A Fiery Message of Truth.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. -John 15:4 (NLT)

Those were the days.

I can't tell you why, but there's just something refreshing about closing the internet browser, turning on a High School Musical CD, and opening a blank Word document. I think I love it so much because it reminds of a simpler life I lived in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea. As much as I love the internet, and believe me, it's a great resource, there are times where I get burned out from looking at too many pretty pictures on Pinterest and clicking on blog post after blog post. It just never stops.

I used to hate it when we would have network outages on our centre because that meant no internet or email for an entire Saturday afternoon, but now I realize how refreshing they were. We couldn't sit at a computer all afternoon, but there was a whole ton of other amazing things we could do. We would drive around centre in our beat up, stick shift cars and dirt bikes or we would walk up and down the dusty roads, stopping to smell the beautiful pale purple flowers growing in clumps at the edge of the road.

Some of my friends owned their own horses and they would take them on rides off centre, through the beautiful fields in the surrounding valley. Sometimes we would go down to the river to swim and float on gummies (rubber inner tubes) downstream with the current. After going for a ways, we'd climb out onto the bank and stand there, cold and dripping, letting the warm Southern Hemisphere afternoon sunshine warm us up.

I often found myself grabbing the keys to my guinea pig cage and running outside to the cage. I would fling the door open wide, block the entrance to the outer part, and try to carefully pick up one of my darling piggies. If the attempt was successful, I'd set the guinea pig on my lap, stroke it for a minute or two, and then let it down into the cool grass. That's something I loved about my piggies - I could trust them to run around the yard and not run away. I just had to watch out for the many stray dogs, cats, and hawks who might happen to trot or run or fly by. And if I didn't catch a piggie on the first try, I would have to close the door, wait a few minutes until they want back inside the dark, dry area, and try again. :)

Those were the days. 

Light of the World.

"I am a Redeemer. I redeem all things. I make all things new. Whatever you've lost I will restore. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter what's happened to you. I can take all the hurt, the pain, and the scars. Not only can I heal them, but I can make them count for something."
-God to Stormie Omartian


I shared this quote last May in my post about challenges, and the words make so much more sense now than they ever did before. God can and he wants to take all of the hurt, pain and scars. He wants to heal me and make those scars count for something. 

A past littered with failures and struggles can become an overcoming tide of pain and suffering. As the salt water stings your eyes, you gasp for breath, knowing that every second is a fight to hold on. Waves seem daunting when they're rushing towards us and yet, waves have another purpose, too. They wash us clean. As each of us plays along the beach, our legs kick up the sticky sand and it gets stuck in our wet swimming suits. When we're done building sand castles and burying ourselves in the sand, we scamper to the water's edge and keep moving until it's deep enough to swim, and then we take the plunge, letting our whole bodies be submerged under the salty surf.

Does this remind you of living the Christian life? It does in my mind. The sand reminds me of sin. We enjoy playing in sin for a while, thinking it will offer satisfaction, while all the while it is becoming a great burden. Just as sand gets 'stuck' in all the little pockets and tiny enclosed corners of a bathing suit, sin gets stuck in the most hidden parts of our heart, and so we think that no one will notice that it's there. Even though it's out of sight, others know it exists because we are all sinful, each of us from the time our mothers conceived us in their wombs (Psalm 51:5). And just as sand is composed of a great multitude of infinitesimal grains, so our lives are full of too many sins to count.

But the beauty of the waves washing over us signifies God's forgiveness, mercy and grace, as he removes the sand (sin) from our lives. If we will confess our sins, he'll forgive us and purify us in the waves of his mercy. What an amazing promise that is!

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Waves can be daunting and scary and sometimes they can even kill a person if they become too strong. Although we may be at first terrified of the waves, they are the only way to be cleansed, so we must face them. Whether we are fearful or fearless, the waves will be there. It is better to trust and obey, because fear can cause us to take a step back onto the safety of the shore, where we will once again be made to face pains from the past. While death in and of itself is a horrible, no good thing, the death of one killed for spreading the Gospel brings about many new lives, and so God can bring good from even the most despairing times, even after a death.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives. -John 12:24 (NLT)

Going back to what I first wrote...we all have hurt, pain and scars in our lives and God not only sets us free from them, but also brings good from them. Our past experiences with sin provide us with opportunities to share God's amazing love and forgiveness with others who may be suffering in the same way we have, and who may be desperately longing for encouragement. We can let our light stream through the curtains, dispelling the darkness with the powerful rays of light that God has given us.

Just as there is always another wave waiting to wash us clean of sand in our suits, there is in the same way, waves of God's forgiveness always available for us to swim out to and come clean. Sin entangles us and slows us down, but God's forgiveness sets us free and gives us endurance as we run the race, keeping our eyes on the prize (Hebrews 12:1).

