A New School Year

I can't believe the summer is already over and that next week I will be starting my second year in seminary. It has been a pretty laid back summer, I just worked a couple days a week, started helping out at my church and had a wonderful time back home in good ole San Diego for 3 weeks in July. Now I am bracing myself for a very full schedule which includes 6 classes, an internship at my church, serving on the Masters leadership team, being the RA (resident advisor) for my apartment, and working two days a week. Only by God's grace and strength will this be possible! As daunting as it appears, I am looking forward to it (you all will probably have to remind me that I said that as I get in the thick of things :)). I do, though, very much covet your prayers, after looking at the syllabi for each of my classes I realized all the more how impossible this seems! My classes are methods in Biblical Theology, Biblical Leadership, Homiletics, Greek II and Biblical Counseling with a lab. I am still in awe that I get to study all of this and that I have already done so for a year. God's Word continues to amaze me and His faithfulness continues to keep me in awe!

My roommate Ellen and I just moved from the downstairs apartment we have been in for the past year to an upstairs apartment..we love it! It is nice to have a little more privacy being on the second floor and it is great keeping the windows open at night! We found out that instead of getting one additional roommate that we would have two...that's right, four girls and only one bathroom. :) One of our roommates, Ashley, just moved in last night. She is very sweet. It will be close quarters, but I think we are going to get along well and pray that we will sharpen, encourage and edify one another.

I have been getting quite a few people asking me what I am going to do when I am done with school (which is still quite a ways down the road), or what I plan on doing with my degree...that I do not yet know for sure. I recently came across the following verse in Colossians, a verse I am sure I have read many times, but upon my most recent reading of it I realized how perfectly it desribes my desire as well. Paul said "my purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:2-3). Everything comes down to knowing Him..truly knowing Him. To know Him and to play any part in helping others do the same, that is my hearts desire.

I love you all. Words can not express how much I love the people God has so graciously placed in my life. Again, I am going to echo Pauls heart in his prayer for the Ephesians; this is my prayer for all of you..for all of us. "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through the Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19). I pray we don't just stop at knowing the verse, but that we truly believe the truth of it.

In the light of an upcoming crazy season, God has been reminding me to take everything one thing at a time, one day at a time..as He said, "don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Immediately before that He reminds us to seek Him first and He will add unto us what He knows we need. God gives us our daily bread, we need to trust Him for that and constantly recall His past faithfulness. Praise Him all you saints...praise Him with thansgiving over-flowing from your hearts. He is good and His love endures FOREVER!!!

Because I love Him, because I love you
Cari

A fire in my heart

I can't explain how I feel right now...i don't know if i will be able to find the words to express what is stirring everything in me. O, my brothers and sisters in Christ...my hearts deep desire is that we will wake up, that we will truly live as He has called us to live. We have such freedom, here in the United States; we have such freedom in Christ, a freedom we are called to use to serve Him and one another. Are we truly living in those freedoms? We have brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world who are being persecuted for doing things we are able to do daily without threat of harm. Are we praying for them? Are we encouraging each other daily, spurring on one another to love and good deeds? Are we speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and heavenly songs, giving thanks to God for everything? Are we going to His Word to be taught, to be shaped, to be comforted, to know more the beautiful God we serve? I write this in tears right now, my heart so longing for us, His church, to truly love Him, one another, and the people around us who so desperately need to know the truth and hope of Christ. Let us not be lulled into sleep or into a worldly stupor, where we spend more time and energy voting for the next American Idol, making sure we look good on the outside, spending hours in front of a TV/Computer, than living a life truly abandoned to Christ. I am not trying to judge anyone for how they spend their time, if that conviction is necessary, I trust the Holy Spirit to work as only He can. I am just pleading, to myself first and foremost, that we would number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. That we spend our time in a way that honors God and blesses those around us.

O Husbands, I plead that you would love your wives as Christ loves the church...don't allow yourself to get robbed, there is deep blessing in being the husband that God calls you to be. Don't let the enemy trip you up, don't let him steal your heart. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe (Proverbs 28:26). Wives, trust the Lord as he leads you to love and respect your husband and submit to him, knowing the Lord has called him to love you as He (Christ) loves you. Don't let your heart wander, don't take anything for granted. Pray together, read the Word together. Don't let this precious and holy covenant be tarnished or destroyed by the lies of a world that goes against everything that our God honors. Don't believe the lies, stand firm in His Word, in your most holy faith.

To those who read this that do not believe in Christ and think I am just flat out of my mind, yeah, I used to think the same thing about Christians. The Bible says "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). I share this passionately, because i believe it passionately. jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Fpr those who do not know Him, I pray he reveals Himself to you, pray your heart is opened to His truth and love. If anything I have said in my own words offends, I apologize, I am not very good with words and can think one thing and not express it as I desire. But I do not apologize if His Word offends, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation for everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16). He IS truth, i know that with everything that I am. I just want you all to know His love, and I do not say that in a simple way...I know there is tons of pain and heartache in this world...He is still sovereign and loves deeper than we can ever fathom. I am sorry for your hurts...Christ has taken those hurts, all of sin, upon Him.

Brothers and Sisters, let us live our lives set apart, a light amidst the dark. May we love our God, may we love one another. Remember Jesus' prayer for us,

"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Their Future Glory, The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me." (John 17:13-23).

May our lives be a fragrant offering to Him...our Savior, our God, our majestic King, our Healer, our Comforter, our Prince of Peace, our Righteousness, our Hope, our song, our deepest joy, our great I AM.

