Love God, Love Your Neighbors

It's a scary day when your little brother turns 18 and is not so little anymore... Happy 18th to my favorite little brother!

So today at church, Mark gave a sermon and the title of it was called 'Romancing the City'. It doesn't have to be the city, it could be your neighborhood, your college campus, your apartment, etc etc. His sermon definitely got my mind churning. One thing he said that really stood out to me was how we as Christians should relate to the city. We shouldn't simply be "in" the city, because that just means we go about what we normally do with our lives, without any affect on the area or the people. We shouldn't be against the city, where there's a divide between sinful and sacred and we're the "sacred" people. We shouldn't be of the city, where no one can tell if there's a difference between us as Christians and everyone else. Instead, we should be for the city. I loved that. For the city, which means that we are active and loving the city, where we make a difference in the lives of the people, and not just for the sake of it, but out of a love for Jesus. Where we believe in it and believe that God can work and do so much in it. One of the biggest ways to be for the city is to listen. To listen to the people and what they really need. Mark told this neat story of these missionaries who went to the slums of India with lots of money. They asked the people there, "What is it you need? We can get you clinics, schools, hospitals, etc. What do you need?" And the people there said they wanted a post office. The missionaries were confused. "What? A post office? Are you sure? But we can get you a hospital! A school!" In India, if an area doesn't have their own post office, their own zip code, then they don't exist on a map. There was no door to the world for them. No one can aid them because no one even knows that they are there. So those missionaries ended up using their money and efforts and got those people a post office. They didn't just fly in there and plop a church down or a clinic. Instead, they listened to the people for what they needed and that ended up meaning more to them than anything else. Mark also talked about Isaiah 58. The Israelites all thought they were doing the right thing, by fasting and marching around somberly to prove it. They asked God, "Why are you not doing anything? Have you not seen us fasting?" And God responds with Isaiah 58:6-12. "Loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free..." [...] "...share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--" [...] "and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday." And this isn't the only place in the Bible where God calls us to care for the poor and the widow, and to love justice. It's in Proverbs over and over again. Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." It's in Micah 6:8. "He has showed you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Today's sermon just really got me thinking about how God has uniquely called me to carry out these passages in my life. I don't know if West Lafayette is considered poor by any means, but whether it is or it isn't, there are definitely places that really need love. I'm sure we don't have to look very far to find hurt, pain, and brokenness. There's always someone who simply needs a listener or someone to stand by them. Maybe that means taking the time to get to know my engineering group outside of class, riding the Citybus just for the sake of having a conversation with someone, engaging in conversation with the cashier at Walmart. And that's on the smaller and more personal scale. In the larger picture, it means romancing the campus. It means loving your campus and not just the "Of course I love you! Look at what I did for you! And if it ever changes, I'll let you know" kind of love (that's not really love...). But really loving the community, being there for the community, and walking alongside it. A challenging question that was asked to the congregation was "If this church was no longer here, would anyone notice?" And on a more personal level, "If you weren't here in this community, would anyone notice?"

Anyway, right now I'm currently trying to figure out how I can do that in Knoxville, even though I am here for only 4 more weeks. And I'm excited to see what God will do through the Campus House community next year. I still don't have all the answers but it's okay, because God laid it down pretty plainly with this:

Matthew 22:36-40

New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 

Hope that all made sense. There's a lot going on in my head that I can't seem to type up clearly... so sorry if it's a jumbled mess! Yup, that's it for now.

Ps. Totally went back to Magiquest. Had an AWESOME time. No shame.

Hello from Knoxville!

Greetings! I am now in Knoxville, TN! My family and I finally arrived on Monday after leaving on our road trip on Saturday. We stopped by Philly, Roanoke (Virginia), and finally Tennessee. It was a really fun three days with my family because we got to see a lot and spend a lot of time together with all four of us. I guess spending time with all four of us is going to be tough now that Tak is finally going off to college. 

