), I was instead saying, "God, if you ever want me here (the city), I'll go." God reminded me that I don't have to be in place that's comfortable to me. That's not what matters. What matters is all the eyes that I looked into during the week we were there. The eyes that were blank, that were hurting, that were just moving along, trying to make it through the day. These eyes that belonged to people, to creations of God that He wants to see come to know Him! I cannot be stubborn about living in a certain place or say that I don't like the city when God LOVES the city!
      Last week was tough. And long! It was our first regular week in Durham. We have devotional times in the mornings, Christian Philosophy class from 9:30-12, M/W/Th, another class after lunch, internships from 2:30-5pm, and then we helped out with KID'S WEEK (woooo!!!!) from 5-8:30pm Mon-Fri last week! So, I was basically going all day. But Kid's Week (formerly vacation Bible school at the Summit) was great, and so was getting started with my community service and pastoral internships. I'm especially excited about working with the student ministry at the Summit!! I'm going to be able to hang out with high school girls and do a Bible study with them, which is kinda exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks, God :)
      It hasn't been the easiest or most restful time in my life, but it has been so good. I'm reminded of Mr. Beaver's reply to Lucy in Narnia about Aslan: "Safe?? Well of course he isn't safe. But he's good." And God is this way too. Yes, He may sound safe: we refer to His comforting arms and His love as our Father; He is our protector, among other things.... but Jesus said, plain and simple, that the world would hate us if we were living for Him (John 15:18-21). Goodness, the title for that passage in my Bible is "The world hates the disciples." That does not sound so safe. But Jesus also assures us that people will do that because they do not know God. There is a huge cost to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. But oh, if we make that surrender, we will be free from the chains that bind us to this world and to sin.
      If you are praying, would you please pray for the seminary class that I'm taking? It's interesting and deep thinking like none other, but it's like adding college-student reading, exams, and book reviews to a "real world" 9 to 5 job (yup, we're busy). It's just a lot, and I don't want to do poorly because I know for sure that isn't glorifying to God. Also pray for the relationships of the students together here this summer, for them to be real, and that we would love each other enough to show both truth and grace (John 1:14) to each other. God bless you!! :)