From Darkness to Light.

Colossians 1:13-14 
The Message 

    "God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating." 

   This morning I found myself feeling less than worthy of love, and then I came across this verse. After praying for a sweet reminder of the love God has for me even when I sin, even when I fall short, I read this. Through this passage God brought me back to a time before I was fully devoted to Him, to a time when I was living 3/4th of my life for myself and only quarter of it for Him, and that's probably being generous. This morning I sat with my bible in my lap remembering that previous life, full of things that I thought were important, that I was convinced would bring me happiness, make me special, allow me to feel worthy. God indeed rescued me from myself, and from this world. I was giving into what everyone else wanted me to be, and only thinking about myself.

He broke me, and all of the lies that were inside of me. He allowed me to arrive at my lowest point in order to raise me up into His family. Looking back, I was in a deep pit, doomed to keep repeating the sins I was stuck in. Many people I love are still circling around this vicious cycle of life, not even aware that they need saving.

Be vulnerable today, let Jesus lift you up out of the dungeons of life, allow Him to break the negative cycles for you. Lay your burdens on Him. Be brave, He will strengthen you. I was reminded of a transformative time in my life this morning when I was feeling the weight of the world, and the consequences of my sin. Take heart, our Father is always right there waiting to remind us how loved we really are.

Masquerade.

     There was a lot to celebrate this week at LCC! The week started off with some secret decorating of our favorite VP's office for his birthday, and the rest of the week was spent in preparation of our all-campus Masquerade dance that took place last Thursday! The dance was just in time for Valentine's Day,  and people got really into the theme. I held an event the night before the dance where students could come and make their own masks, glitter was everywhere. I made a cat mask, of course. One of our students DJ'ed the evening for us, and we even had a little blind-dating game on stage. It was a great evening, I couldn't stop dancing as usual...

In other news, today I hosted my weekly house church and bible study. I taught my girls about Lent and we all wrote down our Lenten challenges. Ever since my Catholic school years where the tradition of Lent was introduced to me it has been a special part of each year. A time of waiting on the Lord and trusting Him in the thin times. I am excited to journey though this years Lenten season with these girls. 

Today at home church we were watching SaddleBack Church online and the guest pastor was talking about the times when we say "No thanks" to God's calls and all of the wonderful disturbances we miss out on when we don't allow God to interfere in our lives. This morning I woke up from a dream where I was back in San Diego with my friends enjoying the sun and beach, it was like I'd never left. When I woke up I was so full of disappointment. I had these dreams a lot when I first moved here, but haven't for a while now so this was surprising. I felt guilty for missing home and friends when I know I am doing God's work here. Hearing this message the morning about getting called out of our comfort zones, and submitting to God's calls on our lives took my guilt away. In my conscious mind I know that that's exactly what I did. I said "YES!" to God's call to move to Lithuania, and with that yes came the good days and the days when I miss home and an easier/more comfortable way of living. I said yes to leaving friends, San Diego, family, my native language, and sunshine. MORE IMPORTANTLY I said yes to being the person who teaches students about Lent, who is there on their hardest school days, and is also there to celebrate their daily accomplishments. I said yes to God using me to make HIS miracles happen. I am so honored that he would even ask me to be here. Thank you Jesus for your miraculous disruption in my life. 

Past, Present, and Future.

   Lithuania's past, present, and future are each so uniquely interesting and important to understanding this part of the world. This week I got to see each aspect of Lithuania a little clearer. 

PAST:

This weekend I read a book in one sitting. This book was recommended to me multiple times, by many different people, and I now see why. "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys is a fictional story, based off of a very real injustice that horribly affected the Baltic people. The story follows a teenage girl's perspective of her family being taken from Lithuania, and inhumanly transported to Siberia to work/die. Many of the educated Baltic people were taken from their home countries in the beginning of WWII, Stalin didn't want any skilled people left in the countries he was trying to over take. 

This is a widely untold story. It was amazing to read about the exact place I am living. These terrible realities didn't happen all that long ago, this book is set in the 1940's and Lithuania finally got its independence in 1991! We are still rebuilding. I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about the past of Lithuania, and it's people. 

PRESENT: 

The Klaipeda Light Festival was this past weekend. I admire the way Europeans embrace art of every kind. Walking around Old Town Klaipeda and seeing sculptures, and beautiful murals is such a gift. Being a part of the Light Festival, and the community that came out to join in the celebration, filled me with so much joy for the city I live in, a place that truly knows how to celebrate all things. 

FUTURE:

This July I will be making a trip home, to reconnect with many people who love, and support me. I have been planning gatherings, in different cities along the coast to help me spend time with as many people as possible! In those conversations I would like to share about my time at LCC, what living in Lithuania looks like, and how I have grown. In order to do that I have been working on a short presentation. This has enabled me to reflect on the importance of LCC. A university that is working to rebuild Lithuania, and send out educated young professionals into the world. The work we are doing here has so much importance, and I am honored to be a part of it. 

Join us!

  It's only Tuesday and already this week has been filled with all things new and exciting. Here at LCC we just hired a new Chaplain team, Student Leader applications opened, I switched my iPhone's language to Lithuanian, I got into Grad School, and we are now looking to hire one new RD for next year! All that for a Monday. 

I have had an incredible experience serving as a Resident Director here at LCC, just peruse through my past blog posts and you can get a glimpse of the fun work I do here everyday with students from all around the world! Taking the risk to move to Lithuania, and work in Higher Education has been one of the best choices I have made. I am so glad that I said YES to the Lord when He put this call on my heart. 

If He is calling you to make moves for His kingdom, prayerfully consider LCC. He is at work here and we need all of the devoted followers we can get to shine His light in this place! I would love to chat with anyone who might have interest, or questions about what it means to work at LCC and live in Klaipeda, Lithuania! 

Here is the link to the RD job application: http://careers.cccu.org/jobs/6815916/resident-director

"True spiritual leadership refers to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, always trusting that with him, they will find life and find it abundantly." Henri Nouwen