So anyway, there have been a lot of changes in so little time. For one, I had to say goodbye to my family, which for some reason, was even more sad/depressing than normal (normal as in when they send me off to college). I think it's because this is my first summer outside of New England, and I won't get to see them until November. No July 4th with my dad (July 4th is his birthday), no July 15th with Tak (that's his birthday), and no August 22nd with my mom (that's her birthday). No more random dinners to Chinatown, or spontaneous trips to Spofford to check up on Tak. Just me, myself, and I in the state of Tennessee... 932 miles away :(

Another major change: I am currently living and working with people that I have known for less than 72 hours. And so far, everyone is great! I was blessed to have two really cool roommates (and a great apartment...) and I loved that the majority of the interns (9 out of 13) are girls who are all really smart and friendly.

Today, I also found out that I am working in the hotline department at Alcoa! (No, I will not be answering phone calls all day). Basically, I get to help/watch the giant slabs of aluminum get rolled into thin 1/4 of an inch sheets. Because of this, I got some PPE (personal protection equipment) which included some safety glasses, ear plugs, an obnoxiously yellow hard hat, and steel toe boots. (And I thought the mechanical engineering shop at Purdue was intense....)

So basically, God has been teaching me a lot, and a lot of that I haven't actually processed through yet. The biggest thing that kept on popping up was pray-- don't worry, which was just what I needed. I was so nervous about meeting/living with people I didn't know, saying goodbye to my family, working in a huge plant with huge machines, driving around Knoxville, etc. But I was just reminded over and over again-- Blair, if you're worrying, that means you're not praying. Which, was a hard lesson to learn. I don't pray as much as I should. And even as a I pray when I'm nervous, it's like a frantic, jumbled up prayer, which I know that God can still understand/hear, but even as I'm praying, I'm still worrying a lot. But slowly and surely, God's showing me that He is faithful, and He always keeps His promises and does what's best for me, even when I frantically pray to Him.

I can't say with 100% certainty that I am excited for what God has in store for me this summer... because to be honest, if there's one thing I learned about the summer, it's that it's not always easy. I know this won't be an easy summer, and I won't pray for one. I just hope and pray that God will change me this summer and mold me into someone who loves Him more than anything and anyone. And, I am praying the same for everyone else, be it a Scandinavian mission trip, camp, Boston internship, research, etc.

God is good, guys! Don't forget that in the chaos of your summer :)

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14 ESV

May in Massachusetts

Hello!

A quick explanation of the title (as if it really needed one...) but basically I am in Massachusetts only for the month of May. Which means that there's only a month for me to enjoy all the Kimballs ice cream I can get my hands on, take the T into Boston as many times as I load my Charlie card, and spend as much time with the people I love as their schedules would allow. The downside of being in Massachusetts for a whole month is that there is a LOT more free time than I hoped for/would ever want. I've probably logged more hours on facebook and pinterest in these past 2 weeks than I have during the academic year.... and I have definitely been spending way too much time and money on Groupon. (But, I have found some pretty sweet deals!) All this empty time and pointless web browsing has got me wishing I was back in West Lafayette working at Greyhouse or something. At least then I would have the convenience of living closer to friends and having more activities to do within walking distance. But gradually I am coming to terms with the fact that God has me in Massachusetts for a reason.

Perhaps that reason is so that I can sit for hours on end in the Java Room reading and reflecting. A book I read last week was Heaven is Real by Todd Burpo cover to cover. I honestly can't remember the last time I had the time to read a book cover to cover and so being able to do it this time was awesome. It was such a good book too! Basically it was about a little boy who goes to heaven during a near-death experience and comes back with an incredible account of heaven. And the craziest part was that his experience lined up with the Bible. I won't ruin the book for you, but the rest of the book is about how his experience in heaven impacted his family. It was a really great reminder to his family (and now to his readers) that heaven really is real and that we have a real hope and a real place that we are going for eternity.

