Personally....

I realized that it has been well over half a month since I last updated, and that is a monstrosity! (Well, until I think about how much I detest writing and how much motivation I need to start) Consequently, I decided to do a personal update on God's work in my life, not just something general, like project group.

To address issues I mentioned earlier on, I have been growing considerably in leadership ability and confidence. At the close of the semester in May, I was not desiring to lead a homegroup (small groups at my church in College Station) at all (at least for noble reasons other than pride). God has grown me in both passion and ability to lead this summer, and now I want to lead in what ever way God will lead me in the coming, albeit few, semesters at A&M. LT is sort of a non-ideal environment, because you rarely experience the pressure cooker atmosphere that makes LT LT. Everyone here is excited about Jesus and ready to work on relationships. Strong relationships are made almost effortlessly and are more often than not, mutual. Two years ago I was shocked by coming back from LT and experiencing the real world again without warning, and this time I will be duly prepared.

In reading our book TrueFaced, I was surprised how much I got out of it. It was kinda cheesy and repetitive, but God used it to speak to me in many ways. I was telling a friend that God is trying to curb my pride by changing me with such a cheesy book. But anyways...I've gained a lot of heart knowledge (by which I mean genuine acceptance of truth embedded in belief, not mental acquiescence)about how God sees me. I realize that I have been attempting to gain the titles that have already been given to me by grace: blameless, without condemnation, pure. I have such a great feeling of God's acceptance of me and that He is proud of me at every moment, no matter what I'm doing. For a long time I felt that God could be disappointed with us from time to time, and I felt that He was disappointed with me most times. Yet if God sees Christ in us by grace, then He is never disappointed in us, for He is never disappointed in Christ.

I've also been growing in transparency and vulnerability. I see this being a spin-off consequence of me feeling God's loving acceptance of me. Next Tuesday I will be giving a "My Story" at the LT service, which is basically a 5 min blurb on how God is moving in you this summer in a specific area. This will be quite a step for me and is very scary. Please pray for confidence and my reliance on God's power to be perfected in my weakness as I share.

On a finishing note, our project is getting closer than ever and I am enjoying greatly the unity and awesomeness we have. I made origami wolves for everyone and, of course, had to take photos:


We also got tshirts (designed by yours truly):



We only have 3 more project days and 4 weeks left! We're in the homestretch and sad the end is so nearly approaching. Please pray that we can all look forward to our semesters and set good, healthy goals using what God has taught us in our respective campus ministries.