Big Huge God

Happy Easter!

TEN WEEKS TILL WE'RE HOME!

I know I say this every week, but I can't believe how fast time is going by! Ten weeks is tiny! And it includes a week of driving! Only nine short weeks until SBS is over. Only 19 (mostly small) books left to study. Last week we spent two days whipping through the book of Job, followed by four days meandering through Amos. Those of you who know your Bible-book-lengths just scrunched up your faces. It's ok, I did too. I happen to love Job to pieces so I was a little sad to spend so little time on it. However, our seasoned staff aren't insane! Since Job is so very repetitive, we did big-picture study of it. Amos, on the other hand, is the first prophet that we've studied and was thus our introduction to the slight differences we'll be seeing in our assignments from now on.

As a whole, the week was one big reminder that we serve an awesome God. Awesome, huge, holy, sovereign, just, loving, merciful. Need I go on? When we first started the Old Testament I wrote about how people often think that the God of the Old Testament is mean and scary and the God of the New Testament is soft and cuddly or something equally as appalling. I've always disagreed with that notion (in case you couldn't tell) and books like Job and Amos really cement it for me. Well, actually every single Old Testament book has reminded me how untrue that idea is. Oh wait, and the New Testament. Sorry, but Jesus isn't soft and cuddly. He might have made God's love a little easier to understand, but he sure wasn't a pushover.

I digress. I find the Old Testament just astounding. Someone please read 2 Kings 17 and then read Amos and tell me that God's heart didn't ache for his people. Tell me he's a ruthless, heartless, Zeus-like being who delights in terrorizing humans. You won't find that god in the Bible. My God laid the earth's foundations and commands the morning. He gives wisdom and understanding. Encountering him leaves us no choice but to step back and admit, "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know...I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3-6).

BUT at the same time my God is the God who begs his people to return to him so he doesn't have to see them destroyed. He sends prophets to warn his people, even though he's given them warnings enough and they haven't returned (Amos 4:6-11). He assures them over and over again, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). How anyone can read the Old Testament and find fault with God is beyond me. We as humans are so obviously the ones with the problem.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about this whole process is the way we have the opportunity to live out what we learn in the classroom. Three weeks ago our class of about fifty students added up how much money was needed for everyone to finish SBS. Many of us have been able to cover our school costs, but many are still in danger if being sent home if they can't pay. Three weeks ago the total amount still needed was over $17,000. Today it's down to just over $10,000. Talk about trusting that God is bigger than what we can see! Every penny that's come in has been a miracle. It's money that our classmates didn't have and had no way of earning. God speaks and nudges and guides people all over the world, and in three weeks $7,000 has come in. God is big.

11 Weeks till Home!

After turning in our massive Kings and Chronicles assignment on Tuesday, we heartily welcomed the two small books of wisdom literature that occupied us for the rest of the week. We covered Ecclesiastes for two days, and now we're finishing up Song of Songs. To address the elephant in the room, the lecture on Song of Songs was handled brilliantly. Admittedly, it could easily be an awkward book with a mix of guys and girls, and the majority of the class being single. Our school leader taught the book and managed to explain it with minimal awkwardness and a huge amount of insight into the numerous confusing figures of speech.

Next week we're tackling Job, then getting a prophet overview before we spend the next nine weeks buried in the books of the prophets.

I should note a big praise for God's provision! The nearing end of school has left me hesitant to spend too much money on groceries, knowing that whatever we don't use we'll have to leave behind. This week our good friends were packing up to move to Oregon and blessed us with all of the food they weren't taking with them! YAY! Thank you, God!

Other news-- Jesse's birthday is today! THREE packages arrived yesterday afternoon! Excellent timing, everyone!

We had coffee cake muffins (and mini muffins!) in class to celebrate (not made by me).

Another "big event" is the end of Jesse's one-month mustache! He started on March 16th and didn't shave till today. Here's his handiwork:

Haha, I'm sure you all desperately wanted to see this!

Have a great week!

The Countdown Has Begun!

12 weeks from today we'll be HOME!

Praise: Last year when we hit the 12-week-till-home mark (when we were in Africa) I was really homesick. The countdown crawled by. This time around, I couldn't be more content with life as it is. I'm beyond excited for being home soon, but at the same time, God has been doing such amazing things in my heart and in our lives. I'm sad to have to leave all of our new friends here, and I'm totally in love with our little house and with every day that we get to study the Bible. Praise God for all of these blessings! 

Another praise-- we finally received my new laptop keyboard! You might remember this post, in which I announced that I'd gracefully dumped my cup of tea all over my laptop. Miraculously, nothing was broken except the keyboard, and I was able to borrow an external one for a month while we figured out a replacement. I was even able to replace it myself with no problems, which helped save a little bit of money! Thank you, God! 

This week we've been working on 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. One of our assignments is to make a timeline from Saul's reign through the exile and the eventual rebuilding of the temple. The Samuels and Kings are some of my favorite books, so I've been especially enjoying our homework lately.

This Friday was also our quarterly Welcome to Montana Night. Jesse sadly had a nasty flu-like thing and couldn't come, but it was fun as always! 

I would like to announce one of my proudest moments in the kitchen which took place yesterday afternoon. Please be enthusiastic for me. I made marshmallows!

It was kind of a sticky mess part of the time, but my good friend Candace was there to document the event for me!

Thus endeth our weekly shenanigans. 

Spring Break

I write this feeling more rested than I have in a long time. I'm happy to report that I'm (gasp) even a little bit anxious to get back to our normal work load! I kind of miss the routine. However, this week of relaxing has been awesome! 

We spent our first vacation day driving to Seattle to see a friend that did DTS Equip with us over the summer. We only stayed for one day (two nights), but it turned out to be just the right amount of time. 

It's kind of a pretty drive

True to the stereotype, it rained the entire time we were there!

And true to the stereotype of Bellevue (where we were staying), we saw 856,398 Microsoft buildings. Holy cow. 

We went to Mars Hill Church and saw Mark Driscoll preach

and spent the afternoon walking around Pike Place Market. The highlight for me was seeing the home of my favorite tea (which I feel I must acknowledge is actually my Mom's favorite tea and I've just inherited her love for it). 

We spent the next day driving back to Montana, with a quick stop at the halfway point to see some fellow SBSers. 

We have since gotten huge amounts of sleep, done some spring cleaning, and had a couple of movie nights with the small number of people who actually stayed on base for spring break. 

One night (in spite of the nearly constant rain) we even had a BBQ and bonfire! 

We also spent almost 8 hours reading 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles out loud to prepare for next week's mammoth assignment. 

Final quarter here we come!