Another book that I've been reading through is Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, a book that Sally gave me but was recommended to me first by Adam. I'm only in chapter 3, but it's been so good so far! One of my favorite parts of chapter 3 was 

We can exaggerate about many things; but we can never exaggerate our obligation to Jesus or the compassionate abundance of the love of Jesus to us.

I just loved this so much! First, because it really helped me to put our devotion to God and Jesus's love for us in perspective. Two, it's so so so humbling to think about because we are so awfully weak and we exaggerate about the pettiest things (okay, maybe I can't speak for everyone.... I exaggerate about the stupidest pettiest things). This just reminds me of how limited our minds and bodies are. That we could even think of the littlest thing as a really big deal. And so it's mindblowing to even try to begin to grasp the fact that we could never ever ever exaggerate God's love for us. No matter how bad we screw up or how bad we think we screw up, there's nothing that Jesus's blood doesn't wash clean. And then to think that we could never exaggerate our devotion to Him! We owe God our blood, sweat, tears, and our very lives and that is just so humbling because that is not an exaggeration.  It's crazy to think that the gruesome deaths the saints had to endure in the Bible is not an extreme. Along with those that choose to give everything up to cross the world and risk their lives to preach the gospel is not an extreme because that is the unadulterated devotion that God requires of us. Our lives, our love, and our devotion to God can never be an exaggeration.

Anyway, there are a lot more thoughts I have on this book, but it's all in the moleskin and if I continue to type it all up, it'll be a ridiculously long summary of the book and I honestly don't know if I would do Tozer any justice. So you should all just read the book :D

Okay this is the end of this post because it's time for dinner. Fun fact: I used the 'shift' key when typing this up. Annnnd...that fact will only be significant to those who know my shameful keyboarding secret.... >.<

Later!

There's a Chipotle in town!

How exciting! Four Corners looks so much less dreary with a Chipotle rather than a Burger King. Anyway, it's good to be home. I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this post... kind of posting for the sake of it.

Since I've been home, I've been to Boston quite a few times. My favorite trips to Boston have actually been when I was alone. Walked around Downtown Crossing, Park street, and discovered some really neat places, two of them being coffee shops. Ever since college, I've turned into a real coffee junkie. It's seriously burning a hole in my wallet... but anyway, there's a cute little coffee shop across from Ufood in between Downtown Crossing and the Commons named 'Common Coffee'. I've only had their chai latte and it was pretty good. Tasted exactly like how I would imagine a chai latte to taste (as you can probably tell, I'm not a very good judge of these things...) So sometimes I use my Purdue debit card in hopes of striking up a conversation with the cashier at various stores/restaurants and so this one time at Common Coffee, it actually worked! Turns out the barista has a friend who went to Purdue, which led to a 5 minute conversation between us and my friend Christina about where we're from, where we go to school, etc. Then, we find out that Barista girl is from Savannah, Georgia! And without thinking about it, I blurted out, "Heyyyy! We're going to Georgia!" Which then led to a conversation about the Passion Conference :) I really didn't find out much about Barista girl, but being able to tell her about Passion was super neat and definitely not an interaction I would have expected to happen with a stranger in Boston

The other coffee place was called 'The Thinking Cup' that Vernon and I randomly decided to go to just because we were 20 minutes early to the Muppets (which, by the way, is an excellent movie). Don't really have much to say about it except that when you walk in, the first and only thing you see is a huge tan curtain so we were thoroughly confused. My immediate thought was that they wanted us to leave. But, turns out they have some direct trade coffee with some countries in Africa. I supported that.

