Prairie Bible College.. and yes, there may be a guy involved... :)

With the first term coming to a close, I realize that I have been at school now since the second week of August. So much has happened since I left home! Crazy how God never gives up on us but continues to use all circumstances and situations to teach and draw us closer to Himself.

Here is an overview of what has happened the past few months...

What you see when you drive up to the school..

After my 2 attempts to fly here back in August, [definitely some spiritual warfare going on!] I made it safe and sound on August 18th. Tired and ready to be done for the day, I waited in the Calgary airport to get through Canadian customs and immigration. After 3 long hours, I made it through without a glitch and met a Christian lady, Rosanna, in the process. So cool when God does that! :) I met my family that night at the campus as they had started the journey in a 15 passenger van with Grace, Sarah and Issac 2 days prior.

The weekend was full of orientation and other activities. Grace, mom and dad attended freshman meetings, while Sarah, Isaac and I hung out and explored. The last night before my family went back to Iowa, we went out to eat... you know you're American when you go to a nice restaurant and your family orders nothing other than pizza! haha :) Sunday morning met us with the reality that my family was heading back to Iowa, the 26-27 hour drive home, and we would not be seeing them anytime soon. No weekend visits for us! "All right, Jesus, You brought us this far and are not gonna leave us now. Here we go, let's do this!"

The first two weeks everyone had a modular course; that is, we did an entire semester long course in 2 weeks. Grace had Reading the Bible in the 21st Century while I had Leadership Foundations. I learned so much about being a leader; what God expects from a leader; the world's definition of a leader vs. God's definition of a leader; and some of my strengths and weaknesses in leading. Overall, I really enjoyed the course.

My birthday was September 6th. Grace did an AMAZING job pulling off a surprise-blindfold and everything!! Yep, yep, that's right, for my birthday we went flying!!! :) For those of you who don't know, I love to fly! Here are some pictures from the excursion..

And yes, I totally got a chance to fly the plane!.. for a whole 10 seconds! :D

Heeman, the amazing pilot (and also a student here) who helped with surprise. 
The plane we flew in behind us.

September 3rd we started fall classes for the first term of the semester. Classes are everyday, 5 times a week. This term I am taking 2 classes. The Pentateuch: Genesis through Deuteronomy and Pauline Epistles. Both have been really good! The more I learn about the sacrificial system, the more thankful I am for Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. The Apostle Paul has been one of my favorite people in the Bible for as long as I can remember. Learning more about the letters he wrote has been eye opening and intriguing to me. The big research papers have been the hardest part for me overall. Getting my thoughts on paper is something that is still a struggle for me after my brain injury. So if you are wondering what you can pray for, this would be one thing for sure!

Though I am learning so much in the classroom, I am learning even more outside the academic classroom. Trust and love have been the themes since coming here. You can say you trust someone and you can say you love someone, but what you really believe will come out in your actions. You cannot have a good, healthy relationship with anyone-people or God, without trust. It is the foundation. And without it, how can you really love?
And love... well, many times I think we buy into the lie that love is always suppose to feel good. But the fact of the matter is that love is a war. Love hurts. Love does not always feel good. Love is sacrificial. Love is giving of yourself and putting others needs before your own. Love is a feeling, yes, but it is also a choice. At the end of the day, it is your decision and choice as to whether or not you are going to choose to love those around you, or not. Whether you are going to fight for relationships, or not. You cannot love without hurting. And at the end of the day, you have to decide whether it is worth it. I have come to the conclusion that it is worth the battle scars. Just look at the cross and Christ love for us. If He would voluntarily choose to love us enough to give up His very life on our behalf, on your behalf, begging for us-going to the depths of hell to get us back-how can we not fight to love those around us?! I challenge you.. step back and examine your definition of what you think love is. How you treat those around you is an indicator as to what you believe. Are you engaging in the battle of loving others that we are called to fight everyday? Or watching on the side lines? Christians, stand up! Be counted! Enter in to the war called LOVE. Christ said, "Yep, he is worth it; yes, she is worth it." You are worth it friend! Every time. you. are. worth. being. loved. because God says so. And that girl or guy you think is a nobody or loser.. yeah, they deserve love just as much as you. So why not gear up and give them everything you have?! Because it is worth it every time.


Hmmmm, so what else is new you ask... well, let me introduce you to Ridge Anderson.

He was looking at the camera and obviously I wasn't.. what else is new?!?! ;)

This is one amazing man! Apart from my relationship with Jesus, this guy is the best thing that has happened to me! Daily he points me back to Jesus. Daily he looks for ways to serve, honor and love me. To see where I am coming from and just how great he is.. after he asked to start dating, the second thing he said was that Christ was going to be the center of this relationship because if He wasn't it would never last and there was no point or purpose to it. He desired and was determined to bring God glory in and through it. This is something I have desired and prayed for, but all of a sudden, it was reality. "Wow!" Later I found out that about two weeks into the school year, he committed to praying for me daily. Another "wow!" This next one gets me every time... The first time he noticed me, he knew that I had some health issues going and was in pain. {talk about an observant guy!} He then purposefully turned his phone from vibrate to the highest volume at night so if I needed him for anything, I could get a hold of him. And when I told him about all the health issues and chronic pain (thinking that maybe he wouldn't want that part of the package), there were no issue whatsoever. He actually wants to help me with it and daily does whatever he can to. Ridge is a man of integrity, character, courage, strength, and a man striving for godliness. I'm only scratching the surface, but yes, that is Ridge in a nutshell. It is crazy to look back and see God's Hand written all over this relationship. So thankful to God and so thankful for Ridge! :)

Quite typical.. we're laughing at something! :)

I must have thought something was really funny, but I guess my American humor didn't
make sense to this guy. ;)  [He is Canadian] 

 Overall, this first term has been good. Spiritual warfare is definitely going on here, so please be praying for that. Grace and I are missing our siblings-please pray that we would continue this next term strong and that our hearts would be open and surrendered to what God is teaching us despite homesickness. Prayer for adequate and restful sleep would also be very much appreciated. I am so thankful God brought me back to Prairie! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would come back to this place yet a third time, but God had different plans! Excited to see what God has planned next! :)