Hey everyone so this past week was my last week of my internship this summer. It has been such an awesome summer and I thank all of you for your financial support and prayer support that helped make it all happen.
This week was similar to all the other weeks. I was able to meet up with Don (the finance guy) twice. I was also able to complete a document for him that was asked of me. It was an excel document showing certain characteristics of the PNC banks around us, which is the bank that we use for Charis' checking/saving, etc.
I also was able to meet up with my pastor again this week and talk about the summer, be able to explain how my New York mission trip was. I was also able to talk about some things God has really been putting on my heart and Jon (Pastor) was able to encourage me and voice to me what he thought. This past week has been a big week for me in seeing where God has called me in the future. Something I had been praying about a lot recently to just have confirmation in what I am suppose to do in the future. It has been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and I am excited for things to unfold as the years go by.
I am now home in Gurnee for 4 or 5 days and was already able to hang out with some friends of mine last night. I will be heading to my accountability group tonight and able to talk to them about how the summer has been for me and how God has grown in my life. I look forward to the week ahead at home, and will be moving into ISU this Saturday August 4th. This is early because I will be there for RA training for this year.
I look forward to being able to be an RA to students on my floor and seeing how God will work through me to use this opportunity as a ministry to guys specifically.
Thank you again for all of you who have help aid in this great opportunity I have had this summer, and I look forward to talking to many of you in person within the next months about it as well.
God Bless
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Long time no update!!!
Hi everyone! I am finally back from being on a mission trip in New York City the past week.
What an amazing experience it was. So many things to talk about, obviously it was great to be able to visit NYC for the first time ever. Being a Chicago guy I have always wanted to visit NYC so that I could say with some credibility that Chicago is better...needless to say that statement is definitely true haha.
This week I was able to help the organization Spreadtruth Ministries behind the scenes and in anyway possible while at NYC.
I drove up 2 Thursdays ago with two guys in a 26 foot Penske truck to bring all the equipment, supplies, food, etc. for the trip. A long 18 hours but a fun ride all the way out there.
For the mission trip there were many areas that you could take part in. We had soccer camps, basketball camps, and Vacation Bible School at the Brooklyn Tabernacle for tons of children. The part that I participated in was the streets and parks section of the trip that was for anyone that wanted to be trained in "The Story" which is a track type little book that talks about the Story of God (creation, fall, rescue, restoration). Then you go out the rest of the days of the week and alternate between doing prayer stations and going to parks for evangelism. The prayer stations consisted of us putting up a signed area at a corner of a certain intersection and we also wore big red smocks (very trendy haha). We had bibles, "The Story" booklet, free bracelets, church listings for the area, and much more. We would basically just have ourselves free to pray for anyone on the street that needed prayer. In some areas it was as simple as prayer for safety throughout the day that people wanted, or prayer for a job was very common. They were prayer stations but this was also a time for us to be able to not only pray for them but also take that opportunity to tell these people about the Gospel.
The other side of this section was being in the parks for evangelism. We would go out to various parks throughout the week and have resources with us again to facilitate us. It was just a great chance to have conversations with people in the park and get to know them more. Being from the Chicago area, the people were usually really interested in talking to me and letting me know certain places to go to in NYC while I was here. I was able to see where they had come from in life and also eventually be able to talk with them about why I was in NYC and eventually use these conversations to proclaim the Gospel to them. The types of people that I was able to come in contact with was crazy. Was able to talk with a couple visiting from Holland, a man from England that has lived in NYC for 20 years, all the way to a doped up druggy. The amazing thing was the love that God showed through me was the same for all of them, because I was being driven by the Holy Spirit to just tell them about the good news and the great story that God has the grace to put us in!
The second to last day that I was out on the trip we had a prayer station at "The Hub" which was an intersection of like 5 streets, and it was packed with people all over the place. That day was the day I was able to experience Christ using me as a vessel for his word to the point where two people received Christ as their savior. Praise God! A kid that is a little under a year younger than me who had never really heard the Gospel and was just eager to hear more about it and a 40 year old lady that was just broken in her life and knew that there was something that she was yearning for and that was salvation through Christ alone. That day was such a humbling experience to be able to take part in that type of step in someones life and being used by God in such a way is just unbelievable. I think to myself how all these things we have around us and the air we breath every second we do not even deserve being wicked sinful people that we are. But praise God for his unbelievable Grace and Mercy that he has for us new every day, and specifically the Grace he has to work through us, week and broken vessels for Christ's glory.
There was also the tourist side of the trip which seems so little though compared to how Christ used me this week and what he showed me. I was able to see Time Square and also Mary Poppins on Broadway. Went to plenty of good places to eat, along with eating twice in little Italy which was amazing.
Another amazing thing this week was being able to meet so many new people from all over. I was able to meet people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, etc. and all of them there with the same purpose to give God all the glory.
Needless to say this trip was all around an awesome trip. I cannot wait till next year to go again and also just this next year to be able to use what I learned and what God showed me on this trip to go and further His kingdom right here in Normal, IL or back home in Gurnee, IL.
