Leaving

Today was very hard for me, as it is my last day being with my fiance before I move back to Pennsylvania. In fact, it's very possible that I won't see him for more than two months. Two things occurred to me tonight:

1. My God is bigger than my problems.
2. My God is my strength. Not my future husband.

Dustin and I watched the Indescribable lecture by Louie Giglio a couple of nights ago. If you haven't seen it, you can watch it here. Basically, Giglio gives an incredible presentation on the magnitude of God by exploring the mysteries and the vastness of the universe. I realize now more than ever just how incredibly small I am. That my entire life, let alone seasons of my life, is just a tiny spark of light that extinguishes within seconds. And suddenly, every problem that I've ever encountered is diminished in the presence of a big huge and holy God. The four months that stand between me and our wedding day is nothing, absolutely nothing, when I remember that my God holds the universe in the palm of his hand. It is estimated that there are about 200 billion stars. If you were to count every star at the rate of one star per second, it would take 6,341 years. The Bible says that God has created every individual star and calls them by name. That is my God.

Secondly, I was reading Psalm 73 today and came across these verses:

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."
(verses 23-26, 28)

This giant God, this sovereign Being is my refuge. I take shelter in him because he is strong and he is enough. I don't know about you, but I find comfort in that tonight. That, despite my smallness and insignificance, I'm watched over by my heavenly Father who delights in me when I call upon his name in prayer.

Mini Update

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you were able to celebrate the birth of our risen Lord! My Christmas was great and spent with Dustin's family. I'm realizing how awesome marriage is going to be. Dustin and I always talk about how blessed we are to be marrying into families that are supportive, generous and kind! It's wonderful to feel apart of a family, even while you're away from home.

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas day, I milked a cow with Dustin's cousin, Callie! 

Right now, I'm preparing to move back to Pennsylvania for the next, almost 5 months. During that time I'm looking forward to visiting New Orleans in February, visiting our Hurricane Sandy site in Galloway, NJ a few times and of course, planning my wedding.
This weekend I'm sending out a newsletter with an update on our Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. If you would like and update and don't receive my newsletters, just give me your email address and I will get one to you!
My latest project for TouchGlobal is writing an article for EFCA Today, EFCA's online magazine. Check out the magazine here. I'll provide an additional link when that article is published.

Prayer Requests:
- I can always use prayer for more support! Please pray that God will raise up people who can give financially and commit to praying for me.
-Safe flight back home (Friday, Jan. 11th)
-Easy transition back in Pennsylvania.