faster than the speed of light

tuesday, as many of you ohioans know, was absolutely gorgeous. it was supposed to thunderstorm all day, and instead the weather surprised us with glorious sunshine and 70 degrees of happiness. two of my classes got cancelled and i decided to take a bike ride down to the river.
because of my schedule, solitudes and time with God altogether have to be purposefully scheduled and planned. so what a wonderful blessing it was to spend a few hours down with Him at one of my favorite spots in Kent! i don't want to share everything from that time, reflecting on many psalms and romans 12, but i do want to share one thought.
as the sun was pouring down its warmth upon kent, i recalled something i learned a few years back in a science class. even with how fast the speed of light travels, it takes some time to reach us here on earth. and i thought about how God had divinely orchestrated that moment, from he suns light starting its journey to earth all the way until it reached me. looking at the big picture, from the very beginning He began to plan my life and include me in His divine plan. how great is our God, the One we serve is truly the creator of this universe! He is faster than he speed of light, He has known me intimately and completely since He created me in His image, since i was conceived as a joyful thought of His. and He continues to know me with each passing day, hour, and minute. oh how i needed that reminder, i need that everyday!
i hope you're able to take away from this what i was; that God fully loves you and understands you. like a good parent, sometimes He disciplines or says no to things, only because He's thinking of us. His timing is perfect. we just need to be obedient and walk in the faith He has given us.

a long, long time ago

Actually not too long ago, I was in Amsterdam. Before and even now that our trip has come and gone, it's been a really busy time getting my life together. I feel like organizing my life is a constant battle of reviewing my schedule and rearranging plans to squeeze everything in. It's hard to believe that in 4 short weeks, I'll be home for the summer. It feels like I still have forever.
Anywho, I wanted to post some reflection on Amsterdam. After a group barbecue last night I was able to gather some thoughts and put them into a note on my phone (I finally joined the rest of the work on the iPhone network.) So here's a little bit of my reflection, more is surely going to come eventually.

My triumph and my setback are the same in their main essence. I realized how small I am and how big our God is. I am so immensely blessed by seeing God work everywhere. No matter where or what we were doing, or what group of us were there, I saw Gods provision without fail. That being said, I also saw myself as small as a setback. I got in the way of myself. Exodus 18:18 says that this burden is not yours alone to bear and I realized that even though I am passionate about social justice, church planting, and being abroad; my excitement and energy alone are not going to change these situations. These people need a Savior, and thats not my job description. Nor will it ever be. I just need to be Mabel, willing and able as I can be. A humbling experience, yet super encouraging.