Only One Life

I was looking up a quote this morning and I came across this poem that I thought worthy to share. What an amazing perspective on life and on giving your life to the Lord.

By Charles Thomas Studd, Missionary to China, India, and Africa
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life's busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in 'that day' my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life,' twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God's holy will to cleave;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e'er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I'll hear the call,
I know I'll say 'twas worth it all”;
Only one life,' twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.

Inspirational sermon...

This past week we had a group of people come in from the states to do chapel in the high school and they led the teachers and workers in a worship service. I was very encouraged and inspired by the devotional they gave... Below is the notes I took as I listened.

HOW TO PRAY

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(Colossians 1:9-14 ESV)

1. "LORD, help us know what to do." (v.9)
DISCERNMENT: We must have spiritual discernment. Our greatest need is to hear from God.

2. "LORD, help us do what we know." (v.10)
DISCIPLINE: If you only hear but don't do, you will do nothing for the kingdom of God.

3. "LORD, help us do it with the power you provide." (v.11)
DEPENDENCE: The devil tries to keep us from hearing, (business is not next to godliness) or keep us from obeying, but he's also satisfied if we try to do things in the flesh. If we start in the spirit and finish in the flesh, we will fail.

4. "LORD, help us keep doing it." (v.11)
DETERMINATION: Two things: patience and long-suffering. Patience with difficult situations, and long suffering with difficult people. Life is never going to be easy.

5. "LORD, help us do it with joy." (v.11)
DELIGHT: Duty is not enough. The world is desperate to find Christians with joy. Joy doesn't come from circumstances or people, our source is Jesus valued. We get our joy only from the hope in Jesus.

"LORD, help us know what to do, help us do what we know, help us do it with the power you provide, help us keep doing it, help us do it with joy. Amen."

Me and My Best Friend

Jared and I created a wedding website! Despite the distance we were able to Skype and create the site together, each doing different things at the same time and then showing the other person. :)
If you'd like to check it out, go to: www.weddingwire.com/jrmoberg
The password is: jrmoberg.

Enjoy!

Smiling is a choice.

I'm into week 3 back in Honduras and time continues to go fast. The first week was difficult, one of my hardest weeks here since August. But, as always, the Lord has shown his faithfulness to me daily through the little things in life that make me smile. A good friend told me today that "smiling is a choice." We can either look at the positive things throughout the day, smile when they happen, and let them bring you laughter, or we can become frustrated. Today, I chose to smile. I smiled when my Pre-K class, in their innocence, did completely the opposite of what I had envisioned when I planned a lesson using plastic paddles and small foam tennis balls. (aka, they started to crash down the mats I had used as mini nets) I smiled when my first grader ran out of the class line and went to sit on the bleachers, pretending he was in the audience and started to cheer for the empty court. I smiled at the sunshine today, despite the fact that I was cold this morning and had worn pants... causing me to sweat by 11am. I smiled today when I ate my leftovers, grateful I didn't have to cook... so I made granola instead. :)

I smiled today, and I saw the Lord's hand all around me.

The people I work with are a blessing. Whether I'm coming into my office and catch my officemate in a moment of celebration over an idea she had for a chapel lesson, or I go into the teachers' workroom and am blessed by the conversations and classroom stories. I am touched by their love, their graciousness when I bring their rowdy kids back 5 minutes late, and their smiles.

The people in my care group are a blessing. Last night I started a Beth Moore study, "The Patriarchs," with a wonderful group of teachers. And what a blessing it has been the few days I've been in it. In the very first lesson, we dug into the story of Abram, called to leave all that he knew behind, to follow the one true God, to a land he had never been before. AND HE WENT. Such a powerful message for the season I am in right now.

The children I teach every day are a blessing. Sure, they have their good days and bad days, but I can always depend on them to have energy and love for their teacher. Whenever I need a hug, I know that from 12:00-12:30 I can go out to the Pre-K and Kindergarten recess and get over 25 hugs in a matter of minutes.

The girls on my volleyball team are a blessing. There are days when going home at 3 sounds a lot better than staying until 5, but they never cease to surprise me with their effort, laughter, and occasional sarcasm that keeps me on my toes and brings me a smile.

I smiled today, and realized the more I smiled, the more I had to smile about. I'm going to smile tomorrow too. I hope you smile with me. :)

New Apartment!

I moved... in November :) Unfortunately, one of our teachers left in mid-october due to her mom being very sick. After she left, I moved from the 4 person apartment I was living in, to a 2 person apartment to accompany Janice who was then living by herself. I love my new apartment and Janice is absolutely fantastic! Here's some pictures of my new room! The hammock doesn't exactly match the walls like it did before, but I think it still goes well. :)

Act II... or maybe just another season in life

In some ways I feel like I starting the second act of a ten month play. I just had a two week intermission and now I'm back on stage. But when I sat down to think about this, I realized how incredibly wrong it is. It's easy for me to think that this year is a year of transition, a year of adventure, a year of 'acting' before real life begins, but it's not. This IS my life and it's just as real as last year and just as real as next year. As 2011 starts and everyone begins to ponder and reflect and set goals, I've done a lot of thinking as well. And I've decided that I'm going to be in the present. What am I doing RIGHT NOW that is Christ-exalting. I realize that not everything we DO may be spiritual and I don't mean to over-spiritualize making spaghetti for dinner or taking attendance in class, but every moment we have the choice to enjoy what we're doing or to not. So, there you have it, besides the fact that I want to do P90X, write out an elementary PE curriculum for the school, and finish by June my 2010 goal to read through the Bible, I'm going to...

LIVE IN THE MOMENT, FOCUSED ON ETERNITY.



Since I last wrote, so much has happened... Pinares Christmas concerts and staff white-elephant party, doing winter relays in PE class (sledding on scooters, ice skating on flat discs, making snowmen by doing forward rolls, etc :), and then... spending a wonderful 2 weeks with my family and of course, my best friend in the world. The week was filled with games, yummy food, taste testing for the wedding, Christmas shopping, finding my wedding dress :), hanging out with friends, a trip to Chicago to see Adam play BBall and meeting up with Jared's parents and little sister, Christmas parties, hunting, more games, and more food. I was not ready to come back to Honduras, and, I confess, I shed a good deal of tears that first day back as I sat on my bed, once again feeling alone and unprepared for the next 5 months. However, over the past week, God has been faithful and I have been continually reminded of his sovereignty.

And that brings me back to my resolution. In the book Crazy Love, Francis Chan says, “Lukewarm People think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule, and next month’s vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come. Regarding this, C.S. Lewis writes, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” (pg 75) What an inspiration. It's true. We (well at least I do) focus so much on our worries of tomorrow, that we forget we could be in eternity today. So, 2011, bring it on. I'm focused on eternity and, as much as the things I'm looking forward to in this coming year (ie getting married) nothing could compare to the joy of being in the presence of God for eternity, and that is where my focus must lie.

God bless you all, and happy new year!