new whip & cēsis

i bought a 1992 mazda 626, for $1,500!

its in great condition and so far it runs very well. i am excited about having a car because it gives me more freedom to travel outside of riga and visit different youth ministries. last week i was able to visit my friends mark & laura wimberely in cēsis and take part in their youth meeting.

it was a great time and i hope to be able to make it out to their youth meetings more often.

3sixteen

one of my favorite clothing brands. they have a great look and message behind what they do. the brand was founded by two believers who desire "to make the best clothes possible while maintaining integrity and honesty in all facets of our business." they explain that "our faith is important to us and our hope is that it affects every area of our life - not just our personal lives, but the way we design and work and relate to others." check out their site here and shop here...

3sixteen Fall 2009 Photoshoot from 3sixteen on Vimeo.

challenging prayer

francis chan is the teaching pastor at cornerstone church simi valley. i have been greatly encouraged by him ever since subscribing to his podcast shortly after moving to latvia. i am blessed by his heart for the Lord and his insight into the Word. i ran across his blog the other day where he posts videos about what God has been teaching him lately. this video was especially challenging to me because it addressed my sinful desire for independence and uneasiness with being in a place of constant dependence on God for my "daily bread." he titled the video "i dare you to pray this"...

"Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
Proverbs 30:7-9

are you willing to pray this prayer?

what is wrong with this picture?

i got over 100 spam messages in two days! is that normal? i decided to go a week with out cleaning out my spam folder and now i have almost 500 spam messages. who are these people that send this junk out?

meet bruise

my new pet fish!

good friday

i am SO thankful that today is not the end of the story!!!

Hieronymus Bosch
Christ Carrying the Cross, (1490), oil on panel

youtube of the month: april

i dont know why watching this guy pass out over and over is so funny to me, but it is. enjoy!

reason why latvia is the bomb #12: sabats

latvia is where i first began to practice the spiritual discipline of sabbath regularly. it has been life changing for me! it brings focus to everything i do throughout the week. i spend a day focusing on the Lord and resting in Him. this practice has awaken a desire for constant fellowship with God that has long lay dormant in my soul. this may sound obvious and trite to some, but i had never experienced this desire consistently in my life. it had been hit and miss my whole life before i began practicing the sabbath.

throughout college i tried to practice the sabbath, but often found that i would allow my days to be filled up with busyness. i rarely made the effort to stop and spend a significant amount of time with the Lord and observe how He had worked the previous week. this brought to the surface a lot of pride and insecurity in my own heart. if i were honest, i felt that God needed me to be busy in order for Him to work through me. we can quickly see in Genesis that this is not the case and that God rested because He had worked;

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3)

God certainly did not need to rest, but He set the example for us. i can rest because God has worked, is still at work, and will continue to work! this was a switch in my thinking that took place over the last year. it is not all up to me (praise God for that)! i rest, not because i did anything great over the past week, but because He is constantly at work! i rest because of what He accomplished through Christ. observing the sabbath has been an act of acknowledging and trusting that God is at work even while i rest. it is a day to remember what Christ did for us on the cross and how that affects us today.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God..." (Exodus 20:8-10)

my ceasing from work is more for my soul than for my physical body and need for rest. it has become less about "ceasing doing," and more about "resting" in who God is and "observing" how He is at work. i pray that you will find time throughout your week to reflect on who God is and how He is at work throughout the world! may you find true rest in Christ. Amen!