May

No worries to all of you! I am still here! 

It's been quite some time since I have posted an update and I apologize about that. Life has been hectic lately.  I have six weeks left of this school, which blows my mind. It's hard to believe I've already done eight months so far. I have twelve books left to study after this week. 

Last week we studied the book of Romans. By the way, in case you were not aware, the book of Romans is filled with a lot of theology that does not make sense.  I entered with some questions about things like predestination, but instead of answers I have only discovered more questions. There's so many new things I want to research about, but currently I lack the time. 

This week we are studying the books of Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Timothy. It is pretty packed, but I am fairly excited for all that these books hold. 

One thing I have discovered is that Paul is one of the most hardcore men I have ever read about. He was beaten, put into prison countless times, and was practically stoned to death. Yet that did not stop him from getting right back up and out there and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. I have found him to be inspiring. If we would be like Paul and live out the faith that God calls us to, can you even imagine what kind of impact we would be making on this world? So why don't we stop with our needless worries of what people will think of us and let go of whatever is holding us back, and simply just say yes. Let God use you for a bigger purpose, cause He's not going to let you down.

I have also learned lately that God is just. He is not always fair. And that  was a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around. How could God not be fair? Then I had to think about all those times something happened that I was not a fan and I said "That's not fair" and then someone would say "Well, life is not fair". God is pretty cool. I love Him and I wouldn't trust anyone else with my future. That does not mean that He is fair though. Jesus dying on the cross wasn't fair because we should have died. Our father is a good good father. And He is a just one as well. He's not going to let people get away with things so that it's fair. It's something to wrestle with, that is for sure.

So in these next six weeks we are studying these books in this order: Philemon, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, John, 2 Peter, Jude, 1, 2, 3 John, and then ending with Revelation. There's still a lot of work that I have, but the end is near. And I cannot even explain how excited I am to come home to the beautiful city of Grand Rapids six weeks from today! 

Prayer Requests:

• Lately,  I have been hitting my wall. I have been in this school for eight months already, and the level of motivation and energy to keep pursuing that I have had is starting to dissipate. 

• Secondly, I come home for my brother's wedding on the 15th of June and am home until the 19th. Safe travels for that would be amazing. Also ya'll should shoot up a prayer for my brother and his fiancée cause they are precious and I am sure they are stressed out. Nate has a super important test that decides where he is placed for residency, and if you know my brother, he's studying his life away right now. He takes this test June 14, which is four short days before he gets married. So you can bet that he's probably stressed out about it. Also, my brother Zach flies in on the 14th and he's pretty cool too. Shoot up prayers for him and his ministry in Guatemala as well as for safe travels for him to return home for the wedding. 

• Third, I recently have discovered that my heart has been breaking for all these people around me. I cannot do anything to make their situations better, and as a result my heart breaks and I am filled up with all this emotion that I do not know how to handle. To top that off, I found out today that a person that I went to high school with for a year, passed away in a car accident. I did not know him very well, but I am hurting so much right now from everyone's hurt and prayers would be greatly appreciated.