Thank you

My life is a puzzle whose pieces can only be understood in the clarity of hindsight.

I have a friend with whom I've shared more than anyone I've ever known. I have a friend with whom I have more fun than anyone I've ever known. I have a friend who understands me more than anyone I've ever known. I have a friend who can predict me better than anyone I've ever known. I have a friend who cares about me more than anyone I've ever known.

One may be tried and tested, another may be new. One may be fleeting, another may walk with me for the rest of my life. But which one is greater? Can I say which has given me more of myself or saved me from something bigger? Never.

My life is a puzzle whose pieces can only be understood in the clarity of hindsight.

Thank you.

Hallelujah!

You made every star

and You taught it how to shine.

You knew my name before there was time.

And this is just part of Your glorious design;

Hallelujah. Hallelujah!

My Dearest and Wonderful Friend

I feel closest to heaven while in the presence of my dearest friends. In my years of trial and heartbreak, no other phenomenon has intrigued me more than the bond of friendship. It is not obligated, not influenced by petty passion, not genetically predisposed. It endures, lifts, and heals. Indeed, deep friendship is the truest form of mortal love that I have ever known.

How amazing it is, then, that my Lord and Savior would call me not lover or descendant, but friend. He has no need for me. He is not obligated to care for me. But He loves me in the truest way, and He declares to my very being: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you . . . "

I am a friend of God; He calls me friend.

The Martians Are Coming

May 24th weekend of love? Oh yes.

We had a wonderful three days of sightseeing, shopping, seeing Heather, baking, going to church, and simply being together.

As I sat in church on Sunday with one friend at my side, one across the band, and one in the congregation, I was absolutely beaming on the inside. I have been blessed more than I could ever have imagined. No matter what I went through at times during my first year at university, I walked away with three new friends who care about me enough to drive across the island to spend a weekend together. And, somehow, that is all that matters.

Love One Another

Tonight I had the privilege of seeing the Watoto Children's Choir perform. The group is comprised of Ugandan children who have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS.

The mission of Watoto is to raise the next generation of Ugandan leaders by placing parentless children in families where the necessary love, care, spiritual discipleship and physical needs are provided. Our goal is to equip these precious children with the essential moral values and life skills that will enable them to make a significant and lasting impact.

During the concert, someone read James 1:27 - "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

And what do I think it means to be polluted by the world? Living with a laptop, cameras, an ipod, and more clothes, movies, cds, books, and junk that I'll ever need, while 2 million children live orphaned in Uganda alone. And thinking that it's ok.

He has made me Glad

So this is where I pledge my allegiance to St. John's Citadel.

Tonight, I shall finally be receiving my St. John's Citadel epaulet bars. It actually means a lot to me. I'm no longer a visitor or a temporary. And I'm no longer considering transferring to St. John's West. I am part of St. John's Citadel.

My retreat weekend has made me realize just how much of my happiness has stemmed from the Citadel over the past few months. I am grateful for the people that comprise its assurance. I am grateful to be a part of something so hopeful. I am grateful for the attitude change that came just in His time.

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.

I will enter His courts with praise.

I will say, "This is the day that the Lord has made!"

I will rejoice, for He has made me glad.