But my favorite place that I have discovered on my solo adventures thus far, would definitely have to be this book shop that I have always walked past but never had the opportunity to actually look at because none of my friends (ie Sarah and Charles..) actually enjoy reading. But oh boy, it was the COOLEST thing ever! Outside in this alleyway, they had brick walls and along the brick walls were shelves and shelves of super cheap books. There were Bibles, maps, encyclopedias, novels, poem anthologies, Chinese/Japanese  novels, and more. And the craziest part-- some of these books dated back to the 1800s! Inside, they had 3 floors. The first two were about the same as the books outside, but probably more expensive. And on the third floor, they had a 'rare books section', and when I walked upstairs to see and touch books that were at least 200 to 300 years old, that literally took my breath away. I don't even know why, I'm not THAT much of a reader, but I guess I do love history. I also found my way to the math/science section and saw books on thermodynamics, analytical mechanics, E/M physics, linear algebra, differential equations from the late 1800s/early 1900s, which I thought was really neat! There were also old newspaper cut outs, posters, hymnals, and huuuuuge Bibles. So I guess it's not so much my love for reading, but my love for history. I love thinking about the endless possibilities of where these books have been, whose hands they've been in, what kind of shelves they've been on. I love imagining what kind of lives these authors lived, the places they've been, what the world looked like from their eyes. And the Bibles! What they meant to the people of the 1700s and the 1800s. Was it more sacred to people then, than it is to people now?

Anyway, aside from my solo adventures in the streets of Boston, I've been spending a decent amount of time at home. Mostly with my dad, since he has these 2 weeks off as well. Recently, I've been reading Radical by David Platt, and I'm only halfway through it, but I'm loving it so far. It's certainly been giving me a lot to think about and it's been very convicting. One thing that stood out to me was that we ask people to 'accept Jesus into their hearts' as if Jesus needs our acceptance... aren't we the ones that need Him? Platt also talks about how we as Americans have turned the command to 'go into the world' into a calling. There's a very big difference between command and calling. Just as we are commanded to love each other as ourselves, we are also commanded to go into the world and proclaim the good news. Man, we need to read this for scaffolding or something (along with Desiring God). :D

I think this post is long enough. I'm at the point where I'm getting distracted by everything and everyone around me. And, I don't even know if I would have the motivation to reread this for myself. But, only a few more days until Passion! Super excited, especially now that logistics are all worked out! (Now I feel ridiculously silly for stressing about all that. People are so incredibly generous :D) I'm really looking forward to what God has in store for us there :) He is good. He is good.

Later!

"Glory's waiting outside your window..."

Lessons to be learned...

1. You are NOT in control of your life.
2. When you don't let your brothers and sisters in Christ help you out, you are robbing them of a chance to demonstrate Christ's love.
3. There are bigger and better things in life than your grades.
4. It's not about the circumstances, it's about your attitude.
5. Jesus loves us so much that he went through pain we could never fathom.

Apparently it took a broken collarbone to realize this. SOML :)

Basketball and Middle Schoolers

So this morning, I had a really humbling experience. Okay, it's not that big of a deal, but reflecting back on what happened, I can't help but smile.

Basically, before camp starts, we let some of the kids just hang around outside or inside. The kids outside were playing basketball and they were all really big 8th graders who are just really good at basketball. There was a decent amount of people outside too. I just happened to be standing off to the side when a kid named Denny says, "Ms. Wong! Take a shot!" (kids call their senior counselors by Ms. or Mr. here). And because I am HORRIBLE at basketball, I said, "Yeah ok.. only if everyone outside closes their eyes" Of course, Denny's friend Shihua overheard and he wanted me to take a shot as well. Soon enough, Macklin joins in and he says, "Everyone freeze! Ms. Wong is going to shoot a basketball!" And of course, Charles joins in and next thing I know, EVERYONE is standing there watching me nervously hold a basketball. (Story of my life?) Tammy even offered to compete against me, but really I think she was trying to encourage me. And, because I have zero confidence, I miss the first two shots and then Tammy shoves me under the hoop pretty much and tells me that there's no way I can miss from there. And she was right, I finally got it in! Everyone was clapping and laughing (with or at me, I couldn't tell). Then, I facepalmed my way out of the basketball court. Haha I couldn't believe that happened, but then I thought about it further. Why was I so bothered by it? I think it was because I went into camp today thinking "I'm the counselor. I have something to offer to these kids." Which, I mean I guess I do. But I never really thought that they could teach me anything or force me to really step outside of my comfort zone. Looking back, it was really cool and encouraging to me that these kids would cheer me on and believe in me! It took something so simple yet so .. uncomfortable to make me feel vulnerable. And it was so humbling! I think from that I learned that my identity shouldn't be in how well I can shoot hoops or what people think of me when I miss. I also learned that middle schoolers can be just as encouraging, if not more than their counselors! Mostly, I realized that we all have something to learn from each other.

