hmm...

SO..I am struggling keeping this thing updated. You seem to think that when you graduate from college that your life will slow down and you will have so much more time on your hands...NOT! It fills SO easily!!

The next thing that I love...Sunrises and Sunsets. It is amazing...to think that He went through the work to make them so beautiful is crazy. Really...He could have just had it be light during the day and dark at night. BUT instead He gave us Sunsets every night and a new Sunrise every morning (which in my personal opinion is the BESTEST best time to be doing your personal time!)

It Hurts!

This is something you say when you are physically hurt, when someone breaks your heart, or when you want something so bad and haven't received it. I am sure you can think of many things that have caused you to hurt...recently the thing that comes to my mind when I think of pain is the world. IT HURTS to see how far from the LORD it has gotten!

Just this past week I was reading up on how things were going at Every Orphan's Hope in Zambia. I interned with them last fall and always like to read what the new interns are learning and hear what the LORD is doing! When reading the blog of their current intern my body physically ached for what sin has done to our world! This is a quote from the blog (disclaimer: this quote is very disturbing if you are easily squeamish or offended please skip this quote):

She had married young. And apparently shortly after her 3rd child was born, her husband died. Looking at how gaunt the young woman was, I wondered if she had AIDS, and if her husband had died from the disease. There are some things we will never know. However, after her husband died, the woman was doing OK. She was still capable of raising her children, and in a village where there is so much disease... single parenting is almost the norm. However, one night she was walking home alone in the dark. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this is not a safe practice in Zambia. She was spotted by the Police force and thus, as I understand it, picked up by them for her own protection. Why they didn't bring her directly home, I will never know... but she was instead brought to spend the night in a holding cell... to keep her safe.

However, apparently she was not alone in that holding cell. There was a pornographer also being held that night. With camera in tow. Being a pretty young woman, she was abused... and made to have intercourse with a dog.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME! This man...CHRIST died for THIS man?! This was the first thought that crossed my mind in reading this. I can fathom Christ dying for those who repent of their sins, but "Christ died for sins once for all" - 1 Peter 3:18 How did Jesus not vomit on the cross is beyond me. This is just one of the people that Christ died for that did NOT deserve it...I am right along side this man; his sin no worse than my own.

What am I doing to bring Christ to a dying world? I pray that I will be HIS light to the area I am in now, that He would use me, and that I would live radically!

I physically ache for this world...IT HURTS!

If you want to read more from Annika check out her blog site: http://www.annikakrygsman.blogspot.com

Things I LOVE: Culture

So not that long ago I wrote about going to coffee with friends and I had expressed how this was one of my all time favorite things to do! WELL I have decided that I have to continue writing some of my favorite things maybe as insignificant as they may be but all in all my FAVORITE!
My younger sister, Hillary, started a list of things that she LOVED and it made me start to wonder about things that I might love...as I started thinking about all these things I realized how TRUELY blessed I am to be surrounded by small, big, weird, crazy things that make me happy. They are like little gifts that God has set aside just for me to enjoy at any given time that He chooses!
I am going to start with cultures! I LOVE cultures! I love learning about them, understanding them and most of all being immersed in them, getting to experience them first hand. It is truely amazing how God made different areas so special!
It is like getting to know a person, everyone is different some of them have similarities but others are just off the wall. You can hear stories and think that you will really get along with them but you won't know until you hangout with them. In that time you could love them quickly or not and have to work to love them.
I have yet to meet a culture that I have to work to love...there is just so much behind what they do and how they do it that I can't help but appreciate how God has constructed them over the years!

PERSEVERANCE

Oh my word…HOW HE LOVES US!!

So the past month has been a tich of a struggle for me. BUT recently I was reminded by a friend of mine how lucky I really am. I was talking with her about her life, she mentioned that she felt God calling her to a life of singleness this year. So her theme verse for the year is all about endurance she is focusing on James 1:2-4

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

This encouraged me so much! This is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and I was so excited to come back to it! Sure I am joyful most of the time but do I consider it PURE JOY when I face trials? NOPE petty sure not! So over these next months ahead I will look at my trials with JOY…not only that but PURE JOY! Ahhh…I will persevere and work on continually pursuing my LORD! :)

COFFEE :)

NEVER underestimate the power of coffee and a good talk with a friend! It seems that every time I get the chance to do this I am truly blessed by it! Even if you aren't a coffee drinker there is something about a coffee shop that calls you to sit and enjoy the presence of one another! I am not going to say that communication just flows in this environment because I have been on the other end too...where there are no words and you sit in silence. It is those good friends, new friends, or old friends that you can sit for hours learning, discussing, and catching up. I think this is one of my favorite things to do...so if you want to chat let me know, we can get coffee! :)

Oh How HE LOVES US...

This weekend I had the opportunity to go on retreat with the school that I graduated from. I was extremely nervous mainly because I wanted to be used but I didn't know how. I went into the weekend saying 'Surprise Me, God!' I LOVE surprises...and I realized over the weekend that Christians should too. If you really think about it most things are surprises to us, God rarely lets us in on what is going to happen. In that I think God likes to surprise us because He is never surprised! :)

A few days out of the weekend I am now looking back and seeing how God surprised me this weekend. I think the biggest surprise was how much I was able to get out of the weekend. We are always learning and hearing from God; this weekend I was able to learn so much from God through the girls in my group! They were such a blessing to me! The words that they said to one another as well as their prayers for each other were not only a blessing for me, or those they were praying for but also a blessing to GOD. What amazing stewards of HIS love!

Also, I was able to feel HIS love for me in such an amazing way! I pray that all pursue that love…those that do will find it! Once felt there is no turning back. I feel that since I grew up in the church and was told SO many times, ‘God loves you’ I have become numb to it! ‘Yep, sure I know that, thanks!’ BUT seriously GOD LOVES ME! Not even just that, how much He loves me is amazing!

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.

Well, I thought about You the day Stephen died,
And You met me between my breaking.
I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.
...They want to tell me You're cruel,
But if Stephen could sing, he'd say it's not true, cause...

Cause He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves us.
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.


This song is amazing…if you have never heard it look it up, it brings me into His love every time! PRAISE GOD FOR HOW MUCH HE LOVES US!!

Oh Fall...

I LOVE FALL!! Anyone that knows me knows this. I could sit all day on a blanket outside just soaking up the essence of fall! When I talk about my ultimate favorite day it involves fall! The perfect weather for a run or walk, a softball game, a motorcycle ride, an extreme cold jump in the lake AND a bonfire!! These are all things that I LOVE and what season better to have it in!

At the same time God produces such amazing views! It seems that the tree's just serve as decoration in this season as we don't need the shade, they are just hear for our enjoyment! Also the leaves fall and then you have leaf piles to jump in or make 'houses' out of as I did when I was young. The harvest not quiet out of the fields brings a glow around the area! When the sun sets you have one of the most amazing displays of artwork known to mankind!

This year I have been a tich disappointed...I go outside and what do we have, 85 degree weather?! What is that? Where is my sweatshirt and sweatpants weather...only my favorite outfit to wear and I CAN'T wear it yet because it is 80 degrees outside! What is a bonfire if you are sweating at it? They are ment to keep you warm but if it is already warm what is the point?

Last year this time I was in Africa, with weather similar to this and seriously disappointed in the fact that I was missing most of my beloved fall! This year, I am missing Africa...if it is going to be hot I mine as well be somewhere where it is suppose to be hot! All I have to say is BRING ON THE COOLNESS...NOT winter, just my 60-70 degree weather! :)