Thankfulness

I'm in an Intro to Ministry class this semester which I absolutely love. It's a small class so we're able to discuss things and I find it super interesting to see all the different viewpoints thrown into the pot. We each came from a home church and we each attend a church here in Waco. Each of those churches have given us different experiences. Today, we were talking about the polity, or government, of the church. This is a topic that I honestly didn't even pay attention to until I was called into ministry. We talked about deacons, elders, committees, senior pastors, the whole bit.

At FBC Rockport, we have multiple ministers, deacons, committees, and of course, the congregation. After hearing the experiences of the other students in my class, I was reminded how blessed and thankful I am. I heard stories of abuses of power by the head pastor, abuse by the head pastor, hatred from the congregation towards a number of different ministers, and it just left me shocked. I'm so thankful for a loving church family. I'm thankful for a head pastor that deeply cares about his church congregation. I'm thankful for a head pastor that tells us the Word of God whether we want to hear it or not; whether it's easy to hear or not. I'm thankful for a church family that has always supported me, prayed for me, and loved me for who I am. I'm thankful for my church obeying Christ by sending out members on multiple mission trips. I'm so thankful.

In a number of my Child and Family Studies classes, we get into some deep topics. I hear stories from students that involve abuse, tragedy, hatred, sorrow, and disappointment from their parents. I'm constantly reminded of how thankful I am for my family. I have a family that unconditionally loves me. I have parents that support my actions and show me a glimpse of Christs' love for His children. I grew up in a household absent of hate, abuse, and violence. I'm so so so thankful for that. I hear classmates talk about siblings that don't talk anymore or parents that have caused them to not believe in love. I'm so thankful for awesome siblings. I'm so thankful for a family that has showed me how to live out my faith. How to show people love. How to truly trust in Christ in every situation. I'm so thankful. I'm so blessed.

I don't want this post to come off as bragging because I'm definitely not. I'm simply putting into words how awesome God is. I'm stating how undeserving of this I am, yet He gives me so much. He gives me more than I could ever ask for and I'm so thankful. 

Spring Semester

I've officially been to all of my classes and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about my classes! I say that now, but ask me in 2 months, and I might have a different answer. So here's all you'll want to know about my classes this semester...

Nutrition

I'm not too terribly excited about this class but I'm also not dreading it. The teacher seems really nice as most of them are in the Family and Consumer Science department. Embarrassing story time. On the first day of class, I went into the room, sat down, got my binder out, and then realized I was in the wrong class. I'm a junior, people!! I should not be going to the wrong room anymore! So once I got to the right room (on time, actually!), I was able to actually get a feel for the class. 

Introduction to Ministry

I already LOVE this class. First off, there's only 13 of us in the class which is always great. Then, instead of desks, we sit around a big round table in comfy chairs. Then, my professor told us that he is going to take our class out to dinner(and pay!) in the next month so he can get to know us all outside of the classroom setting. How awesome is that?! I absolutely love Baylor professors. In the class, we get paired up with a minister in town that goes along with the ministry we are going into. For that internship, we spend 3-4 hours a week with that minister getting hands on experience in that field. Super excited about it!

British Literature

Bleh. Not my thang. However, the professor seems super nice and he's very passionate about the subject. I can tell that he desperately wants us to love the literature just like he does. Still. Bleh.

Child and Family Policy and Advocacy

This class is for my Child and Family Studies major so I already love it. I love the professor and I love how he runs class. He's very laid back and really wants us to learn the material and be passionate about it. As a class, we also get to take a trip to Austin for a conference on Family Relations. And we get to track a bill throughout the semester to see the whole process. I think it'll be super interesting! 

Family Stress, Transition, and Resilience

I'm super excited about this class! The professor that teaches it is my adviser and I've had her many times before and I absolutely love her. Once again, it's a Child and Family Studies class so I'm already in love. The class is very open and there's a lot of discussion so I think it'll be really interesting.

In case you weren't aware, it's stinkin cold up here. Not just like chilly, but painfully and miserably cold. I was walking to class today at 12:30 and the wind blew ice out of the tree and onto my face. Umm excuse me, I grew up in South Texas, this girl is not used to this cold nonsense. 

By Our Love

Brothers, let us come together 

Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done...

We will come reaching, out from our comforts

And they will know us by our love...

Sisters, we were made for kindness

We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us...

We will come reaching, with a song of healing...

And they will know us by our love!

The time is now

Come Church arise...

Love with His hands

See with His eyes...

Bind it around you,

Let it never leave you,

And they will know us by our love...

Children, You are hope for justice,

Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above

You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,

And they will know you by your love! 

Christmas, Passion, Back to School

I'm gonna start off by saying that there is absolutely no way that I can possibly put into words everything that has happened over the past few weeks. I feel like my break was only one week long but it also feels like I've been out of school for so long! 

We'll talk about Christmas first. Joey and Courtney got to come home for Christmas which is always very nice. Unfortunately, Justin didn't get to come because he had to work. Now that we're older, I love the time that we all get to spend together. I'm not quite sure I like this whole "growing up" business, though. I miss my siblings too much! Anywho, my grandpa was able to come home on Christmas Eve which was definitely an answer to prayer! It's been a difficult few weeks getting him settled at home and making sure he behaves, but I think things have finally stayed positive for a few weeks and there is an end to his injury at last! He was even able to come to Sunday School on Sunday and I know that being back in church just made him so happy. He's been missing his church family like crazy so I'm glad he's finally able to go back. Christmas included lots and lots of family, food, laughter, and Jesus! Just how it should be, right?

A week after Christmas, 22 of us loaded into vans and started the 16 hour drive to Atlanta, Georgia for Passion 2013. People keep asking me how Passion was and I just keep telling them it was awesome but I honestly have no idea what to tell them. I'll try my best to explain it so you can understand a glimpse of how awesome it was. First off, it was very encouraging. People describe my generation as lazy, self-centered, and rude. I spent 4 days with 60,000 young adults that would prove that wrong. I think it's hard to comprehend just how crazy 60,000 people is. To be in a stadium with 60,000 people worshiping Christ was an experience I will never forget. It was so encouraging to see all those people and know they are in love with Christ and that even after Passion, they will go out and set the world on fire with His love. 

God always does some pretty awesome things during Passion, and let me tell you, He definitely didn't disappoint this year. I mean, with 60,000 people desiring to know God more, Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, John Piper, Lecrae, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Kristian Stanfill, how could things not be awesome? For me, God showed me how I need to give more to Him. More time, more love, more energy, more trust, and more faith. He does SO much for me and He deserves so much, yet I give him so little. So that's what God put on my heart. Ask other people that went and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to tell you about their experience. I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend 4 days in Atlanta and 32 hours on a van with. We all got really close and we're ready to make a difference. 

Also at Passion, we learned about slavery in the world today. Right now there are 27 million enslaved people around the world. That's just crazy. These slaves include children as young as preschool, which is very hard to understand. At Passion, we raised $3,170,000 for human slavery. To learn more about it, go to enditmovement.com. Plus, watch this video:

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/01/08/exp-passion-movement.cnn.html

I could've (and probably should've) taken a million pictures while we were in Atlanta, but these are just a few of the ones I had. 

 This is my awesome family group. Out of the 60,00 people, you split into Community Groups based on the color you are assigned. After that, you're placed in a family group of 8-10 people that you've never met before. You end up sharing things with them that you normally wouldn't share and it's just really awesome. 

So that's the very short version of Passion! I leave to go back to Waco tomorow and I'm still not packed. It'll be nice to be back in Waco, but it's always very hard for me to leave Rockport after I've had a long break. However, I am excited for this semester and everything that is happening!