Now..... I wait.

College is a bubble.

I can't remember what it's like to not have work to do. My brain literally cannot grasp the concept of vacation. When I go for a run around the neighborhoods outside campus, I marvel over scenes of moms taking their kids to school, garbage men picking up the weekly trash, landscaped yards. You know, real life stuff. I suppose it gives me hope that there is a whole other group of people (millions, in fact) whose lives aren't consumed by essays, midterms, projects, and finals.

Aside from the usual school stuff, I've been learning a lot about God's heart for the nations and what it looks like to be broken for His people.... Last week, especially. I was writing a paper for my Jerusalem the Holy City writing class that was supposed to address the Judaism's relationship to both Islam and Christianity. While writing, I began to do some research of my own (okay, by research I mean extensive wiki-ing) on Islam and Muslim culture. And then I saw this picture of the Ka'aba in Mecca. And I was seriously disturbed. Not the weirded-out kind of disturbed. It was more of the my-God-given-sense-of-justice-is-fuming-right-now kind of disturbed. To see all those people bowing down in such a state of submission to a god that doesn't exist. To have their whole lives dictated by a set of twisted lies-- extracting bits and pieces from the Word and taking the liberty to supposedly "correct" it of its "corruption."

After having finished the paper, I continued to research more about Islamic doctrine, especially the parts about Jesus. The craziest part is they don't believe Jesus was God because he was crucified and there's no way God could ever endure such humiliation or debase himself to such an undignified death. But that's exactly the point! Because God loved us so much (more than we can ever imagine), He humbled Himself by sending His Son to bear the sins of the world and die a gruesome, humiliating death. Who are we to say what God would or wouldn't do? If we start defining God's character, rather than allowing God to reveal Himself to us, then we're putting ourselves at the same level as God. And that's never good.

So I'm kind of at a weird place, not really knowing what the Lord wants me to do with this brokenness I feel for the Muslim nations. But this has kind of been a theme for my life the last few months. God breaking my heart, but then not really showing me how to tangibly serve those people. All I can do is pray. Which is great... But it's hard to just pray and have faith that God will do the rest. I'm having to wait on the Lord and rest in Him.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27:14

"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him..."

Psalm 37:7a

Much easier said than done.

Although this quarter has been crazy, I have had the chance to have some pretty great adventures. I can't really expound on the details of this particular adventure, but just know, it was a LOT of fun. It pays having friends in high places. Literally.

Tomorrow is the first Thanksgiving I'll spend with people besides my family. Weird, right? Well it turned out to be a lot cheaper and less stressful for me to stay in the area, so I'll be hanging out with Sarah and my friend Amy's family for the day. I'm probably most excited about the fact that they have a golden retriever that reminds me of Ruby. Haha and I guess the food and company will be great too.... But let's be real. The dog is the best part.

So on that note.... Let Thanksgiving break beginnnnn! That means only 2 more weeks of school. Aa;skfjds;lkfjdslkfd.

♥