"Beautiful Beautiful" - Francesca Battistelli

Don’t know how it is You looked at me
And saw the person that I could be
Awakening my heart
Breaking through the dark
Suddenly Your grace

(Chorus)
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so
Beautiful, beautiful

Now there’s a joy inside I can’t contain
But even perfect days can end in rain
And though it’s pouring down
I see You through the clouds
Shining on my face

(Chorus)

I have come undone
But I have just begun
Changing by Your grace

(Chorus)

"For the Moments I Feel Faint" - Relient K

Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
When the world around you crumbles,
he will be strong.
He will be strong.

I throw up my hands.
" Oh, the impossibilities."
Frustrated and tired,
where do I go from here?
Now I'm searching for the confidence I've lost so willingly.
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fears.
I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think You can, I think You can.
I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think You can, I think You can.
Gather my insufficiencies and place them in Your hands.
Place them in Your hands.
Place them in Your hands.

Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
When the world around you crumbles,
he will be strong.
He will be strong.

Song of the day: By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

Just really feeling this today...

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face.
Just don't turn away.

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and my side.
They swallowed the grave on that night.
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life.
I want to give you life.

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

It's a bittersweet symphony

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind...full of so much change, my head is still spinning, so I'm taking this Saturday morning to sit on my third floor patio with my new beagle/basset puppy Darcy and soak it all in. It's really the first chance I've gotten to breathe since finding out I got the job in North Carolina.

Let me catch you all up. First of all, God is good. Very, very good. He truly does things more wonderful than we can ask or imagine. I have a great apartment, a job I adore (I'm the new children's librarian at the Kernersville Branch Library!), a precious puppy dog (my first friend in NC!), a new car (fond farewell to my 98 Mustang and a fond hello to my Edge!) and the fresh start I've been waiting for. God does answer prayers, and I don't ever trust Him enough.

This morning I checked out all the adorable little shops in downtown K-Vegas (as the locals call it). I had breakfast (for $3.00!) at this hole-in-the-wall Irish diner and a delicious red velvet cupcake at this cutesy bakery. I found some really nice consignment shops and gift shops and...a bookstore/cafe! Score! To quote Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people and finding a good church where I can meet people my age again. There are tons of young people up here...and plenty of good churches to choose from! I sure do miss a certain group of 8th grade girls though! So glad we got to have that slumber party before I left...love y'all much!

Also, thank you all for your prayers for me and my family during the past few weeks. It was rough losing my grandmother, but Mimi was a very vivacious woman who loved the Lord, and she will always be with us. She made her living as a theatre director, and I'm sure right now she's putting on a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Heaven...and bossing people around as usual. :) I miss her a lot, and it's hard to believe she's actually gone, but I know she's in a better place. Please keep praying for my grandfather as he copes with the silence around his house...such bubbly personalities are the easiest to notice when they are gone.

Anyway, here's to a new chapter of my life as an (gasp!) adult! "The rest is still unwritten..."

Don't blink...you might be MISSING something

We had an incredible DNOW weekend with our 8th grade girls. The theme was Missing, which was appropriate since I have apparently been missing something about our girls. At some point, I must have blinked and they turned from amazing, goofy, fun fifth-graders into beautiful, mature young women in Christ. I see them every week, and I was still amazed at how much they've grown in their faith. Nothing excites me more or makes me trust more in God than seeing their excitement for Him and His word. And, I'm just gonna tell ya...I got choked up when I saw them all huddled up praying for each other. God is good. I am blessed. Ministering always seems to give you back more than you can manage to give out.

Love you, girls. Thank you for allowing Nichole and me to be a part of your lives and your sisters in Christ. You'll never know how much your friendships mean to me. Thank you for revitalizing my own relationship with God this weekend by witnessing your love for Him.

And I'm so proud you didn't throw fruit!!!

Unchanging and Relentless

I'm so glad that even when my circumstances seem out of control, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) and that even when I don't feel like running hard after God, He is sprinting after me.

Tenth Avenue North - "By Your Side"

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Wisdom in the Little Voices

One of the reasons I love working with middle school girls is the way God can still manage to surprise me and speak through their precious 13-year-old voices. Yesterday I was sitting next to Mackenzie May when she pointed at my 3-inch scar from my melanoma (removed 2 years ago) and asked, "Do you like your scar?" I shook my head because who likes ugly 3-inch scars in prominent places? She replied with what I thought was a strange answer at the moment, "Well, I do. You wouldn't be Stefanie without it." I was taken aback at first by her response, but after a few seconds, the wisdom hit me like a ton of bricks.