The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations.' -Numbers 14:18 (NLT)

Let's not forget that as Christians, we are light in this dark, sin-filled world. Don't hide your light. Instead, shine it brightly for all to see, so that they will praise God.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” -Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)

Stop and listen to this song, which has been on my heart and mind lately and also fits incredibly well with what I've just said.

Now go and be light to the world!

Valentine's Day Gratefulness.

Have you experienced blessings so great and unexpected that you have to take a step back and just say, "Wow, God! I'm in awe of You and your ways." Today was one of the days for me. I took a step back and thought about everything that God has blessed me with. Which is a lot. 

God has blessed me with countless friends and a wonderful Christian community. I'm so thankful and grateful. My cup overflows.


The little things add up to make a huge difference. I had a splendid day yesterday and today is promising to be good, too. My classes were educational and really good. Intro to Lit ended early so I was able to go to chapel really early and say hi to Pastor Rohm on the way in. After my classes I ended, I trekked over to the SSC (Stevens Student Center) to work on homework, and while I was there, I made a new friend named Hannah. I also got to talk to Katie and Abigail for a while. 


Afterwards, I hurried to Zumba with Mia and even though I wasn't feeling very good, the exercises felt good. We left after half and hour and went to Chuck's (the cafeteria), joining the UCIS (Union of Cedarville International Students) people who were still eating dinner, after waiting in line for what seemed like forever (because the scanners were broken and the students who were working had to write down everyone's ID numbers by hand). Tonight was a special Valentine's Dinner so there was steak (it was Chuck's steak, mind you), raspberry chicken, and chicken strips. The cooks had also made green beans, rolls, and baked potatoes. All of the potatoes were gone when we got up to the line, so we waited for a few minutes and then just gave up since one of the student workers told us we'd to have 15 more minutes. I went to get a raspberry smoothie when I finished eating, which was delicious. Unfortunately, they ran out before Mia could get any. The raspberry smoothies were definitely a hit with Cedarville students!


Caleb arrived a few minutes before everyone but Mia and I left, so we stuck around to hang out with him, and ended up staying in Chucks until 8 pm. We chatted about life, our crazy friends, and food. Mia said that it reminded her of old times, like last spring semester, when Caleb, Mia and I would often eat lunch together and talk for hours on end. Those were good times spent with two wonderful friends. Seriously. God has used Mia and Caleb to teach and grow me beyond what I ever expected or imagined. If you read this, I really appreciate you guys!



Dinner ended, Caleb went off to work to clean up the mess that was left in Chucks and Mia and I headed out to do homework. Well, I didn't hardly get any homework done once I set foot in Willetts, (my dorm), but I did spend time on Facebook talking with several friends and won Valentine's Day cookies through a contest put on by Resound Radio's Monday Night Mayhem. Then to top it off, I received an email saying that my honeybun sent me a cinnabun, which I get to pick up tomorrow. Oh, and did I mention that my RA stuck a Valentine's card and a pack of fake tattoos on my door, Bethany sent me chocolates through the mail, and some angels made cupcakes for everyone in my hall? Wow. I feel so blessed and loved.

Thank you, Jesus. You have given me so much, and the best gift of all is your free gift of salvation! I love You and your Word.

How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. -Psalm 119:103

Psalm 15

Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

Those who refuse to gossip

or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

Those who despise flagrant sinners,

and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,

and keep their promises even when it hurts.

Those who lend money without charging interest,

and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.

Such people will stand firm forever.

My Testimony

I realized that I've never posted my Christian testimony, and since this is a journal of my life, I decided that it was time to share it with you. So here it is!

 I grew up in Papua New Guinea in a Christian home with Christian missionary parents who taught me about Christ from a very early age. When I was 3 years old, I asked my mom to help me pray the prayer of salvation and I initially accepted Christ, but I chose not to live for him until I was 11, when I committed to follow him.

As a young teenager, I delved into a couple of sins that I shouldn’t have and I struggled long and hard to overcome them. It was only when I cried out to Jesus to help me stop that I finally did because he was helping me. I had to surrender my everything to him, and when I did he set me free.

For the majority of my high school years I attended a weekly Bible study with girls from my class. From that Bible study, I gleaned much about Christ and how to live for him. We studied the book of James, Song of Solomon, and a series of different topics which encouraged me to continue deepening my relationship with Christ. I also went to Sunday School and youth group faithfully to be taught by spiritual leaders in the community.

Throughout my teenage years, I was involved in Christian service in several venues. Beginning in 7th grade, I started serving in the church nursery on a monthly basis, looking after babies and children under the age of 3. I also helped look after young children during mission conferences, which took place every other year. In 11th grade, I went with my youth group to do some painting and cleaning at another Christian camp.