This next week is the last week of my internship and I look forward to updating my blog one more time for you all.
God Bless!
What an amazing experience it was. So many things to talk about, obviously it was great to be able to visit NYC for the first time ever. Being a Chicago guy I have always wanted to visit NYC so that I could say with some credibility that Chicago is better...needless to say that statement is definitely true haha.
This week I was able to help the organization Spreadtruth Ministries behind the scenes and in anyway possible while at NYC.
I drove up 2 Thursdays ago with two guys in a 26 foot Penske truck to bring all the equipment, supplies, food, etc. for the trip. A long 18 hours but a fun ride all the way out there.
For the mission trip there were many areas that you could take part in. We had soccer camps, basketball camps, and Vacation Bible School at the Brooklyn Tabernacle for tons of children. The part that I participated in was the streets and parks section of the trip that was for anyone that wanted to be trained in "The Story" which is a track type little book that talks about the Story of God (creation, fall, rescue, restoration). Then you go out the rest of the days of the week and alternate between doing prayer stations and going to parks for evangelism. The prayer stations consisted of us putting up a signed area at a corner of a certain intersection and we also wore big red smocks (very trendy haha). We had bibles, "The Story" booklet, free bracelets, church listings for the area, and much more. We would basically just have ourselves free to pray for anyone on the street that needed prayer. In some areas it was as simple as prayer for safety throughout the day that people wanted, or prayer for a job was very common. They were prayer stations but this was also a time for us to be able to not only pray for them but also take that opportunity to tell these people about the Gospel.
The other side of this section was being in the parks for evangelism. We would go out to various parks throughout the week and have resources with us again to facilitate us. It was just a great chance to have conversations with people in the park and get to know them more. Being from the Chicago area, the people were usually really interested in talking to me and letting me know certain places to go to in NYC while I was here. I was able to see where they had come from in life and also eventually be able to talk with them about why I was in NYC and eventually use these conversations to proclaim the Gospel to them. The types of people that I was able to come in contact with was crazy. Was able to talk with a couple visiting from Holland, a man from England that has lived in NYC for 20 years, all the way to a doped up druggy. The amazing thing was the love that God showed through me was the same for all of them, because I was being driven by the Holy Spirit to just tell them about the good news and the great story that God has the grace to put us in!
The second to last day that I was out on the trip we had a prayer station at "The Hub" which was an intersection of like 5 streets, and it was packed with people all over the place. That day was the day I was able to experience Christ using me as a vessel for his word to the point where two people received Christ as their savior. Praise God! A kid that is a little under a year younger than me who had never really heard the Gospel and was just eager to hear more about it and a 40 year old lady that was just broken in her life and knew that there was something that she was yearning for and that was salvation through Christ alone. That day was such a humbling experience to be able to take part in that type of step in someones life and being used by God in such a way is just unbelievable. I think to myself how all these things we have around us and the air we breath every second we do not even deserve being wicked sinful people that we are. But praise God for his unbelievable Grace and Mercy that he has for us new every day, and specifically the Grace he has to work through us, week and broken vessels for Christ's glory.
There was also the tourist side of the trip which seems so little though compared to how Christ used me this week and what he showed me. I was able to see Time Square and also Mary Poppins on Broadway. Went to plenty of good places to eat, along with eating twice in little Italy which was amazing.
Another amazing thing this week was being able to meet so many new people from all over. I was able to meet people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, etc. and all of them there with the same purpose to give God all the glory.
Needless to say this trip was all around an awesome trip. I cannot wait till next year to go again and also just this next year to be able to use what I learned and what God showed me on this trip to go and further His kingdom right here in Normal, IL or back home in Gurnee, IL.
This next week is the last week of my internship and I look forward to updating my blog one more time for you all.
God Bless!
Monday, July 9, 2012
It's been a long time!
Long time no see everyone!!!
I am finally back from being all over the place the last two weeks. From Tennessee back to Illinois, then to Kansas and back to Illinois finally. Needless to say though, it was a great time!
The first week I was on a family trip/reunion with my Dad's side of the family and we were in a giant mansion in Gatlinburg Tennessee. We had 32 adults and kids there!!! It was crazy but awesome. So much praise for the trip and great encouragement from relatives.
I then came back to Normal Monday the 2nd of July to do finance material that night for about 4-5 hours. This time I was able to create the monthly emails for all the elders via quickbooks, and excel worksheets. It was all learning new things but I enjoyed being able to understand how all of it worked and gaining that knowledge. Before finance I was able to have another 5 hour study time at the Fusion Brew/coffee and tea place down here to hash out some more notes for my Colossians study notes for my pastor.
The next day I drove back home for the 4th, because the next morning me and two of my friends left at 6 in the morning for a 12/13 hour trip down to Kansas for one of my best friends weddings. Driving through Kansas was the same thing for hours...and hours. But we eventually arrived to our friend Mike's place and it was so great being able to see him after 3 years of absence. We were able to catch up on things and most importantly at the end of the week we were able join in celebration with him for his marriage. It was such a fun day! One great thing to was being able to see how my friend has matured as an adult in action and in scripture the past 5-6 years since he left Gurnee.
