I decided to start a blog. I am not sure how often I will update it- probably as often as the Lord prompts me to do so, but I will certainly try to give you some insight into what's going on here in Redding.

This year has been interesting and it’s not quite over. I won’t spend much time here, but I feel as if a recap of what has happened this year is necessary to understand the full picture of these last few weeks. I’ll keep this short. I took my last quarter of classes last fall and started my student teaching in January. I taught 1st and 2nd year Spanish and I loved it!! I had incredible students, great master teachers and plenty of support from friends, family and EWU professors. Time flew by and soon enough the whole thing was over. The timing was perfect and allowed for many incredible travel opportunities. One of those trips being to Bogota, Colombia. Next thing I knew it was June and I was walking across the stage shaking some man’s hand with my "diploma holder" in the other. Summer also came and passed and I was able to make it down to Bogota once again. I totally fell in love with the country, with the people, and with the little girls I had been working with. I thought for sure I would be back, potentially long term…There was only one thing standing in the middle of me packing up and moving down there on the spot- I had been accepted to the Bethel School of Ministry and had planned on spending the year in California (but felt very strong in returning to Colombia shortly after). September came along; I packed up and drove 12 hours down to Redding.

So it's now December and I am sorry it's taken so long to start something like this. However, this is also the first time I've had something to share. So here goes...it may be a little long...I've got a lot to say!

Thanksgiving break wasn’t the easiest week for me, not in the way you are thinking though. I loved being home spending time with family, friends and even picking up a few shifts at Red Robin (I truly never thought I would miss it, but boy was I wrong!!) It wasn't that difficult being away from Bethel, the school, or anything like that. So you ask, what made it so hard? It was a week of growth, stretching, shaking, etc. One thing that I have found being here is how easy it is to begin to identify oneself with the rest of the crowd of Bethelites. Many of the students who are here will become Senior Pastors, Youth Pastors, Children's Pastors, missionaries, and take on other full time Church staff positions. For a short while I saw myself in this same boat. I wanted to be a missionary, I already had the place, it was just a matter of time before I got there. While at home, I realized that I was beginning to identify myself with my classmates, started to look at their goals instead of my own and started to just “go with the flow.” It seemed like a good plan… But it wasn't God's plan for me. So He began to work in my heart, reminding me of my call to be an educator and the plans He has for me. In reminding me of this call He showed me what I needed to lay down and surrender to Him- the first being Bogota. I wasn’t so happy about that one. I truly thought I would be living in Bogota by about this time next year. However, God always has an incredible plan and He started to show me how this all could work out. Being a teacher, everyone knows you get a significant of time off during the summers and He told me that could be my “missionary” time. I could go down and spend some time in the summers to help with the girls and still have a part in their lives. I know that I will be going back to Bogota. The church and the girls in the orphanage down there will always have a place in my heart. I just know that I have been called to be a Spanish teacher; my classroom will be my mission field. It’s exciting to know that I will have an opportunity to transform the lives of my future high school students, simply by loving and honoring them as people! Through this the Lord showed me that I don’t have to be just like everyone else in my class, we are all called to different areas of ministry and not all of them will look alike.

Along with that He also began to work on my character showing me who I am in Christ. So far this year has been about identity and learning who we are in Christ. Learning to see, understand, believe and live like sons and daughters of the Most High King. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how to put this part in to words, all I know is that there is always room to grow, and if it’s not of God I don’t want it in my life. He’ll continue to work on these character issues and each time it will hurt less. It’s like being hung upside down and shaken so that all the junk falls out- it doesn’t feel so good at the time, but when the junk is gone, everything feels much better. It definitely didn’t feel so nice at the time, but now that I can identify what it was He was doing I feel much better!

A few weeks ago one of the Pastors spoke on the topic of becoming great. He said that we (students) have all asked God to make us great, He is answering that cry, and that is why we are all at this school. Jason used the scripture in James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” I am here because I asked God to make me great. At church last night Kris Vallotton said between the promise and the palace is the process. God promised to make me great as soon as I asked Him to. I know we’re on our way to the palace where I will be eternally great, however, it’s in the process where I achieve that greatness. So I’ll keep on this path, choosing to attack whatever comes my way head on. If I go straight for these trials and problems that arise in life, and work my way through them (not try to get out of them sooner than God wants me to) I will come out of these stormy seasons greater than when I went in. Like I said, I want to be great. I want to make a difference in this world, and I won’t settle for anything less than greatness! Jason ended his talk by saying we don’t get to choose the situations we’ll face, we just get to decide the outcome of those situations. The outcome is the only thing we have control over.

So that's what I've got for now. I am sorry it is so long, but like I said I actually have something to share.