Hope

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Want me, Lord

Just some thoughts from Scripture. I have more questions then revelations.

"...he alotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being..."

Acts 17:26b-27

Perhaps this means that God was good enough to expand my boundaries into other parts of the world like China. He has increased my boundaries farther then others. Some peoples boundaries are smaller then others, but the Lord knows what is good for each of us.

But what of that next part... that I might search and grope and find GOD. Does this mean that some people don't have to search very hard or very far because he's easily found within their small boundaries, and others have their boundaries expanded where He requires deeper further prolonged groping covering more area, more places to search, more places where he can be hidden. Sometimes I feel that He's so so hard for me to find. The expanse in which I must search is overwhelming.

But what of that next part... he's not far from me. For IN Him I move. IN Him I have being. Maybe my perspective is wrong. Maybe He is the expanse. Because I am in him, He's increased my boundaries IN Him. I have no idea what that means or if it means anything at all. Maybe there's the posibility of some deepness there. But when it all comes down, I just want him to be close. Close enough to know him and touch him. ...He is not far.

I want to sing these words with a knowledge and not just a desire:
"getting lost in the light of your face...here i sit and rest my head up in your arms, to feel your breath and find the beating of your heart."

I can’t even love You unless You call my name
I can’t even worship unless You anoint my heart

I can’t even want to unless You want me first

Come fan the flame.

Getting Lost by Kelanie Gloeckler

What only you can do Misty Edwards

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Be thankful for what you have.

PRAISE THE LORD FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS

Make Up

Some fun stuff at work these days. I got a couple new clients. One is from Belarus. He's a young guy who wants to be a welder, and he's learning English fast. I met with a woman today from Ethiopia. She was a TV reporter there! So she's pretty much famous in Ethiopia and now I get to be her job counselor! She's adorable. She's a year older then me. I asked her a lot of questions about the life over there because her English is excellent and she can communicate the situation better. She's been separated from her husband, and they'd only just recently been married. She said over and over, "the life of a refugee is very hard."
It's so hard to imagine the lives they've lived, and now they are in mine.
I'm so happy I got another job placement. This one for Marina! The Russian girl my age. I had called all the tailor/alteration/sewing shops in Minneapolis and one lady was excited to work with her. Marina has a degree in sewing from Russia. So I'm so stoked about that.
Even though things are going well, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with my case load, getting new clients every day. And getting discouraged with the ones I've been working with for months who haven't been able to land a job. I sense their frustration every time we meet. Especially for Hussein, he's such a trooper, and has had so many interviews... he just isn't getting hired. There are so few in this city who are sympathetic towards new Americans. I vow that if ever I become a business owner that I will create jobs for people such as these, even if temporary. They have it hard enough.
I'm looking foward to turkey day. I missed the holidays last year as I was in China, so now's the time to make up that family time.

True Trust

I had a random memory last night.

I remembered how my siblings and I would fold eachother up in our Hide-a-bed couch. How random is that! It made me think how totally crazy we were as kids and incredibly trusting of eachother. ha ha!!

