Life with Jesus

Hey friends,

God has been doing crazy things in my life everyday. It is so amazing knowing Christ, and being in relationship with Him. He doesn't let one day be normal when you're friends with Him. I just don't know what I would do if Jesus wasn't my savior. This all occurred to me in a crazy way a couple of months ago back in Spokane, Washington.
Here's the story.
        It was an ungodly hour of the morning and I woke up to go watch the sunrise with a friend. Those plans ended up being cancelled a few minutes after I got ready, so I was going to go back to bed, but then God nudged me (He's God-so it's pretty obvious when He nudges you). So I stayed awake and sat infront of my bedroom window and watched the sunrise. Then God started taking me on a little trip with my thoughts. I began thinking of life. What is life, why are we here, what do we do with our time here? Then the question came to me that boggled me the most: What does everyone want the most out of life? According to our natural human instinct, what does a great life look like? And how do I obtain that?, God aside. I began to ponder it more and it occurred to me that people want to know great people and be known by great people. But humans also want to love and be loved. To be known and to be loved are our greatest desires. If I could just know people high up in society and they recognised and loved me, then I could be somebody. That made enough sense to me. But who is the greatest person I could know and be loved by? The president of the U.S.? Mr. Universe (hahaha)? Maybe Oprah, I don't know. Those are certainly great and influential people, but in that statement lies the problem. They are just people and can only do so much-no, I want to know and be loved by someone even more powerful and influential. The only person that matched that description was Jesus Christ, who is Lord. It dawned on me (yeah, I'm quick) that knowing God and loving God was the greatest life I could possibly have. This is because He RULES the ENTIRE universe! He created it ALL! Who has more power and influence than that? I know that guy! We hang out! Man! But it didn't stop there (at this point my head was spinning with excitement) No, it doesn't stop there. He knows me, too! And He's not just aware of my presence, or just acknowledges that I exist and leaves me alone. He PURSUES an intimate relationship with me and LOVES me! He created a way for us to be together through His son Jesus dying on the cross! (the good news) And this isn't human, unfaithful, limited, selfish love. This is real love, the holy, selfless, furious, passionate, jealous, relentless LOVE. I do life with the King of the Universe, who is absolutely head over heals for me and wants to hang out with me and be involved in my life! Bah!!! Life is amazing! I am living the greatest life I could possibly live because I'm living it hand in hand with the Creator of the world and the greatest Lover of my soul.

I can't enter into each day without expectations for greatness anymore. God is too big and exciting to not expect amazing things each day. And the closer you get to Him, the more there is to learn about Him. And He wants an intimate relationship (the most intimate relationship you could ever have) with everyone! No one is left out, He wants everyone with Himself, at His very heart. He's crazy and I love Him.

So, I am going to go do something crazy amazing today simply because I know Christ and He knows and loves me. I hope that you do the same.

Farewell adventurers,
Demetria

Here in Maui

Aloha my lovely friends,
  I am currently in Maui, Hawaii (if you couldn't pick that up from the pictures.) I've been here for a month now, but leave in a week. It's been incredible. I came out here with my best friend Hannah from Chicago. It's been amazing how our friendship has grown through this trip, we literally spend every waking moment with one another. I feel like I'm married. Anyway, I'll recap most of the trip in the most concise way possible.
Great feats of this Maui trip:
-overcame fear of being on a surfboard in the water (now I can't wait to get out there on a board)
-got to meet up and spend quality time with old friends
-got my first sting from a Jellyfish (I felt pretty badass the rest of the day ;D )
-had great communion and worship at the YWAM base here and at New Hope Church
-made new friends from all over the world
-Hiked through the West Maui Mountains
-had my first acai bowl
-the hitchhiking ministry we were able to be a part of

Hardships of this Maui trip:
-Its hot up here in Haiku
-my toes were busted the first couple of weeks here (making it painful to do most activities)
-being away from my new home, Spokane and all my friends there
-HAVING TO LEAVE MAUI

That last one was a bit dramatic, but you can sympathize. Hannah will be heading to Chicago next Thursday while I head back to Spokane, Washington. I am very excited to head back, but as you can tell, it will be hard to leave here again. Especially with my new surfing addiction. Spokane is 6 hours from any waves to shred on. I will begin school at Spokane Falls Community College at the end of September and will be there until I finish my Gen Eds, so that way I can be a part of my Moody community in Spokane for a little longer. Then I will head to a university to pursue a degree in International Business. (hopefully WWU). Well, that's the gist of my life right now. Stay tuned for my next post where I will update you on my spiritual life. God is doing crazy things! I love it!
Naturally,
Demetria

Suffering

I wrote this paper for one my classes at Moody, and thought it might interest some of you. Let me know your thoughts.

The Necessity of Suffering

Suffer. No one likes this word. It is the last word that you want brought up in conversation. We replace it with words like; trial, tough-times, and difficulty. No one wants to suffer. I have never heard of anyone waking up in the morning with a strong desire to suffer that day. Suffering means pain, vulnerability and humility; all things that we as humans try to avoid. Growth, growth is a word  people love. The idea of progress and good change is something people aim and work towards. People understand the importance of growing and embrace the concept. Growth does not just occur on its own though, popping out of nothing. Growth is a product of something, but not just anything. Growth can only come when there is pain and hardship, growth can only occur through suffering.

