Love God. Love People.: Snapshot of the past month.

How is it that we are entering into our final week of classes here at Ecola tomorrow? My time has flown and with that I have epically failed at blogging. I really have missed this. There is just so much freedom that comes from word vomiting... although the interesting factor about that is ya just never know who is reading.

Anyways...

If by chance you are a regular follower of my blog of ramblings, bless your heart and thank you. And I am sorry I haven't blogged in eternity or maybe just a month...

Life has been going at full speed these days. I have been wanting to blog about the Philippines. The mission trip God allowed me to be a part of over our spring break. I have managed to write a few posts check them out if you haven't or if you want to buuuuut I mean you don't have to. Just in case though... Meet the team. Day 1. Day 2 // Part 1 Day 2 // Part 2 Some day soon I will hopefully be able to reflect on each day.

Until then here is an update on just my life in general...

Classes = Amazing // This term one of the classes I have enjoyed the most was 1 Corinthians taught by Keith Krell. Keith presented us with some great insight and we sure can learn a lot from the church of Corinth. I am sad that the year is coming to a close. To be a sponge for a year soaking up all that this school has to offer has been just lovely. It's like I have taken the year to take a look at the forest of the Word rather than the bark on the trees. One of our teachers this term used that metaphor and I really liked it because it is true. We haven't been able to dig super deep into many of the books in the Bible due to the fact that we only have each class for a week. I mean hey a teacher can only teach so much in 9 hours. Nonetheless God continually blows my mind.
Summer = Check // Plans for the summer seem to be unfolding nicely. I have made the choice to stay here. God has blessed me with a roof over my head for the next few months with a reasonable rent. Annnnd best of all I get to room with a good friend of mine for the summer! Plus, many Ecola peeps will be in the area this summer as well. Hip, hip, hooray! God has provided two jobs for me this summer as well. I will be keeping the job I have had throughout the year and I have started my other job which is why my life seems to be a lil' crazy these days.
Lessons // God has thrown a few curveballs into my life this term. I was definitely caught off guard by them but God has been teaching me so much through them. He has shown me the power of prayer. He has shown me how He truly does know the desires of my heart. He has put specific people into my life at specific times for specific conversations and I am forever grateful for those people. Maybe someday when I have time I will write a post on all this that will better explain.
Outreaches // We wrapped up our outreaches for the year this past week. I was a part of AWANA and Operation Nightwatch (An organization in Portland that loves on the lower income and homeless in the downtown area.) I have never been a part of AWANA until this year. It was fun to hang with lil' four year olds because they are just SO stinkin' cute!!! AWANA days were always long days though because of classes and meetings all day. Operation Nightwatch was quite an experience and challenge for me which I hope to blog about as well. Lets just say I have learned that with God there is no fear like it says in Romans 8:31... What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? And I have also come to the conclusion... People are people and each person has a story which they long to share with someone. I learned more often than not when people open up and share about their life to you it is like you just got a front row seat to the story of their life because they often end up sharing more than you bargained for. I think that is because as they chat with you they seem to be processing their life. Anyways, I should stop. I will elaborate more later on another time in a different blog post.

The AWANA crew.

A rainy day in Portland.

The Grilled Cheese Grill for dinner before outreach.

The Fall // Well I am going to be spending another year here at Ecola. I was accepted into the School of Ministry (SOM). I am looking forward to this opportunity to spend another year studying at Ecola. The SOM is unique that while you are being invested into you get to immediately use what you are learning as you invest into others.
Family // My parents visit this week for a few days for graduation and a lil' getaway for them. I am beyond excited to see them and to take them to some of my favorite spots!
Easter // It was strange not being with family. I was able to go to church with friends as we all celebrated Christ's resurrection which was quite lovely. There was no big Easter dinner buuuut we did go for pizza after church... new tradition? Annnnd there weren't any Easter traditions like an Easter egg hunt... Ohhhh wait there was. Our RA's posted notes on our doors Thursday evening (April 17) saying it wasn't mandatory but they highly encouraged us to come to this unknown event which was going to take place at 6:00 AM... let me repeat that last part 6:00 AM. I am no morning person but I was intrigued. My best friend and I decided to wake up at this ridiculous hour to check out what all the talk was about. Annnd in my opinion it was worth it. The unknown event our RA's presented us gals with was an... EASTER EGG HUNT!!! I LOVE candy! Annnd I LOVE Easter egg hunts as well but I do prefer them at hours that aren't 6:00 AM. But hey it was still a grand time and an unforgettable memory was made.