With all the love in my heart, which only exists because he first loved us,
Cari

An Amazing Year

Hi everyone! Wow, it has been quite a while since I last wrote, sorry about that! I am not very good at keeping up on this while I am knee deep in reading and paper-writing, but I am done with that now, at least for the summer :). I can't believe that i just finished my first year in seminary...it seems like I just got here. Let me tell you, it has been incredible! I am still blown away that the Lord has me here and has given me this amazing opportunity to study His Word and to get to know the people here in this community; so far, this experience has exceeded my expectations. Up till a couple months ago I was not sure if the Lord was calling me to stay here to do more school or to go back home after I finished the one year graduate certificate program. After much prayer I really felt the Lord directing me to continue on in my schooling and am still seeking His will regarding what program to do. It is quite interesting, something that I never even considered before as an option keeps coming to my attention and has gripped my heart more than any of the other options...that is the Master of Divinty program. What I love about it is that it has all the classes i am passionate about, the Bible classes, the language classes (I just had my first semester of Greek last semester and loved it) as well as ministry-oriented classes. All the other programs focus on only one of those areas, whereas this program would enable me to learn practical ministry skills while still allowing me to go deeper into my study of Gods amazing Word, which is what brought me here in the first place. I would very much appreciate your prayers regarding God's leading in this! I am not quite sure yet what God is calling me to do after school, I trust that He will show me in His perfect time, but I know He is preparing me...step by step. He is filling me in on a need to know basis and not too much beyond that :). He has guided me this far, i trust Him with all my heart to take me the rest of the way. The Dean of the school is encouraging me to pursue teaching...we will see. All I know is that I want to help people know our Amazing God better, to know the truth of His Word, not some diluted or misguided interpretation of it, and to know Him more personally, His truth, His love, His comfort, His joy, His Sovereignty, His power, His grace, His promises...Him! He is so amazing! I am still in awe that I get to spend this season of my life studying Gods Word, His holy, perfect, living and active Word!
With all that said, I do very much miss all of you back home and look forward to seeing everyone when I come out to visit in July. My prayer for us all is that we will daily grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, that we will more and more be able to grasp the height, width and depth of His love, and that we will live with our eyes fixed on Him, the author and perfector of our Faith and in so doing, bring Him great glory and reflect Him to a lost and broken world. Keep on perservering, keep on praying, keep on trusting; however bleek circumstances may seem, however far hope may seem to be, whatever challenges lie in front of you always know this, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He is Sovereign, and He is good. Please let me know how I can be praying for all of you and thank you so much for your prayers!

Much Love
Cari

Triumphal Procession

Sorry my dear family and friends that it has been so long since I have written. A LOT has happened since my last entry back in October. Since then I have had many more "all-nighters" working on papers (including a 48 hour time span with no sleep during finals week), I have been to Israel (AMAZING), finished my first semester in seminary (only by the grace of God), and spent a couple weeks back in San Diego over Christmas break. It has been absolutely amazing! I could write so much about each experience...school and how God worked everything out with me missing three weeks to go on my Israel trip; Israel, well i could just go on for days; and God's incredible provision and guidance...but to spare you all the equivalent of a 50 page paper I will sum up all of those experiences (yet feel free to contact me if you ever want details on any of the above).
What have I learned amidst 5 classes in seminary, a trip to the Holy Land, and daily dependence on and realtionship with the King of Kings?...AWE. He is so good. He is everything. He is faithful. He is near. He is truth. He is wise. He is real. He is love. He is sovereign. These are not just words, these are truths more beautiful than any sunset, more trustworthy than any human made promise, more real than that which we can touch, more sweet than that which we can taste. I have had quite a few moments of reflection over the past couple months, looking back on God's constant faithfulness in my life, the trials He has brought me through, the blessings that He has given that cause my cup to run over, the lessons I have learned, the tears I have cried, the outbursts of joy, and the sweet moments where I have heard His still, soft and beautiful voice, and it just overwhelms in me in the best way. Why would you bless me so much, hold me through the hardest times in my life, give me such AMAZING friends and family, allow me to go to the promised land where you walked this earth in flesh, to go to Italy with my Dad, to go to seminary, to just be able to talk to and about You...why? Yes, because He loves me...just as He loves each of you...so much more than we know. But it is also because it is part of His plan for my life, these experiences ultimately are puzzle pieces that will all come together to bring Him glory! I have experienced quite a range of seasons in my walk with the Lord and I know that each one of them have been allowed, guided by Him. Trust Him, whatever season you are in, it is part of a bigger picture you can not see.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:4

Whether you are being pushed, faced with a challenge you know you can not do on your own strength (allowing you to experience His), hurting over what appears to be God's denial or at least delay of an answer to prayer, rejoicing at the season of life He currently has you in, or even wondering "God where are you?" or "are you?", know that He is doing a sovereign work in your life, He is building up your faith which is more valuable than gold, He is revealing Himself to you in ways that cause you to trust in His Word and not just your feelings, He is loving on you, He longs to be gracious to you.

Ok, that was still pretty long. Sorry, i could not hold back...His faithfulness is a fire in my bones, i can not keep it in. Oh, my prayer for all of us, to know Him more, to know the depth, height, width of His love, to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, to walk by faith and not by sight, to be a light to dark world. He has gone before us, he leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him (2 Corinthians 2:14). Wherever you are going, wherever He is taking you, know he has gone before you as well as with you.

My precious family and friends, know I treasure you deeply. May we, together, follow the first and second greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."


Much love
Cari