Think about movies, books, or even video games. The character in these stories usually grows throughout the story, but its never because they have some happy event happen to them. In order for a character to grow they need pain and trials. Take Finding Nemo for example, Nemo didn’t understand the importance of family and Marlin lived in fear. In order for the family to learn these important lessons they had to go through all sorts of pain and trials. Nemo had to miss his dad immensely in order to understand how grateful he should be for Marlin. And Marlin was forced to be courageous in order to overcome his fear. These characters could not have grown without these events in the movie.

The Bible also supports this concept. James talks about the importance of suffering in his letter, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). This verse has always reminded me of how we build muscles. In order for muscles to grow stronger, you need to tear them down. Lifting weights, and engaging in strenuous activity causes the muscle tissue to tear. It seems like such an awful thing. But where the muscle tore more muscle will grow, causing the muscle to be stronger than before.  Suffering is a testing that causes growth.

I have seen how suffering affects my own life. Three years ago, my brother got into a serious car accident. Chad broke his neck in the accident, causing him to be paralysed from the chest down. It was the hardest thing my family has ever gone through. Suffering is the only word that explains what we went through after that. All of my doubts about God came to the surface. I realized how much I didn’t actually trust God, that I didn’t really believe that He is loving. I had never faced trial, so it was easy to say God was loving and faithful when things were peachy and bright. It was in the dark, depressing nights when I heard my mom screaming in her room at God that I needed to believe that God was faithful and loving. It was through the pain I felt when I saw my father sob over his broken son in the hospital bed that I came face to face with my need for a good God. I would never understand that if I had not faced trial and pain. I would never have grown in that area of my life if I had not suffered.

Stories attest to the need to suffer in order for growth to happen. The Bible supports the importance for pain for our faith to grow. My own story proves that growth does not spring up out of easy times. We cannot grow unless we go through pain. Suffering is a necessity.

(photo taken by Lauren Crabill)

Spokane, Washington

Peace, from Spokane~
         I arrived here on Wednesday of last week. I live in an adorable bungalow with 10 other girls, with Moody Bible Institute across the street. I will be attending this lovely school for the next two years, aiming for my associates in Biblical Studies. The people here are amazing, so welcoming and loving. I cannot wait to become a part of this school family. Class starts on the twenty-eighth, it will be strange for me because I have not been in school for a year and a half now. But I am ambitious and hardworking, so I think I will be able to handle it. God is so good, it is obvious He has lead me here, I have never felt so at peace. I have began my prep work for a New Testament survey class I am taking this semester, which entails reading the whole NT and writing 100 words on every chapter. I have finished three books thus far and am making my way through Matthew currently. Even though I have just began, I can already see the impact it has made on my daily life. The Word truly is living and it really is as sharp as  two-edged sword. I would highly recommend that everyone seriously read and meditate on Scripture daily.
              I attending a church called Life Center with my good friend from YWAM (who lives here now) on Sunday. The pastor spoke about the importance of reading the Word. He gave 7 ways you should be in the word:
1-Hear the word (1 Tim. 4:13)
2-Read the word (Deu. 17:18-20)
3-Study the word (Ezra 7:10)
4-Memorize the word (Col. 3:16)
5-Meditate on the word (Ps. 1:1-3)
6-Obey the word (Luke 8:21)
7-Share the word (1 Peter 4:10-11)

      I love that he spoke about this, because I often ignore the importance of the WORD OF THE LIVING GOD. I do it all the time. I am tired and do not feel like reading it or thinking about it. But if I am serious about following Jesus, shouldn't I know who He is? And how do I get to know who He is? By reading His letters, His poetry, some of His story. Sometimes I feel like an idiot because of how little I know about this God I swear that I follow.
     So anyways, back to Spokane life. I love it here, the streets are blanketed in snow, the trees are all frosted with ice, frozen in their magnificent splendor. Mountains are in every direction, lazy rivers wind about the town, pine trees line all the roads. I am supposed to be here. It hurts me that I've been missing out on this beauty for so long. But its the people, the people are the aspect that wow me the most. They are so laid back and thoughtful. Quick to listen, they always interested in what you have to say. Welcoming to new things, instead of turned off. What I admire the most though, is how genuine everyone is-what you see is what you get. So different than where I lived before this, where envy and sneers are often hidden behind the white smiles. And what you do is much more important that who you are.
   I think I will be here for a while.
I am not working yet, but I will begin looking for a job in March. But as for this summer, I think I will travel for the first month but then stay in one town and just work, hopefully on a farm, as it has always been my dream.

I miss you all, please don't be shy to call or write.
All my love.
Naturally,
Demetria Angeline

This is a photo from a spot we call, Seeker's Point on South hill. My RA, Taborah, took it on Saturday night.