I don’t know why Celine Dion popped in my head as I was contemplating over writing this entry, but I’m starting to see bit by bit how things are falling into “place” in terms of my future, and being back in Philadelphia.

The catalyst group that I’ve been attending for a while now, focuses on social justice, and we started a book (which I’m blanking on the name because I haven’t gotten it yet), but our discussion yesterday really got me thinking. One of the things we were talking about was how to serve the community around us. Especially for ESM, we’ve moved slightly outside Chinatown into Callowhill, and yet we seem to ignore a lot of the broken, the homeless, and the other things that make up this new community. Maybe it’s an attitude and habit that’s hard to break being a mostly commuter church (in that most of our members live in the suburbs), but what does it mean to live out the Gospel in a more direct way that impacts our neighborhood. I forget who said it, but someone had said that it’s not to say that there isn’t brokenness elsewhere or that those things are irrelevant, but it’s important not to ignore the needs of the places that God has placed you in.

Hmm, the places that God has placed me in. There’s a reason why God placed me back at CCC&C, back in Philly, in QV, working around Moorestown/Mt. Laurel. I see relationships that God has rekindled, new friendships God has introduced, new challenges that God is placing before me, and all of this is starting to piece together a bit of the picture that God has drawn out for me. Even outside of the apparent callings he’s placed on my heart, but even convicting me of attitudes that push me to want to live out the Gospel more, in a realer(?) way. I’m not going to get into all of these things here, but exciting things are coming about, and I’m really looking forward to what this summer will bring, what the following year will bring, what God will bring. If you’re curious, you can poke me on gchat or in person and ask about it, but it’s really cool to see how God is putting things into place and into motion. :)

skyebox:

i’ve finally filled up my 6th journal of the year so i was looking through my stuff for a new one. i found one that’s mostly blank save for a few pages in the beginning. i must’ve skipped this while going through all my old journals during my ‘processing’ period, but i think God specially saved…

howdoiputthisgently:

been thinking about this a lot too

stayeducated:

A post trying to motivate not be idle in my relationships:

Back in my senior year of college I had a friend who I thought was extremely spiritual and well off. He was the image of who I wanted to be and seemed very pure and earnest in his pursuit to glorify God. Unfortunately underneath the…

I’ve blogged about this before. About feeling like there was a lack, more so in terms of someone that could be a leader and a good match for me. I realize I am wrong in saying there was a huge lack, because God has revealed that there are plenty that I have been blessed to know. But this idea of godly men has popped back in my mind, not so much in a relationship sense, but in a mentoring sense.

A big thing I’ve felt through serving in QV, is although having Christian adults, leaders, mentors, etc. is important, there is a huge difference between the impact of a male mentor and a female mentor when it comes to guys. I love talking with my students, hearing about their lives, sharing moments, digging deeper into conversation, but at the end of it, I feel pretty limited in the level I can relate to my male students. How do you teach someone to be a godly man, if you are not a man?

Sure, I’ve dealt with sexual temptation, sexual sin, partying, being reckless, etc. but at the end of the day, it is still different for me because I’m a woman. 

Sunday I spent a good portion of the afternoon with one of my students, eating, driving around, and working on an essay. In one part of our conversation, he was saying about how he could be a leader or like a role model for a lot of the younger  guys in his life. We also talked about music and we were listening to Meek Mill (a Philly rapper) and we talked about how influential music was. He was like Miss Christine, you have to listen to these words! and I did. I heard a lot of what was shared by my students over this past year, talking about dreams and aspirations of “making it” of “doing something”, of not being stuck in the hood for the rest of their lives. Of making it better for themselves and their families. But at what cost? Some kids would rather hustle here and there than work an honest job for some quick cash. Some kids would rather mess around with girls than be in a committed relationship. Some kids would rather get their lives together before they trust in God. It kind of hit me as we were driving and I was listening to Meek Mill flow through my speakers, that a lot of my students seem to look up to him, because he did it. He made something of himself, got himself together, and now he’s a rapper. His story has meaning, his songs have meaning, his success has meaning. 

And yet, the Gospel has no meaning. God is irrelevant. Reality contradicts following Christ. I feel like this past year we’ve done studies, shared in small group, and ultimately try to “reveal” to our kids how much we all need Christ. But I wonder what kind of impact there would be if the students had people that made it. People that came from the same blocks they grew up on. They know the struggle, they know the hustle, they know that life. But they found God, the Gospel gave them meaning and Christ became everything. What kind of impact would that have to see someone actually live it out? Someone they can really relate to? 

I really love investing in my students, but I really pray that they would be able to have a constant godly male role model to really look out for them. I wonder what type of difference it would make.

I’m not sure where I was going with this. puahah. 

major lazer has me going hypeeeeeeee

jump up jump up!