But now I am back and excited to be back! Just last night I went to Fuel, a college ministry at a church here in Normal. I was privileged to see a guy I know speak last night that I had not heard speak before, which was great.
Now I do not know if I will be updating this next Monday, because I will be in New York City for the mission trip I am taking part in. I do not know if bringing my laptop is something that is okay to do or not, so if I do not update it next week it will be update the monday after that no matter what.
I would also like to add that I was able to raise the amount I needed for the mission trip specifically a couple of weeks ago. That was my main cost I was having faith in God through you all to provide for me. Now the money that comes in will be my payment for the internship, and living costs for down here. Whatever that happens to come to I am going to be grateful for no matter what, because of the awesome opportunity I was able to get this summer and the fact that you, as friends and family, are willing to support throughout this summer in pay or prayer. Thank you!
Bye everyone!
I am finally back from being all over the place the last two weeks. From Tennessee back to Illinois, then to Kansas and back to Illinois finally. Needless to say though, it was a great time!
The first week I was on a family trip/reunion with my Dad's side of the family and we were in a giant mansion in Gatlinburg Tennessee. We had 32 adults and kids there!!! It was crazy but awesome. So much praise for the trip and great encouragement from relatives.
I then came back to Normal Monday the 2nd of July to do finance material that night for about 4-5 hours. This time I was able to create the monthly emails for all the elders via quickbooks, and excel worksheets. It was all learning new things but I enjoyed being able to understand how all of it worked and gaining that knowledge. Before finance I was able to have another 5 hour study time at the Fusion Brew/coffee and tea place down here to hash out some more notes for my Colossians study notes for my pastor.
The next day I drove back home for the 4th, because the next morning me and two of my friends left at 6 in the morning for a 12/13 hour trip down to Kansas for one of my best friends weddings. Driving through Kansas was the same thing for hours...and hours. But we eventually arrived to our friend Mike's place and it was so great being able to see him after 3 years of absence. We were able to catch up on things and most importantly at the end of the week we were able join in celebration with him for his marriage. It was such a fun day! One great thing to was being able to see how my friend has matured as an adult in action and in scripture the past 5-6 years since he left Gurnee.
But now I am back and excited to be back! Just last night I went to Fuel, a college ministry at a church here in Normal. I was privileged to see a guy I know speak last night that I had not heard speak before, which was great.
Now I do not know if I will be updating this next Monday, because I will be in New York City for the mission trip I am taking part in. I do not know if bringing my laptop is something that is okay to do or not, so if I do not update it next week it will be update the monday after that no matter what.
I would also like to add that I was able to raise the amount I needed for the mission trip specifically a couple of weeks ago. That was my main cost I was having faith in God through you all to provide for me. Now the money that comes in will be my payment for the internship, and living costs for down here. Whatever that happens to come to I am going to be grateful for no matter what, because of the awesome opportunity I was able to get this summer and the fact that you, as friends and family, are willing to support throughout this summer in pay or prayer. Thank you!
Bye everyone!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
6/11 - 6/20
Hey everybody so sorry for the delay. I was in a place with no internet and I also had food poisoning or the flu the last 3 days which has made it difficult to do much.
Otherwise this week has been kind of jumbled together since being sick, so this one might be a little shorter than usual. The beginning of the week was the same old stuff with getting up and chillin at a coffee place of some sort and reading and doing studying for my Pastor. Finance related stuff in the beginning of the week was great and I was able to continue to look further into the monthly processes that Charis has. Through this I will be able to update the last 2 months of there financial statements, etc. Might sound boring but I am looking forward to it!
This week I was able to get up in the morning and do something physical, which is something I am trying to get in the habit of being that I am not doing any sports right now. I have been getting up with the mornings and meeting up with a kid I know pretty well now, which has been great to try and get to know him better on a personal level. Trying to gain this friendship to further dig into his life and relationship with Christ and be as much of a mentor that I can be for this guy and also learn from him.
I met up with another elder/pastors from my church this week, Craig Stimpert. I joined him for lunch at Potbelly and was able to talk with him about things going on in his life and mine. He was able to pour into me through the conversation, but also I was able to give him insight on certain questions just from talking to him about my upbringing and such. It was a great time of fellowship and great time of personal talk to be able to know Craig on a different level while also being able to show him my life story. Two days after this I met up at the same place with my lead teaching pastor Jon Bricker again and we were able have a long talk about his chance to share the gospel this last week at a wedding he was doing. We were also able to talk more in depth about the book we are going through, and with that it led to some really great, edifying theological talks that had me challenged and thinking through.
