Starting off 2010 I had a short list of things to accomplish this year:

1. Graduate from Lee ✓
   (Graduated Dec 11)
   
2. Pick up 10 new graphic clients
   (6 new clients)
3. Land a great Job ✓
   (Creative Director at Trinity Chapel)
   
4. Spend at least 2 weeks in Guatemala ✓
   (Helped lead a team from TCA in June and then spent Thanksgiving working in three different Prisons - shoutout to Las Crazies)
   
5. Sponsor an orphaned child ✓
   (she is a beautiful 2 year old Guatemalan named Isabella.)
   
6. Write a song
   (co-wrote an interlude preparing for a worship service with Rachel Elkins, we sang it that night. I have since forgotten it but I remember it being good.)
7. One semester with a 4.0 GPA
   (close - my last semester I had a 3.6)
8. Eat out less
   (not so much - diet consisted of fast food and Coca-Cola.)
9. Save 25% of my total income
   (saved maybe 8% but hey I now have an awesome new guitar lol)
10. Payoff my car
    (made payments)

All-in-all successful year. Although I did not quite fulfill everything, I was able to do a lot. I went out of the country three times this year, graduated from college and started my job with an incredible church. Excited for what lies ahead!

Things I would like to accomplish next year:

1. Run a half-marathon
2. Payoff student loans
3. Go to 2 new countries
4. Learn to speak conversational Spanish
5. Learn video production - aspects of shooting, editing and motion graphics
6. Apply for Graduate school
7. Sing with Chris Jenkins
8. Be more involved in local and foreign missions
9. Sponsor another orphaned child
10. Find Victor.

Come to the Table: an evening of worship

As I woke up this morning I was checked with this quote to start my day:

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, orphans and all of the injustices in the world when He could do something about it, but I’m afraid that He would ask me the same thing.”

I cannot tell you of the countless times I have struggled with the reasoning of social injustice that is all around us locally and globally. This past summer I spent 8 days working in an orphanage in Guatemala City as well as doing community work in the Ghetto of Zone 6 and the dump. I love being in countries where I am not as familiar with the language because it forces me to share the Love of God through action instead of with words.

As our team was working in the dump we shared simple acts of love while we were handing out food and supplies and you could see the dramatic transformation taking place in the lives of those we were ministering to. I was overcome with the Love of God. I realized in that moment that the reason Christ emphasized love more than any other principle in his ministry (Matthew 22:36-39) is because love has the power of overcome all injustice. In that moment these people felt desired and loved by a God who created them and loves them beyond their circumstance and social standing.

Back to the quote: this is one of the greatest philosophical arguments in the argument against the existence of God. Their argument: “if there were a God there would be no evil and injustice in the world - evil and injustice exist in the world, therefore there is no God.” But I believe that throughout the course of history God’s interaction with human kind has come by means of Him working through people. In the Book of Exodus, God used Moses to lead the people of Israel out of captivity into the Promised Land, In modern times God worked through Billy Graham to touch hundreds of thousands of lives, everyday God is interacting through his creation. It was through the giving of the Holy Spirit that God moves and interacts with us even now. 

Could it be that God has placed us in this world with the power to change these circumstances however, He is limited by our choices to use what He has blessed us with on ourselves?

Why is this such a tough question? It’s because it shifts the action to us. We do not want to accept that our choosing to not act on these issues is a choice to let them continue.

What injustices exist around you on a daily basis? Everyday we are faced with situations where we can act in one of two ways: we can choose to act in love or we can choose not to. Profound, I know.

The key to overcoming poverty, orphaned children and injustice is simple, love. Because if you truly take on the Love of God you will be moved to action. For God so loved the world that he Gave (John 3:16). Be the hands and feet of God to the world that is around you acting in love rather than limiting God.

I was reminded of this song this morning while preparing for a day of ministry at the Guatemalan City dump. This is a very poverty-stricken area. About a year ago I came here to hand to food and love on the people. At the time then the condition of life was really poor. A large number of people lived just outside the dump and every day they would come in and rummage through the trash to try to find things that they could use either to sell or eat. In less than one year people have now began to move inside the dump establishing little communities.

Today my prayer is that I am able to be a light of hope to the people there as I am use by God to share the love of Christ.