pardoned.net

Tomorrow is my first day of classes at Wheaton College where I’ll be pursuing a graduate degree in Intercultural Studies. I had an orientation at the college this past Friday, and spent most of today going over a check list of things that I needed to do to tie up loose ends.

So far the jury is out as to what I feel about the college. The buildings are nice, and people seem to be genuinely kind. I really hope that I will be able to get closer to Jesus here.

It is hard to believe that things have changed so much in the last year. ‘Change’ was a word associated with politics as much as it was a reality concerning the economy.

In the past year a lot of things have changed in my life. In January I was still working for Crista Ministries, I was serving as a Perspectives task force member, I went to Missions Fest Vancouver with Colin Wilson. Since then I have moved on from Crista, been accepted to graduate school at Wheaton College and served as a short-term missionary in Japan.

I spent New Years with my church in Seattle and was able to reflect on the past year -I have truly received so much grace and a deepened knowledge of God’s love. There are so many things to say, but I can’t find any words for them.

I am furiously busy now -on Wednesday I received an acceptance letter from Wheaton College for admission to the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies. So in addition to packing for my two months in Tokyo, now I have to make arrangements for a move to Wheaton Illinois from Seattle as soon as I return. I leave for Japan in just over a week on June second and I return on August 14th. The first day of Graduate student orientation is on August 25th, it is going to be a very hectic week when I return so I need to get as much done now as I can so I won’t worry too much while I’m in Tokyo. Please pray for me that I can get everything sorted out. I am so blessed.

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4 that he has learned to be content in all circumstances and is enabled to live so through the strong arm of the Lord. Recently I have been learning a similar lesson about material possessions.

In April I was laid off which curbed my normally free flowing spending habits.  At the end of April our lease was up, Shaw and I moved into Peter Kwok’s townhouse. I am not exaggerating when I say that my new room at Peter’s place is less than one third the size of my previous room, and with meager storage space. In order to be able to move around I had to make decisions about what I should keep and what to get rid of. The week before we moved out I was busy on craigslist giving away things -tables, cabinets, my aquarium. Since moving in I have been busy selling things on eBay, tossing things and giving things to charity.

In two weeks time I’ll be heading to Tokyo to live out of a suit case, this is going to be the ultimate lesson in simple living. I have plenty of possessions that I’ll probably hold onto, like my books, but when I come back I’ll have more choices on what to keep and what to find a new home for.

Long term I would like to be able to move freely without the chain of possessions holding me in one place, each day I have to make choices in order to live more simply.