This past weekend was a fun weekend for me, in that my best friend from back home came down and we went camping. It was such a blessing to have him come down and hang out with. We had so much great conversation involving the Gospel and how it looks in our lives right now and really just tried to challenge each other in leadership and understanding where we are in life. We cooked some awesome food and had some great God time while being out in nature. One of my times of reading we set up my friends hammock over the water and I was able to sit and look out on the lake and forest while reading God's word. Such a great experience and such a humbling experience too.
Sunday my mom was down here and joined me for church and was able to meet the people that God has placed in my life down here this summer. She then stayed till this morning and it could not have been at a more opportune time. We had plans to go places and do stuff, but unfortunately I got sick like I said in the beginning for the whole time she was here. But what better time for my mom to be down here to hang around and watch movies and baby me while being sick down here! haha I was really happy she was able to come down and see how my life is going down here.
Monday night there was a bunch of friends from my floor last year that came down here to move into their apartments, and they ended up having a party thing there. I was able to go over and hang out there for a while and talk to all the guys about what I am doing down here this summer and how gracious God has been towards me in giving me this opportunity.
So this post was delayed as I said and the next post will not be until July 9th! I will be gone for a while on a family trip, that I am looking forward to so much!
Thanks all who are following along with this and I hope everything is going splendid on your side of life!
See ya in a couple weeks!
Otherwise this week has been kind of jumbled together since being sick, so this one might be a little shorter than usual. The beginning of the week was the same old stuff with getting up and chillin at a coffee place of some sort and reading and doing studying for my Pastor. Finance related stuff in the beginning of the week was great and I was able to continue to look further into the monthly processes that Charis has. Through this I will be able to update the last 2 months of there financial statements, etc. Might sound boring but I am looking forward to it!
This week I was able to get up in the morning and do something physical, which is something I am trying to get in the habit of being that I am not doing any sports right now. I have been getting up with the mornings and meeting up with a kid I know pretty well now, which has been great to try and get to know him better on a personal level. Trying to gain this friendship to further dig into his life and relationship with Christ and be as much of a mentor that I can be for this guy and also learn from him.
I met up with another elder/pastors from my church this week, Craig Stimpert. I joined him for lunch at Potbelly and was able to talk with him about things going on in his life and mine. He was able to pour into me through the conversation, but also I was able to give him insight on certain questions just from talking to him about my upbringing and such. It was a great time of fellowship and great time of personal talk to be able to know Craig on a different level while also being able to show him my life story. Two days after this I met up at the same place with my lead teaching pastor Jon Bricker again and we were able have a long talk about his chance to share the gospel this last week at a wedding he was doing. We were also able to talk more in depth about the book we are going through, and with that it led to some really great, edifying theological talks that had me challenged and thinking through.
This past weekend was a fun weekend for me, in that my best friend from back home came down and we went camping. It was such a blessing to have him come down and hang out with. We had so much great conversation involving the Gospel and how it looks in our lives right now and really just tried to challenge each other in leadership and understanding where we are in life. We cooked some awesome food and had some great God time while being out in nature. One of my times of reading we set up my friends hammock over the water and I was able to sit and look out on the lake and forest while reading God's word. Such a great experience and such a humbling experience too.
Sunday my mom was down here and joined me for church and was able to meet the people that God has placed in my life down here this summer. She then stayed till this morning and it could not have been at a more opportune time. We had plans to go places and do stuff, but unfortunately I got sick like I said in the beginning for the whole time she was here. But what better time for my mom to be down here to hang around and watch movies and baby me while being sick down here! haha I was really happy she was able to come down and see how my life is going down here.
Monday night there was a bunch of friends from my floor last year that came down here to move into their apartments, and they ended up having a party thing there. I was able to go over and hang out there for a while and talk to all the guys about what I am doing down here this summer and how gracious God has been towards me in giving me this opportunity.
So this post was delayed as I said and the next post will not be until July 9th! I will be gone for a while on a family trip, that I am looking forward to so much!
Thanks all who are following along with this and I hope everything is going splendid on your side of life!
See ya in a couple weeks!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Week 4! 6/4 - 6/10
So before talking about this week, I would like to thank all of you who have supported me so far financially this summer. I would also like to thank you all for your support through the prayer that God has received regarding this. So far this experience has been great and I owe so much of it to those of you who have supported me and made it possible for this to work out as God intended it to.
The beginning of the week I was able to spend a good amount of time with Don Dahl from State Farm who is the head of the finance portion of my internship. I was able to go through the process of recording all the tithes and offerings for the week again. This time I was able to learn more in depth on the internal control process with the money. From taking the money to a place where we would record it using Quickbooks, to learning the deposit strategy between people to getting the money to the bank. This is another project that I will be taking on slowly but surely, is talking to all the PNC banks in the area and making an excel sheet showing certain credential each bank has for depositing money. Specifically night depositing and what that entails for a non-profit like Charis Community Church.
