Confirmation

Living in a foreign country, volunteering as a full time job, and sharing a house with 20+ other girls and 4 guys can be really friggin hard sometimes! In addition to dealing with all of that, I'm also trying to figure what to do after this: where to go to school, what to study, what I want to do with the rest of life, etc. As much as I love being here, I have occasionally regretted my decision to come, sometimes feeling unsure if this was the right decision. It's not always fun, especially on long days.

Mondays and Wednesdays are always long days, because in addition to having a normal shift, we also attend the Ministry Training Program on those days. MTPs usually consist of a guest speaker (a theologian, a missionary, one of the managers) giving a talk on something related to working in ministry or just being a Christian for about 2 1/2 hours. They can be really interesting, but when you've already had to wake up at 6:30 that morning in order to make a million pancakes, it can be hard to focus.

This past Monday, however, was about prayer. The last hour was set aside for us to spend in prayer; the speaker set up a several stations to pray for specific things and one station where he would pray over us. I spent some time in the requests station, praying for several different things, then moved to the forgiveness station. As I was praying at the second station, I thought of a request I had forgotten. I asked God to show my what my strength is, meaning somehow during the rest of my time here reveal something I'm good at so that I can sort out what to do schoolwise. I wasn't expecting any sort of concrete answer or anything, I just kinda threw it out there and then got on with my praying for forgiveness. 

When it was time for me to pray with the speaker, I sat down, introduced myself and he replied, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." I was so surprised! The speaker went on to pray with me, repeating several times, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." It took me a while to process getting an answer so quick and not at all the answer I was expecting. Instead of giving me some sort of outline for my future, God gave me hope. If my strength is through God, then I can do anything. I don't have to worry about picking the perfect school or major, because no matter where I end up I will have joy from God. I don't have to regret being here because He is so clearly speaking to me and how amazing is that! With one sentence, God totally confirmed that coming here was a good decision.

Joy is not something we should take for granted; it's a fruit of the Spirit, a gift straight from God to us (Galatians 6:22 yo)! Joy from the Spirit is pure and lovely and exactly what I need to focus on when life seems hard. Through Him, it is good!

{http://typographicverses.com/}

Pics, pow!

I'm doing another picture post, aw yeah. One of the things that I have found surprisingly beautiful in Amsterdam is the graffiti. The contrast between the highlighter bright colors and the brown, faded brick walls has a surreal effect. Amsterdam is all about unexpected combinations and collaborations between seemingly opposing resources. To me, graffiti is the perfect visual example of this spirit of beauty being created in a fresh way and being found in strange places.

I was biking back from work the other day, when I saw this piece that initially intrigued me because it was in English and seemed to be about America.

Later that day I saw a similar piece, that equally caught my attention and had the same tag. Now I was doubly intrigued!

The next day I was totally surprised to find a third Laser 3.14 tag. I did some research and found out that Laser 3.14 is a famous street artist in Amsterdam whose work graces both the streets and art galleries.

I bike by this door every day and it still continues to fascinate me how it continues to evolve. I took a picture of this stage because I was struck how the woman appears to be crying. The poster ripping to reveal the blue underneath completely changed my perspective of it. 

I just liked the colors on this one! No deeper interpretation, just general appreciation for the beauty and creativity found in Amsterdam.