Our scars do make us who we are. I wouldn't be who I am today without the hope, healing, and trust I learned through recovering from cancer. All the pains, trials, and heartbreaks I have ever experienced have collectively brought me closer to Jesus and helped me realize a little more of who I am in Him, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Mackenzie's little comment was a sweet reminder of that fact and brought to my memory one of my favorite passages, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:3-5, emphasis mine). I'm so grateful that hope in Him will never disappoint and that He knows ahead of time every hurt that will come my way and how He'll use it to draw me closer to Him and make me more like Him. And I'm so glad God uses teenage girls to speak to my heart. :)

By Now I Thought...

Today I've been contemplating timelines, checklists...probably partially because my best friend turned twenty-five and mentioned to me that she's halfway through her twenties...a place I will follow her to early next year. We both laughed and lightheartedly proclaimed ourselves as "old."

I've also recently begun Marian Jordan's The List, a potent little book about the list we make for ourselves. You know the list she means. It's that list you make when you're a kid around lunch tables or at slumber parties - the checklist of life. That list that states unabashedly what you proclaim you'll have done by the time you're twenty, or twenty-five, or thirty. I thankfully have no written evidence of my own list, but I remember countless conversations with my young friends dreaming about our perfect lives that would follow a strict schedule and in which all our deepest desires were met by the time we were...gasp...twenty-five.

So here I am on the brink of that magical age when everything is supposed to snap neatly into place, and my list is not exactly checking itself off. I'm not where I thought I'd be by now. Haven't done half the things I thought I would. Could it be that I have the wrong things on my list?

Or maybe it's that I'm too focused on the list itself instead of on the One who created the desires I so long for. Jordan's book pointed me to Psalm 33 and a few other psalms and reminded me that if God created my heart and my desires, of course He knows exactly how to best fulfill them in my life. The timing's not important...it's the trusting that's important. The journey. To quote Miley Cyrus (probably the only time I will ever do so)..."It's the climb." It's that step-by-step lifelong relationship of trust that really matters...not the temporary (albeit beautiful and wonderful) things our human hearts long for, the things we want so desperately to check off, the husband, the 2.5 kids, the dog, and the Colonial. Those things are indeed blessings from our Father because all good things do indeed come from above, but they will never, never, never compare to the greatness and beauty that is the Father himself.

This all clicked together for me when I stumbled across this video (entitled "By Now I Thought") for a new Bible study I've just started. I hope as you watch it that you too are encouraged as I was to stop falling victim to the trap of The List and of the demon of "by now I thought..." The song in the background sings "Jesus, save me," and will He ever. He'll save you and me from our dreams that seem out of reach, our futures that seem dim, and our whispers of "by now I thought..." I leave you to ponder this and thank God for His immense, unfailing, unmatched love and the hope we have in Him:

"Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you."
---Psalm 33:20-22 (emphasis mine)

"Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!"
---Psalm 31:24

Goodbye, Summer. Hello, Autumn!

Well, another Louisiana summer has come and gone...not that you could tell by the weather. It's still plenty hot here, and I can't wait for the cool snap to come through and bring football with it! Things got pretty busy this summer, so let me give you a quick recap...

I finished two more graduate classes including one graphic novels class in which I read 60 graphic novels in 7 weeks. Yes, 60. And I LOVED it. I have a new-found appreciation for comics. Oh boy, add another nerd sticker to my collection. I can't believe it's flying by this fast. This time last year I was finishing my first semester, and now in a few weeks, I'll begin my final semester of school EVER! Yay for a master's degree! Let the job search begin...prayers very very very much appreciated. :) The plan is to look for a teen services position in a public library somewhere between Virginia and Georgia preferably in the Carolinas. We shall see. I'm trying to think positively despite the fact that this isn't the best time in the world to be looking for a job with the economy as bad as it is. I keep telling myself that there's a public library in nearly every city in America...surely one of them will hire me, right?

