One week

Well, this week has been crazy, but it's been a crazy fun week! We've done a week of perspectives and we all realize how much work we have to do daily. Although it's a lot of reading, it helps that everybody else is doing it too.

On Tuesday we started the Perspectives Class which is everyday Mon-Fri from 9-12! Later that evening we also got the opportunity to meet with our small groups. Most of them are Education related majors which is really cool. All of them go to NSUOK (Northeastern State University in Oklahoma), except for Taylor who went to JBU (John Brown University), which is in AR. I'm really excited to get to know them and meet with them weekly and build great relationships for the rest of the summer. This picture below was taken at Venice Beach on Sunday afternoon!

From Back Left to Right: Jordan, Emily, Taylor
Front: Hannah and I

Thursday, we had our first Project night. Claude Hickman (Director of the program) talked about Spiritual Life which was absolutely convicting and challenging. I think all of us needed to be humbled by the Holy Spirit and to start out the summer with our hearts in the right place. It's so easy to get so focused on ourselves, rather than giving God the glory that He deserves. Something that stood out to me was when he shared the story of the generous landowner which is found in Matthew 20. A lot of times, we feel like we are the ones laboring hard all day, when in reality we are the ones that come at the eleventh hour. We are the ones receiving more than we ought to, because we receive grace.

Grace is what it's all about. It's not about faith, works, or even holiness. It's all about God freely giving me something I do not deserve. (Don't mistake this with mercy, which is NOT getting something I DO deserve.) If grace has to do with everything, shouldn't our walk with Christ also reflect the importance of grace in our lives? I mean, the more we see Christ and His sacrifice for us on the cross, the cross should always get bigger and bigger as we are continuing the process of sanctification rather than working ourselves to become more and more Christ-like (which is Biblical and completely true), but I really think that as Christians we get so caught up trying to do more for God all the time that we forget the significance of Christ's sacrifice and in essence we find ourselves forgetting that we NEED God at all. We become so self focused and self reliant on our own strength and what we can do, that we begin to seek glory for ourselves rather than for His glory. It's all about GRACE and what He has done for us. I realized that I was getting to the point where I was not seeking to give God the glory instead, I was seeking it to myself. But man, I am nothing without His grace. NOTHING. Thank goodness that there's always grace! Anyways, I hope this made some sense, but if it doesn't, just nod your head and pretend like it did and maybe ask me later... HA!

On Friday we got to go to Mormon Temple. That was an experience all by itself. The second largest Mormon Temple lies here in L.A! We got some missionaries to give us a tour and to answer a lot of questions that we had. I learned so much from their beliefs and it's amazing to find that so much of it sounds like Christianity but then the more they explain themselves the more you realize they are completely off track! The people who were giving us the tours were legitimately sincere and sweet people, that by the end of the day it is so heart breaking because they are completely blinded and are missing out on the great relationship with Christ alone!

On Saturday we spent all day at Santa Monica Beach which was beautiful! We did some evangelism and this time I got paired off with Courtney. She's on staff with the TT and is great when it comes down to asking hard questions! Cause that just means that I don't really need to! We talked to some Finnish women who were on vacation, even though at first they had no interest whatsoever to speak to us. However, being from a different country helps because there's a lot to talk about, especially when people don't know much about Finland to start with (Example: Myself). SO, that began a great conversation to which lasted almost an hour with me and Courtney just finding interest in their culture, home and language. This allowed for a great conversation starter and we did the best we could to explain the gospel to them. Hopefully we have planted seeds to which God will water and make it grow even if we don't get to see the fruit of that. Then the rest of the day, we just chilled, splashed each other in the water, played volleyball, watched some BMX games and then headed to 3rd St Promenade to eat and fellowship with each other!

On Sunday we went to Lake Avenue Church in the morning which had a full orchestra and choir singing! That was a really cool way to worship even though it's very different than the churches I've been to before. Later that day we headed to Venice beach just to take a group photo! Most of our afternoon was spent in the vans, but regardless it was still fun! After an exhausting long but fun weekend, we all began on our heavy load of Perspectives homework and our inductive study on the book of James for small group. So yes, long night indeed!

Instead of having small group on Tuesdays like our regular time, we had them yesterday. Let's just say I had a little of a meltdown before dinner because I had not gotten my inductive done. Neither did I memorize my verse which I had forgotten before our small group meeting time AND on top of that, I didn't get a lot of my Perspectives homework done for the next day, which would've meant another long night....BUT my small group leaders were very understanding and helped me not feel completely overwhelmed with everything, so that was good!

Today, however, guess what? I. got. my. perspectives. done. DONE. DONE. DONE!!!!!!!! OK, that will be a false statement, BUT I have one question left that I need help in, so almost done. But hey, I'm just happy it's not gonna be a long night! SO, I will go find someone more knowledgeable than me to help me and that way, I can really say "I'm DONE!"

Oh and in a little bit we're gonna have a seder meal. WHICH, is a passover meal for those who didn't know. For those who did, I applaud you! :) Ok, I think this blogging thing has gotten me into something, so sorry friends, but this will have to do for now before I completely lose it! Muchas gracias, amigos!

Love,
Roxy