Just Keep Swimming

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33


The Christian life isn't easy...there will be trouble, but take heart for He has overcome the world! I love the movie Finding Nemo and Dory reminding us "When life gets you down...just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." When I feel like giving up, I have to remember God is faithful and He is the one who gives me strength each day. We need to trust God to meet our needs and let Him carry the weight of our concerns. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. -Matt 6:33


Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." -Isaiah 43

Thank you Lord for your promise...you are always with us.

Take Heart

Love this song "Take Heart" by Hillsong...

There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again
In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In His Name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failure
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome

All our heartache
And all our pain
God our healer
He has overcome

All our burdens
And all our shame
God our freedom
He has overcome

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failures
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome

God our justice
God our grace
God our freedom
He has overcome

God our refuge
God our strength
God is with us
He has overcome

Recipe of the Week: Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• 250g/9oz plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150g/6oz light brown sugar
• 50g/2oz walnuts,
• handful sultanas
• 150g/5oz carrots, grated
• 150ml/5fl oz corn oil
• 3 free-range eggs

For the icing

• 125g/4oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 225g/8oz cream cheese
• 450g/1lb icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g/2oz crushed pecans, to decorate

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F/Gas 2.
   
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix well.
   
3. Add the sugar, walnuts, sultanas, grated carrot, oil and eggs and mix well to completely combine.
   
4. Pour the cake mixture into a greased 22.5cm/9in cake tin and place into the oven to bake for 1-1¼ hours, or until cooked through. Test by pushing a skewer into the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is ready.
   
5. Remove from the oven when ready and allow to cool on a wire rack.
   
6. For the icing, beat the butter and cheese together in a clean bowl until light and fluffy.
   
7. Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix well.
   
8. Once the cake is cool, remove from the cake tin and spread the icing all over the cake. 
9. Decorate the cake with a few crushed pecans and serve in generous slices.

As you may know, I love to bake...especially for family and friends. I decided to bake my church staff one of my favorite desserts: carrot cake! It's a bit more healthy since it includes carrots, walnuts, and raisins! Enjoy this lovely recipe...and more to come.

Stewarding Singleness

I was reading a Mars Hill article about "Stewarding Singleness" and found it really helpful...


Each time I start to struggle through my singleness, I have to ask myself the following questions:

• Do I trust that he has ordained my days? (Psalm 139: 5, 6, 16: you hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.)
• Do I trust that he supplies all I need? (Matthew 6:32: For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.)
• Do I trust that never will he leave me or forsake me? (Joshua 1:5: No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.)
• Do I trust that who I am in Christ defines me? (Colossians 2:10: and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority)  

If I am trying to just hang on until I get married and don’t accept my singleness in this season, then I am saying that these days that God has ordained are not enough, that he made a mistake and is a liar. The simple truth is that he takes care of my every need and provides all that I need—if I don’t have it, I don’t need it. And I can rest in this because I know he is a loving God. God does not look at me as married or single but through the work Jesus did on the cross. Who I am in Jesus is what defines me, and that is where I am to look for my identity. I know I need to be in loving community. I need to spend time in God’s word to know his promises and his truth: that God is perfect, loving, wise, and sovereign, and I am his daughter. The daughter of a King. 

-Amy Lockman

5 Ways to Move from Selfish to Servant as a Single

The single years tend to be the most selfish years of our lives. Many singles spend their time being self-serving rather than serving those around them and the church.
Selfishness begins in childhood. The more our parents coddle, accommodate, and center their lives around us, the more selfish we become. For those who were an only child, this propensity toward selfishness is often higher, as you didn’t have to share your toys, room, and life with siblings who inconvenienced you. As we grow older, selfishness is often mastered during singleness. Then when we do marry, we expect our spouses to serve us humbly, only to find they were expecting the same thing. Conflict ensues along with disappointment and frustration.
As a single person, if you’re planning on marrying, the best way to prepare for marriage is to use your single years as an opportunity to stop being selfish and start serving. Here are five practical ways you can begin moving from selfishness to servanthood.

1. Get Involved with a Jesus-loving, Bible-teaching Church 

First and foremost, be part of a Jesus-loving, Bible-teaching church. Serve that church, humbly learn from those who have more life experience than you and who have developed a life-long relationship with Jesus, and grow as a disciple of Christ under solid, qualified elders and leaders.

