opinion?

I made a small change to the look. Okay, kind of a big one, but either way...
What do you think? Is having that picture there cool or just annoying?

Yet another quote...

I'm off to Washington DC in a couple of days... I'll try to get another post in, but it might not happen. God blessed us immensely at this tournament. God also stretched me in so many ways... some old and some brand new.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues,
but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

~CS Lewis

Quote

So, you all know I love quotes. Well, our Program Director for the Wisconsin class, Caleb, apparently does too, because he covered our schedule with them. Here's one of my favorites.

"We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."

I'm off to Seattle for another tournament tomorrow! This should be interesting. Have a wonderful day!

Hello from Wisconsin!

A couple of things that I can mention really quick (as usual, the promised "long post" is forthcoming hopefully...)

- I walked on a (big) frozen lake for the first time!!!
- I tried fried cheese curds
- I was at the location pictured above.

That's right! I was right in the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin during all the protests. Not to protest... but I was there, right in the middle of it. Crazy or what?

And the TeenPact staff team was, of course, awesome. And the students were, of course, amazing. Love y'all!

More later.

Let the Waters Rise~ Mike's Chair

Are we willing to go where He calls us, no matter what?
Regardless of how it makes us feel?
When I think about all the places God has called me or may call me in the future, sometimes I feel like there's a raging sea in front of me.
I feel scared, bewildered, lonely, overwhelmed, small, unqualified, and confused.
But my God is stronger than all of that.
So, let the waters rise. We will follow You anyway.
God, I trust You.

Please pray for health, strength, wisdom, and courage as I take off on this next step of the journey... all of them have been threatening to fail me in the past couple weeks.

But my God... my God never fails me.

hello!

I'm leaving in two days, so this is going to be a very short post...

I won the Veteran's of Foreign Wars' Voice of Democracy Scholarship Competition and am going to Washington DC. Yikes! That's in a few weeks, so I'll add that to the agenda.... :P

Note: Never judge a person or a group of people based on what you don't know of them.

I had a particularly fascinating day yesterday with a group of teens I had never met for the Voice of Democracy award banquet/ceremony thing. It was a special, growing, learning, and all around good experience. If any of the district VOD winners are reading this: thanks for the great day, all!

And I'm off to Idaho in two days and straight from there to Wisconsin, so there will be no posts in a long time. Sorry.

Ah, God works in mysterious ways. I'm trying to learn to be patient and wait for His timing while being determined and waiting on His strength.

Safe in His arms,
~Rachel

Communication pt. 2

How can I communicate hope to you?

What words can I use that will not come from my mouth to your ear, or even my mind to your mind, but my heart to your heart?

What language does one use to instill the peace beyond understanding into someone else?

If I can’t even understand it, how will I communicate it?

God must be our medium and our translator.

My words mean nothing. His words mean everything.

Let God speak peace and hope in even the silences between us. And may our words be spoken grace.

Communication pt. 1

Is there a language that can adequately communicate the inner workings of the heart?

Are there indelible words which can describe what is in a man’s soul?

With some I communicate in the language of the past, quietly and sadly trying to hold onto days that can never be relived.

With some I communicate in the language of the present, mechanically reacting what is seen at face value.

With some I communicate in the language of the future, boldly speaking about the vast unknown in words of hope and fear.

But with You I speak in the language of eternity, where all experience, knowledge, and emotion is wrapped into a constant now, forever interacting in a time beyond time.

And at times, when two finite mortals with God’s help open up their hearts to each other in an eternal language, interacting in boundless words that are deeper than their own understanding is where true friendship begins.

~Anonymous

a quote and random thoughts on prayer

Found this quote this morning and had some random thoughts.

It is quite useless knocking at the door of heaven for earthly comfort. It's not the sort of comfort they supply there.
~CS Lewis

In my prayers for my friends and for myself, I find more and more that the most beneficial and effective prayers are not those asking for relief, but for strength. Perhaps my friends shouldn't ask me to pray for them anymore, because I don't ask that their trials will immediately go away. I ask that God would have His will in them and in me. Isn't that infinitely better?

Perhaps the reason we think our prayers are going unanswered is because we aren't praying for the right thing. If God is doing what is best for us, and we ask Him to stop, then we probably aren't praying in His will. Don't difficulties make us stronger and bring us closer to God? And isn't that what is best for us?

My grandma is a prayer warrior. When I really, really, really need prayer for something, she is who I go to. I want to be a prayer warrior, because in this life, I think prayer is our strongest weapon. I think the soldiers that the devil fears most are the ones on their knees.

What are you praying for?