To be an adventurer...

So these are my thoughts at...12:09 at night when my mind is too busy to blissfully turn off and actually go to sleep. What better way to tire the mind then to blog?!

Recently, I have come across a quote that I absolutely love and adore. I don't know who its by or where it originated but it goes like this. "Oh darling, let's be adventurers". Doesn't that just sound pure and utterly romantic? But all romantic notions aside, what does it actually mean to be adventurous?

 One of my friends recently told me "Aaren, go have an adventure". And that got me thinking...everyone has their own definition of what adventure should be. Does that mean I have to jet set across the world? Or, pack my bags and move away to a foreign country? According to Websters adventurous means "to be disposed to seek adventure or to cope with the new and unknown". Well then doesn't that mean our entire life is an adventure? Yes, I know it sounds cliche, but really? Every single moment, every single breath of our daily life we are adventuring into the unknown. Whether we are trying to get through the maze of traffic on our way to work, or trying to figure out that mystery meat in our fridge, depending on how we look at life, we are always on an adventure.

Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing better than packing up your bags, jumping the car and setting off into the great unknown. My heart truly longs for the day where my student budget will allow me to do that or when my Heavenly Father says I can move on from this small city that I live in. But in the mean time I have to see even the mundane and mononteounous parts of my life as an adventure leading me down the road less traveled. Other wise, I think I might go a little stir crazy.

I never want to lose this sense of adventure and I have to remind myself everyday to keep it. To stretch myself out of my comfort zone and delve deep into the unknown.

So, I think instead I might tweak the quote a bit:

"darling, we are already adventurers! Let's adventure together. Show me what adventure means to you".

Good night :)

How He Loves...

I know that is this a very familiar and well known song. However, I don't think that we always fully grasp the profoundness of these lyrics.

When I first heard the version of this song on the documentary

"Nefarious: Merchant of Souls" I noticed that these children, these women and men who had been caught in the trap of human trafficking were the perfect example of the transformational love of Jesus.

Right then and there I was overcome with the realization of how much He really does love us. How much He loves the hurt, the broken and the lost.

How His heart aches over them. If I only felt even a little sliver of His heart that night, I can't imagine what it would be like to fully feel what Jesus feels.

Did you know that every 30 seconds a child is trafficked? That the average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old?

That over 27 million people are enslaved around the world?  This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

(http://nefariousdocumentary.com/learn-more/)

I was reminded on Sunday that this song for me is a promise. A promise of hope. Of restoration. Of destiny. And of a love so deep and so passionate that it reaches beyond all brokeness and transforms the very core of  our being.

I would encourage you to look into the issue of Human Trafficking and slavery. While it is a global issue, it also takes place right here in our own backyards. 

http://nefariousdocumentary.com/take-action/

http://exoduscry.com/abolition/

Waiting, waiting...and oh wait. More waiting.

So these past two months since I have been home have been a time of...you guessed it. Waiting. Let me tell you I am NOT a waiter. Sure, I can wait if I know the plan. If I know what I am waiting for. But I don't. I guess most people can relate to this , but I feel most people do a better job at waiting then I do.

I have applied for numerous jobs, with only 2 interviews and 0 callbacks. I find myself getting restless, irritated and frustrated. Everyone keeps telling me to "wait". Well, wait for what exactly? I am trying to find that happy medium of "actively waiting" which in all reality, I am still not to sure what that looks like. 

I know what has been put in my heart. I also know that my Heavenly Father knows everything about me as well. He knows my frustrations. He knows my emotions. He knows my desires and dreams and everything that I want to do. Because He has placed those in me.  But learning to wait, to trust and to rest has been a slow and not so steady process.

So here I am, waiting. Waiting for my next step and trying to learn how to wait and rest in my Father.