Anyway, gotta go. Last day of camp tomorrow!

Project Destiny Update... and More

You can think of this post as two separate halves. Here's the first half:

The first thing I need to do is to write my PD mid-camp update. Steve (director) sent us a template to let us copy and paste, so here it is:

                It has been an exciting camp so far. To recap some of what we’ve done: In the first week, we met our campers and got to know them better. One of the first things that helped small groups bond was the Chinatown Scavenger Hunt field trip, where we looked for frequently unnoticed “landmarks” in the neighborhood and took pictures as a group. On that Friday, we also went to George’s Island in the Boston Harbor Islands to explore the fort, skip some rocks, and enjoy the seaside. In our morning Charting lessons, we put on skits about the life of Abraham and learned about how God has a plan for people, but we sin and want to do things our own way. While it had only been a few days, by the end of that week, it felt like we had been going for a long time.

                The second week went by quickly too. We took a trip to the USS Constitution to see how the navy ran its ships more than 200 years ago. We also went to the New England Aquarium and got to visit a shark and ray touch-tank. That Friday, we took a full day field trip to Overlook Farm, where we got to milk goats and make yarn while learning about sustainable agriculture. During this week for charting, through more Abraham skits and sermons from Genesis,  we learned that even though we turn away from God and leave messes in our lives because of sin, God has mercy on us and comes to rescue us—that is what salvation means.

                By the third week, campers are really comfortable with us. We’ve been continuing to bond over field trips like the Institute of Contemporary Art and whale-watching. It was a little tough on everyone this week because of some of our staff got sick (perhaps a little sicker from being on a boat!) and because of the heat wave that hit us. We tried to stay cool while dealing with new challenges that came from campers being more comfortable with us and planning for big events. Just yesterday, after that whale-watch, some of the counselors from TWR and PD came together to put on an “All Around the World” event where kids built replicas of famous world monuments. We were hoping and praying that this would provide an opportunity for PD kids to integrate into TWR. Please pray for this important continuing goal of our camp.

 So for my own personal updates on Project Destiny. I've certainly been learning a lot through spending time with the girls in my small group and with the team as a whole. The girls in my group are great and there are times where it's harder to be patient, but God's been teaching me some really valuable lessons for community groups next year. He's showing me what it really means to be available and how to just listen and be there for someone.

Another major theme that God has been showing me is discipline. (And here begins the second half). How God allows us to go through really tough times because He loves us. For some reason, Hebrews 12 has been popping up so much it's on the verge of freaky.

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:7-11

Sometimes, I feel as though this entire summer has been one huge discipline (hm for some reason what sounds really awkward, but I hope you're catching my drift). I think I came into this summer thinking it was going to be somewhat easy, especially since I did PD last year. But I was so so so wrong. This has been the hardest summer ever.

I don't know exactly how your summer's been. (Actually, this goes beyond summer too!) Whether tough times are happening now, or if they are to come, we have to realize that God is disciplining us, and not because He just feels like it, but because it's for our good. That we may share in his holiness. He's making us holy and more like Him through these tough times. Isn't that something to look forward to? Like the light at the end of the tunnel? And the thing that should give us hope and perseverance in tough times is that God knows what we are going through-- He knows it's not easy. After all, the writer of Hebrews says that no discipline is pleasant at the time, but painful. But God allows for this because only through discipline will we produce the fruit of righteousness and peace.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm at the place right now where I am at peace with everything that's going on this summer. In fact, I'm still dealing with painful experiences (emotionally and physically), weariness, a horrible attitude (referring to my own), and severe nostalgia. But if I really sit down and reflect (especially on this passage), I have hope and I know that God's letting all of this happen for my good. I can't wait to see how He's changing me and everyone else this summer through not only the good times, but also the really really really hard times as well.