Blessed Challenge

I have to record this super awesome day at work I had. It is the best feeling to place a client that I have worked with for so long. I first met Khadija the first week I started this job. She was one of my very first clients. So I've been working with her for over three months! She is the quietest person I have ever met in my life. She's only 16 years old which adds to her list of challenges in finding a job. At least she can speak English. It has been fun to spend time with her and have her open up to me. I learned a lot about the Somali/Muslim culture from her.
Last Friday I took Khadija and two other ladies out to apply for a job. The other ladies, Hawa and Naima, are not my clients, but I gave an open invitation to the other job counselors to send their clients my way if they were available. I heard about the job from good ol' Craig's List. A family owned business on Grand Ave. looking for dishwashers. I love working with down to earth small businesses like that. They are so much more real and understanding about the challenges our clients face in coming to this country. It was such a pleasant experience and I was sure that at least one of them would be able to get the job. It took us two hours to fill out the applications due to Hawa not speaking a word of English, and Naima not only having to translate for her, but try to figure out her own application and the writing. For women like these, the ESL classes they've had to take are their first taste of education in their entire lives. So things like reading and writing are huge challenges. And it's a great accomplishment to complete an application. I was expecting a little more of an interview from the owner, but he basically looked over the applications and looked at the girls and said, "Alright, who wants to start tomorrow?" We all looked at eachother like, is he serious? He hired all three of them on the spot, just like that! What a HUGE blessing, and man, I wish it was that easy all the time. It was a beautiful moment. And especially for Khadija. I am so blessed and I know she is too. Being a job counselor is not always an easy thing. It takes a lot of patience. Three months of job searching and 50 applications later. Finally!
I love this job. I love my clients.
And yet another great time with my Russian clients today. I took them to downtown Minneapolis, and this time without their translator. It was a lot of fun spending time with Marina and Galina, and I'm sure they appreciated the practice speaking English. I'm so impressed with their progress. Just a month ago all Galina could say was, Nice to meet you. And now she's understanding so much and communicating so much. and Marina's English is wow. She's my age and I feel this connection with her where I hope we can remain friends for a long time. She's the sweetest! She may have landed this sewing job at a tailor shop.
I'm so blessed, I can hardly find words. Each day is a challenge, and there are things that are so way out of my comfort zone... like having to be professional, and having to make tons of phone calls, and having to deny people bus cards, and struggling to motivate certain people. But I can't help by fall in love with all my clients. They are the coolest. I love working with these people. They teach me so much, and I always always want to aproach them with an attitude of learning from them, but also being able to help them understand the way things work around here. It bothers me when Americans treat new Americans like they are stupid and have an attitude of superiority simply because they speak English and DO know everything about living here. Try living in another country where you don't speak the language and don't understand the culture. It doesn't make you stupid, just out of your element. These people are not stupid. My clients have abundant treasures to teach me and facinating stories to tell and an incredible past that is most times filled with a lot of pain that we could never imagine. I am still so amazed that I am here and that I get to work with these people everyday. Please Please remember to pray for me that the most important treasure is Jesus, and that he is in me and I have this great treasure to share with them as well!
blessings upon blessings.
And some how my car has power steering now. How did that happen? Yeah, I've been driving it for months without. Strange.
I feel a tightening in my chest lately. I'm doing all I can to beat a cold before it gets too the coughing and running nose junk. So I made some homemade vegie soup. And now I'm just rambling.
I meet a new client tomorrow. Yay, what new challenges will this one bring?

Goodness

It's Friday... and the final hours at work. These last ones take f o r e v e r . . .

In a bit I'll be taking some clients out to apply for a dishwashing job. Then it's off to the Nort Country where I'll be staying the night with my sister and her family, then going shopping all day Saturday with Maia. I'm looking foward to spending some quality time with her. It's well overdue.

I'm happy today. God is good.

A Miracle Happened

A miracle happened. That baby with the messed up knee... the knee cap went back all by its self!No one can explain it except that many were praying for her. It's completely normal now. Wow, God!

There's a lot to think about these days. What will become of our recently democratic/liberal majority nation, how do I help one of my clients who can't speak a word of English that's put a restraining order on her own son, how do I manage my income wisely, how is it that day by day by day passes by without a deeper striving for the Lord, how can I build raport with those I see everyday without becoming "of the world."

God is good. I wish I knew him better. I miss you Lord. Show me the depths of your love.

A Look

I posted all the books I want to sell on ebay last night. But I guess more interesting things have happened to me lately. One of which is observing a day in the life of Amy my co-worker. Besides working part time at Lifetrack she's also an on call translator and she's so busy and frazzled. Last night she was up all hours with a woman in labor and had to stick around to translate through all the complications. They had to do a C section. But that's not the worst of it. The baby is totally healthy, but her leg is messed up. I offered to give Amy a ride home after work and she asked if I wanted to go with her to stop in and see the baby. The baby is so precious, but poor thing... the knee cap is on the oposite side of her leg so that her leg does not bend normally, but backwards! It bends up! All the doctors had never seen anything like this before. I saw it myself and felt her little knee cap on the wrong side. They have to bring in a special orthopedic pediatrician. It was the weirdest thing seeing that little baby's leg bend the oposite way.
While we were there Amy got a call about a girl who fell at school so she asked if I'd take her to the children's hospital emergency room. So I did and stayed for a while. I knew that if I stayed too long though the calls would probably never end, so I had to say goodbye. But it was really interesting to see how Amy's life works. She is pretty frazzled, and helps her people in every way she can, but she finds it hard to say no, even when she has reached her limits... like today going on only a couple hours of sleep. She's so tired. But she does what she does well.
We had a little "retreat" at work today. We just basically ate and hung out. We played a little game of just answering questions. I got this one question, "If you could have any job in the world for a week, what would it be?" I really like my job so it was hard to think of anything else really. But I have been so touched recently by the Baker's ministry so I said I want work in an orphanage in Mozambique. Right now I'm happy with what I'm doing. But I still don't see myself here for very long. I still have a desire to go overseas and see the world. I'm still waiting and trusting God for more clarity in my calling and more love and more passion for those that need Jesus!. Jesus is so sweet. Taste and see that the Lord is good.