2. Honor Your Family

If you have a family, honor them. Though you may be no longer living at home, the opportunities to serve your family still exist. Help you family out with projects around the house, offer to babysit siblings, cousins, and nephews and nieces to give your married family members time out together, and find other ways to love and serve. Also, allow healthy and wise family members to speak into your relationships and your life.
This is doubly important for young women who have Christian parents who love them. Any man who wants to be with you should want to get to know your church friends and your family, live openly before them, and gain their approval. Any guy who takes a woman away from godly community and family is dangerous and up to no good.

3. Men, Serve and Honor the Women in Your Life

Men, do you have a mom? Stepmom? Sister? Cousin? Serve and honor them. Here are some practical things you can do now to discipline yourself to serve and honor the women in your life: walk them to their cars, open doors for them, get their coats, pull out their chairs when eating, and more.
Serving the women in your life will best prepare you for serving your future wife. These are simple things that we can do, and even teach our sons, when we have them, to do for their moms or sisters.
Further, the Bible teaches us in 1 Timothy 5:1–2 to treat Christian women as sisters. This means that men should respectfully get to know a woman they’re interested in without any sexual pressure and contact and to serve other women in the church as they would a sister.
If you know how to serve and honor the woman in your life now, then you will be well prepared to serve your wife and children when you have them.

4. If You Don’t Have a Godly Dad or Mom, Seek Out a Mentor

For singles who do not have Christian parents, I encourage you to seek out older, more mature Christians from the church you are a part of to learn from and serve. We see this precedent clearly spelled out in Titus 2:1–10.
The older women of the church are to train the younger women (Titus 2:3–5), whereas the older men are to encourage the younger men (Titus 2:6–8). God, through Paul, is telling us the importance of training up the men and women of our churches to live godly lives as a man and a woman.
At Mars Hill Church we encourage singles to join Community Groups. Being involved within these groups gives singles an opportunity to meet other singles, serve the church together, get to know others on a personal and spiritual level, and have great mentors to speak into your life and—if you do begin a relationship—speak into that as well with godly wisdom and counsel.
If such groups are not available at your church, then I suggest seeking out the leadership and asking for their help to point you in the right direction to someone who may be willing and available to mentor you.

5. Examine Yourself

Too many singles have a list of what they’re looking for in a spouse instead of a list of what they’re looking to be for a spouse.
There are many problems with this, which I’ve laid out elsewhere. As a single person in the church, one of the most important prerequisites to dating and marrying is being the right person for your future spouse rather than worrying about if they’re the right person for you. This means having your identity firmly rooted in Jesus rather than in your identity as a single person, what the culture says about being single, or what the culture says about marriage.
Singleness is not a disease to be quickly remedied. Rather, singleness is a gift that should be stewarded well until the time comes when you begin another stage of life as a married person. Accept that singleness affords you freedom and benefits you won’t have when married, and use this time of life wisely to finish your education, travel for missions, serve the church, establish your career, and create a solid financial base free of debt.
Until you are ready to marry, focus on those issues, and then pursue a relationship. Live your single years to God’s glory to grow from selfishness to servanthood. Don’t waste them.


-Pastor Mark Driscoll

The Father's Song

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 
-1 John 3:1

Thank you Father for your love for me.

Brighton

I finally went to Brighton...the California of England. It reminded me of Santa Monica pier...the beach, shops, and roller coasters. My Westmont roomie came to visit from Spain and enjoyed the day eating fish n' chips, exploring shops, and walking the boardwalk. The beach was nice, but nothing in comparison to the white sandy beaches in Hawaii.

The next day, we finally had our sushi party! Homemade sushi is the best...all you need is salmon, Japanese sticky rice, rice wine, avocado, cucumber, and seaweed (nori). Totemo oishi desu! 

Trusting Him

"This is what the Lord says:

"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, 

who depends on flesh for his strength

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands; 

he will not see prosperity when it comes.

He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, 

whose confidence is in Him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:5-8

God, you are faithful. You are the giver of life. You are sovereign. You are good. Your timing is perfect!

 

Only 2 more months in the UK...time is flying by! It's a bittersweet feeling. Half of my heart will miss all the relationships I've built in lovely England, but the other half is excited to be reunited with old friends and family in Seattle/Hawaii. I wish all my English friends would move to America :) I pray I would continue to be present each day and take each day at a time. People have been asking, "what are your plans after London?" Honestly, I don't know. And that's ok. I am putting my trust in God...He knows what's best for me. As I apply for jobs, I pray He will open doors to the right opportunities. All things work together for my good.