I have chosen not to blog since September. It’s not that Ididn’t want to update people on my life. I just didn’t feel like taking away your time unless it was something worth while. Granted, there are many things that have happened in the last several months that may have helped you or just given you some encouragement. But the past is gone, and I am blogging again.

My heart is completely devasted by the fact that over 12,000,000 people are being traficked right now. Every thrity seconds someone new goes into sex slavery. Can your brain wrap around that? I know mine can’t. But my heart is broken. And what are we doing besides getting emotional gratification that we felt bad for a few moments.

Enough is enough. How many times have we looked at history and asked in disgust:

WHY DIDN”T ANYBODY DO ANYTHING!?

This is OUR world on OUR watch. WHAT IF IT WERE YOU! WHAT IF IT WERE YOUR KID! Would you say I hope people feel bad for me or would you cry that no one cares that everynight someone will pay to have sex with you or you will have no choice but to give them oral sex.

This is our world on our watch, and we will be held responsible for what we didn’t do. Please look into this! I am begging you. Let’s get outside our our little worlds and RESCUE someone who can’t call thier world theirs!

pearlalliance.org

OK, everyone. Here is the long awaited for update:

So, lets rewind to last Wednesday. $400 in my bank account,$900 due at orientation on Saturday. A mustard seed of faith in my heart. “God, you said you want me there and your word says seek FIRST and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:36ish). You promised to provide and I have been faithful with your money (paying my tithe and $7,500 in debt…plus my regular expenses.) I am going to trust I heard You right and the money will be there waiting for me!

$1,400 from people’s hearts later, I am on a plane to the Atlanta airport. I am npot gonna lie, but I didn’t get much sleep that week, my stomach was in one giant knot, and I had a few tearful meltdowns in my quiet time with God…trickling occasionally to a close friend. I left so many wonderful and close relationships that really affected me. Ben and Holly Binger, the best mentors and friends God could have given me, Nancy, my warrior and friend, Whitney, who encouraged me to chose the path less traveled by, P A, an awesome example of knowing the word…the list goes forever. So for everyone at home, I don’t take you for granted!f

Skip to Saturday morning, the line for payment plans. Not knowing why, I felt like I was supposed to write my first payment for $1,700. It left me only with the upcoming direct deposit check to sustain me. Yikes…but faith by definition is the confidence of a promise. “God, thank You for my provision. I am nervous but FAITHFUL the rest will come in. And it did. Someone had anonymously given a $5,000 check towards my tuition. What does this mean? #1. God is amazing, and provides for his children. #2. To the DOLLAR, without knowing this, with my $1,700 check, my tuition AND my missions trip were paid! How rediculously awesome is that?!

My first week has been amazing. God has showed me through so many things that this is where He wants me. So many areas of my life are going to be in constant development. I am most excited about scripture studies and our 1 hour prayer time every morning! The teachers here are so amazing that my notebook is going to fill up way to fast from all the knowledge they have! We get time with Jeanne (Mom) every week. There are so many ways to serve here!

Lastly, and I think most importantly relating to my relationship with God, I have been put in an environment surrounded by other ladies, all in pursuit of Jesus as their security and love. We know we live in a society where our dependence on the opposite sex has become so great, even in the church. And I didn’t realize this dependency until my recent tally of friends. My age, male friends have outnumbered female 3 to 1. I am not saying male female friendships are bad at all, but I realized that for me this ratio is not healthy. And when I am married I am sure my husband won’t be happy to say “Ya go hang out with the guys” or want me tagging along on his guy-time. I need to have female relationships, and what better time to have healthy relationships than now. Plus, without the emotional destraction, security, and even the emotional dependency I have had, God has so much more of my focus. And if all us girls will jsut decide to lay down our pride and be vulnerable with each other, we are designed to be close. satan wants to take that away. We say how we have been hurt by so many girls and how catty they, excuse me, WE can be, we forget that guys hurt us and don’t respect us and we are quicker to forgive them. but that is a whole other blog. .

