weekend
Well, another great weekend is almost over! Sadly, they never seem to last quite long enough!
First of all, we had so much fun at the international picnic. There were over 400 attending, and we saw some of them return to class this morning! Here are some pictures with Gloria, Karen, Jane, and Derrick. What a blessing the international ministry is!!
We were talking to some graduate students from Taiwan, and it just broke my heart to hear them talk about how many people that they see every day at school never speak to them. When we asked them if it had been easy to adjust to using English, they said that it has been okay but it would be much easier if they could simply have conversations with the people around them.
They yearn to learn English (that is why they are here!), and they are simply waiting for an opportunity to talk to someone, anyone! The Lord just really (again!) used those students to remind me how easily we all (I especially) get caught up in my own "doings" and pay very little attention to the people around me who are yearning to be loved!
People around us will know we are Christians by our love, and international students (according to the ones we talked to) need/want to be loved/befriended more than anything! Just simply asking them to join you at the library would make their semester, they said.
The Lord also called me to examine my own life this morning as I listened to a guest preacher from New Orleans (who has been displaced to Auburn) talk about Matthew 6:19-24.
Jesus says: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth and rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"
This man has lost everything material that he owned. He left New Orleans with a few necessities and his family, and he went back to nothing. He is now living with his in-laws in Auburn.
Listening to him talk about how impermanent earthly things are really made me see this verse in a new way. Literally, mold has destroyed his home and thieves have taken everything that was worth anything.
That could happen to any of us so easily!
Immediately I was challenged to think about how I invest my time, money, etc... Is it in earthly things, or is it in eternal things? Sadly I must admit that it is often in earthly things that have no eternal value. Things of God and people are what we should be investing our time and money in!
Anyways, enough rambling for one night. Tuco is pawing my lap and dropping his wet, nasty toy at my feet. I think it is time to go play!!
First of all, we had so much fun at the international picnic. There were over 400 attending, and we saw some of them return to class this morning! Here are some pictures with Gloria, Karen, Jane, and Derrick. What a blessing the international ministry is!!
We were talking to some graduate students from Taiwan, and it just broke my heart to hear them talk about how many people that they see every day at school never speak to them. When we asked them if it had been easy to adjust to using English, they said that it has been okay but it would be much easier if they could simply have conversations with the people around them.
They yearn to learn English (that is why they are here!), and they are simply waiting for an opportunity to talk to someone, anyone! The Lord just really (again!) used those students to remind me how easily we all (I especially) get caught up in my own "doings" and pay very little attention to the people around me who are yearning to be loved!
People around us will know we are Christians by our love, and international students (according to the ones we talked to) need/want to be loved/befriended more than anything! Just simply asking them to join you at the library would make their semester, they said.
The Lord also called me to examine my own life this morning as I listened to a guest preacher from New Orleans (who has been displaced to Auburn) talk about Matthew 6:19-24.
Jesus says: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth and rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"
This man has lost everything material that he owned. He left New Orleans with a few necessities and his family, and he went back to nothing. He is now living with his in-laws in Auburn.
Listening to him talk about how impermanent earthly things are really made me see this verse in a new way. Literally, mold has destroyed his home and thieves have taken everything that was worth anything.
That could happen to any of us so easily!
Immediately I was challenged to think about how I invest my time, money, etc... Is it in earthly things, or is it in eternal things? Sadly I must admit that it is often in earthly things that have no eternal value. Things of God and people are what we should be investing our time and money in!
Anyways, enough rambling for one night. Tuco is pawing my lap and dropping his wet, nasty toy at my feet. I think it is time to go play!!