peace

hello all,
i feel like i need to start out with this:
the new blog site for Kaleo 7 has recently gone up and even though we still have a few months of growth and community here i have to admit that i have mixed emotions about it all. i have come to love the people and even the place here so much it feels like home, i know that Jim has said that this is not meant to be a permanent thing, and i am stoked to see what comes of our lives when we do go our seperate ways, yet at the same time i am almost scared of the day we have to say goodbye. i remember last year when the K6 blog went up and we were all so excited about it and i am so glad that there are more people feeling those things this very moment, i also remember seeing the posts of the K5's who were still doing kaleo and how they were shocked that it had gone so fast, it is a bitter-sweet blessing to be feeling those things now. i look back to the start of these past months and i know that God has done amazing things in my life and has changed me in ways that will never be undone. there has been learning, growth, nourishment and so much more that can not even be put into words. it is truly exciting to think about the future, both not knowing at all what will be coming and yet knowing that God is faithful and that he will lead us all to the place we must be. it is hard to think that we will say goodbye to kaleo, and yet i know there is truth in what one Jon Lefebvre said just last night in our worship session that "kaleo is not a place, it is a state of mind" this is so true on so many levels. Kaleo is about community, we have seen and tasted what that close community can be and now it is up to us to share it with the world.
all that said, there are still after all a few months left to spend here, and i do not intend on wasting one second of it anxiously awaiting the end to something that is still going so strong, something which truly does not have an end.
Kaleo. at the beginning of the year we were told that it means to be called. well a calling does not last only 8 months, i realize that it is a life-long journey to follow the call of God in our lives and i am so stoked to follow that no matter where it leads. i only pray that God would give me the wisdom and the patience and the courage to do the following with all my heart!
God bless the ones who will come to know the God we have grown with here in the months and even years to come!

aside from all that, haha this week we got to enjoy theology class for two mornings in a row and i know that there is a lot that was soaked up during that time, but i pray and ask for your prayers in us making that knowledge stick and giving it a change to permeate into our hearts. but also that we would talk to each other about it all and to question in and make things real to ourselves, rather than simply taking it word for word. we must be sure that we are not mislead because it is our own responsibility to study and know the word of God for ourselves!
on thursday morning we will be getting up in the morning to head over to the mainland where we will be attending missions fest in Vancouver, there will be many people representing organizations from all over the place who do work around the globe, i pray that it would not be overwhelming but that we would be able to stay calm and not simply be drawn without thought to sign up for every thing that looks good, but that if we are called to pay attention to some or even one of these representatives whether for the immediate future or somewhere further down the line i pray that we would gain all the information we need now so that it would be a seed planted in us ready to shoot out when God calls. I pray also that it would be a time of rest from homework, a time of fun in getting to hang out with each other in another new setting, that we would grow more still as a family of believers.

we have been reading a book in preparation for or trip to India called The Three Battlegrounds, it is a book based on the issues of spiritual warefare. it has been good to hear some things, such as that while true children of God can not be "possesed" by the devil we can and are constantly being "oppressed" but we do not have to continue to live that way, we can be made free from that. not from our own fervor or zeal but from the admittance that we are weak and to surrender those dark places of fear or sinful habits, that through shedding light on those areas and opening them up to Christ he can make those areas righteousness in us and tear down the strongholds that the devil might have on us. i know that it has already been a blessing to me to know this, and to always be aware of the way that i am thinking and the things that i am doing and to constantly be giving them up to God knowing that i am not pure and he is making me stronger through it. we must have patience, in all circumstances, for patience comes from trusting and having faith that Christ has won the victory for us and simply relying on the promise that God will see us through. a quote from the book we are reading is this:
"A peacemaker is not merely someone who protests against wars; he is one who is inwardly so yielded to Christ in sprit and purpose that he can be called a son of God. Where he goes, God goes and where God goes, he goes. He is fearless, calm and bold. Peace eminates from him the way ligh and heat radiate from fire."
through giving up the things that i am afraid of letting go, from surrendering those areas of darkness inside, i believe that it has been easier to talk to people about things, to be more open to people, not to be ashamed of things in the past but to let them go knowing that i am not the only sinner here. we have all failed and fallen short, but we also have all been forgiven and redeemed.
i feel like i have rambled on a lot just now, but i hope that you found some encouragement from it all. i want to close off by giving a shout out to my mom on her birthday! happy birthday mom!! love you!!
until next blog! haha see you guys!!
PEACE!