looking at the brighter side of things.. September 30, 2008

for the first time in my life.. i had my car broken into last night.

i found my car’s emergency lights flashing and saw that the theif tried to steal my head unit… my back window was also smashed in…but nothing was actually stolen from my car.

of course, since nothing like that has ever happened to me.. i was a little shaken up at first..

but with every experience i encounter..the older i get.. the little less naive I am too, which is a good thing for me to truly realize that coming from a sheltered background, that i do live in a dark world … where…bad things do happen…

when i was talking with the police officer who was making the report, he told me that he himself became a cop because he had his house and car broken into …  he told me though that in pasadena, an average of 200 cars get broken into during a month…

so yes, there are millions of dark things happening in the world, and an incident like mine seems like nothing compared to somethings going on in this world….but my encouragement to yall is that we should not look around and become hopeless with all the bad… but to keep our eyes focused on our Good God we serve..and to see how we can partner with Him in this world…

i really love the theme of: BE JOYFUL ALWAYS …  because it really keeps me motivated in life that no matter what troubles big or small i face in this life on earth, i always have the choice to view the “brighter” side of things and in doing so, hope to show the world what HOPE I have in Christ… to be unshaken

so i realize it is important to be careful in this world, but also bold in the Lord.  TO BE SHREWD AS SERPENTS AND INNOCENT AS DOVES! Martin Luther King has an amazing sermon on the importance of being STRONG and GENTLE at the same time in his book “Strength to Love”.

May we be a light in this dark world and take everything that comes to us as a way to point others to Christ and GLORIFY HIM.  He is GOOD in the midst of evil   He is always faithful.

p.s. my best friend from high school, Cortney, is having a baby in 5 weeks!!!  be keeping her and her husband in your prayers, she’s having a girl named Sarah Ann.  Just thinking about HOW MUCH i LOVE LOVE LOVE my little dog, Lee Lee, always makes me wonder just how much more I will love my very own child.  ohhhhh i just can’t wait

passing on the joy,

D

being a good steward! September 29, 2008

i love the beauty of the Lord. i love praise songs. thanks tiffany for sharing that we are serving an audience of One!

i have to admit that one of my biggest weaknesses is the tendency to want to fill my plate with MORE than I can chew..   everytime i start a new season in my life.. i want to get involved with everything, get to know everyone, and basically fill up every free moment in my schedule–

however time is something we can never get back.. it is so precious and I know that it glorifies the Lord when we are a good steward with the time He has given us.  .. to also be a good steward of who we choose to spend time with and how we spend our time

well today was the first day of class at fuller and I absolutely feel so blessed to be able to be here.  My professors are seriously awesome–we pray before class and one teacher even does a devotion!  they REALLY care about wanting to prepare us for ministry and are really genuine about their own faith.  I have met sooo many unique people and am excited about the material i will be learning.. i cannot wait to share with you all the things God is teaching me

well..the lesson i feel like i’m learning today is how important it is for me to be really careful that I don’t try to fill my schedule with more than I can handle this quarter.  I want to be able to have class/study time, work time, social time all squared away, but i also want time with me and the Lord, time to walk Lee Lee, cook, rest, work out…time to be in small group, to volunteer at the homeless shelter, to minister to others… time to build friendships and relationships here and maintain the friendships and family time back home   how do i manage all of this in the time given to me?

i feel like being here in seminary is SUCH a precious time for me to SOAK in all that I can learn here that I don’t want to waste my time doing things that will steal what i could be investing in   I see the importance of God asking us to rest in Him.. He didn’t create us to live hectic/busy lives!  How scary that busyness can oftentimes be the thing that distracts us from the Lord the most

so my prayer is that I would really be careful with how I prioritize my time and make sure the things I do are things that are a good investment for things to come   My prayer for you all is for the same thing as i know we ALL have busy schedules..

