Snow Capped Mountains and Other Crazy Antics

Hello friends!

The past couple of weeks have super busy, and super fun... and even though Ive been here for a full month now, I still cant believe that God has given me the opportunity to be in this beautiful place for this short time. It is still nothing short of breathtaking to be able to gaze at snow-capped Pike's Peak every morning as we drive to Focus, or to be able to look up at the stars each night and actually be able to make out Orion in the sky, or to be able to drive 5 minutes and go hiking at the Garden of the Gods. I hope and pray that I dont ever begin to take God's glorious creations for granted during my time here.

I feel like I have learned so much here lately that it is so hard to know what to write about and share with everyone, so here is my best attempt to share what I think are some pretty important and/or interesting thoughts.

Lately, we have been learning about our strengths and how to focus on becoming better at the things we are good at, as well as using our strengths to manage our weaknesses. In my time on the Leadership Team at BCM we spent quite a bit of time on this topic, so it was something I was familiar with. But I also feel like I am at a much better place in my life now to understand exactly how this concept should play out in our lives. Although we are generally taught throughout our lives that we should be focusing our time on getting better at things we arent too good at, is that really a biblical concept? Does God ask us to be well-rounded Christians? No. He calls us to do our part to help make the body of Christ complete by using our spiritual gifts, which I believe to be closely tied to our strengths. Just as God did not give us all the same spiritual gifts, he also did not give us the same strengths. That said, we should all be team players in the Body of Christ. If I am not a people person, being a greeter is probably not a good job for me. But if you am very hospitable and enjoy making people feel welcome, then being a greeter is probably a great place for you to use the strengths God has given you. I fully believe that if every Christian would take the time to truly discover how God has shaped them for ministry with their spiritual gifts, passions, abilities, and strengths, then nothing could ever hold us back from accomplishing some powerful and Kingdom-sized things in our churches, communities, and world. As it stands now though, weve got a small portion of people doing a large percentage of the work. Just imagine how God could use us to bring people towards Him if we all simply knew our place in the Body of Christ and acted on it. Wow! My answers from the Strengths Test were a little different than the past time that I took it, which is normal. Some are the same, and it is likely that the ones that are different are still in my top 10. These are my top 5 strengths: adaptability, belief, connectedness, futuristic, and responsibility. Adaptability is self explanatory. Belief means that I have a core set of values that are the base for everything else I do. Connectedness means that I see the connections between all things and believe that all things happen for a reason. Futuristic means that I have a vision for the future and am able to relate that vision to others. Responsibility refers to loyalty and means that I take psychological ownership of what I say I will do. Although those were my top 5, I adopted a couple of others that I felt fit me to a tee-- achiever (a person who gets stuff done... they are usually the ones who finish the work that other people start) and harmony (someone with harmony likes for everyone to get along... they are a peacemaker). I would encourage you to buy either Living Your Strengths or Strengthsfinder 2.0 and take the Strengthsfinder Test online in order to help you discover even more about how God has shaped you as a person and leader.

There's so much more I could write about right now, but I'll save it for later. Maybe I can write again in the near future since I am currently over a week ahead on my readings... yay! Now for some fun little tidbits...
For Valentines Day, the FLI guys hosted "An Evening of Elegance" for all 40 of us ladies. The 13 of them picked us ap at our apartments and drove us to Focus. They had a special dinner for us which started off with a chocolate fondue bar. Then we had a salad, lasagna/chicken penne pasta, and cheesecake/tiramisu. After our candlelight dinner, they had prepared some special entertainment for us. They spent hours and hours on this and it was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Therefore, I feel like I should share it with you. I can promise you it is worth the next five minutes of your time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agM-TJVLk-Y :) .

So, if you just watched the video, you are now FULLY aware that FLI is not all about the books. According to the staff, every group that comes through seems have their own personality. I feel quite confident that we have already established ours as the "class full of clowns". :) Last Monday, my birthday, we had secretly planned for it to be Secret Agent Day. Imagine the surprise of Dr. Leland when all 53 of us came into class wearing all black. What a sight! When we went to the cafeteria for lunch, some of the guys decided it would be a good idea to stand along the walls like secret service agents (keep in mind this was the day after FOTF's Super Bowl commercial aired). Some old lady started freaking out and asking what was going on. This past Monday, we dressed in red/white/blue or "Presidential wear" for President's Day. How much fun it has been to surprise Dr. Leland each Monday morning with our crazy antics!

Here are a few things you can be praying for:
- That God will continue to open up my mind and teach me how to think critically about what I believe and why I believe it.
- That I would continue to grow deep friendships here
- That the beauty of God's creation would continue to amaze me and take my breath away every single day

That's all for now. I'll update again soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures:



My roomies and I at the Garden of the Gods


Another super cool view at Garden of the Gods


My friend, Duncan, and I at our Gangsta Gitdown party (another one of our crazy antics) :)


A few of us at our VDay get-together


Secret Agent Day

Grace and Peace.