[ sunday afternoons... ]

This is our last Sunday in Traverse City! Whoa.

After church today we met the congregation of Redeemer Presbyterian downtown by the bay for a picnic lunch. Laura, Pastor Dan's wife, had bought food for all twenty-some of us! It's such a beautiful day here.

Tomorrow I am speaking at our weekly teaching meeting on 1 Thess. 4:13-5:28 -- really hard but good stuff. I have a lot of work to do yet today but am praying that this preparation time will be a time of treasuring Jesus. It's a much different type of talk than I have given at Muskingum -- not so much topical, but all-text based. It can be a little overwhelming to study the Word -- well -- word-by-word and realize that, in all reality, someone could spend an entire year teaching on 1 Thessalonians! Side note: WOW. Paul loved that church!

Alright, in all honesty, I really do need to get some work done -- that is, after I order a cheap Sprint cell phone off eBay. I was in a hurry to wash my uniform the other day and definitely washed the good ol' cell phone. Oh, well.

Jessie

[ on the bay ]

I really love the local church body that we're communing with this summer in Traverse City.

Most of our group has been attending Redeemer Presbyterian Church, about a ten-minute drive from campus. The congregation has displayed love to our summer project group in a lot of cool ways, including invitations to cook-outs, bonfires, talks over coffee and other time at their homes. Erica, one of the young women on project with me, was baptized in their church service last Sunday morning and their congregation has committed to walking alongside her in her faith journey, though she'll be quite a few hours away at The O.S.U. :)

This evening after our time with the Lord a bunch of us (get this: just us women; all the guys were out sharing downtown and poring (sp.?) over -- another "get this" -- Habbakuk!) went over to the Millwards' beach, out near Old Mission Peninsula. (Old Mission Peninsula is one of the most beautiful parts of GTB, for sure!)

We arrived there around 9 p.m., after making a few wrong turns (I was navigating for Meredith, who was leading a few other cars-full of girls, so go figure!), and walked down to the beach, where there were probably forty or so people of all ages -- lots of kids and older couples, too.

Those who were there from Redeemer were so interested in our mission this summer in Traverse City, and later on in the evening -- beneath the stars and by the bonfire -- we shared stories of what we've seen the Lord do in our midst this summer. Pastor Millward, who is a retired businessman and who was on staff with Youth for Christ for awhile, told us -- so genuinely -- that he and the congregation are proud of what we're doing and that we are an encouragement for their church.

Lauren (far left) shares about Eusef -- see previous blog entry!

He and his wife as well as another couple shared some stories, too -- how they've seen seeds planted and watered -- and the harvest sown. So cool.

At one point we were talking about the need for -- in a few words -- boldness and clarity of the gospel in America, and Pastor Millward mentioned how, at times, it can be discouraging talking to others his age who are apathetic or disinterested in their faith. Afterwards, he mentioned something like, "Our church -- we just can't stop talking about our faith and what Jesus is doing." Before we left they prayed for us and for the remainder of our time here in Traverse City. Really cool.

Tonight was special for me because it helped build in me even more affirmation about the local church and its importance in the life of a believer. I feel like we really were able to worship God tonight with our stories, conversations and time together.

Tomorrow: housekeeping, outreach and a Beach Bums game! Should be fun.

Love you all.

Jessie

[ 100! ]

Sunset at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes -- mid-June(ish) 2007

This is my one-hundredth post!

Apparently the approximately every-day posts last summer added up quickly.

Summer project in Traverse City is really becoming exciting. We're seeing the Lord move on this campus and throughout the city, drawing people to Himself and nudging our group toward more confidence in the gospel of true grace and redemption.

After dinner this evening we had a brief time of Soularium training -- Solarium is an innovative tool developed by Campus Crusade, asking those we share with to choose amongst a group of photo images in response to the following prompts:

• Describes my life right now...
• What I wish were a part of my life...
• Describes God...
• What I've experienced spiritually...
• What I wish were true of my spiritual life/journey

Thus far Solarium has been great for our project. It drives us toward listening -- really listening -- to those we meet, walking alongside them throughout the length of time we talk with them. I especially like Solarium because it is relational and seems to especially resonate well with college-aged students. I am excited to use this at Muskingum with our team there.

Tonight one of the students here at NMC, Eusef, trusted in Christ -- so exciting! Just the other evening he was watching Forrest Gump with our group and this evening Rochelle, Natalie and Lauren had the opportunity to share the gospel with him! Rochelle -- who is one of my roommates and such an amazing young woman -- was encouraged and told me the joy she could see on Eusef's face was incredible. Praise God.

