hk.

every wednesday and friday morning until we leave, our india team is meeting to pray about our trip. today we spent our time together praying for hong kong.

our first few days on the other side of the world will be spent in this city. i've heard so many stories and seen so many pictures...i can't even wait to experience it for myself. i'm looking forward to learning from and loving on believers there, including people from kowloon baptist church. my former pastor from longview pastors there now. i can't wait for the opportunity to sit with him and his staff and to hear what church looks like for them.

of course my heart freaks out at the thought of going to hong kong because of my friends at grace campus. what an incredible group of people with hearts that beat for that city and for the university students there. they're some of my favorite people in the world, so i can't wait for my team to meet them and for us to get a glimpse into their world. i'm counting down the days till i get to see these faces:

i'm excited and expectant. thanks for praying with me.

see you in 6 weeks, hong kong.

choose.

welcome to that time of the semester when i spend more hours in the library than sleeping in my bed. gross. needless to say, maintaining a good perspective on life can kinda be a challenge during this season.

my mom emailed me the lyrics to this song a few weeks ago, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. a couple thoughts: 1. i hope i can be the kind of mom one day that pushes her children to know the lord. 2. these words challenge me and i hope they will challenge you, too. it's not very romantic to think of a relationship as a matter of making choices, but i think realistically, maybe it is.

"choose," by christy nockels.

let me be in love with what you love.

let me be most satisfied in you.

forsaking what this world has offered me,

i choose to be in love with you.

i will choose to be in love with you.

let me know the peace that's mine in you.

let me know the joy my heart can sing.

for i have nothing, lord, apart from you.

i choose to call on christ in me.

i will choose to call on christ in me.

for in the fullness of who you are,

i can rest in this place.

and giving over this, my journey, lord,

i see nothing but your face.

let me know that you have loved me first.

let me know the weight of my response.

for you have long pursued my wandering heart.

i choose to glory in your cross.

i will choose to glory in your cross.

and i bow down...

humbly, i bow down...

i bow down, i bow down to you...