I was also able to meet up with Don at the end of the week to, again, count and record the tithes and offerings via certain information systems. He then took me into some more bigger picture things with Charis starting with month to month duties through excel and other programs. How they make their financial statements and the comparisons they make in figuring out expectations, profits, losses, etc. (We also jammed out to 80's music while doing it, I hear it helps the brain work better haha)
This week I was able to continue in great fellowship with some of the guys from a college ministry here near campus. One kid specifically I was able to talk with more on a personal level and see where he was at with things, while also sharing my heart in areas of my life. Most importantly I was just able to continually try and reveal the gospel through events going in his life. Conversations like that are always the best conversations to have, and just makes a day end with complete joy with the Lord.
My meeting with Jon one of the pastors this week was an unbelievable time together! We continued to go through the book we are reading together and I was able to talk with him about how God has both worked through the book we are reading and through reading the scriptures to bring great realizations to me. The book is basically about Law and Gospel and the theology behind those. The constant reminder by the author and reiteration that as believers in Christ we are COMPLETELY DEAD to sin! This idea sometimes that we think we cannot get out of a rut of that we are held under certain sin because it is "too strong a temptation" is honestly... baloney! As believers in Christ and therefore sons and daughters of the heavenly father, we have power OVER sin, not the other way around. This constant reminder has been something I have been incorporating in my prayer so much recently to be able to really fully understand the strength that God has imputed to us via the holy spirit, to conquer sin.
This conversation with Jon also lead to great conversation with my accountability partner Mitch regarding Law and Gospel and how we need to see things and how today it is so simple to fall into the area of ignorance when it comes to this teaching.
These next couple Sundays at church (counting this last sunday) I will be watching and learning the video side to the service so that hopefully I will be able to serve the church in that way on some Sundays. I am looking forward to that extra way to serve and having the chance to learn another area of technology that I do not fully know how to work!
Last but not least JD and Amy Bridges are the hosts I am living with this summer and Amy's sister Erin had her second child this week! Praise God for that and all of it going smoothly. Crazy how creative God is when it comes to child birth. I honestly took a second this week and was talking with JD and looked over at was like "wow there is a baby in that stomach". Now that also sounds just like a funny thing to say, but seriously it was just so crazy to me that humans can form a human inside them (well women at least). I looked into it further in that God created Adam in the beginning of the world and then God, with Adam not finding a suitable mate, created Eve. God created them! Do we look at the creation of a child in a woman in the same way? He gave us great blessing that we should be able to make a human which was only his duty in the beginning of time. Wow
Lastly this week I was able to serve Christ by being transportation for a high school kid and his mom to a sport doctor appointment. I was able to get to know them as also fellow Christians and hear about their life as well as tell them about mine and why I am down here for the summer. Concluding with the time with them I dropped the kid off, and used what Christ has really put on my heart this summer with the free time I might have towards this family. I offered to give this young man a ride to other doctor appointments that he was going to be having the next couple weeks. I am so looking forward for this chance to serve and also this chance to disciple this young mind that loves the Lord. I am driving him tonight actually and cannot wait to have that short time to be able to pour into him as much as I can!
Well thank you all for reading about my life in Normal, I will see you all next week! Soli Deo Gloria!
The beginning of the week I was able to spend a good amount of time with Don Dahl from State Farm who is the head of the finance portion of my internship. I was able to go through the process of recording all the tithes and offerings for the week again. This time I was able to learn more in depth on the internal control process with the money. From taking the money to a place where we would record it using Quickbooks, to learning the deposit strategy between people to getting the money to the bank. This is another project that I will be taking on slowly but surely, is talking to all the PNC banks in the area and making an excel sheet showing certain credential each bank has for depositing money. Specifically night depositing and what that entails for a non-profit like Charis Community Church.
I was also able to meet up with Don at the end of the week to, again, count and record the tithes and offerings via certain information systems. He then took me into some more bigger picture things with Charis starting with month to month duties through excel and other programs. How they make their financial statements and the comparisons they make in figuring out expectations, profits, losses, etc. (We also jammed out to 80's music while doing it, I hear it helps the brain work better haha)
This week I was able to continue in great fellowship with some of the guys from a college ministry here near campus. One kid specifically I was able to talk with more on a personal level and see where he was at with things, while also sharing my heart in areas of my life. Most importantly I was just able to continually try and reveal the gospel through events going in his life. Conversations like that are always the best conversations to have, and just makes a day end with complete joy with the Lord.
My meeting with Jon one of the pastors this week was an unbelievable time together! We continued to go through the book we are reading together and I was able to talk with him about how God has both worked through the book we are reading and through reading the scriptures to bring great realizations to me. The book is basically about Law and Gospel and the theology behind those. The constant reminder by the author and reiteration that as believers in Christ we are COMPLETELY DEAD to sin! This idea sometimes that we think we cannot get out of a rut of that we are held under certain sin because it is "too strong a temptation" is honestly... baloney! As believers in Christ and therefore sons and daughters of the heavenly father, we have power OVER sin, not the other way around. This constant reminder has been something I have been incorporating in my prayer so much recently to be able to really fully understand the strength that God has imputed to us via the holy spirit, to conquer sin.
