Will you consider financially partnering with me by making a tax-deductible, year end gift? Or by joining my monthly support team?  I still need to raise about $600 a month.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Click here to give online.

http://www.vimeo.com/17165834

Winter has come, and has revealed all.

There is now no hiding the awkward, broken forms within. Winter has stripped away the outer mask of concealment, and has left in its wake reminders everywhere of the trauma that once occurred.

In the same way, the whole earth bears the scars of one great traumatic event.  The day sin entered, every living thing was shaken to its core.  Everything broke, and no creature escaped the effects of such violence.  All shall perish, when the brightly colored cloaks of life are exhausted.  All will someday be stripped bear and vulnerable, having nothing left with which to hide the scars.

It can never be as it was.  Just as many of these trees will bear the scars of that great storm to the day they fall to the ground, we all carry within us a broken ugliness that is beyond repair.  Something is sick in the human soul.  Something has been broken since the first entrance of sin.  And try as we might to hide or disguise or forget or ignore it, the blemishes will forever distinguish our lives.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lowly exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice. Rejoice.
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  AMEN.

Proper 29

www.everyethne.org

Several of our USCWM staff will be attending the Third Congress on World Evangelisation in Cape Town, South Africa from  October 16 – 25.  The issues that will be addressed at Lausanne capture the pulse and tension of our global faith. Discussion topics will range from human trafficking to objective truth, from cultural diversity in the body to the prioritiy of unreached people groups.

For more about the conference and it’s historical significance, check out the Lausanne website.  Also, check out this blog from CIU, my alma mater: http://lausanne3.posterous.com/

Here’s my life for the next several months. Editing can be a headache sometimes, but I’ve had a few breakthroughs lately, so right now it’s fun. :)

Yesterday opened a new chapter in my journey.  For the first time in two and a half years, I now have a place that is “mine.”  I moved to an apartment across town with my friend Laura.  I’m so excited, because I think this will really help me feel more settled here in Fayetteville.

I realized recently that in the past 7 years, other than my stay at the Shad’s, I haven’t lived in one place for more than 10 months (with the latest stint racking in a mighty 14 months).  I’ve read statistics that say this is pretty common for people my age to do that.  Maybe I’m just getting old, but it is beginning to wear on me a bit.  I know that God did not create us to be sedentary beings, but I also don’t think he made us to be constantly expecting to leave and never digging in to the places we are.

Anyway, I’m quite excited about the new place.  However, it’s kind of amusing, because I made my entire move in two car loads, and one truck load with a bed that was given to me.  In other words, because of my transient nature in the past several years, I have very little furniture.  It’s such a weird thought to think I might soon have more than my fold-able chair that has traversed the country with me.  :)

Owning things has been something I’ve always had a difficult time with.  I used to feel like having anything was sinful.  I’m slowly realizing, however, that it’s not owning things that is bad, it is when those things own you.  If you hold your possessions with an open hand, I think it’s ok to have them.  God entrusts us with gifts, not to despise them, but to use them.  And so I pray I will use the wonderful gifts He has given me to bless others as well.

So, I have a bit of furniture acquisition ahead of me (gift cards are accepted! ;) ).  It feels kind of grown up (and incredibly domestic…), thinking about buying dressers and desks and bedding and decorating an apartment.  That may be the part I’m most excited about, as I have all these photos I’ve been taking and haven’t had a good means of displaying them.  So, I’m hoping to be able to get some printed and hang them on walls and whatnot.

This post is a bit of rambling, but the point is, after two and a half years of sometimes desperately praying for it, God has blessed me with a fantastic new place to live and a wonderful roommate, and I am grateful for the gift.