Pastor Enoch always says this thing that I really like. He says that there's a difference between a 'memorable' summer and a 'life-changing' summer. A memorable summer is filled with fun times, good memories that make your heart feel warm and fuzzy. But a life changing summer is one filled not only with the good times, but also with heart ache and painful experiences, but you come out of the summer with more perseverance, peace, and more like Jesus. Which one would you rather have?

Anyway, sorry that was so long! I've been meaning to blog about something for a while. 2.5 more weeks of Project Destiny, 3 weeks until I leave Massachusetts, 3.5 weeks until I arrive back in Indiana, and 4 (?) more weeks until classes start! Time is moving by so fast.

And here is a picture of whales from our whale watching trip on Friday :)

Boston Project Destiny

So yesterday I had a really cool opportunity. I got to visit the Boston Project Ministries in Dorchester, MA! I got to see Esther, Keith, Liz, Nathan, and Meghan! It was really awesome to see how they're doing and what they're up to, especially since I hadn't seen Meghan or Liz in a really long time. I also got to meet the rest of their team which was super fun because they had such a lively, tight-knit, and diverse group. It was so different from what Project Destiny has been like. (Not that PD has been bad!)

Nathan and Meghan!

Keith, their director, let me sit in on their debriefing/prep meeting and we were asked to answer two questions. One of them was "How have you been able to see God's love?" And as I was sitting there, I felt an overwhelming sense of God's love because recently, I had been stuck in a 'PD bubble' where everything and everyone around me was all about PD. But being able to see another ministry and how God is also at work there made me realize how big He is but also how personal He is. It was incredible to see just the way He provides for them and how He carefully handpicked that team in the same way that He picked the PD team. It made me realize that God is such a big God and that He's not limited to what I'm doing this summer. In fact, He's doing work all over-- in Boston, Indiana, Illinois, Jamaica, Haiti.... He loves and cares for all of us, no matter what we're doing, and where we're at. God's love is all around!

Anyway, if you're from CBCGL and you're reading this-- (er, probably not), don't forget to pray for the LYFers this week! Pray that God will change them through this and that they can gain more knowledge on poverty in the city and that they'll really know what it means to serve the poor.

Well, just entered into my second week of PD. Definitely been learning a lot and seeing the ways in which God really provides. More on that at a later time... Thanks for all the support and prayers!

Project Destiny Update

Hi everyone!

So I figured since Project Destiny is taking over so much of my time (and life...) I should do a quick background information blurb on it and a quick update on how it's going.

 Project Destiny is a 5-week day camp based in Chinatown Boston. The purpose of Project Destiny is to glorify God through serving the Chinatown community, bringing campers to know more of Christ, and to offer life-changing urban ministry experience to its staff. During these 5 weeks, not only do we provide really cheap day care for these middle schoolers, we also teach classes, bring them on field trips, play games with them, but most importantly, we get the privilege of getting to know them and loving them!

Camp for the campers officially starts this Tuesday. Up until now, we've been having staff training, learning about things ranging from how to teach a class, how to lead a small group, conflict management, first aid, to where the cleaning supplies are. I have had such a great time getting to know this awesomely talented team. Besides sitting in the basement or 2nd floor of 249, we have also been camping and having a really fun time doing things together. Here are some photos:

And I present to you, ladies and gents, staff camping trip 2011.

The DNA of a strawberry!

The planning team doing/teaching us Thriller (in our not-so intimidating blue polos).

Shopping day with the SC girls!