“So be careful how you live..make the most of EVERY opportunity..” Ephesians 5:16

Praying for you all.  We are in this journey together

More of Him, Less of Us,

DL

a new season :) September 28, 2008

I am starting classes tomorrow at Fuller Seminary!  I will be taking Beginning Greek, New Testament – Acts through Revelation, and Foundations for Youth Ministry this quarter (Sept 29 until Dec 12th   New Student Orientation was so wonderful last week, I was able to meet sooooooooooo many new people and some in which I already know we have classes together

I am so excited about this new season because what other time in your mid-20’s do you get to meet such a great number of diverse people your age who LOVE the Lord as well and want to serve in ministry?  It is so encouraging !  What i love the most about diversity is that it keeps you out of your own little bubble to show you people from different backgrounds with different interests…and God uses us ALL for His purposes!  how perfect

God has been really revealing  to me lately how the sweetest places to be in life sometimes are the places of uncertainty.  as of now, even though I feel like I am at the beginning looking into the months ahead of learning new things, being challenged, developing new relationships and ministering to others.. I still feel like the future is a big unknown to me and it is an exciting but scary place!

however it is sweet because it makes me put my HOPE and TRUST in the Lord.  I love that my faith is only strengthened when I cannot see ahead…but can trust in the goodness of the Lord.  to really let my faith be refined by fire… I love being tested because it reveals my true heart’s state!

Lord, my prayer is that we would surrender our will and that You would have YOUR way with us.  Lord, let us empty ourselves of anything that would hinder us from MORE of You..so that we may be FILLED with only Your sweet Spirit.    Thank you for entrusting us with Your Kingdom purposes!  May we be filled with your grace and your truth to live our lives for You…glorifying You in all that we do   Rid us of ourselves!

Back in Pasadena :) September 26, 2008

To all my loyal fans <–lol,

I am so sorry that I have not written in my blog more consistently!!! but these past few weeks have definitely been busy as most of you know I flew home to Georgia to spend time with family and friends before the school year starts   What a wonderful time that was!  I was able to do so much and see so much in such a small amount of time I feel truly blessed for the family and friends the Lord has provided me with!

My family went on a 7-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Freeport, Bahamas, and Belize and it was truly such great family time.  As I am the youngest and as we get older, I know precious time like these grow shorter and shorter so I really try to make the most of as much family time as I get–especially living all the way across the US from them!

I was also able to go to Lisa and Ben’s & Krisitin and Mike’s Wedding as well as Cortney’s baby shower!  Time is truly flying by in my group of friends–marriages, babies, and new houses!!!!  It’s crazy to be in our 20’s and witness all these beautiful blessings and life changes!

I am SO blessed to still keep in touch with my friends from all stages of my life– Below you can see a link to my PICTURES from picasa and get an update of all that I did if you are interested :

http://picasaweb.google.com/DianaLee1/BackHomeInGACruiseWeddingsAndFriends#

Now that I am back, I have been able to go to Fuller’s New Student Orientation and have been super excited about what this new season of my life in seminary and ministry is going to bring!  I have already met SO many amazing people in my program and am loving how meeting diverse people from all diff backgrounds and walks of life is only growing me as a person!  Not only do I start class next Monday, but my church is also going through some changs and we are starting a contemporary service this Saturday

Even though I am so excited about this time in my life, I feel like I am going through some transitions too!  Right now I feel like the Lord is really shaping me to have wisdom and discernment with all the decisions I am faced to make   I will keep yall up to date for sure as this new school year starts and as I make new friends and experience so many new things!  The Lord is SO good

Here is a song that has been captivating my heart lately:  it’s the perfect song to sit back and think about WHO God really is … be captivated by Him

Lord, You are truly Beautiful.  May You revive our hearts.  Refresh our spirits.  Renew our minds!

let us run the race with perseverance! September 19, 2008

i heard a story once of a guy who loves to run marathons… something that not all of us can say that we do often   well on one of his last runs, he was able to cross the finish line, but he was skipping, not running!

what am amusing picture of someone skipping through the finish line, but he later explained that he had a really bad leg cramp just after the race began and he had to skip to use a different muscle.  have you ever skipped for one mile, let alone probably 10 miles?? I was impressed!

