I need this today. Maybe you do too.

Philippians 4:4-9 (The Message):

^4-5Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Getting Ready...

Today, I sit in Panera... again.... listening to a love of mine, classical music. I'm working on my plans for this next year and my vision for how I want SGA to go. The more I think about it, the more I realize that my vision is simple. My vision is my calling, my passion, and my purpose: Love.

Now, this word is often misused, misunderstood, feared, hated, adored... the list goes on. I, however, feel as though this one word is our purpose for existence. We were brought into this world BY the love of God, for the purpose TO love others unconditionally, as an expression of thanks FOR the love that has been graciously given to us.

My vision is simple. You won't find too many additions, only alterations where there is brokenness and problems that need a little more, well, love and attention. This can only happen through teamwork and cooperation, and my job is maintain those two things. How will I do that? Love.

Seems a little broad? Yes, it is. Seems to have little 'vision.' I would disagree. Sure, I have ideas on how to implement love into my job, into SGA, into SNU, but I know that things will change and I will face a lot this next year. The great thing is: God is for me. He will guide my actions as I go into this year, which is the most comforting thing I could ask for!

Despite all of my uncertainties, I am so incredibly excited for what God has in store for this next year! :)

God is great and today is a blessing that I will never get back, so I'm going to make the most of it and share this love that I've graciously been given! :)

Love deeply,
Mendolin

So Little Time...

So, I do realize that my blog title is a rip off an old, cheesy, Olsen twins' TV show on Fox Family... and I'm OK with that.

But on more serious note, there's so much to be done here on earth. Just thinking about it all sends my head into a spin like I'm on the time warp amusement park ride at the state fair. I have heard about, seen videos of, and talked about more serious issues this semester than I've had my whole time here at SNU previously, combined. I'm in an AWESOME class called International Economic Development here this semester and its totally rocked my world. For some good and for some bad reasons too.

I've learned so much about these awesome people like Muhammad Yunus (my huuuuuuge crush) who are not afraid to get dirty and fight poverty and oppression at the root of the problem, dedicating their whole life to speaking up for the poor. This man, while he is not a Christian, is living a more Christian life than several "Christians" I know... and that's including me. I'm not leaving myself out of this judgement because I've been made more aware of the things that I'm doing that aren't helping others as well as the things I'm NOT doing that's not helping others.

Pretty crazy thing when a Hindu is acting more like Christ than you, a so-called Christian, are. That's a pretty tough thing to swallow, but its true. What even more difficult to process is the reality of extreme slavery, whether sexual or not, that is so prevalent today in the world. I mean, its 2009... we have the iPhone, online banking, smart cars, and clothing that is more high tech than computers in the 1960s! Why can't we figure out how to get humanity on the right path towards living a full and wonderful life for our Wonderful Creator?

There's so much hurt and pain in this world. So much love that needs to be shared. So many lives that need to be helped. So many homes that only need a mere cent a week in order to climb out of the lowest level of poverty and be able to sustain a somewhat better life... There's so much to do, but I've got so little time, it seems.

I sure can't do this alone. Not when I'm only here for few brief breaths.

The Lee Wedding

This weekend, I was blessed to be the Maid of Honor for David and Beth Lee's wedding. It was held at 2PM on Saturday, November 22nd at Trinity Church of the Nazarene (my home church) and was a beautiful fall wedding!

Here are some pictures from the whole day that I took when I had time in between running errands and fluffing the dress! :) Hope you enjoy!

Angela and Katie Beth did our hair! It looked so amazing!

Sweet Keagan stayed SO STILL for Katie Beth. It was so cute...

The Beautiful Bride!!!

Beth's AWESOME Shoes that matched David's

Sweet Girls...

The Wedding Dress!
The girls tying the difficult bows for each other.
All of us with Beth before the dress goes on!
Beth sat sideways on the piano bench for 30 minutes before the ceremony started.

It was SUCH a great wedding. I've always wanted a fall wedding, so even if I don't get one, I can at least say that I was in a beautiful fall wedding with warm colors and wonderful young women! :) I hope you and David have a blessed marriage, Beth... Love you both. :)