02 days until the chapter of "Employee of PESI Law & Accoutning" closes
10 days until a four-year chapter "College" of my life is closed
11 days until the chapter entitled "First Year of Marraige" closes
12 days until a new chapter of my life starts..."YouthWorks"
What is with me and all this counting down? I'm not desperately awaitng for my life to being...for it clearly already has! Maybe (due mostly to graduation), I'm just realizing that I'm not a kid anymore, and God has plans for me in the future- whether I feel ready or not!
God doesn't call the prepared, He prepares those He calls. That's how I feel right now. God is preparing me (and Andy!) for an amazing summer...but even more than that, an amazing future. Andy and I recently said to one another "if the first year of marriage is the hardest, we have it pretty easy!" I am so incredibly blessed by my husband- he daily encourages me to grow in my relationship with the Lord, yet at the same time, doesn't give me anything but grace and forgiveness when I mess up. At one time during my college career, I thought I had my future all figured out (laughable, I know), but now I've thrown my hands up and have said, "okay- I get it God. I don't have you figured out, or what You want from me...other than to love You with all my heart."
After the summer, we don't have a plan figured out, but for once in my life, I'm fine with not having every detailed figured out. What's it worth anyway? By the time I have all the details figured out, they've all changed! I have definitely been stretched beyond what I thought I could be this semester, and have finally realized that God is a much better planner than I will ever be. Although I need to be responsible, I need to find the balance between being a control freak and lazy couch potato. Oh extremes...you have to appreciate them.
I think I'll chalk this post up as one of the more random ones in a while. But hey- at least I posted again before two months went by! :)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Good Morning, Friends & Family!
As previously stated, I do apologize for not updating the blog on a regular basis…I guess working and going to school has a way of eating up my time. ;) Well, as promised, I am including some pictures, a city and a state in this blog post.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
We are moving to Sault (Sue) Ste. Marie, MI for the summer! We have been offered full time summer staff positions with YouthWorks. Typically, a summer with YouthWorks involves little sleep, sleeping on a church or school floor, and hanging out with junior and/or high school students. To add icing to the cake, the city we are in has a poverty level of 17.5%, and the unemployment rate in this city of about 14,000 is 8.3%. Oh, and did I mention the summer involves little sleep? After saying all of that, we are the crazies who are extremely excited for the adventure God has laid before us.
YouthWorks is a multi-faceted non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN. In the summer, the organization pours a lot of resources into their short-term missions’ trip program. With over 70 sites in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, YouthWorks strives to show the love of Christ through reaching out to various communities. Reaching out to the community out of love for Christ involves service projects, Kids’ Club, and much, much more. The service projects range from mowing someone’s lawn to helping out in a soup-kitchen for the day. The kids’ program (from what I understand) is Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the community’s children all summer. Monday through Thursday, the children in the community have the option to come and learn about Jesus, and who they are in Him.
Each Sunday afternoon, a new group of junior & senior high school students come to our site in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. These students and their leaders have orientation on Sunday night. Andy gives orientation to the adult leaders, and I along with our two other staff members give orientation to the youth. Each day after the youth & their leaders return from their work site, they have down time for about 2 hours. Dinner is at 5ish, with nightly activities & Club to follow. The activities allow the youth to learn more about the community. Club is much like youth group in that there is music, a message, and the group then breaks up into small groups to discuss the message and the day with one another. Club is my main responsibility for the summer- I will be leading the musical worship time as well as delivering the message each night. Andy’s main responsibility is to take care of the site staff, and the leaders of the groups that come. He also manages the summer budget, and fills in where needed at our service project locations &/or Kids’ Club.