And speaking of libraries, ALA in Chicago was incredible! Shame on me for not blogging about it while I was there, but I was a little pre-occupied. ;) I learned so much from the conference, met some amazing librarians, got some free books, met some of my favorite authors (Laurie Halse Anderson, Neil Gaiman, Jennifer & Matt Holm), and generally confirmed that I am absolutely going into the right field. I am beyond excited about beginning my journey as a librarian very soon!

I had also never been to Chicago before, and I fell in love with it. The way it's surrounded by water gives this huge city a quaint, quiet feel. I can't really explain it, but you don't feel like you're in a big city at all, and the way the river winds right through downtown, I felt like I was in Italy or something (not that I've ever been there haha). I crammed in TONS of sightseeing (Sears Tower, Chicago River architecture tour, Navy Pier, Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, University of Chicago, Art Institute, Lake Michigan...and much, much more!), and I took way too many pictures to post here, but I'll include my favorite one. I had dinner one night on the river at this cute little cafe (It felt quite Parisian...never been there either) and snapped this right after dinner on the bridge:


Student ministry events went well this summer too. My girls are growing up so fast, and it's hard to believe they're starting 8th grade this next week. Wow. I saw many of them grow in their relationships with Christ this summer, and one even started her journey with the Lord. Yay, Anne Marie!!! She accepted Christ at Beach Week in Panama City, FL, which was just spectacular. Something about spending a week on the ocean just lets you hear the voice of God a little clearer...maybe it's the crashing waves or the blazing sun. He showed up in a big way, and it was a blessing to see how lives were changed.


And so the summer ends, and a new semester will begin soon...just one of hopefully a few new beginnings in store for me in the next year. New beginnings bring uncertainty and questions, but I'm embracing the change and am thrilled about trusting God to drop me right where He wants me. Here's to new chapters written by the Author and Perfecter of our faith!

Evening Song

"Faith can move mountains of that I am sure. Just get me through December...get me through December so I can start again."
---Alison Krauss' "Get Me Through December"

Three Semesters Down...Two to Go!

Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm officially over halfway through library school...and somehow I miraculously still have a 4.0. That's gotta be a God thing. Praise Jesus that I graduate in seven months! Woo hoo! Then the door's wide open, and that scarily exhilarating! Here I am, Lord. Send me...your little librarian. :)

I'm thoroughly enjoying my month between semesters and filling my weekends with mini-vacations while I can. Last weekend I took a quick trip up to MS to see Staci graduate. I still can't believe my little sister is out of college now! Makes me feel quite ancient. I had a lovely drive up Hwy. 61 through St. Francisville, Natchez, Port Gibson, Vicksburg, and the Delta. I don't know how you can drive that stretch and not fall in love with the South. It made me want to put on a big hoop dress, sit on the front porch of a big antebellum house and drink lemonade. Sigh.

This weekend I'm off to the beautiful city of New Orleans to visit some friends and family. I think I love New Orleans a little more every time I go...so quaint and historic. I'm definitely going to have to move somewhere with a thrilling history and a unique story...not that Baton Rouge doesn't have one of those, but still.

Then Memorial Day weekend, I'll hit the road for Houston to see the TAYLORS!!! WOO and HOO!!! Can't wait. I'm so excited to hear about how God's moving their hearts closer and closer to Uganda with each passing day, and this is only the beginning of how God's going to work in and through them.

In other, totally unimportant news...two of my favorite couples made the finals on Dancing with the Stars! Vote for Shawn and Mark and Melissa and Tony! I just adore that show. Half the time I really have to halt the urge to dance around my living room with an imaginary partner haha! Yeah, I'm a nerd.

Speaking of dancing...I went to Nichole's dance recital on Sunday, and I've never experienced a dance recital quite like that. She goes to a Christian dance academy, so all the dances were Christian songs, and the recital truly felt like a worship service. I was moved in more ways that one. My mind was spinning with thoughts of how God wires us to all worship in our own unique ways. Nichole is a dancer. My sister is an artist and a dancer. I'm a writer and a singer. God gives us talents so we can give them back to Him in worship. It's a beautiful, wonderful, mysterious cycle of love. How has God gifted you to worship?