So that is just a quick little note to the awesome friends in my life that happen to be male, can you please respect what I am doing, because I want to hold a high standard for myself and make God my number one priority! (that means no exceptions besides my amazing brother dad and pastor. God bless all of you and I plan to keep everyone updated with all the miracles and lessons God shows me hopefully to encourage you and keep blogging so I can keep up with all you ladies! Love you!

Dear Friends,

2008 has been the most incredible year. In February, I rededicated my heart to God. I have gone through so many amazing changes! Currently I am working full time for my parents after 2 years in retail management. I was content having a job, paying my own bills, and rediscovering an intimate relationship with God. The dangerous thing about saying “God, whatever it takes, make me a vessel of your truth,” is that He will.

It was a heart struggle at first, having never been far from home. But through some arguing with the Holy Spirit, some crying, and a nerve racking interview process I was accepted into Atlanta, Georgia’s Masters Commission. It is a 40 hour a week discipleship program with academics, biblical training, and the opportunity to due what Christians are meant to do, spread the gospel (2 Cor. 4:1-6).

I will be going on a mission’s trip, do campus outreaches, inner city outreaches, and national ministry among so many other things. I am really excited to be working with the youth ministry and getting more experience with a drama team. The rest of my time will be consumed with classes and discipleship training.

Because of the time-consuming schedule we are not permitted to work. I am taking a loan and working as much as possible before I leave on September 19^th. While this program does have college accreditation, scholarships are not an option. My expenses will include: tuition of $7,000, a missions trip, insurance, car expenses and gas, and simple necessities. I have figured this out to be $10,000 total for the nine months.

I know that God is not limited in His plans by finances. I come to you asking for both prayer and financial support. I trust that God might use BOTH of us to bring God’s truth to this world. Please ask God for His direction for your support (2 Cor. 9:7).

In His service,

Bridget Chapman

970-381-9293

PS. You can check out more about the program at www.mcatlanta.org

Love the simple lyrics! I guess it really isn’t that complicated.

Why did this thought never hit me before?! I have an hour drive to and from work. 2 hours a day, I can talk to God, listen to worship music…it will be productive. Honestly, it really isn’t consistently that way. But many times I have thought, wouldn’t it be great if I had someone in the car with me to read my Bible, so even if I am not studying it, I can hear and soak it in!

Never did the thought occur to me of an audio Bible! It occurred to me as I was listening to an audio book at work. With no time to waste, I Googled (blog coming soon about Googling) “Audio Bible” and found more than enough resources at my disposal. I really want to dig into the New Testament when I have time to take notes, but who says I can’t listen to the Old Testament for an hour a day! I am SO excited! I found a website where I can download books at a time on my Ipod! Yay!

What time do you feel like you can use better to get to know God?

Even a five minute coversation w/ Him on the way to work changes my whole day! What time can we all start to set aside for our Creator? I would love to hear creative ways everyone finds to “steal” their time back and give it to God.

So, I have to admit, Heavenfest wasn’t my first pick venue of the day. I was wanting to go see Paramore and the Offspring with other awesome bands at the Big Gig. But before I could make my desicion, a birthday present did it for me. I was excited about Heavenfest, but not sure if it was the right desicion, since Haste the Day would be the only band I really wanted to see in a 12 hour period.

It is now 1:52 AM. My neck is killing me! My nose is burnt. My feet are tired. I am happy.

Not only did I get to see Haste the Day front and center, I also got bonding time with my sister, made my ears aquainted with some awesome new music, and got to watch my friend Evan do some crazyshreddage. If any of you think he tears it up outside of Catalyst, go support him at one of his demos. His team is pretty sweet. One that note as well, Uriel Luebcke is an awesome skater evangelist? is the word. Right after the demo, he was not afraid to preach God’s grace and share his testimony. I think its awesome that he turned something he loves to do and a talent he has worked for to Gods glory and bringing people to Him.

