"He is my light, my strength, my song."

Ah, yes. Back in California for the rest of the semester, and for the first time since I started school here, I have mixed feelings about it. Break ended up being amazing; the Lord is SO faithful when we express our frustrations and hurt to him. He just takes the most dreary situations and makes them opportunities to bless and revel in who He is... What an incredible God we serve!

On my flight home, I began thinking about how quickly relationships with people can begin and end. The thought entered my mind as I sat on the plane back to Seattle for break reading The Shack. For those of you who don't know, it's a fictional book detailing the story of a man whose young daughter is murdered, and how that affects incredibly negatively his relationship with the Lord. The story then leads him to the shack where his daughter was killed, and there the Lord reveals Himself to Mack [the main character]. So far, it's been an amazing read and I'm really enjoying it. Anyway, the woman sitting next to me politely asked me how I was enjoying it, and I told her that I was having trouble keeping from crying, in all honesty. The author breaks down so many of the inhibitions and "rules" that Christians put on God, and I told her that I was being blessed by it so much. From there, she asked me about my life- if Seattle was home, or if California was home, about school, about choir. She, in essence, learned a ton about me and who I am in a two hour flight. In turn, she told me about herself, she actually goes to church in Corona, loves the Lord, and went to a private Christian college as well. But upon walking off the plane, I realized that I never even learned her name.

On the way back to California after break, I was sitting in my aisle seat, and the man sitting in the window seat looked past the middle person and asked me how I was enjoying the very same book. We had a short conversation about it, and even chatted about how the author wrote- the man suggested I download the iTunes version, because there's a short spoken portion at the end from the author himself, and he said it was fascinating to hear the man behind the story talk about it. But both times the beverage cart rolled by, the man ordered himself a scotch on the rocks, and then went back to his laptop... The woman behind me asked me a similar question about the book, and again, I never learned either of their names.

Thinking back to the conversations I had, I realize was blessed to have gotten to sit by two Christians and openly speak about the Lord. But I began to wonder; am I constantly striving to be a light? What if I hadn't gotten to sit by followers of Christ and had the person next to me ask me about the book? How would I have reacted to speaking God's perfect name in front of a non-believer? Would I have accepted the challenge and openly expressed the story's plot line, or sunken back into my comfort zone? And then I wondered; are my actions always those that reflect that of a follower of Christ? I mentioned that the man sitting next to me decided to have a few drinks on the flight, yet proclaimed the name of the Lord... Is that contradictory? Does that not give off the vibe to non-Christians that we, as a group of believers, can be hypocritical? I guess more than anything, I've begun to understand the importance of being a light, and the importance of continually striving toward that. There are so many ways and opportunities to relay the message of the Lord- one of the professors here says often;

"Profess the gospel always; if necessary, use words."
What a thought! From here on out, I pray that God begins to teach me to be a light- that everywhere I go I would exude His love and that I would be put on this earth to serve Him and be a blessing. That I would be consecrated- set apart- from the darkness of this world. Praise GOD that He has given himself to us, that He may live in us, and we in Him!


"In Christ Alone" -Anthony Evans.
Matthew 5:16