Chi-town

Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all...

Hello, from...somewhere in the sky between Chicago and Philadelphia!!

I am currently on my way home from the STINT briefing week (although I may be home by the time I'm done writing this) in Chicago with 350 other young men and women who are about to scatter across 37 different countries, all with one purpose...to reach the 110 million college students with the gospel of Jesus!
It was an incredible week to say the least. LOTS of meetings, LOTS of prayer, LOTS of team bonding, and LOTS of emotions.

I went in to the week feeling tired, excited, overwhelmed, and nervous. I left the week with those same emotions, just intensified. However, the main difference is my new confidence in the Lord and the plan He has called me and my team to be a part of.
I'll share with you a few reasons why I'm coming away from this week humbled, joyful, and confident...

At the beginning of the week, the total financial need for our team was $36,000. Today it is around $12,000. In just 6 days the Lord provided exactly what we needed for every person on my team to be hired by Campus Crusade, 4 of us to be at 100% and the remaining 3 to be SO close! Our team has one of the highest financial goals to reach...because of this, when we are asked how we were able to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, we are humbled and have no other option than to give the credit to God.

One thing I was super excited for this week was to finally meet our 7th teammate, John. Most of us had met back in April for our kick-off weekend in Atlanta, but John was not able to come. So after many weekly conference calls, it was so fun to all be together in person as a team!! This week gave us the opportunity to get to know one another (we all did “Strength Finder” which gave us some really good insight to how we might act as a team), to set goals and make plans for the next several months while we're in Paris, and to laugh...A LOT!

It was such a joy to be surrounded by people whose hearts are burdened for people that don't know Jesus and whose hearts break for what breaks God's heart. I long for that and was so inspired and encouraged by that this week.

I'm embarrassed to say that my confidence in the Lord is more often than not very little...yeah, even after He supplied over $50,000 for me in less than 3 months. It's embarrassing how fast I fall back into the sin of believing that I need to take control because I think I know better about my needs than God does. Or, even when God does provide a need that I have, how quickly I give the credit to someone else. However, I am grateful to be in this process of trusting the Lord...it is awesome. It's stretching me, strengthening me, and preparing me to point others to Jesus when they look at my life.

So my personal theme for the week was that I've learned about this amazing sacrifice that gives me a love so amazing and so divine, that it demands my soul, my life, and my all...so, this year (in 5 days!!!), I'm giving my soul, my life, and my all to serve the Lord in Paris.

Anyway, that is just a snippet of what I learned this week...But here are some pictures of my wonderful team and some of the fun we had in Chicago!!


...the windy city






THE BEAN!!



my next post may be from PARIS!!!!...stay posted :)




P.S. Page CXVI led us in worship while at the conference...check them out! Kinda indie...beautiful versions of some classic hymns.