Sunday, January 30, 2011

God Help The Outcasts


I have been telling this story to pretty much everyone I come into contact with, but it's such an incredible story that I can't help but blog about it as well. While sitting in my lit class on Friday, I started "randomly" thinking about the song "God Help The Outcasts". I started to ponder what the word "outcast" even meant. I mean, it's not we live in a strongly structured caste-system like in India! I pondered this even after class got out. I walked into the Prayer Chapel on campus, expecting some peace and quiet and found a group of people sitting in the back of the room, talking. I started to feel grumpy, but tried to pray anyways. As I'm attempting to pray, I start listening to what is being said around me. As I listen, I hear these incredibly sad stories from this group about how they feel misunderstood and rejected by most of the people on Point Loma's campus. In short, they felt like outcasts. I started to feel like maybe I should go talk to them, and tell them that everything they experienced were feelings that everyone experienced. I have felt alone and misunderstood and I know many others who have felt the exact same way. In short, we all feel like outcasts at one time or another. As I'm debating whether I should go and talk to them, I hear one of the girls say that she prays for divine appointments all the time, and God never disappoints. That was my cue, and I walked over and talked to them. I told them that none of them were outcasts, and that we all feel alone at some time or another, and it is such a lie. We cried and prayed, and I made some new friends. God is moving, and hearts are being healed on this campus. I'm so privileged to experience these wonderful works, and I love the knowledge that I am not alone-EVER. In short none of us is an outcast, and we are all created by a God who loves us so much. I am posting the song that I was contemplating earlier in the day, and I hope it speaks to you, dear reader.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Love and War


I got Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge for Christmas this year. I'm pretty sure my parents thought it was really weird that I wanted a book about marriage, when I'm nowhere even close to getting married. But I adored this book. This one passage in particular brought me to tears, and I now use it to pray for my husband, wherever he is.

"... It began to dawn on me that all my past experiences uniquely qualified me to partner in this project with this uniquely qualified man. Something deep in my soul was coming alive as we continued to envision what it was that God has placed in our hearts to do. The revelation came that I am the right woman for this man. I realized that God had put us together; that I was particularly suited to him and that he was particularly suited for me. It was not by accident, mere chemistry, sexual attraction, or some bizarre alignment of the stars that we had been drawn together and gotten married. It was planned in the heart of God. We were made for each other. God had brought us together for a reason; the whole of who we were-our life experiences, our unique desires, our spiritual gifts, our talents, even the man and woman we were on the road to becoming-all this fit together in a way that made sense. We had a purpose, we shared a calling; we needed each other. It gave me a vision for our life together; the future God was calling us into. Hope and purpose, clarity and desire, all rose in my heart."