This conversation with Jon also lead to great conversation with my accountability partner Mitch regarding Law and Gospel and how we need to see things and how today it is so simple to fall into the area of ignorance when it comes to this teaching.
These next couple Sundays at church (counting this last sunday) I will be watching and learning the video side to the service so that hopefully I will be able to serve the church in that way on some Sundays. I am looking forward to that extra way to serve and having the chance to learn another area of technology that I do not fully know how to work!
Last but not least JD and Amy Bridges are the hosts I am living with this summer and Amy's sister Erin had her second child this week! Praise God for that and all of it going smoothly. Crazy how creative God is when it comes to child birth. I honestly took a second this week and was talking with JD and looked over at was like "wow there is a baby in that stomach". Now that also sounds just like a funny thing to say, but seriously it was just so crazy to me that humans can form a human inside them (well women at least). I looked into it further in that God created Adam in the beginning of the world and then God, with Adam not finding a suitable mate, created Eve. God created them! Do we look at the creation of a child in a woman in the same way? He gave us great blessing that we should be able to make a human which was only his duty in the beginning of time. Wow
Lastly this week I was able to serve Christ by being transportation for a high school kid and his mom to a sport doctor appointment. I was able to get to know them as also fellow Christians and hear about their life as well as tell them about mine and why I am down here for the summer. Concluding with the time with them I dropped the kid off, and used what Christ has really put on my heart this summer with the free time I might have towards this family. I offered to give this young man a ride to other doctor appointments that he was going to be having the next couple weeks. I am so looking forward for this chance to serve and also this chance to disciple this young mind that loves the Lord. I am driving him tonight actually and cannot wait to have that short time to be able to pour into him as much as I can!
Well thank you all for reading about my life in Normal, I will see you all next week! Soli Deo Gloria!
Monday, June 4, 2012
3rd week! 5/28 - 6/3
This felt like the shortest week ever! The beginning of the week just consisted of more study time for my study in Colossians. It is going great and even though I have been through Colossians a couple times before God is revealing new realizations and convictions for me in my life.
I was able to help serve the leaders of our church for the leader appreciation dinner picnic Monday night, which was awesome to be able to serve the people that help the Church run every sunday. Also just had a great example of being a servant Leader from what the elders/pastors of our church did for the leaders for the picnic. In cooking everything for them and setting up everything so that these leaders could be appreciated and understand how much they mean.
Wednesday was a fellowship/fun day with a couple friends of mine and we were able to go to the Cubs game. And yes if you do not already know that was the game with a walk off 2 run home run. Needless to say it was awesome! Me and my friends on the car ride down and while walking around the city were able to converse about futures and what we have a passion for. For me being in Chicago erupts so many ideas in my head and so much passion for the possible future. I was able to voice my interest in living in Chicago not only in the mind set that I think it is the best City in the world :) but also able to show my love for the urban ministry aspect. When I get done with school I am absolutely content in wherever Christ has me going, right now I do not know what that is for sure but I sure feel a big tug to urban ministry. I see how God works in my life the past 3 years at ISU in the dorms. A gift he has definitely bestowed upon me is the gift of being relational with people and creating friends really easily. God has used this gift in me through the years and really blessing me with the ability to create a bible study on my floor my sophomore year for any guys that just wanted to read the bible and were interested. I was able to get about half the guys on my floor to attend and as far as I know they loved the opportunity to read the bible and have some people explain it to them when it seems to be hard to understand.
I was able to help serve the leaders of our church for the leader appreciation dinner picnic Monday night, which was awesome to be able to serve the people that help the Church run every sunday. Also just had a great example of being a servant Leader from what the elders/pastors of our church did for the leaders for the picnic. In cooking everything for them and setting up everything so that these leaders could be appreciated and understand how much they mean.
Wednesday was a fellowship/fun day with a couple friends of mine and we were able to go to the Cubs game. And yes if you do not already know that was the game with a walk off 2 run home run. Needless to say it was awesome! Me and my friends on the car ride down and while walking around the city were able to converse about futures and what we have a passion for. For me being in Chicago erupts so many ideas in my head and so much passion for the possible future. I was able to voice my interest in living in Chicago not only in the mind set that I think it is the best City in the world :) but also able to show my love for the urban ministry aspect. When I get done with school I am absolutely content in wherever Christ has me going, right now I do not know what that is for sure but I sure feel a big tug to urban ministry. I see how God works in my life the past 3 years at ISU in the dorms. A gift he has definitely bestowed upon me is the gift of being relational with people and creating friends really easily. God has used this gift in me through the years and really blessing me with the ability to create a bible study on my floor my sophomore year for any guys that just wanted to read the bible and were interested. I was able to get about half the guys on my floor to attend and as far as I know they loved the opportunity to read the bible and have some people explain it to them when it seems to be hard to understand.
