Grace. Hope. Love. My Life. |
My name is Stacey. I am not deep. I am not eloquent. I am not inspirational. I am simply a girl finding a way to collect my thoughts at the end of each day. |
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Notes San Diego Refugee TutoringTwo weeks ago, our Harbor college mercy ministry organized a way in which Valentine’s Day could be a little sweeter for everyone - single or not. Through the faithful servants in our college ministry, we were able to put together Valentine’s Day care packages for the students of the San Diego Refugee Tutoring ministry. When I had talked to Melissa, one of the main supervisors, she had requested a total of 35 packages. I doubted whether our college ministry would be willing to pull forces together to make 35, but God proved me wrong and we were able to give a whopping 46 bags overflowing with candy, school supplies, and sweet cards filled with messages of God’s love. Here’s a picture of the bags, our college mercy ministry (minus a few!), and a cute card made by a member of our mercy ministry:
I’m so humbled by God’s faithfulness and amazed by the amount of care packages that we ended up being able to provide for the refugee children. I’m also incredibly thankful for our college ministry, who sacrificed time and money in order to make a refugee child’s day a little brighter. This was a wonderful reminder of God’s eternal and unconditional love for us. What is usually a holiday that celebrates worldly romance with expensive chocolates and lavish gifts was turned into a way to spread God’s love tangibly - what a blessing!
A little plug-in for my friends at San Diego Refugee Tutoring - They need your help! The tutoring takes place at Ibarra Elementary School in City Heights, where elementary students go after school to receive extra help with their homework. Tutoring takes place on Mondays from 4:30pm-6:00pm. These students are all recent immigrants with little familiarity with American customs and traditions. Many of these students have had little to no education from their homeland, making their academic life in the United States that much more difficult. What I love about the San Diego refugee tutoring is that volunteers are able to help these students to rise above their circumstances and succeed in school. I’m a firm believer in that a little kindness goes a long way, so why not make a difference in a child’s life?
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Notes MercyPuzzled - that’s the word that best describes the reaction I receive when I tell people how I serve my church and/or what I want to do as a future career. You see, this year I was given the opportunity to lead my church’s college group’s mercy ministry. This is also my third year of college, which means that my status as a student is quickly coming to an end. And while these two areas of my life have been huge blessings for me, there are struggles and challenges that also come with them.
When I was asked to lead Harbor’s college mercy ministry this year, I was humbled and excited to be offered such an amazing opportunity to serve the church. However, as people began to ask me how I would be serving at the beginning of the year, their perplexities as to what I was actually going to do affected my attitude. It seemed that many people did not understand what mercy ministry even was or why there was a need for it, planting anxieties in my own heart. I began to question whether my motives in taking on this act of service at Harbor was for the right reasons - Did I even understand why I wanted to be a part of this ministry? Was I only taking this for the ‘leadership’ title and to further my own glory? Or was it because I really understood that mercy should be shown to others in the way that God showered mercy on us when we were once broken and helpless?
Similarly, when faced with the question of what I want to do with my future, the responses were not always what I expected. There have been times where I was told that I was being naive. There have been times where I received a scoff followed by, “Oh you’re still young, you have time to figure out a real career.” And still, there have been numerous times where I faced a wrinkled nose, furrowed brow, and a look of disdain because working in the non-profit sector for social justice causes is not ‘practical’ financially.
However, despite these challenges between ministry and future career plans, God always redirects my insecurities and affirms that the heart He has shaped and molded inside of me is one of mercy and compassion. But let me back up and give you some context.
In high school, I went through an identity crisis of sorts. As college applications loomed ahead, I started to seriously reflect on what I wanted to do with my life. I was heavily involved in my high school’s business/marketing club, and I thought for the longest time that I would go into the business world, get an MBA, and life would go on. Being in charge of my youth group’s Compassion International sponsored child was what began a change in my heart. After I registered to sponsor a child in a third world country through the non-profit, faith-based organization, I began to receive informational newsletters, videos, and letters in the mail. Of these, I dissected each item thoroughly. For some reason, learning about the poverty that countries across the world face really struck a chord in my heart - a chord so loud that I couldn’t ignore it. After careful thought and consideration, I decided that my passion was not for business as I had thought before, but it was for social justice.
Ever since that fateful moment in high school (okay it wasn’t that magical, but it was pretty life-altering), God has reminded me time and again of my passion for mercy - the lurch of my heart after learning of the brokenness found on the Indian reservations in Arizona, the lump in my throat that I couldn’t swallow when a homeless man cried after we prayed for him and his deceased wife in downtown Oakland, the tears that I couldn’t blink away when I saw a blind man playing his guitar on the streets of Julian - these moments, and many more, have reaffirmed that my heart’s desire is for the lost, broken, and needy.
Therefore, after all of this reflection, I would like to use this blog to record and chronicle the moments in my life where I encounter mercy. Whether directly related to Harbor’s mercy ministry or in accordance with future career goals and opportunities, I want to make this blog an encouragement for myself (and hopefully others!). Having a heart for mercy does not come easily. When I get weighed down in the future, I want a reference point to remind myself of my passion not only for people in need, but my desire to imitate Christ - the ultimate servant and model of love.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it for me.’