I made me ask myself what do I want to do? What is my passion that I can use to bring people to God and be a bold witness for Him. Im not sure, but I think he has a website where we can support him…I’ll put that in the post later.

OK, a little side tracked. But really the BEST thing about today was to main event. It was just a few simple worship songs and some serious time with God. I was sad to see a lot of people loose interest and pack up theri stuff, but overjyed to hear of people dedicating or reeidicating thier lives to God! So, I am now supertired and have 4 hours before I have to get up for church and another awesome worship sesh with one of my personal favorite Jesus bands.

But I will leave you with this question (I am still trying to answer it myself):

What are you doing with your life to give glory to God and be a witness to your faith? Not a “if only I could do this, or have this, or be this age.” Its all about NOW, Just think about it.

Sunday was pretty awesome. I went to a beautiful lake in Evergreen with one of my favorite people! It was a beautiful drive complete with a stop for ice cream! Nancy always gives me amazing advice, but she told me something that really bothered me. I mean…like it REALLY bothered me. “If you can’t say no, your yes means nothing.”

Why is it that one little phrase can rock your world? I never thought of it that way. But this week it hasn’t left my mind. How true is that statement! In my situation, I have realized by me not saying no, the value of my yes over time has grown smaller and it has become harder to say no.

It really helped me stay strong in my convictions about something I am really struggling with. Should I have closed that door? It was hard, but saying no to something I want now just means I am putting value on the time when I am supposed to open it back up. Think of your situation. Maybe it means taking on too many shifts at work so people just expect it. Or maybe it has to do with a situation, not a literal yes or no. Are you easy to “fall in love”…so when you find the right one, it doesn’t hold that special place? Think about it. Is there something in your life you haven’t said no to that maybe you should have?

Apparently, fish are being used for more than just eating these days. I saw an article about a spa in West Virginia. Get this!…Tiny carp that eat away dead skin for a “fishy” pedicure. Eww! Think about it. These fish are feasting off the flesh on your toes. I laughed at first, but then the thought of these carp eating at some crusty old ladies feet, then my turn. I wonder if they use different fish for each client. And if so, what do they do wiht all the other ones…throw them back into the lake for us to catch later…and EAT! Talk about the circle of life! But if you want the legit story, http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/257752

 CALVIN AND HOBBES! In my opinion, we don’t devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks. **

Reality continues to ruin my life.**

Calvin : You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. Hobbes : What mood is that? Calvin : Last-minute panic**

 That’s the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria! **

You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don’t help.**

 This one’s tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen …**

Calvin: I’m a genius, but I’m a misunderstood genius. Hobbes: What’s misunderstood about you? Calvin: Nobody thinks I’m a genius**

 “I’m a simple man, Hobbes.” “You?? Yesterday you wanted a nuclear powered car that could turn into a jet with laser-guided heat-seeking missiles!” “I’m a simple man with complex tastes.“

** “See Any UFOs?” “Not yet.” “Well, keep your eyes open, they’re bound to land here sometime.” “What will we do when they come?” “See if we can sell mom and dad into slavery for a star cruiser”

** “Any monsters under my bed tonight?” “Nope.” “No.” “Uh-Uh.” “Well there *better* not be, I’d hate to have to torch one with my flamethrower!” “You have a flamethrower?” “They lie. I lie.“

** ON GIRLS:

“Do you like being a girl?” “Its gotta be better than the alternative.” “Whats it like? Is it like being a bug?” “Like a WHAT?” “I imagine bugs and girls have a dim perception that nature played a crual trick on them, but they lack the intelligence to really comprehend the magnitude of it.“

** I’m looking for something that can deliver a 50-pound payload of snow on a small feminine target. Can you suggest something? Hello…?

** Girls are like slugs – they probably serve some purpose, but it’s hard to imagine what.

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-prayer-is-and-isnt.html