There is so much more I could say, but I don’t want to write an overwhelmingly long post. So many prayer requests have been answered in regard to this summer program. Because of this, we have complete peace about joining YouthWorks in ministry this summer. That being said, please keep us in your prayers…especially the sleep part for me- we’ll be getting an average of 6 hrs a night, and my needy body usually can’t function on less than 7.5. Please pray for strength and wisdom for Andy this summer as he watches out for the well-being of the staff, and our overall ministry in Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
As previously stated, I do apologize for not updating the blog on a regular basis…I guess working and going to school has a way of eating up my time. ;) Well, as promised, I am including some pictures, a city and a state in this blog post.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
We are moving to Sault (Sue) Ste. Marie, MI for the summer! We have been offered full time summer staff positions with YouthWorks. Typically, a summer with YouthWorks involves little sleep, sleeping on a church or school floor, and hanging out with junior and/or high school students. To add icing to the cake, the city we are in has a poverty level of 17.5%, and the unemployment rate in this city of about 14,000 is 8.3%. Oh, and did I mention the summer involves little sleep? After saying all of that, we are the crazies who are extremely excited for the adventure God has laid before us.
YouthWorks is a multi-faceted non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN. In the summer, the organization pours a lot of resources into their short-term missions’ trip program. With over 70 sites in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, YouthWorks strives to show the love of Christ through reaching out to various communities. Reaching out to the community out of love for Christ involves service projects, Kids’ Club, and much, much more. The service projects range from mowing someone’s lawn to helping out in a soup-kitchen for the day. The kids’ program (from what I understand) is Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the community’s children all summer. Monday through Thursday, the children in the community have the option to come and learn about Jesus, and who they are in Him.
Each Sunday afternoon, a new group of junior & senior high school students come to our site in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. These students and their leaders have orientation on Sunday night. Andy gives orientation to the adult leaders, and I along with our two other staff members give orientation to the youth. Each day after the youth & their leaders return from their work site, they have down time for about 2 hours. Dinner is at 5ish, with nightly activities & Club to follow. The activities allow the youth to learn more about the community. Club is much like youth group in that there is music, a message, and the group then breaks up into small groups to discuss the message and the day with one another. Club is my main responsibility for the summer- I will be leading the musical worship time as well as delivering the message each night. Andy’s main responsibility is to take care of the site staff, and the leaders of the groups that come. He also manages the summer budget, and fills in where needed at our service project locations &/or Kids’ Club.
There is so much more I could say, but I don’t want to write an overwhelmingly long post. So many prayer requests have been answered in regard to this summer program. Because of this, we have complete peace about joining YouthWorks in ministry this summer. That being said, please keep us in your prayers…especially the sleep part for me- we’ll be getting an average of 6 hrs a night, and my needy body usually can’t function on less than 7.5. Please pray for strength and wisdom for Andy this summer as he watches out for the well-being of the staff, and our overall ministry in Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
ya...sorry for the delay
Wow....two months is a long time between posts. My apologies. An update is coming soon- I promise! It will involve a picture or two, the name of a city & state, as well as two descriptions....
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Detox
Hello All!
Today marks day 3 for me of 7 of a detox I am doing to rid my body of junk. This is most definitely a challenge in so many ways, but I am enjoying it as much as one can enjoy a detox. :) However, it got me thinking....what would a 7-day spiritual detox look like? I'm taking seven days to rid my body of sugar, bad fats, and other junk that has built up inside of me...what if I take seven days to rid my mind and heart of sin? What does that look like?
Any thoughts out there?
Today marks day 3 for me of 7 of a detox I am doing to rid my body of junk. This is most definitely a challenge in so many ways, but I am enjoying it as much as one can enjoy a detox. :) However, it got me thinking....what would a 7-day spiritual detox look like? I'm taking seven days to rid my body of sugar, bad fats, and other junk that has built up inside of me...what if I take seven days to rid my mind and heart of sin? What does that look like?
Any thoughts out there?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Bitterness is not Becoming
I can't recall the saying, but the concept that bitterness only hurts the one who is bitter really isn't true. I don't know about you, but I have been the brunt of others' bitterness before, and it is anything but non-hurtful....so you think I would have learned from that to not be bitter, but oh no, as usual, I had to learn this one on my own.