 Yup. As for prayer requests, please please please continue to pray for our team. We've been living and working together for 2 weeks already. 5.5 more weeks to go! Pray for team unity. Pray that campers will see Christ in the way that we love each other. And lastly, pray that we will trust in God to provide strength for us mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Thank you for all who have been praying for me and supporting me this summer! I can't wait to hear about what He's doing in your lives as well :)

Have a great July 4th weekend! I know I'll be celebrating with fireworks and colonial soldiers.

Ruth

One of my (new) favorite books of the Bible: Ruth. I've been told the story of Ruth many times as a kid, but I never really understood it/gave it much thought. Maybe it was because there was a slight language barrier between the person telling me (Chinese church and Asian adults with heavy Chinese accents..) and/or I just didn't care... but recently I've been reading through Ruth and it was as if I had never read it or heard it before.

I encourage you to take a look at it as well, but I'm going to summarize it anyway. Basically it starts off about a woman named Naomi and her husband and two sons. They had to leave Judah and move to the land of the Moabites because of a famine. However, her husband dies. Then, her two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. But eventually, her sons die as well and Naomi is left alone with her two daughter-in-laws. With nothing left, Naomi decides to return to her homeland of Judah alone. Orpah and Ruth try to convince her to bring them with her, but Naomi insists that they return to their own families and Orpah eventually gives in. Ruth, however, is adamant about staying with Naomi. So Naomi lets her stay and they both return to Judah together. When they reach Judah, Ruth went out into the fields to glean wheat behind the harvesters. Turns out, the field she worked in belonged to Boaz. Boaz showed her extreme kindness. He even elevated her to the status of one of his servant girls because he has heard about her and what she's done for Naomi. When Ruth returned to Naomi that night, she told Naomi all that had happened and Naomi told her that Boaz is their kinsman-redeemer. In chapter 3, Naomi gives Ruth really specific (and kind of strange..) instructions on how to approach Boaz. Boaz offers to be their kinsman-redeemer, even though there may be someone closer to their family than he is. Later on, Boaz gathers 10 elders and asks if the first kinsman-redeemer would like to 'redeem' Naomi's family, but he doesn't. So Boaz is able to redeem her family. In the end, Boaz marries Ruth. And eventually, Ruth becomes the great (x2309843) grandmother of Jesus!

Wow ok, sorry that was kind of long. There is so much in this short book, and so I'm probably only touching the surface of it all, but this is what I got from it when I read it. First, what stood out to me was the contrast between Naomi and Ruth and their reactions to what is going on in their lives. Both of them has led hard lives, no doubt about it. Both of them lost their husbands and are widows. When Naomi and Ruth return to Judah, Naomi tells her people who recognize her, to call her "Mara" which means "bitter" because "the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." I don't know about you, but it seems to me as if Naomi is kind of dwelling on how awful her situation was. But Ruth, Ruth showed Naomi an incredible amount of sacrificial love, in spite of her circumstances. When she was widowed, she could have returned home to her family, to the Moabites, to everything that may have been familiar to her. But instead, she begs of Naomi, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." (1:16-17). I mean, if we think about it, Ruth's situation in life was hard. It seemed like everything was against her-- not only would she have been treated poorly because she was a widow, she could have been harmed because she was a foreigner. What stands out to me is that Ruth actually took refuge in God, rather than becoming bitter at Him! In 2:11, Boaz says to her, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband-- how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" This is crazy to me. Naomi was familiar with the God of Israel, after all she wasn't a pagan. She was from Judah! But Ruth was the one who trusted God, and she was from Moab, which is a land averse to the God of Israel, pagans. Because she trusted God, and took refuge under His wings, God rewarded her way beyond what she could have ever imagined. Boaz comes and redeems and restores Naomi's family by marrying Ruth and through marrying Ruth, God rewards them further because eventually, she becomes the great (x2309843)-grandmother of Jesus, and what an honor that is!

