Progresso, Mexico

So this is the promo done for Refined Undignified for our trip to Mexico at the end of April.  I am so excited for this opportunity and Adrian did such a great job of the video! We will be leaving April 29 and be coming back May 17. The organization we will be working with is called C-Quest. If you would like to support me/my team or just want more information about this ministry opportunity for RU please contact me :)

Past and Future

Isn't it funny to think about how you ended up in the spot you are right now? I think so. Today I was thinking about how my life would be drastically different if I had decided to go to Ambrose. Sure, I may ended up with a similar degree but it would have been a divergent journey with other distinct stories and faces. I would probably have grown in my faith but I would not of been in RU, and I would not have the friends I do -except for my Kaleo ones, of course.  And I most certainly would not be typing this post right now in Hillson dorm in my room. It is so strange to think of God's providence in our lives, and how it all works out for what He knows is best for us.
Now, on the opposite side of my past is my future. To me I find it strange that in five years time -no pun intended towards the song with the same title- my life will be substantially different than it is now. Who knows what can happen in such a small span of time.  I wonder if I will be married, if I will be having a 'career', and where I will be living, and that is just five years.  Time passes so quickly as I think that I am in my third year of college already. I remember graduating high school  like it was yesterday! It is almost overwhelming to think of how fleeting time is. We cannot control it and just when we think we have grasped it, we realize we are not in the same moment as we once were.  I will be honest, I do think youth is wasted on the young, and before I know it, I will no longer be 'young'. This may seem depressing but really, it just puts things into perspective.  I do have hope. I think of the verse my class went over today in Pauline Epistles that says, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" 2 Corinthians 4:16-19.  I do have hope for the future because this life is not all that there is -even though sometimes it is hard to see past that. This temporary life is meant to invest in the eternal but also to invest into the Kingdom of God and to further it and thus bringing God the glory He deserves. Before I know it -if God wills me to live to old age- I will be at the end of my momentary life and be filled with age spots, grey hair and wrinkles. That does not mean that life is over. Rather, life is just at it's beginning.

TED Talk: Listening to Shame

This video really relates to what I have gone through this year. I believe that Brene Brown is a Christ-follower but it is so crazy how receptive people are to vulnerability and in all honesty, I think this is one of the things that our society hungers for but do not really realize it. I really liked how My courage and vulnerability came from the Lord though and was not of my own doing.

"If you put shame in a petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment. If you put the shame amount of shame in a petri dish and dowse it with empathy, it can't survive. The two most powerful words when we're in struggle: "me too"."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYV0

Hey everyone!

So I thought I would give a quick update on my life. So right now in RU we are working on our Secrets show, and from what I tell it is going really well. This week we finished two dances and were working on a third. I will be completely honest, some of the moves are pretty sick! Today we have a show in Swift Current, woot woot! Other than that it is school, school and more school -which in all honesty I don't mind, it is just tiring sometimes.

As for prayer, there has been such talk about missions and travelling and feeling that the Lord has called me to say in Canada this summer is kind of hard for me because I have a bad case of wanderlust. What I need prayer though is that next year I am supposed to go on my semester-long internship but if I do RU again well... that won't be able to happen which means I will have to push it off a year which means I might take an extra year to graduate. So prayer that I would be listening to the Lord in what to do next and that I would trust in him. Also be praying that I would be more radically living for Christ.

Fears.

During RU practice last week we talked about the refining that will take place during this semester for ourselves and the team. We also shared our fears with another person on the team and then prayed about it. Lately I feel like in some areas of my like living radically for Christ or not being attached to consumerism or materialism has been in a type of regression since Kaleo. I know I have progressed in others but as per usual, I don't see it. And then even worse, I become scared that I am not growing or won't grow. My fears? I fear that I won't be refined and if and when that time comes I will be too tired or weak to face the trails. I fear that I am not hearing the voice of God for his will in my own life, and what to do next. I fear that I am not trusting my Lord enough. I fear that I don't love him enough. I know these things I cannot do on my own, and much of it has to be the Lord working through me. So if you could please be praying for that, that would be great. Also praying that my faith would have depth that is deeply rooted in Christ and that my identity is found in him and I won't want to try to assimilate to the rest of the world. Pray that I will put my full trust in my Lord and Saviour.

In other news, RU is touring this semester and putting together a show based on our stories -mine included- so please be praying for the ministry that will come through this semester. Thanks!