This evening Meredith and I had the opportunity to talk with another NMC student, Jeffrey, who was actually downtown by the bay -- sitting on the top of a picnic table and reading a huge novel. There weren't too many people by the lake this evening, but I had noticed him sitting there and asked Meredith if she wanted to see if he wanted to go through Soularium with us.

He agreed, but immediately was inquisitive beyond Soularium itself -- especially as to why we were in Traverse City and what we believe about general and pretty specific faith issues. He's well-read in religion and social issues, which was exciting to me -- I love interacting with people whose questions demand me to articulate my faith, passions and worldview -- to seek common ground but to be able to stand firm in the gospel and in what Jesus is doing in the lives of others around me and in my own life, too.

We dialogued for about an hour -- everything from Frederick Douglass (no joke!), poetry, poverty, Jesus' teachings, his friendships (in Traverse City, nonetheless!) with Muslims and all sorts of stuff that reminded me of a conversation with one young couple earlier this summer and various extended conversations with friends in Austin.

At one point he looked at me and asked, "So, what is your life going to look like?"

My jaw probably dropped, to be honest, because this has been at the forefront of my mind throughout project, thinking about the year ahead at Muskingum and life beyond that place. I shared with him my hopes of someday living in a city, doing ministry of some sort and living and walking -- in some way -- alongside those whose life is not nearly as "cushy" as my own, taking seriously how Jesus cared -- and cares -- for the weak, defending them and exalting those who humble themselves before Him. He shared his concern with the Church, that so much oppression has been initiated in name of Jesus, and I shared honestly about being bound to this world, sin and the unfortunate reality of hypocrisy amongst messy people leading and journeying with other messy people.

Jeffrey told us that he thinks faith is a beautiful thing, that one could believe in a man who walked on water, turned water into wine and during his temptation said that "...man [cannot] live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). I shared with him what I've been thinking lately about faith itself, that nothing in my limited flesh wants to cry out for One greater than me, and that this faith itself is a gift from God alone. Who, logically, wants to give up control of their life -- to depend on Jesus alone -- without faith itself first being an undeserved gift?

I wrote down a few books for Jeffrey to check out -- some Miller ("A suggestion from a writer to a writer..." -- I'm such a nerd!) and an Anne Lamott book I've never read but think that would be right up his alley. We challenged him to read John's Gospel a few times and gave him our e-mail addresses. I really hope we can see him again in the next two weeks and that some of the guys here can connect with him.

I loved this conversation with Jeffrey. It gave me hope in the power of the gospel -- Jesus Himself, who has transformed lives across the world with His victory over sin and death. This conversation -- which could have lasted into the evening, I'm sure -- urged me forward in trusting God with the years ahead of me, that I can share honestly about my dreams and desires with others. Ones that sometimes seem out of reach when I think in terms of what I would naturally lean toward -- a sort of couch and potato chip faith (which all too often characterizes my walk), but the same dreams and desires that God Himself has inspired, as broken and in-process as I am right now.

The Lord is really using this time in Traverse City to develop me in thinking seriously and acting accordingly to "affectionately [desire]" (1 Thess. 2:8a) those around me to know and experience what God Himself has accomplished through the Cross -- and then to labor in love for them to know the freedom and truth of the gospel.

Alright, I am working in a few hours, so I'd better get going. Can't wait to see you all again, whoever and wherever you are.

Much love,

Jessie

"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." (1 Thess. 2:8)

[ 2-1 ]

Today was my 21st birthday -- a lot of people really made it special for me; thanks! I felt really loved and encouraged today.

Angie and I worked at the Quality Inn from about 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which wasn't so bad. While we were checking out, she paused for a moment and said to our general manager, "Today 'together everyone achieved more!'" You know, the T.E.AM. motto that seems to find its way onto a majority of office walls and workplace bulletin boards. She cracks me up! I love working with her. God's given us the opportunity to have spiritual conversations with most of our co-workers, though we haven't been able to dig deeper into the gospel itself. Time with others is limited -- about twenty minutes at lunch and random times here and there throughout the day. It's been cool, though, to see how the Lord provokes questions in our co-workers. I can begin to see how many times I've failed at being prepared, as Peter describes in his letter to scattered believers throughout Asia Minor, "...to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you," -- with gentleness and reverence. (1 Pt. 3:15)

After work about ten of us girls from project went to B.D.'s Mongolian BBQ -- yum! It was so fun to spend time off campus with them. Angie asked me the same question we asked Holly during her birthday celebration -- how I saw the Lord at work in the past year and my hopes for the upcoming year. I think we should probably ask ourselves that more often, not just on our birthdays. I need daily reverence in aligning my heart's desires with God's activity in the world.