The second thing that stands out to me is "kinsman-redeemer". I don't think I've ever heard of this phrase before, and honestly, it sounded kind of silly to me at first. But basically, a kinsman-redeemer is the closest related male of a family who comes in and restores a family in poverty. For Naomi, her kinsman-redeemer was Boaz. A kinsman-redeemer would restore the family by getting all the property and marrying the widow, who in this case was Ruth. A kinsman-redeemer is kind of like Jesus. Jesus comes in and restores our lives because no matter how much we have, we are in poverty. In fact, not only are we in poverty, but we are in sin... and Jesus comes and restores us to who we were originally created to be!

There's so much more to this book that I don't have time to write/think about, like unconditional love, God's sovereignty, etc etc. But, I think one thing I took from reading this is that even when things get tough, when I feel like I'm being pulled into a rip tide of injustice, when everything and everyone is against me, to trust God and to take refuge under His wings. Because He has a bigger plan for me than I could ever imagine and if I just let Him take control, then He will restore me and make me new. I guess that's also my prayer for this summer. When little middle schoolers prefer wandering off on their own, when my teammates and I don't get along, when I get my finger slammed in a door... I need to remember that God has everything under control, and to trust Him, because who knows what He has in store for me throughout this summer!

Wah, no more time! Have to head back to the dorms now. I hope that wasn't thoroughly confusing... maybe I will add a part two. Who knows. But I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Later!

The Orange Tree

I told some people I would start blogging again, simply because I miss it. Before you read on, know that I am not a very articulate person.. I'm really bad at saying what I mean, so I apologize in advance. Also, just so you are aware, I'm probably going to start off by telling 'Story of my life' stories.. because for some odd reason, I either have a LOT of them, or I'm the only one that's willing to acknowledge and share them. I like to think that they happen so that they can make someone else smile. :)

For those of you who don't know, right now I am currently at a Christian day camp in Chinatown, Boston, which is basically in the inner city. I have the opportunity to serve as a senior counselor this summer. Besides being a teacher and mentor to middle school students, being a senior counselor also means living 24/7 with the other senior counselors and pretty much sharing every meal with them.

So.. two nights ago at dinner, after having spent 72+ hours straight with everyone (of course I was already a bit loopy at this point), we were sitting around just talking about our various colleges. My friend Crystal goes to Syracuse University in upstate New York. Alex, who was a prospective student of Syracuse stated a unique fact about the university-- Syracuse has the only orange tree in the entire state of New York.

Of course, in my mind, because orange is my favorite color, I'm thinking, "Whoa. A tree that's orange." Out loud, that translated into, "How are trees orange!?" Everyone was laughing at me. Apparently they weren't talking about the color, but the fruit.

Story of my life.

But besides sitting around talking about orange trees and laughing at poor Blair, I have learned a lot since being here at Project Destiny. So far it's only been training, which in itself is pretty boring. But slowly and surely I'm getting to know my team better. Everyone here is so freaking talented! The amount of talent on this team is .. incredible and extremely humbling. It's so cool to see how everyone's gifts are well, first off God-given, and how they are used to glorify Him! For example, overall, a majority of the team is musically gifted. It makes me smile to see my teammates get so excited about jamming and playing worship songs simply because it brings them so much joy, which is glorifying to God!

Along with that, it's certainly been humbling because I came into this summer thinking I was okay at piano, but man, these people are good. If I had the same kind of determination and drive as they did, I could maybe be as good as them. The other senior counselor girls have been great as well. Jie Wen is teaching a class on singing and she needed the four of us to help her out with her class by trying out a song. Evangeline and Crystal have extensive experience with choir and Jie Wen just has a good voice. Of course, that leaves little old insecure me... I'm always reluctant to sing when I have to sing seriously. It was humbling because yeah, I had to acknowledge I wasn't a good singer, but they didn't let me stop there. They kept encouraging me and teaching me until I could sing with them and in the end, I was actually having fun taking singing seriously!

Can you believe it's only been day 4? Already at least 1 story of my life, and a life lesson. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for this summer.

Thanks for all your prayers and support! :)

Later,

Blair