Post-Easter Wonderfulness

Robbie Seay Band's "Beautiful, Scandalous Night":

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified
Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night

On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that pours
From our blessed Savior's side

Twenty-four

Nothing like a little birthday song from Switchfoot. This seems fitting today:

Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago

Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And I'm not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You

Twenty four reasons to admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong

See I'm not copping out not copping out not copping out
When You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now

And You're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I want to be one today
Centered and true

I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You're raising the dead in me

I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me
Twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts.
I'm not copping out. Not copping out. Not copping out.

Springing Forward with Fresh Perspective

It's spring again...that time of year when I celebrate the time I fell in love with Baton Rouge. We're going on six years now. :) I remember why I have a love/hate relationship with Baton Rouge around the middle of June (when I almost have my first heat stroke of the year), but I digress. It's been a beautiful week...one of those weeks where you just want to take a blanket and a book to a park and soak it all up (or at least I do). It's the time of year when sunny days feel like love letters from God, and I'm very grateful even if I don't get to soak them up as much as I'd like.

With spring also comes Disciple Now! I spent last weekend with 9 of my 7th grade girls, and it was a wonderful time of laughter, wonder, curiosity, Bible study, worship, and just plain fun. It's amazing to see how far many of them have come in their relationships with God since I met them in 5th grade. They're such blessings to me, and I adore seeing God working in their young hearts. It's inspiring and heartwarming. Here's my favorite pic from the weekend (We love jumping pics!):
One story we wrestled with and poured over this weekend was the Parable of the Lost Son(s). Allow me to explain that (s). ;) Many of us grew up reading about the poor pitiful younger son who ran off and squandered his inheritance then received amazing grace from his loving father upon his return, but we rarely pay attention to the older brother, who happens to be just as lost as his younger brother. I was reminded that many times we are the one running fast and hard away from God like the younger brother, and many more times we are the one shunning the one running away from God. We pretend we're ok with God ourselves when actually we have a false sense of righteousness and pride that comes from ourselves and not from a healthy relationship with God. Check it out in Luke 15:11-32. It'll rock your world...as I'm sure it did in its original telling.

If you back up to the beginning of Luke 15, you can see Jesus tell two other stories of lost things that were saved and found. I can just hear religious leaders grumbling by the time he got to the third story about a lost thing (This time a son.) and saying to themselves, "OK...we get it already!" Leave it to Jesus to stop them dead in their tracks though. He left them thinking verse 24 was the happy ending: "²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." I can almost hear the long pause in the text as he changes gears and utters that age-old literary table-turner, "Meanwhile..."

Verses 25-32 go on to tell the story of the older brother who throws himself a pity party because he's been doing all the right things and HE never got a party. Once again, Jesus highlights the importance of a relationship with Him and defies the false way religious rituals and even good deeds for the sake of only doing good deeds can dangerously try to replace that relationship. He was just as lost as his brother, but he had been at the feet of his father the whole time. Frightening...and yet so true. Thank the Lord there's grace enough for all of us...whether we're runners or goody-goodies.

I just love how Scripture can have that fresh meaning no matter how many times you read the same passage. It's like Spring every time you open it. I'm so glad God's the God of new beginnings, fresh starts, and clean slates. I pray you let Him give your eyes and heart a fresh outlook this Spring. He's everywhere...if you just look.

Surprised by Joy

I'm so glad God doesn't promise us happiness. What a fleeting, unsatisfactory thing is happiness. Ever-changing. Whimsical. Flighty. One minute it's standing beside you. The next it's gone without a trace, leaving you in the dark.

That's not my God. He's steadfast. True. Trustworthy. Foundational. Everlasting. He doesn't promise we'll never hurt, but thankfully, He does promise to see us through. To hold our hand. To give us a reason to keep going, keep fighting, keep loving, keep serving, keep showing His glory. He promises to never leave us in the dark. In fact, it's impossible for Him to leave us in the dark because He is light. He is hope. He is trust. He is joy.

His joy is staring life and all its hardships, pains, and heartaches square in the eye...and smiling.

A wise professor once told me that true wisdom is not learning how to give up what is bad for what is good but learning how to risk giving up what is good in order to embrace what is best. It's happiness versus joy.

I choose joy.

A Recharging Christmas Break

Sorry for the long hiatus from the ol' blog, readers. I've been busy soaking up every ounce of quality free time I could possibly muster while school's out, and I must say, it was indeed a refreshing Christmas break.

