There is a love that transcends feelings and emotions. It is steadfast and pursuing. It gets a hold of you and never lets you go. That is the love that God has for us and expressed to us through the cross. That is the love that I have experienced, and that is the love that I so often forget to extend to others.

This week has been the most difficult of the semester, hands down. I have experienced so much of what makes us human. From others alteration, injustice, bitterness, distrust, fickleness, infidelity, betrayal. From within anger, pain, sadness, confusion, doubt, unrest. Yet in the midst of it all, I was met from above with love, mercy, grace, patience, kindness, compassion, peace, and joy.

It is amazing how God meets us exactly where we are and ministers to us with the gentle whisper of His Word, or if necessary, the abrupt shaking. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the good Father we have who is able to see us through the lonely paths of life and bring people to us along the way who can encourage us and point us back to Him. If it wasn’t for His unfailing grace and kindness, I would be crying right now, but because of who He is and all that He has done for me I am able to rejoice and remain grounded.

Through the struggles I faced this week, He taught me to love without expectation and to suffer long for those who don’t deserve it. Sound familiar? That is exactly the kind of love Jesus gave to us on the cross; we do not deserve heaven, but Jesus loved us enough to take our sin and shame upon Himself and pay the penalty for it by dying so that we could be with Him for eternity. That is the kind of love we are called to show to one another and in our own strength it is impossible, but in Christ, we are able to crucify our flesh and simply love. It is such a humbling experience to realize how much you lack love, to recognize that you can’t work it up on your own, and to relinquish control to God and ask Him to love through you. I am blessed to see God change my heart and love through me and then to see the result of that love as it (God’s love, not my own) changed the heart of the person I was loving. It truly was amazing to see God’s love in action, to see the transforming power of it, and to be reminded of my utter dependence upon Him in this and every season of my life.

In other news, Greece was amazing! I loved every second of it and I gained so much perspective. The cultural allusions and illustrations that Paul employs in his epistles are clearer and more vibrant in my life and Bible reading because of the experiences I had there.

There were two specific moments that really defined the trip; the first was at the Bema Seat in Corinth and the second on Mars Hill at sunrise.

We had some free time in Corinth so I decided to read 2 Corinthians near the Bema Seat and I was trying to soak in the place as well as the significance of reading that letter there when it was almost time to meet up with the group. I had only gotten to the end of chapter 4 but the final verse blessed me beyond my expectations. It says, “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18)

In the midst of this ancient city, surrounded by remnants of buildings that seemed as though they would lay there forever, silently testifying of the lives that passed in those places, I was reminded that it’s not about the place. It isn’t even about the biblical significance of the place. It is all about the God that the place testifies of. The God who used men to transform a city of debauchery and lawlessness into a place that will forever be remembered for the church that once existed there. It isn’t about the ruins that are slowly but surely fading into obscurity, but about the Gospel which stands forever.
It was a beautiful realization.

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Then on the last morning in Greece, a small group of girls and I went to Mars Hill to watch the sunrise. As the sun finally poked up above the horizon, the only thing that I could think about was the verse that says a light has dawned over the Gentiles which is in Matthew 4:16 and reads, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
Greece is an extremely secular country and it is full of paganism but with the first rays of light that Thursday morning I was reminded that God is at work there and He is the Light that the whole world needs, the Light which surely is shining, even in Greece.

This week I got all of my final papers done and I finished all of my Chuck tracks! Only Bible College students (and their parents) truly understand how momentous it is to “finish Chucks.” We listen to all of Chuck Smith’s sermons through the entire Bible over the course of two years as our Bible survey class. Literally, for the past two years of my life I have had Chuck tracks in the back of my mind constantly and now I am finished forever! The feeling of victory in my heart when that final track ended is comparable only to Christ’s victory over sin and death when He gave up His Spirit and said “it is finished” upon the cross. (Obviously I am exaggerating, but not by much). It was just another aspect of these last few weeks of Bible college that makes it seem real. I am graduating in two weeks! Two years down to two weeks and my heart is so full.

If you’re praying for me for the next season, please continue to pray! I have decided to continue my education through the graduate return program at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta where I will be pursuing a bachelor’s degree. I am still praying about which degree, but I will probably go with Christian education. Prayers are much appreciated.

In other requests, please pray for my mom as she prepares to join me here in only 6 days! I cannot wait to share my final week of Bible College with her.

Thank you all so much! I am so grateful for your faithful prayers and concerns for me.