Thoughts from Rachel

Here's just some thoughts that I had yesterday, which I posted on my other blog for this summer:

Well, it's confirmed: There is brokenness everywhere I look.

Here are some examples of brokenness that I've encountered since I've been here, but not all of them are from the students; some are from other people I know from back home.
-Sexual abuse
-Divorce
-Shattered dreams
-Physical injury
-Unhealthy relationships
-Death of a loved one
-Watching a loved one slip away
-Feeling like you need to be perfect
-Apathy toward the Lord and others
-Pornography
-Fear of trusting people
-Loneliness
-Confusion about what God is doing
-Not knowing who your real friends are
-Depression
-Anger
-Broken families

...and those are just the ones I could think of on the spot.

Sin literally taints everything. You can't look anywhere in this world and not see some way in which that thing, person, or place has been damaged by sin. Because we live in a place that's fallen, we are not meant to be able to prove God's goodness toward us by using evidence from what we can see. This world does not have more good than evil in it. And if we could make a case for God's goodness based on what we can see, then there would be no need for Jesus. How do we know that God is benevolent towards us? We look to the cross. We look to Jesus. And we see that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We see that when we were dead in our sins, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. We see that He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And because redemption is a reality, we can look to everything that is tainted by sin and see that, in Christ, everything is made beautiful in its time.

Update from Texas

Hello People,


I got Loho's email while I was in Cambodia and completely forgot to update this blog when I got back. But thanks to our good friend Rachel Cohen I am here and only a few months behind schedule. 


Anyways, I will jump right in to an update on my life. My summer has been way busier than I anticipated. It began with a trip to Cambodia and Thailand where I got to see God's Kingdom in a completely different context. It was an amazing trip that I am still working through and would take far to long to cover in detail. So, I will just leave it like that. 


But... Since getting back I have been working full time in a furniture warehouse. Its hard work, but it has allowed me to share the gospel and my own experiences with some rough people that have never met a kid who goes to a christian college. On top of that I have been training for Cross Country and hanging out with old high school friends in my spare time. Lots to do, not a lot of sleep, but still really fun.


This leads me to my prayer requests:


1) That I would make/find time to spend with God to think and pray about next year. With my schedule it has been crazy hard to find even 30 minutes of unplanned down time. 


2) That God would help prepare my heart for next year and the trials and joys that I will experience through being an RA. 


3) Finally, That God would continue to work in my heart and help me embrace every ministry opportunity that presents itself. Whether that is with my family or coworkers or friends. 
Thanks for reading. I am really looking forward to hearing about everyone's summer when we get back. I know the Lord is doing great things in everyone's lives and it will be such a joy to hear all the stories when we are all back together. 


Till then, I will leave you with a verse I read today. I Cor 16:13 "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love." 


Do everything in love,
-A