Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's been a while since I have written a blog and so much has happend. This will be my feeble attempt to effectively communicate all that has been going on these past couple months.

To start off, I finished my freshmen year at Zion Bible College. Everything that I was blessed with at ZBC was only by His grace! This semester I encountered some pride issues that were gradually surfacing. God truly humbled me during this time and left an imprint upon my heart. The imprint He left was this: self-sufficiency results in destruction but Christ-sufficiency results in victory. For next semester, I felt directed to take only 14 credits. Fortunately, I can afford to do that because I took a couple sophomore classes. While pondering whether or not I should make this lofty move God spoke to me in my stillness. He brought the story of Mary and Martha to my attention. In this story, Martha is working hard and demonstrating diligence. Meanwhile, Mary is not helping out her sister and is sitting at Jesus' feet. Martha becomes upset with her sister and complains to Jesus about her. Jesus says to Martha something along the lines such as: "Martha you are troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed." Jesus is not upset with the fact that Martha chose to clean the house and to be diligent. We need Martha's in our society today. But, Jesus did not agree with Martha criticizing the decision Mary made to sit at His feet. While recollecting this story the Lord spoke to me. He said to me something like this: For too long, Nicole, you have been a Martha but I am calling you to a season of being a Mary-- I want you to take time to sit at my feet. This upcoming semester will be very challenging for me. If you know me at all you know that I am a work-aholic. I enjoy working hard and being diligent. It is very rare for me to become tired and burnt out and if I have those feelings I still push on. This upcoming semester I really want to sit at His feet. I truly count grades and positions as loss in comparision of knowing Christ. I want to be obedient to His voice and the call that He has for me next semester. Don't get me wrong, this transition next semester does not mean that I will slack off or become lazy! This change simply means that I will still be diligent, but, I will be devoting my energies elsewhere.

Another change that has occured is that I am doing an internship in Olympia, WA. I arrived in Olympia on Monday and right now it is Friday. I love it at Evergreen Christian Community. I feel at home here already! God has been doing a transformational work in my heart since I have been here. Andrew preached a message Wednesday on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5. Andrew's main point in this sermon was "your job is you." Simply put, this phrase means that one should not compare themselves to others or get caught up with what others around them are doing. Instead, one is to solely stay focused on what God wants from them. Before coming to Olympia that has been my prayer. My prayer these past couple months is that I will not strive to be something that I'm not and that I will stay focused on whay God has for me instead of measuring up and comparing the other interns and staff to myself. A specific burden has been getting heavier within my soul. This burden is to do anything for Christ at all costs. This summer, I have been called to place some things upon the altar these next three months: family, some valuable relationships, money, and mobility. Although painful, I continue to stand in the midst of His love and mercy as His goodness continues to be evident in my life. Enduring these some-what small sufferings is producing perserverance to one day endure greater sufferings that lie ahead. I am excited for all that God has for me this summer and desire nothing more than reflecting Christ.

This is it for now. But I will leave you with some of Paul's words in Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.