life is the perfect picture of a marathon for a christian.. we are, as Hebrews says, running a race!  the thing i was most encouraged by when i heard this story was that if we fix our eyes on the goal, there is nothing that will stop us from being able to finish this race successfully, no matter HOW we run

i think the most important things to keep in mind are:

1.  stay focused on God, not on your problems.  Keeping our mind on who God is and who we are in Him is so important when we are faced with situations in which we could “give up.”  Focus on God and how He is in control and don’t let anything else hinder or distract you from your identity in Christ!  my friend did NOT give up on running just because his leg cramped up…but he stayed focused and…  SKIPPED

2.  know that God is developing p e r s e v e r a n ce in you.   the thing I love most about the Lord is that he does not give up on us!  He has ALWAYS been faithful.  Even when we fall short of living for Him, He knows we are a work in progress and gives us new hope.  He gently tells us that it’s not HOW often we FALL, it’s HOW QUICKLY we get up again and keep going.    He is our trainer, our coach for this journey of life!  It’s ONLY by the trials in life that we can even develop a perserving spirit

I encourage you all, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, that God is doing a work and it is GOOD   Let Him be your guiding light he has MARKED out this race for you perfectly just for you.

… Skip, if you need to

 

Hallelujah.  He has found me  

“let us throw off everything that HINDERS us and the sin that so easily ENTANGLES, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith!” ~ Hebrews 12: 1-3

jeremiah 17:7-8 September 17, 2008

blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him,

He will be like a tree planted by the stream, sending its roots out to the water

when heat comes, its leaves are still green

in a year of drought, it never ceases to bear fruit

to me…this is the perfect picture of what i want to base my life around as a christian…  someone who is so grounded in the Lord, that no matter what circumstances or troubles come my way… i never cease to bear fruit… my leaves are always green…

n o t h i n g around me can uproot my foundation in the Lord…. i simply love that.

i have always liked this verse, and then this past sunday i went to a friend’s wedding where this verse was used as the model verse for their marriage.  the officiant talked about jeremiah 17:7-8 as a way that a marriage can truly glorify the Lord if it is planted in Christ…. and yielding an abundant harvest of fruit.

lately, God has been really developing my character through this verse, and making sure that I know who or what I am putting my trust and confidence in and what i am truly built on… He has been testing me and showing me that it is only with resilience, perseverance and faith in Him that my leaves will be green when the heat comes… that i will still have my eyes focused on Him and heart turned toward what God’s heart is turned toward…

the thing i love most about God is that He is working to develop our character as followers of Him…

thank you Lord, for who You are… thank you that I am a work in progress

I am back home :) September 4, 2008

It is SO nice to be back in Georgia   SOOO wonderful to be in a neighborhood again with my own backyard.  ah.    so I have pictures to catch yall up on who i’ve been hanging out with and things i’ve been eating this past summer:

http://picasaweb.google.com/DianaLee1/SummerFun##

I flew back home last night and it was so sweet b/c Stephanie drove ALL the way to my house to see me when I got back   She’s the best friend ever!!!  We’ve done such a great job of staying in touch long distance, but it’s so good just to see someone and talk face to face, you know? She spent the night last night and then today I’ve been cleaning the house a lot because my friend Jesset’s coming to cook dinner and Stephanie and David will be coming over to eat with us   Tomorrow I’m gonna see Andrew!  Hope we can go to the pool and play tennis! 

Tomorrow, my family will all be leaving to go on our first 7-day cruise!!!  Pray that we’ll encounter good weather.  We’re going to Cozumel, Mexico; Bahamas, Belieze and Honduras   I will definitely show yall lots of pics when i get back!

GOOD NEWS! I found out that I made ALL A’s in my summer classes so all my hard work jamming on those essays was for a good reason   I registered for Fall Classes and I’ll be taking

1.  Beginning Greek

2.  New Testament – Acts through Revelation

3.  Foundations in Youth Ministry

I am so excited about the school year coming up   I really look forward to meeting even more people! 

God is good.  ALL THE TIME.  I feel like I am in a season of my life of being SOOOOOOOOOO appreciative and grateful for everything.  God really deserves all praise–He gives us MORE than enough !  love yall!