When I was in 9th grade, I went on a spiritual retreat with my high school and the theme of the retreat was, "Making Jesus Lord of your Life". Before then, I had only ever thought of Jesus as my Savior and friend, never as the one in charge of my life, but during that retreat, I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life and my perspective changed. I learned that as a Christian, Christ is the one in authority, who I must  trust and obey.

In 11th grade my family took our year long furlough in the US, and the large number of obese people scared me. I was worried that I would become overweight and I struggled with my self worth so I started eating less and in about 5 months, in November, I had lost 10 lbs. My parents didn't realize how underweight I was until May and then they encouraged me to eat more. It was hard, but I started eating more and slowly over time gained the weight back. I hadn't really grasped that my worth is defined by God, who looks at my heart and loves me for who I am and not what I've done, instead of people, who value others based on appearance. It wasn't until I got to college that I really came to understand where true self worth comes from: God.

My first year at Cedarville University was a year of growing and learning how much Christ loves me. I had never really experienced the love of Christ expressed through good friends, but at Cedarville I made friends who loved and accepted me for who I was in Christ, not for what I looked like or could or couldn't do. In the past, I had had a fear of initiating conversations and a fear of not being accepted, but my college friends helped me overcome that with their overwhelming kindness towards me.

Christ also taught me to surrender everything - family, friends, jobs, etc. - to him. My family was halfway around the world in Papua New Guinea so I had to learn how to live without having daily conversations with them or going to them for quick advice to a question. God brought wonderful people into my life to provide for my needs and challenge me in my walk with Christ.

When I went back for my sophomore year, I continued to have an unnatural fear of initiating conversations and asking people some questions because I was afraid of what their response might be, but  I confessed that to Christ and asked him to take it away, which he did.

This past summer, I was a volunteer at my church for Kid Mo, the summer program in grades 1-4. The kids learned weekly Bible verses, watched a short video with a biblical lesson, and prayed together regularly with us leaders. I grew in leaps and bounds as I had to rely on Christ to help me lead and teach the students more about him and his qualities.

Just this year, I have joined a ministry called God's Girls, which reaches out to inner city girls ages 7-12 in a nearby city. We eat dinner with the girls, teach them a Bible lesson, and play games with them every Friday night. It's been a great experience and I'm so glad I can make a difference in the girls' lives! I'm excited to see what Christ has in store for me in regards to service, especially as I believe that God has called me to overseas missions in the near future.

The past several months I’ve been plagued by doubts as I let homework and other meaningless stuff fill my life instead of focusing on my Savior. I was only reading my Bible for a class and glancing at Scripture verses on Facebook but not taking the time to soak in the words of truth. At the end of the semester, I realized how far I had fallen so I confessed my sin to God and asked him to forgive me. God convicted me with his words in John 15:4, which says, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." These days I take time to read my Bible, pray, and diligently seek what God has in store for me every day. In 2012, my heart's desire and sole ambition is to remain in Christ and serve him wholeheartedly.

Pray and Do Not Doubt.

My family usually attends the early 9 am service at our church, Grace, but this Sunday my mom told me I could sleep in and we'd go to the later service at 10:30 am (actually, my parents and brothers had classes to go to then and we went to the 12 pm service, but I went to both services because I wanted to). My friend Bethany saw me looking for someone to sit with and generously offered to let me sit next to her and her boyfriend.

Pastor Jonathan's message hit me square in the heart, like so many others have in a convicting, reviving way. Yesterday his message was taken from John 4-5 and he talked about how we need to ask for healing and being set free from sin. God wants us to talk to him and not just read about him. We ought to be reading about God and talking with others about what he is doing in our lives as well as talking to him personally through prayer. Pastor Jonathan used the Samaritan woman at the well, the officer whose son was very sick, and the paralyzed man by the pool to show how God worked in Bible times and then he shared stories of church members who have been healed miraculously in this day and age to show how God continues to work. 

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” -John 4:13-14

The Samaritan woman didn't realize who Jesus was until he uncovered her past without her telling him and then she was astounded. Jesus told her that he was the Messiah and she went back to her town, telling everyone about Jesus. Many believed in him because of the woman's account. The officer asked Jesus to come and heal his son, but Jesus told him he was healed and to go home. The officer believed and received word before he arrived home that his son was healed. The paralyzed man told Jesus how he had been that way for 38 long years and could never get into the pool to be healed. Jesus immediately said to him, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!" and the man did just that!

*Read the rest of the Samaritan woman and officer's stories here and the paralyzed man's story here.

Often as of late, I have been struggling with knowing why we should pray, but the message just affirmed exactly why we need to. God wants us to seek his help and guidance to overcome in this life. We try and try to set ourselves free on our own strength, but Christ is the only one who can and has already set us free with his death and resurrection. We serve a powerful God!