The Prophets

It is the start of the third week in this quarter, and my time the past twenty-four days have been absolutely incredible. This current DTS is incredible and I am learning more about the character of God and my purpose in where I am in this moment. I am continually remembering exactly why God called me into the SBS and it has been a very comforting time.

This quarter we are studying the prophets. Thus far we have studied Amos, Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. This coming week we are studying Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah.  In the books that we have studied this quarter, Hosea was my absolute favorite. For those of you who do not know the background of that book, the Lord commands Hosea to find a wife from whoredom. His wife cheats on him and at one point completely  It is a parallel to the Israelites and how they are repeatedly cheating on the Lord with other gods. While I was studying the book of Hosea I kept thinking about this.

"I would have told Hosea to leave her. No one should have to hold on, I’d say, to a heart that doesn’t want them back. No one deserves a straying soul, a fleeting kiss, someone who devotes themselves more to the dirt than ever to him. There are better woman with less stains on their clothes, I’d convince him, they will love you like you deserve. You shouldn’t have to crucify your sainthood for the sake of her. I would have told Hosea to leave her. But I’m glad he wouldn’t have listened. Because, how many times have I deserved to be forsaken? How long have I fought off my destiny of being loved unconditionally?  Since my first breath, born with clenched fists, I’ve lived half in the shadows, half in my idols, half in the worth I find by giving myself away to temporary places. How many times have I been an imperfect bride? I’m a goner, I’m Gomer, and I would have left me a long time ago. But instead of moving on, God never did, for His grace covers me more than my mistakes ever could."

Our God is a forgiving God who never stops chasing after us. No matter what we do He will always run after us and chase us down. He is relentless. It overwhelms me and gives me an unexplainable joy.

I am excited to see what else I will be learning in the coming months and how I can apply it to my life. The SBS is certainly not something I thought I would ever see myself doing but now that I am in it, I am incredibly thankful. Thank you once again for all your prayers! As of right now, I do not have any specific prayer requests. I would suggest maybe just to pray for good health and endurance to keep pressing on. 

January Quarter

Today was the first day of class in the New Year! As some of you may know, I was originally scheduled to start class on Monday, January 11, but due to some issues we started on the 16th. I have a classmate from Canada and he happened to have some troubles with crossing over the border, but thankfully he was able to cross yesterday and flew in last night. 

Since we started later, I was able to have a few days to myself. I was quite thankful for it especially because a few of my friends from my DTS flew over and surprised everyone on base. I was able to hang out with them for a couple days whereas I would not have had time to had school started up again right away.

We started studying Amos today, and I must admit it is a little difficult to get back into the swing of class and the homework load. After having almost an entire month of not having to do any mental work, almost everything sounds better than having only one day off per week. I am sure though that I will have a better attitude about it as time goes along. This coming Tuesday we will be starting the book of Isaiah, and I must say I'm rather excited for that.

I would appreciate your prayers for me that I may be able to get back into the swing of things quickly and that I will get used to my schedule and my amount of free time. Thank you once again for all your support in this.