Saturday, August 25, 2012
If you think of someone you care about, someone close to you, it's easy to picture them in your mind. The instant that the name comes into your mind, an image can easily be conjured up. When I think of my own name, though, it's really hard for me to picture my face. I have to think about it for a while until I pull all of the details I know about my face and knit them together to form an image of myself in my own mind. It's an odd struggle, trying to picture an image of myself in my own mind. Now, just because I can't picture my tangible face doesn't mean I don't exist because well, I'm the one thinking. When I consciously think about God, it's hard to stay focused sometimes because I can't quite make an image of him in my mind; there's no face to put to who I'm talking to. Then, I think about his qualities; what I know. Sometimes I picture a pitch black cave, with only stalagmites and stalagtites shining light across the space. The cave is filled with a spacious dark pool of water and in the middle is a small, rocky, and cragly island; there sits this beautiful basin made of different clays and stones and perfect gleaming earth toned gems. It is filled with the purest water and looking from the top, it seems like there's a bottom but if you reach in, it would never end. Then I start to imagine God's personality; I think of his qualities and one by one, translucent colors fill the basin of water. He is love; faint pink swirls and sinks down to the bottom. He is patient, a light bluish gray follows. He is thoughtful; purple sinks down. He is intricate and wise; a silver stream of grey swirls around. He is funny and boisterous; orange and red dance down together. He is humble, a mint green glides down like a piece of paper does through the air. He is the light; bright whiteish yellow bursts around and starts to light the room. He is understanding. He is patience. He is kindness. He is gentleness. He is peace. He is steady. He is strong. He is the protector. He is papa. He is healing. And as each color comes out, they reflect off of the gems of the basin and stalagmites and soon bounce onto the walls of the cave; the most vibrant colors filling the cave. His qualities are so countless that new colors never seen or imagined before fill the room. There's no way to ignore the colors, they're everywhere - soon it's all that can be breathed in. I walked into the cave blind and awakened to the most beautiful awe-inspiring artwork impossible to even begin to imagine. As abstract as that is, it's only a picture that gives a glimmer of a reminder me who I get to call Abba, father. Who I know is love. And love is all of those qualities. But a picture explained through words can't even begin to explain the vastness and complexity of God, it's almost a frustrating task because there is nothing that would do justice to describing our Creator. I become so overcome with emotion; His presence is the welling that comes to my eyes and the tickle that crawls up my throat without warning, I just know he's there. I could never claim to explain it, but do and will always know it. And best of all, he isn't just the abstract picture in my mind, he is real. He is a person. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a relationship with the one who loved me before anyone did and loves me more than anyone could ever dream. All of us who deserve nothing instead receive everything without asking, without even thinking of asking. That's who He is. He is love. Incredible, awesome love. Indescribable and self-sacrificing love; in every sense.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Support Letter!
These past few months have been
unbelievable for me. Although I would never give back my experience and
everything I learned in high school, I honestly feel that I’ve grown more since
high school ended than throughout all thirteen years spending at school. That
being said, I know that this isn’t true, even though I feel that way. Each day
of those thirteen years shaped me into who I am today, in a subtle way but
nonetheless incredibly important. I couldn’t be more thankful for that time of
my life, but already I find myself looking back on it as if it was ages ago.
A couple of summers ago, I went on a missions trip with my church to a small village in Haiti called Ti Rivier. We flew into Port-au-Prince and since it was soon after the earthquake, the devastation was incredible. On the news at home, it was sad - more of a detached sorrow - while experiencing the chaos first hand was so impactful and was like nothing I’ve ever felt before; I felt my eyes open for the first time and won’t be able to close them again. We stayed in an orphanage and after spending a week with those kids as well as the others in the villages and up the mountain, such joy radiated; it was contagious! They were so eager for the Lord and in the midst of a heavily- spirited place, God’s Presence was the loudest; through the voices of those children. My heart really gravitated toward that pure joy and raw fight to break from bondage and from that experience, a hunger has been yearning for more; I want to be a part of it.
A couple of summers ago, I went on a missions trip with my church to a small village in Haiti called Ti Rivier. We flew into Port-au-Prince and since it was soon after the earthquake, the devastation was incredible. On the news at home, it was sad - more of a detached sorrow - while experiencing the chaos first hand was so impactful and was like nothing I’ve ever felt before; I felt my eyes open for the first time and won’t be able to close them again. We stayed in an orphanage and after spending a week with those kids as well as the others in the villages and up the mountain, such joy radiated; it was contagious! They were so eager for the Lord and in the midst of a heavily- spirited place, God’s Presence was the loudest; through the voices of those children. My heart really gravitated toward that pure joy and raw fight to break from bondage and from that experience, a hunger has been yearning for more; I want to be a part of it.
For those of you who didn’t know, I
have decided to take a year off and be part of a six-month program with Youth
With A Mission (YWAM). There will be a four-month discipleship training school
(DTS), which is at a base in Brisbane, Australia and will have an emphasis on
music, arts, and dance; I will be partaking in the music aspect. During that
period, I will be learning and preparing for a two-month outreach after the
DTS. The outreach isn’t determined yet, but I’m anticipating that it will be
somewhere in close proximity to Asia or Africa (as non-specific as that is,
that’s the gist of it). Overall, I’m so excited for this opportunity and to
fulfill a calling of participating in the spread of God’s love and character.