Seeing God work through me in this way has gotten me so pumped for continual close interaction with guys this next year when I am being an RA. This is the person who is the "head" of the floor for the students and in my eyes the example and possible mentor for guys on the floor. This translates for my want to live in the city because after school I still would want to use the gifts God has given me to the fullest extent. Meaning I want to be in an area of close quarters where there are a lot of people and very close around me. Whether it be the idea of an apartment or row house or whatever I would be able to create plenty relationship with people living right next to me and hopefully be able to pour in their lives and reveal to them the reason why I live and what I live for.
So! The day in Chicago was a great day this week!
The end of the week was mixed with things. I was able to meet new people which I always love. On friday I met up again with my Pastor, Jon. Just before meeting with him at a coffee place near by I ran into 2 friends of mine who are newlyweds! I had not seen them in some time and it was great to be able to catch up with them quickly and see how God was working through them the past year and also to see the evidence of God working through their relationship.
My meeting with Jon was great. We talked about the book that I had just received in the mail and being excited about that. I was also able to really pour out to Jon about convictions and areas of repentance that needed to occur in my life in certain areas. He was able to talk with me and make me realize the Gospel even more through the convictions I have, and through this praise God even more for revealing those sins in my life and not letting them continue on and on.
That same day I met up with another elder from church in regards to the "Charis Kids" program at church. We were able to get to know each other on a more personal basis and converse about the coming up Sunday and the routines they go through in leading the class labeled "Big Kids 2". These kids are around the ages of 8, and when it came to help lead them Sunday it was a great time. Being able to see how younger kids respond when the Gospel is presented to them in the correct way and also in a way brought down to their level was so cool.
Sunday was another great day as always. I setup for Charis again and was able to help with the kids as I previously mentioned. Then was able to help clean up too. Sunday night I attended Fuel, which is a college ministry here in Bloomington/Normal and was able to see a friend of mine preach!!! I had not seen him in a while and heard he had recently become the associate pastor of this ministry so I jumped on the opportunity to see him speak. I was able to catch up with him afterward and talk about him being a newlywed too (Everyones getting hitched now haha)! I was able talk to him about how Christ has been working in my life and he was able to share the same. It was awesome edifying conversation and also just another glimpse of God's crazy work he can do if our faith is fully in him and not in other things that can perish.
I praise God every week for the blessings that he shows me even though I do not deserve the slightest. This week the highlight had to of been seeing my friend up there preaching. Praise God for the miraculous work he can do, it is just unbelievable.
Thanks for reading guys! See ya in a week!
P.S. I was able to attend a black barber shop on Friday too, lets just say ... legendary (thank you for my buddy Isaiah for taking me there)
Monday, May 28, 2012
2nd week (5/21 - 5/27)
This week I was back in Gurnee for half of it and Normal for the last half. From Monday until Wednesday I was back home in Gurnee for jury duty. Though it was sort of an inconvenience to have to drive 2.5 hours north just to attend jury duty it was a great couple days back home. I was able to have a get together with guys that I was not necessarily able to see before I left for the first time back to Normal. Was able to inform them on what I was doing this summer and what my internship looks like. It also was nice that I was able to actually get on a jury for a case so jury duty was not 100% boring! Having a part in someones "fate" (if you want to call it that) is kind of crazy, but I felt me and the rest of the jury did a job well done :)
Wednesday was great even though I spend half of it traveling back to Normal. I was dropped off at the Libertyville train station to take the Metra into Union Station and there is where I would catch the Amtrak back down to Bloomington/Normal. Taking the metro in was great. Not only do I love taking trains but I was able to bask the in the beauty of Chicago, which of course is the best city in the world! Now the Amtrak down to Normal is horrifyingly boring, because it consists of corn fields. When I arrived my accountability partner and brother in Christ, Mitch, picked me up and were able to have lunch and talk about the ways God is working in our lives through our jobs, relationships and whatever else. At night I was able to regroup with my host's at there relatives house for dinner. After dinner consisted of being able to talk with one my hosts who is a pastor of the church and two other guys from Charis Community. We were able to have a great long talk that was just Christ-centered and edifying in its entirety. Being able to grow in Christ through the fellowship of others is so awesome.
As the week continued I was able to meet up with the lead Pastor of my Church. He had assigned me a reading called "The Steward Leader" by Tim Keller (which I recommend for anybody it is short and awesome) and we were able to have conversation about that and also was able to focus on where God is working in amazing ways in my life through growth and also where I see areas of needing improvement. Another great time of edifying awesome conversation!
Thursday night was a night of awesome JOY!!! I was able to be a part in the engagement of a great friend of mine. I could not have been more excited for him and to be able to see a great example of Christ's love in a relationship! That whole night was just continued celebration.
The weekend was full of stuff. I had great study time this weekend and just received the book that me and my lead Pastor, Jon, will be reading for the summer called "The true bounds of Christian freedom". Looks like it will be a great read and plan on it challenging me in many areas of thought and theology.
