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Friday, March 27, 2015

Race for Hope

Family and Friends,
 
July 2014 I started an internship with Vision of Hope in Lafayette, IN. VOH is a residential treatment center focused on helping young women overcome life dominating sins through Biblical counseling. I have a front row seat to see girls who come in with self-demeaning attitudes experience God’s love and start loving others. I have been challenged and come to the understanding that this job and anything I do is not about ‘I’. I thought I was being unselfish in my love, but sometimes my actions were motivated by what I could get out of it. I started out looking at my shifts as what I could do to fix problems, but that’s not my job description. I am to point the residents to the Truth in the Bible. In Acts 8, Phillip sat with the eunuch and told him the good news about Jesus. The most loving thing I can do for anyone I come in contact with is to be glorifying God with my life. I have been praying that I could see God in my interactions on shift and not do things for the approval of others. 
Vision of Hope’s program is set up so the girls are supervised throughout the day. I have four shifts a week where I help facilitate class, assign jobs for house cleaning, work meal prep, and answer questions during study hall. The ladies have one hour of counseling a week and then have homework to do to help them grow closer to God. When I am not working I have started volunteering at Faith Church. I help in the counseling department and have learned how to edit sermons. I have learned so much here and have built incredible relationships. I am so thankful to be at Vision of Hope.

One of Vision of Hope's biggest fundraisers is Race for Hope. This race is a 10k run or 5k run/walk around Lafayette. The money raised from Race for Hope will be used to keep the VOH program free and living expenses for the residents affordable. Each staff, intern, and resident will be a team captain. Each of us has a goal of raising $1000.
 
I would like to invite you to join my Race for Hope Team: The Mercy Empowered Givers (MEG). The way you can help me the most is to join my team.  You can come here for the fun event on June 13th, you can walk or run in your area any day or time, or you can even be a “virtual walker” and just ask friends and family to sponsor you online.  The cost to join my team is $25 and you will receive a T-shirt. I would love to have your support.  You can join my team by going here.
 
If you are unable to join my team but would rather sponsor me by giving a donation you can do that here, or you can mail a check to Vision of Hope, 5652 Mercy Way, Lafayette, IN  47923.  Please make checks payable to Faith Ministries and include my name in the memo. 
 
Thank you for all your prayers,

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Why I love Jesus

I am blessed by the ladies I work with! This week one of them shared with me what she is learning in her devotions. She wrote me a note of why she loves Jesus today, with scripture to back up each item. She said, "I feel like I've fallen in love with Jesus all over again. It is like rediscovering the most beautiful, passionate relationship there is to man. When you start looking for reasons why you love Jesus you won't be able to stop seeing it." Now we are constantly seeing blessings instead of things that are just not working out our way.


Our list is…
2 Samuel 22:47 Our God lives!
The beautiful reminder that our sins have been washed white as the snow outside
2 Samuel 22:31 God can be trusted
Ephesians 1:4-5 Before creation God chose us to be His daughters
Romans 8:15 We don’t have to fall back into fear
Romans 8:31-39 Nothing can separate us from Him
1 Corinthians 6:20 He paid the cost for us
He cast our sins as far as the east is from the west
He is infallible and He thinks of everything
We deserve Hell and there is nothing good in us
Christ goes before us
Galatians 2:20 He was crucified for me
Isaiah 26:3-4 He is trustworthy, perfect peace, and everlasting rock
2 Chronicles 20:12 He can fix our eyes on Him and He will overcome
God is always good and I am always loved
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 He is the one true God
Laminations 3:23 He is faithful
He loves me because He loves me
We are surrounded by people who love us
John 1:14-16 We have received gift upon gift
He is out pursuer
He is all we need
Psalm 16:2 The is no good but God
He created us with enough understanding to accept His love
Jeremiah 32:17 Nothing is too hard for Him
We can cast our cares on Him
Genesis 16:13-14 He is omniscient and is in total control over all things
I am constantly made aware of how messed up I am and how good He is
The sunrise this morning
The Gospel is why we love, why we have peace, and why we can choose joy