It’s a scary thought to be going a different way from the pack and stepping out
from the norm, but it’s where my passion lies and where God has sculpted out a
path for me.
God has completely rocked my world in these past few months and I think that it’s because after graduation, I finally took the leap of pursuing him and his love above all else. Each person in the WHS graduating class is moving onto a different path, each leading to different places; all over the world. For me, it truly is across the world – Brisbane, Australia. Most of you probably know or have an idea of what I plan to do this fall, but it is starting to become real to me as there is only about two months before it becomes my reality. That’s a scary thing, especially for me. But I couldn’t be more joyful and excited for it. God has already begun to work in my life immensely and has given me so much joy; I’m falling in love with Jesus and that has given me an even bigger heart for mission work and spreading that love everywhere. He has transformed me and I’m starting to find myself in this journey and I want to thank everyone who has supported me through different means; whether that’s through encouragement, prayer or monetary support. It is all very appreciated; I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for every single penny and thought because it is your support that will get me there. I am working this summer fulltime and have been saving, but the program and travelling costs will reach around $10,000 and that is going to come through complete faith and reliance on God. I trust that this is what I’m supposed to do, so I trust that God will provide. The course begins on September 26th, 2012 and ends on April 12th, 2013 and consists of three study periods. During study periods one and two, there will be classes during the day, but also work duties throughout the week as well as involvement in the community; serving others but also learning and growing in equipping for the work that we will be doing on the overseas outreach, which is the third study period. This third period is about nine weeks long and I’m not sure yet where I will be going, but this final period will be overseas mission work. I am so excited for the adventures that this time will hold, but I do ask for your support. I created a blog that I will be updating regularly so I can keep everyone updated on what is going on so you can be a part of this journey with me: http://buhlface.blogspot.com/. I will also send out emails occasionally to keep everyone updated in that way, my email address is buhlface@gmail.com and you can email me if you would like to be a part of that.
All of you have been such key instruments in my life and growth, each impacting me in some way and I’m so thankful for that. Fundraising is a large part of the deal and it is going to be a lot of work; I ask for support, whether that’s through encouragement, prayer, or monetary donations, I would appreciate it immensely. Although it is a lot to ask for, I trust it will be provided; any amount is a blessing. To send money, you can write checks out to Vision of Glory Church and put my name on the information line. We set up an account at my church so all of the money will directly go to my cause, it is just set up as a central place to send the checks for beneficial tax return purposes on your end. I thank you again for the support I have already received and for the encouragement along the way; I am genuinely so happy to have each one of you in my life and appreciate it all.
God has completely rocked my world in these past few months and I think that it’s because after graduation, I finally took the leap of pursuing him and his love above all else. Each person in the WHS graduating class is moving onto a different path, each leading to different places; all over the world. For me, it truly is across the world – Brisbane, Australia. Most of you probably know or have an idea of what I plan to do this fall, but it is starting to become real to me as there is only about two months before it becomes my reality. That’s a scary thing, especially for me. But I couldn’t be more joyful and excited for it. God has already begun to work in my life immensely and has given me so much joy; I’m falling in love with Jesus and that has given me an even bigger heart for mission work and spreading that love everywhere. He has transformed me and I’m starting to find myself in this journey and I want to thank everyone who has supported me through different means; whether that’s through encouragement, prayer or monetary support. It is all very appreciated; I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for every single penny and thought because it is your support that will get me there. I am working this summer fulltime and have been saving, but the program and travelling costs will reach around $10,000 and that is going to come through complete faith and reliance on God. I trust that this is what I’m supposed to do, so I trust that God will provide. The course begins on September 26th, 2012 and ends on April 12th, 2013 and consists of three study periods. During study periods one and two, there will be classes during the day, but also work duties throughout the week as well as involvement in the community; serving others but also learning and growing in equipping for the work that we will be doing on the overseas outreach, which is the third study period. This third period is about nine weeks long and I’m not sure yet where I will be going, but this final period will be overseas mission work. I am so excited for the adventures that this time will hold, but I do ask for your support. I created a blog that I will be updating regularly so I can keep everyone updated on what is going on so you can be a part of this journey with me: http://buhlface.blogspot.com/. I will also send out emails occasionally to keep everyone updated in that way, my email address is buhlface@gmail.com and you can email me if you would like to be a part of that.
All of you have been such key instruments in my life and growth, each impacting me in some way and I’m so thankful for that. Fundraising is a large part of the deal and it is going to be a lot of work; I ask for support, whether that’s through encouragement, prayer, or monetary donations, I would appreciate it immensely. Although it is a lot to ask for, I trust it will be provided; any amount is a blessing. To send money, you can write checks out to Vision of Glory Church and put my name on the information line. We set up an account at my church so all of the money will directly go to my cause, it is just set up as a central place to send the checks for beneficial tax return purposes on your end. I thank you again for the support I have already received and for the encouragement along the way; I am genuinely so happy to have each one of you in my life and appreciate it all.
With love,
Elyssa Buhl