i was in class today and my teacher said something more thought provoking than i think he even knew. he said "an individual's identity is highly correlated with their purpose." i had a conversation with biscuet this morning over breakfast about this very subject. it is something that is hard to articulate sometimes, but the truth is that if our identity is in Christ, it is constant. when we remove culture, people, normalcy-God is still constant, our identity is still constant. i began to think about how true that is for me as a believer. that my identity in Christ is/has to be highly correlated with the purpose of my life, which is to bring God glory and join Him in His vision to see His renown across the globe. i think it's crucial that we understand and discover our identity, for any identity apart from Him is a broken cistern.

the way i see it #186

by far my favorite coffee cup i've ever received from starbucks

awakening

This past Thursday was our first Encounter of the school year and it was absolutely wonderful to say the least. It's hard to articulate something like Encounter because it's not just another meeting or random group of students, it's the gathering of part of God's family here on Auburn's campus- gathered together for one purpose, in one room, with hearts all declaring the same song, with souls desiring one thing: for God to be glorified on our campus and around the world. We have relocated this year from Lakeview to the ballroom at the new Student Center. Honestly, before everyone got there I found myself staring into the room wondering how in the world we were all going to fit. Just as I suspected, the room was packed from wall-to-wall. It was beautiful. Even though I was sitting on the right side of the room with a huge column blocking my view of the stage, and had no chair to sit in, I was overwhelmed with joy to be in that room. My heart has missed this Auburn family for so long. I've anticipated this meeting all summer and it's finally here! Matt delivered such an encouraging message & Daniel and Jason did an amazing job of leading us to the cross of Jesus in song. During the middle of the last set of worship after I began to look around and felt an undeniable stirring of the Lord. My heart breaks for the nations and He is asking me to go. I don't know where or when or for how long, but I do know I'm going. He was present in that room on Thursday and I pray that He will continue to meet with us each week to break and mend hearts and bring hearts out of the deepest gloom and share the beautiful freedom that is promised in Jesus.

encounter family

snapshots from kt b's birthday at waffle house:

love these folks.

please take note of katie's beautiful coffee filter crown.

au bon pain

breakfast this morning with K: fantastic. pretending to work at auburn and playing on her compute: excellent. walking through the ballroom where encounter will be tonight: surreal. pretending like i know my way around lowder and doing 3 laps: embarassing.

Hip Hop Grannies

I love the Olympics. I was stunned by the opening ceremonies. This morning I saw one of my favorite things out of Beijing on the Today show: Hip Hop Grannies. They are priceless.

walk victoriously

... all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it

and who hold fast to my covenant- these I will bring to my holy

mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.

.isaiah 56:6-7

This morning I was reminded of the importance of starting the day in prayer.

Yesterday I was completely overwhelmed with life and this morning the Lord reminded me that I personally need to start my day with quality time with Him.

I love the mornings, but since I've been wearing myself thin with over-committing to things I have been absolutely exhausted and ignored the charming tune of my alarm clock on my phone. But this morning was different. I was actually excited to get up and get ready when my alarm went off- I know some people probably think that is a bizarre reaction to an alarm clock, but if you think about what the alarm is really signalling perhaps you can understand where I'm coming from. To me the alarm signals a new day, a fresh start, it's the beginning, a gift, a chance to make a difference, an opportunity to walk onto a campus with light and purpose, a chance to love people.

Here is the play-by-play of my morning:

[those of you still reading this must really love me haha, maybe too much detail, but I want you to understand my experience]

[6:50] I went to 21 Days of Prayer at Highlands this morning with Mary Reading and then had breakfast at Big Blue. MR was so encouraging. I love to hear people's hearts, so getting to catch up with her was fantastic.

[8:27ish] MR leaves for work and I stay in Big Blue with my journal, Breaking Free, and an hour in the meter.

[8:35ish] After plugging in my earphones and picking an appropriate song to drown out the background noise I opened my book to the chapter for today. What was the title you ask? It was The Obstacle of Prayerlessness.

[8:37] The Lord gently and very boldly pointed out why I have felt so overwhelmed and anxious lately: my lack of quality, un-timed, intimate time with Him in prayer.

When we walk with him, we walk in victory, but to walk with Him, to know Him we MUST communicate with Him. It was just a wonderful, humbling reminder of that this morning reading through this chapter. I won't continue on through my whole day...that'd be a little much...but I wanted to paint the picture for you of how He so beautifully orchestrated my morning and drew me back into His presence and love at Big Blue this morning.

Enjoy the day. It's a beautiful gift.