Matthew 25: 35-40
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And one day there will be no more pain
And we will finally see Jesus’ face
So until then I’m gonna try to brave the dark
And let my little light shine -
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Notes Clever Title: Churches and CrowdsI recently came back from a church-growth conference. It was a great time of receiving some awesome insight and wisdom in terms of how to properly and lovingly shepherd a larger-size church. One of the most helpful things that I came across was the reminder that so often, we spend time counting…
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Notes Ten Years LaterToday marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11th, 2001. I remember that day vaguely…
Asleep without the faintest idea of what was happening in the nation, my mom ran into my room and dragged me over to the tv to watch the news. As I stood there and saw the twin towers burning, my groggy and naive self could not comprehend the depravity of it all. I shrugged it off and went to wash up for school. Being in the 5th grade, my teacher probably didn’t want to alarm our young souls with violent images. The day went on like any other school day, and when I got home, I watched the news with my family with a blank mind. I thought it was just like any other type of disaster that was happening, like a wildfire or an earthquake - sad, but we would move on.
Life did move on. The years that followed were filled with thoughts that only revolved around my life. How am I going to talk to that cute boy in class? It’s impossible to finish that much homework in the given time. What college am I going to go to? Never once did I think much about the 9/11 attacks, except for the occasional annoyance at the heightened security at airports.
The gravity of the 9/11 attacks never impacted my heart until several years ago. And now, ten years later, I have become obsessed in learning more about what happened on that terrible day. For the past month, I have been scouring the web for articles and videos of various people who were personally impacted on 9/11. Yahoo! news actually did a whole feature on the ten year anniversary of 9/11, profiling the different stories that grew out of the attacks.
From reading articles of brave firemen who marched into the towers while others ran for their lives in the opposite direction, to watching videos of those mourning the loss of loved ones on that fateful morning, my heart wrenches each and every time when I imagine the horror that people faced that day. Husbands, daughters, high school sweethearts, fathers, fiancees, mothers, sons - nearly 3,000 lives were lost that day.
As I reflect on 9/11, it’s so easy to become angry with God, to question why He would allow such suffering to occur. So how do we make sense of this tragic event? Well, I don’t think our human minds have the capacity to understand why God allowed this to happen. Yes, what happened on 9/11 was completely unimaginable and tragic. It was and will always be a horrific event. However, in the end, we just have to remember that God has a greater plan for the world than any of our simple minds can possibly comprehend.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- Romans 8:28Suffering happens - 9/11, flooding in the East, the tsunami in Japan (to name a few) - but Christ also happened. He knows our suffering because He too suffered on the cross, dying a slow and painful death for all of mankind. But three days later, He rose from the grave and showed the world that there is victory over death. How invigorating it is to say, O Death, where is your sting? And that is how I can move on from the terror of 9/11, ten years later, with my hope rooted in the death and resurrection of Christ and a future glory to come.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 8:38-39 -
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NotesI cried. :’(
this really touch my heart. Those words he said in the end was really really deep. This is worth watching for 15 minutes!
Omg , This is really .. Oh myy , just watch it … D’:
Omg, this made me tear up ;c
This is worth to watch. Just take 15 minutes to watch this D;
That was so sad I’m still crying and the end just made me bust out in full on tears its sad how some of take life and for granted this really has opened my eyes.
omg too powerful. i’m crying -__-
Oh man, this hit me pretty hard. <3
OHMYGOD. i cant. i was crying so hard.
whaaat? Rady Children’s Hospital? We raised money for that hospital around this time!!
This, btw, is so sad :((Source: akidcalledchristian, via tissuebowl)
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Notes Guard Your HeartKnow God’s promises to you in Scripture; He is the ultimate Keeper of your heart.
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Notes 11 Ways to Protect Your Daughter From BarbieThis issue of identity is a significant part of the distorted self-image our culture bestows to girls.
It’s amazing to think how stealthy the Enemy is in using the media and pop culture to whisper lies into our heads. This is one of them.
I grew up playing with Barbie dolls, always naive to the fact that they were slowly eating away at my identity. In retrospect, I think it’s safe to say that the media (including but surely not limited to Barbie), has had a damaging effect on my own self-esteem. As girls, we are taught from a young age that we must look, dress, and act a certain way to fulfill our roles as females. This checklist of requirements brainwashes us into believing in false promises of love and attention if we abide by these “girl codes.” By the time we realize the lies that have been embedded in our hearts, it is too late.
Instead, we need to fight the distorted image of beauty created by the world and be reminded of our true identity - that we are daughters of the ultimate Creator and are precious in His eyes:
The girls entrusted to us by God need to hear that through faith in Christ they are adopted into God’s family. They are given the most amazing identity: daughter of God. God adopted them and accepted them because He loves them. They didn’t do anything and can’t do anything to deserve His love. He loved them even and especially when they were unlovable and when they feel unlovable.
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Notes[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy?
Blessings - Laura Story
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Notes Judas, The Man Who Never KnewI’ve wondered at times what kind of man this Judas was. What he looked like, how he acted, who his friends were.
I guess I’ve stereotyped him. I’ve always pictured him as a wiry, beady-eyed, sly, wormy fellow, pointed beard and all. I’ve pictured him as estranged from the other…
Convicted.
Yes, indeed.my unknown, yet worst fear…
Food for thought
(Source: nonelikejesus, via christinejung)
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Taken with instagram
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