Over the last year or so, I've been struggling with bitterness towards people who shall remain anonymous and hopefully undetected throughout this post. I allowed silly things like people saying they'd call and then not, or calling too much, or making me feel like they forgot I exist, or blowing me off, or _______, to take take root in bitterness. And even though all the above are true, why would I want to harbor bitterness in my heart? Why would I want ugly sin to take root, make it's home in my heart, and play a determining factor in my thoughts towards certain people in my life? I don't know...I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time???? Is there ever really an adequate justification for why we sin?
A couple of weeks ago in church, we were challenged to take a step of faith and surrender sin that's been lingering over to Christ. Our pastor encouraged us to take the physical step of writing the sin down and putting it at the foot of the cross. I sat in my chair thinking about how bitter I have been lately towards some people, and asked God to not only forgive me, but to show me what it looks like to love these people like He does....despite how much I've been hurt by their actions (or the lack of actions) towards me. It is hard...it really is. How do I even begin to change my heart towards some people who have hurt me and don't even know they've done so? I know it is not biblical or Christ-like to harbor bitternes or ponder the wrongs committed towards me, but how do I LOVE with an unconditional love?
I've been praying about this over the last few weeks, and this is the conclusion I have reached: Pray for God to show me more ways to love others, but in the meantime, whenever bitterness rears it's ugly head, think of something for which I am truly thankful. Think about something in that person that is admirable. Think about what Christ did for me when He set me free. Give praise to God.
I'm not sure if any of you have struggled with bitterness, but any advice you have to share would be appreciated. :)
This morning, I read this verse, and absolutely love it!
1 Timothy 1:16
"But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. " (ESV)
Jesus showed me, the worst of sinners, mercy. Through me, Jesus will show his patience (which is unlimited and perfect) as an example to others of what it looks like to trust & rely on God forever. (Hannah Baldwin Version)
I hope you all have a fantastic, bitter-free weekend!
Over the last year or so, I've been struggling with bitterness towards people who shall remain anonymous and hopefully undetected throughout this post. I allowed silly things like people saying they'd call and then not, or calling too much, or making me feel like they forgot I exist, or blowing me off, or _______, to take take root in bitterness. And even though all the above are true, why would I want to harbor bitterness in my heart? Why would I want ugly sin to take root, make it's home in my heart, and play a determining factor in my thoughts towards certain people in my life? I don't know...I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time???? Is there ever really an adequate justification for why we sin?
A couple of weeks ago in church, we were challenged to take a step of faith and surrender sin that's been lingering over to Christ. Our pastor encouraged us to take the physical step of writing the sin down and putting it at the foot of the cross. I sat in my chair thinking about how bitter I have been lately towards some people, and asked God to not only forgive me, but to show me what it looks like to love these people like He does....despite how much I've been hurt by their actions (or the lack of actions) towards me. It is hard...it really is. How do I even begin to change my heart towards some people who have hurt me and don't even know they've done so? I know it is not biblical or Christ-like to harbor bitternes or ponder the wrongs committed towards me, but how do I LOVE with an unconditional love?
I've been praying about this over the last few weeks, and this is the conclusion I have reached: Pray for God to show me more ways to love others, but in the meantime, whenever bitterness rears it's ugly head, think of something for which I am truly thankful. Think about something in that person that is admirable. Think about what Christ did for me when He set me free. Give praise to God.
I'm not sure if any of you have struggled with bitterness, but any advice you have to share would be appreciated. :)
This morning, I read this verse, and absolutely love it!
1 Timothy 1:16
"But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. " (ESV)
Jesus showed me, the worst of sinners, mercy. Through me, Jesus will show his patience (which is unlimited and perfect) as an example to others of what it looks like to trust & rely on God forever. (Hannah Baldwin Version)
I hope you all have a fantastic, bitter-free weekend!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Weather
I just need to get this off my chest:
Why do we complain so much about the weather? When the sun is sending down some warm love rays, we complain it is too hot. When the snow is dancing around in the sky, we complain it is too cold. When it rains, we complain because we have to stay inside. When it is windy, we complain because it is inconvenient.
