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