Later on we had an outreach/social event -- board and card games in the basement of West Hall, where we live. A few co-workers from McDonald's came to the event, which was pretty cool. To the left are a few students from project taking time to relax after a long week of work, planning and new-ness. Later on we walked to a local "mom and pop's" ice cream shop and down to Bryant Park for fireworks on the bay -- the ones that wrapped up the Cherry Festival. These were a lot more impressive than the ones on the Fourth... ;)

Tomorrow's a big day: lots of meetings, going out sharing with the women I disciple, planning and hopefully some concentrated time in the Word. With how busy project can be, I've found myself coming to the Lord late-late-late at night, asking Him to restore me through His Word and in prayer. In reality, nothing will be worthwhile if I am not treasuring Christ above all in these last weeks on project. Time is flying by -- unbelievable.

More later, I'm sure. I expect to be continually looking back on project, both now and later, and reaching for the nearest piece of scrap paper to write down something that has made my heart skip a beat, a new idea or thought that has urged me forward to seek Him harder or a fun moment that has made me bend over in laughter.

I love this time -- this place, these people and what God is doing in me and in others here.

Jessie

[ festivities! ]

A random thought: our summer project group has been so goofy lately! I love it.

Tonight we went downtown to West Bay and hung out for awhile, played some volleyball, constructed a sand recliner for our fireworks-viewing, and around 10 p.m. or so watched the fireworks over the bay! They weren't awe-striking, but various bouts of patriotic singing and excited "oohs" and "ahhs" made for a memorable evening. On the two-mile -- but half-hour! -- drive home, our car (Jim, Eric, Kelly and I) talked about our favorite movies, which just felt like a conversation you'd have with old friends or something like that. Really refreshing and needed.

I drank a cup of coffee tonight -- the first cup I've had in maybe three or four months!

I forgot how amazing coffee tastes.

Here's the thing, too: it definitely was 7-Eleven coffee -- typical convenience store coffee in a 16-oz. Styrofoam cup!

Ah, but it was good!

I'm guessing I won't drink a ton of coffee the rest of the summer, but it really does something for a pick-me-up!

Okay, enough about that.

The staff leave this Saturday evening during our mid-project banquet. Insane! Already it's beginning to feel like project is being turned over to us, with new roles posted today and tons of meetings for our ministry teams and leaders. This is an exciting time -- trusting God to give us big-picture vision for project and for next week's day-by-day plans to fall into place quickly. We're busy here, with working four or five days a week at pretty intense jobs and nightly meetings, training and outreaches. Personally, it's been cool to see how the Lord is working in my smaller, moment-by-moment decisions in terms of perspective and priorities. Last week I turned down a few extra opportunities to go into work and last night I slept for nearly twelve hours! This doesn't happen often, for sure. Kelly and I were talking about it today during discipleship, though, and it was encouraging to hear from her that it was probably the way that God could be most glorified in my morning -- not because I was inactive, but because it gave me life for the rest of the afternoon and evening, where I needed to be "on." I think I mentioned this in my last entry, but I really am beginning to realize more and more, especially here on project, that I am only "one girl" -- one who has the same 24-hour days as everyone else and who can no longer suffice on three hours of sleep per night!

Praise God that we are only being called to that which will bring Him the most glory -- which, I'm beginning to understand, doesn't mean running myself so thin that I forget to treasure Jesus above all else rather than people, to-do lists or the world I've often seem to conjure up on my own.

In the last few days when I've read the Word and come across Jesus' declaration of "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28)," I am often brought to this seemingly obvious recognition that He means rest. Not just a deep breath, but rest, because our flesh can only do so much before we just have to cry out in dependency upon Him. To "take [His] yoke upon [us], and learn from [Him]," for in Him we can find "rest for our souls" (Matt. 11:29).

I've found that God brings me to the point of need not so that I wallow in self-pity -- though my mind and heart will go there without Him -- but so that I will understand in that moment not just my urgent need for Him right then and there, but my urgent need for Him all the time. Really, I should seek to be brought to that type of dependency on a daily basis, embracing that for what it's worth: making His name famous.

Ah, what it will mean for Jesus to be moving in our lives and teaching us a seriously-huge, present-tense sort of promise: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)

My heart aches for more of this -- more dependency on my Maker -- as I increasingly realize how messy and ill-equipped I am on my own terms, and how when I bring nothing to the table, He has everything to offer. Sending me -- sending all of us -- out in a messy, ill-equipped world with the gospel message of redemption and serious hope.

Love you all.

Jessie