I spent a few days in Oxford with the fam then headed to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl for a week with my parents (Staci was on a mission trip to Honduras...sweet!). I actually enjoyed watching Ole Miss regain some confidence in their football program, and it was nice to see Dad so excited again...even if the 50 million "Hotty Toddys" did drive me slightly crazy. Twas a great trip with my parents...harking back to the countless sports trips we made in the past. Ah, memories. Plus as an added bonus, I got to spend three whole days with Jenn and Chris! Man, I wish those kids lived closer because I love me some Carters! I love that you can be away from close friends for a while and just pick up right where you left off. And now that Jenn's married, it's like I've gained another great friend too in the hardcoredness that is Chris Carter. Haha! Fun times in the Big D!

And to top it all off, I just got back from Yoakum/Houston where Kaitlin and I visited Doug and Kat and the Taylor clan. It was beyond wonderful to get to catch up with them and hear how God's using them during the transition time between now and the time when they plan to go on the foreign mission field. They're so faithful to serve Him wholeheartedly wherever He has them even as they wait for a more permanent situation. It's inspiring.

Their pastor in Houston this morning spoke on discontentment, and I was reminded that we can never be content with how close we are to God and that we should be striving each day to know Him more and more and to serve Him sacrificially where we are in the now. It's a lesson I'm taking to heart personally as I finish out my last year of school. I want to give him 110% no matter how ready I am to start a new chapter. He still has abundantly more than I can imagine for me to do here in Baton Rouge, and I can't wait to see what's around the corner this semester. I'm so thankful God has blessed me with such incredible godly mentors and friends like the Taylors to visualize and exemplify that lesson to me as well. (Love you guys! I want to play more Spinner soon!)

That's all for tonight, folks. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

P.S.: Running on hay bales is ENTIRELY too much fun. And I'm a horrible four-wheeler driver. ;)

Cardboard Testimonies

A dear friend sent me this a while back, and I found it tucked away in some saved emails today. It's a powerful video of testimonies of changed lives put together by Hillside Christian Church in Amarillo, TX.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=9vs13ty1cl

What's your cardboard testimony?

Let Me Tell You What He Has Done for Me

I came across Psalm 66 this week. It's a song of victory over struggles through God and a reminder that God never wastes pain. We rarely understand why God allows us or our loved ones to go through painful circumstances, but this passage hints that one reason is so that we may tell of the amazing way God helped us through it, taking the emphasis off us and onto the glorious God who heals in His time.

The psalmist pleads with the reader to "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!" (v. 5). He doesn't diminish the degree of the pain but instead focuses on the victorious outcome only through God..."We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance" (v. 12b). What's our responsibility once we're standing in that place of abundance? To share with others how God got us there and offer encouragement to see them through, as the psalmist says in verse 16, "Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me"...not let me tell you how I did this but let me tell you how God did this miraculous thing for me.

This psalm is the basis for David Crowder's "Come and Listen." Check out the lyrics, and hit play on my playlist if you'd like...

Come and listen, come to the water's edge, all you who know and fear the Lord.
Come and listen, come to the water's edge all you who are thirsty, come.

Let me tell you what He has done for me.
Let me tell you what He has done for me,
He has done for you,
He has done for us.

Come and listen,
come and listen to what He's done.
Come and listen,
come and listen to what He's done.

Praise our God for He is good.
Praise our God for He is good.
Praise our God for He is good.
Praise our God for He is good.

He has done for me,
He has done for you,
He has done for us.

Come and listen,
come and listen to what He's done.
Come and listen,
come and listen to what He's done.

Remember that any pain you experience does not come from God; it comes out of this broken world. He allows us to go through things so we might grow closer to Him, learn more about who He is, and tell others about our encounter with the Almighty. You can bet that for any major hurt you experience, there will be a person in your future who'll need to hear the way God fathered you through a similar struggle. I hope to develop this come-and-listen type of faith, and I hope you do too. Grace and peace to you, readers. :)

An Interview with Yours Truly

Dr. Lisa Lundy, my fabulous former mass comm prof, also writes for Missions Interchange. She asked me to do an interview for their student spotlight, and we came up with this: http://missionsinterchange.com/studentspot.asp. Check it out if you're interested in my thoughts on missions and other random things like whom I'd most like to have lunch with. :)