of Montana

pretty simple, straight forward title this time around!  I'm here, people!  I've been settled in for about 5 days now, in a little cozy room that I share with one roommate.  Its like a real college experience!  Bunk beds, a desk, shared bathrooms, our own coffee maker/tea station (kettle yet to arrive, however), photo's covering my wall and floor mates that are absolutely superb.  And my roommate?  She's the bomb.  God knows what He's doing.

The base here at YWAM Montana Lakeside (and you should all go and 'like' their Facebook page, and check out the video - you may see someone you know and her roommate :)) feels a lot like a camp.  I've also been privileged (yes, privileged) to receive breakfast prep as my work duty for the 9 months I'll be living here (everybody has a different work duty around the base to help maintain all the spaces).  We had the opportunity to pick our top 3 preferences of work duties - of which mine were: 1. Snack bar (making latté's? I'm pro!) or 2. Library (I can't say the word, but hey! I love books and quiet time) or 3. SBS Hospitality (prepping the tea/coffee for lectures? - joy!).  And somehow, I get to be up at 5:30am every morning every other week in order to boil water and mix the oatmeal.  However, once I found out this was my work duty, I wasn't resentful or upset.  In fact, I was quite ecstatic.  It didn't take me long to realize that I had an awesome team to work with (we're the A team. seriously) - and we're from 6 different countries!  And there are only 6 of us, so hey, that's pretty sweet!  Have you seen that youtube clip of all the nations singing "How Great is Our God"?  That's basically what it's like in the mornings with that group.  We've got a guy from Thailand and one from Norway.  Then there are 3 other ladies - a Korean, a Swede, and an American.  It's awesome.  I feel like the luckiest student on base - early mornings and all.

As for school stuff - we've finished our first book already!  We started with Philemon and basically did all of our work in class.  For the first 3 weeks we have what's called "seminar" where we learn the basics of the inductive method while also studying the first few books together in class.  We have seminar twice a day every day, but after 3 weeks we'll split off into our different sessions (Red, White, or Blue (oh, hey, America!)) and then have lectures 3 times a week, with study time all in between.  Say hello to discipline, erika!

I'll admit I've been working on really discerning where I'm at with being here at SBS.  It's bizarre that I've been so fortunate enough to get 9 full months to invest in the most important relationship I will ever be a part of.  Yet - I'm feeling a little stuck.  The other day we had our first base wide worship to start the week off, and as I was worshiping I was hit with sudden feelings, similar to what I had experienced a few weeks ago and had written about (here).  Then as I stopped singing and just listened, hoping the Lord would speak and I would hear, I sensed Him saying, "Spring doesn't happen over night."

It's true.  For the past year and half I've been in a season of winter.  This all came about when I really started over running (is this a term?) with ministry.  I was taking on way too much, and not taking in enough self care and love from my Father.  It took a conversation with a sweet friend for me to realize how much I needed to stop, and to realize just how much I was filling my life with the wrong things - all in the name of Jesus.  Hey - it's great to do stuff in His name, but He also calls us to the pastures to rest (Psalm 23), and if we don't stop and take that, life will become routine - 'do and do, do and do, rule on rule' as Isaiah (28:12-13) put its.  And that's what my life was.  And to be honest - that's what I need to break free from.  That season was comparable to winter - and the thaw that comes after winter doesn't happen in a heartbeat.  There are mornings you wake up and smell the fresh spring breeze, the scent of rain clean on the grass and you know spring is coming.  But how do we know spring is ever actually arrived?  It's hard to tell.  There are snippets and signs, but spring is in full bloom when we're verging on summer.  Spring is a time of transition - a beautiful, new, bright, exciting transition.  Something to anticipate and experience often.  Long walks in rubber boots, splashing in puddles and getting way too muddy.  Early mornings where the sun is actually peeking through the clouds.  Nights that get later and get you pumped for long summer nights.  And that's where I am.  A lot of my winter was brought on because of me - but I do not doubt that the Lord was with me, and was leading me through the blizzards, and He was the One who handed me the sunglasses when the sun was reflecting so brightly off the snow I could no longer see.  He was always there - speaking through friends, creation, times of rest, the moments of silence.  He was there.

And He is here.  And I do look forward to this next season.  It's going to be crazy hard (reading each book of the Bible 5 times in 9 months? Yup.) but it will be good.  It will be something exciting, bright, fresh, beautiful - and new.  Just like spring.

"Spring doesn't happen over night."

And thank you for that, Jesus, or else we'd miss the goodness.

stay tuned, friends.

[ps. for updates on some more specifics, see the column on the right.  Contrary to what I previously wrote, I am posting the mailing address.  Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.]