I was also able to get together with a good buddy of mine and have lunch and be able to see how he was doing in his relationship with Christ and seeing that he is getting married in like 20 days we were able to talk about how that was going as well. This was followed by a get together from a group of people from my church. A couple hosted a "shooting and food" at there home in Funks Grove. First off, I heard the town Funks Grove and thought for sure I was heading into the boonies. Shooting and food can sound misleading but basically it was a time for fellowship, brats, and shooting a shotgun at clay pigeons. Needless to say it was a great time to get to know more people and also dive into some of the culture down here in the middle of no where haha!
Still in the weekend I was able to spontaneously go camping with 2 college guys I met from Charis and one of their fiancé's. We literally traveled maybe 20 minutes away but it turned into woods and you would have had no clue you were still in farm land. Nothing against farm land, but ya farm land is boring. That whole night was an adventure from finding our site to me realizing that even though these guys were from the country they had not a clue to what they needed to do for camping. Luckily I was able to turn on MacGyver mode and get the fires going an such. The best part of the camping experience for me outside of the awesome fellowship with these guys was the nature in front of me. I woke up at the crack of dawn and just watched the sun rise over the lake and dwell in the creation of the Lord.
Then to wrap up this long week was sunday which is one of my busiest days. Left the camp site to go clean up and set up for Charis and had service then helped with the offering (which is part of my finance portion of the internship). Tore down everything for Charis and packed it up again for next sunday. I then was able to go over to Don's house who is the head of the finance part of my internship and I was able to learn what he does every Sunday regarding the offering deposits from the week before and the current week. This part is not very interesting to a lot of people haha but I was able to put the nerdy side of me out and play with numbers :)
This week was a very crazy full week so thanks for reading and being apart of My "Normal" Life!!
Wednesday was great even though I spend half of it traveling back to Normal. I was dropped off at the Libertyville train station to take the Metra into Union Station and there is where I would catch the Amtrak back down to Bloomington/Normal. Taking the metro in was great. Not only do I love taking trains but I was able to bask the in the beauty of Chicago, which of course is the best city in the world! Now the Amtrak down to Normal is horrifyingly boring, because it consists of corn fields. When I arrived my accountability partner and brother in Christ, Mitch, picked me up and were able to have lunch and talk about the ways God is working in our lives through our jobs, relationships and whatever else. At night I was able to regroup with my host's at there relatives house for dinner. After dinner consisted of being able to talk with one my hosts who is a pastor of the church and two other guys from Charis Community. We were able to have a great long talk that was just Christ-centered and edifying in its entirety. Being able to grow in Christ through the fellowship of others is so awesome.
As the week continued I was able to meet up with the lead Pastor of my Church. He had assigned me a reading called "The Steward Leader" by Tim Keller (which I recommend for anybody it is short and awesome) and we were able to have conversation about that and also was able to focus on where God is working in amazing ways in my life through growth and also where I see areas of needing improvement. Another great time of edifying awesome conversation!
Thursday night was a night of awesome JOY!!! I was able to be a part in the engagement of a great friend of mine. I could not have been more excited for him and to be able to see a great example of Christ's love in a relationship! That whole night was just continued celebration.
The weekend was full of stuff. I had great study time this weekend and just received the book that me and my lead Pastor, Jon, will be reading for the summer called "The true bounds of Christian freedom". Looks like it will be a great read and plan on it challenging me in many areas of thought and theology.
I was also able to get together with a good buddy of mine and have lunch and be able to see how he was doing in his relationship with Christ and seeing that he is getting married in like 20 days we were able to talk about how that was going as well. This was followed by a get together from a group of people from my church. A couple hosted a "shooting and food" at there home in Funks Grove. First off, I heard the town Funks Grove and thought for sure I was heading into the boonies. Shooting and food can sound misleading but basically it was a time for fellowship, brats, and shooting a shotgun at clay pigeons. Needless to say it was a great time to get to know more people and also dive into some of the culture down here in the middle of no where haha!
Still in the weekend I was able to spontaneously go camping with 2 college guys I met from Charis and one of their fiancé's. We literally traveled maybe 20 minutes away but it turned into woods and you would have had no clue you were still in farm land. Nothing against farm land, but ya farm land is boring. That whole night was an adventure from finding our site to me realizing that even though these guys were from the country they had not a clue to what they needed to do for camping. Luckily I was able to turn on MacGyver mode and get the fires going an such. The best part of the camping experience for me outside of the awesome fellowship with these guys was the nature in front of me. I woke up at the crack of dawn and just watched the sun rise over the lake and dwell in the creation of the Lord.
Then to wrap up this long week was sunday which is one of my busiest days. Left the camp site to go clean up and set up for Charis and had service then helped with the offering (which is part of my finance portion of the internship). Tore down everything for Charis and packed it up again for next sunday. I then was able to go over to Don's house who is the head of the finance part of my internship and I was able to learn what he does every Sunday regarding the offering deposits from the week before and the current week. This part is not very interesting to a lot of people haha but I was able to put the nerdy side of me out and play with numbers :)
This week was a very crazy full week so thanks for reading and being apart of My "Normal" Life!!
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