God puts thought into each day.
I understand that when it is snowing, below zero, and there is ice on the roads, that driving isn't so much fun. But is the weather really crappy? I mean think about it- does God create crappy things?
I catch myself several times saying things like "the weather is really crappy today" or "it took me FOREVER to get to work today because of the stupid snow" or "its FREEZING outside- I wish it would warm up already!" I don't think this really displays a content heart. I think it displays a heart that wants things on my terms and timing. There are so many small areas like this in all of our lives. We might just brush them aside saying really, something as small as my attitude towards the weather doesn't affect me as a person or my relationship with God. But, I think it does. Its when the little things like this add up into something big, and we suddenly wonder where the appalling thing we just said came from, or how in the world could we have done something like this?
In a world that thrives on instant gratification, not a lot of room is left over for contentment and thankfulness. I feel extremely challenged to start looking at things from a renewed perspective. Let's take the weather for example....Wow, it is GORGEOUS outside! And to think, all of these snowflakes are different...I truly serve an amazing and creative God.
Why do we complain so much about the weather? When the sun is sending down some warm love rays, we complain it is too hot. When the snow is dancing around in the sky, we complain it is too cold. When it rains, we complain because we have to stay inside. When it is windy, we complain because it is inconvenient.
God puts thought into each day.
I understand that when it is snowing, below zero, and there is ice on the roads, that driving isn't so much fun. But is the weather really crappy? I mean think about it- does God create crappy things?
I catch myself several times saying things like "the weather is really crappy today" or "it took me FOREVER to get to work today because of the stupid snow" or "its FREEZING outside- I wish it would warm up already!" I don't think this really displays a content heart. I think it displays a heart that wants things on my terms and timing. There are so many small areas like this in all of our lives. We might just brush them aside saying really, something as small as my attitude towards the weather doesn't affect me as a person or my relationship with God. But, I think it does. Its when the little things like this add up into something big, and we suddenly wonder where the appalling thing we just said came from, or how in the world could we have done something like this?
In a world that thrives on instant gratification, not a lot of room is left over for contentment and thankfulness. I feel extremely challenged to start looking at things from a renewed perspective. Let's take the weather for example....Wow, it is GORGEOUS outside! And to think, all of these snowflakes are different...I truly serve an amazing and creative God.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year From the Newly Weds!
Happy New Year Everybody!
We hope 2010 is a great year for all of you. Just a few highlights from 2009:
May
-Andy graduated from UW-EC with his B.A. in Psychology
-We got MARRIED! :D
June
-Hannah started full time as a nanny for an amazing family! They were such a blessing, and I miss those kiddos so much!
-Andy's best friend got married- it was so much fun seeing college friends and being able to share in their special day!
July/August/September
-The never-ending job search began for both Andy and I. I was looking for a part-time job, and Andy was looking for ONE full time job. This time was extremely stretching for us, but through it, our reliance on and trust in God grew, and our relationship continued to strengthen.
-Hannah got to visit some family in Ohio- the road trip with my sister, R was really great, and it was so much fun to be able to spend a weekend with my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces. It was sooooo much fun!
October/November
-Hannah got a job! It has been an amazing blessing for us, and I thoroughly LOVE my job! God's timing and providence was perfect....as always.
December
-Andy got a job! And, as of today, a promotion to supervisor!
-Hannah teamed up with the Creative Arts staff at church and helped with the Christmas Pageant. It was so much fun to watch the little kids be little kids. One of my favorite parts was during rehearsal when my "niece" M, decided to walk on stage and entertain us by singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", complete with hand motions. Too cute!
We have been so blessed by our time with family and friends this holiday season. Hannah is enjoying the break from school, and is eagerly anticipating graduation on May 22, 2010! Andy loves his job, and enjoys not working three jobs. :) We love being married and seeing how God works in and through us. I have an amazing husband who spoils me, and even though I don't think I spoil him nearly enough, he might have something different to say about that.
Happy New Year!
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