A Dream of a Week (Grace/ Sunshine x 1000000!)

The last week was one of the best in my life. (If you guys (my friends/ family) were here, it would have been golden).

How about I tell you a few things I learned about grace, and a few highlights of my week so that this thing doesn't trail on forever like last time :)

GRACE:

-The best thing ever. I was so thirsty to hear this truth, and I finally got a glimpse of what God's grace is. I accidently took 17 pages of front and back notes, so this little recap isn`t doing the topic justice. Anyhow, some of my favorite things =

-(I just skimmed through my notes and can`t narrow it down. It is a tiny overwhelming. Shoot. Well, I am just going to write some of my favorite quotes from the week, and maybe that will help you understand a little bit. If not, I would LOVE to talk to you about this topic when I am home if you want)

- "Grace is amazing - the most amazing, perplexing, powerful force in the universe, and, I believe, the only hope for our twisted, violent planet. If you catch a mere whiff of its scent, it could change your life forever." (Phillip Yancey)

- "Religion is man's persuit of God. Christianity is God's persuit of man." (Author unknown)

- "Sin is the faithless rebellion of the creature against the just authority of the creator" (Max Lucado)

- "Oh the foolishness of trying to enter a room you are already in." (Watchmean Nee)

- "Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is never alone" (John Calvin)

- "Mercy (or Grace) understood is holiness desired" (Max Lucado)

- "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21...just thought I would toss a verse in here so you know this isn`t made up :))

- Also, we talked about Legalism, disputable matters (aka things that aren't in the Bible but are cultural taboos in the church. IE smoking, tatoos, etc.), the purpose of sacrifices in the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament people were saved by grace through faith too. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, so this concept definitely makes sense.

Ok...sorry if that was super scattered and didn't make too much sense! Moving right along, here are the highlights of my week:

- learning about grace and watching its amazing impact on my relationship with God - I feel so free and a lot more motivated to serve God out of love instead of my own expectations to perform a certain way/ reach a certain standard.

- wearing everybody else's clothes :) (see the P.S. on my last post if this doesn't make sense) I wore some crazy things, but because people don't know my style super well yet, they didn't know it was weird for me to wear these things. AKA they didn't say "Funky clothes, Mary" even when I was wore border-line hideous things. (On one particular day, I wore an especially odd outfit and convinced a few other girls to do the same. cheers!)

-getting mail - i LOVE mail! horray!

- Friday night - after family dinner, some of us dressed up and went to a Blues show that we got free tickets to. We had so much fun dancing (at one point, we started the electric slide in the middle of the floor...haha) and afterwards we walked to the end of the pier and told stories and such.

- Saturday - definitely in the Top 10 Best Days of My Life so far category!

1. family breakfast outside in the sunshine...I made peanut butter pancakes with chocolate chips.

2. surfing with friends in the SUNSHINE!

3. hanging out on the beach playing Beach Volleyball

4. Then I went to Old West Cinnamin rolls with two friends and split a cinnamin roll in the sunshine and shared random fun facts about our life.

5. I went with those same two girls to a fancy bistro to get coffee and started talking to the owner about going overseas (he lived in crazy places for 20 years). While we were talking, he messed up a crepe he was making (that costs $8) and gave it to us for free! horray!

6. Went hot tubbing.

7. And last, but not least, we went to Yogurt Creations, aka the best ice cream place ever because there are SO many toppings!

- Also, yesterday we went to a BEAUTIFUL beach and had Silence and Solitude (aka quiet time alone) with God for 6 hours. It was 75 degrees (I was wearing shorts and a tank top) and I actually got a tiny burnt. It feels so good to get vitamin D in the winter time here in California (esp when I heard it snowed at home this week.) I put a few pictures in an online album because it is way faster to upload pictures that way, so if you want to check them out, here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MaryViducich/SilenceAndSolitude31109?feat=directlink

(I was on a mountain top overlooking the huge ocean. It looked like I was in another country or something. Also, I saw dolphins playing!) Anyhow, besides seeing the beauty of God's creation and taking pictures of it, I had a really good, long talk with God. I hope I can continue to devote time like this to Him every month and then when I am home...it changes my perspective/ heart/ attitude SO much!

What a great week, huh? I left out a lot of little day-to-day things, but I was smiling more this week than I ever remember smiling. God is SO good. Also, I am leaving in less than a month for India then to Thailand. If you could pray that God would start to prepare me/ my heart/ my team for outreach, I would really appreciate it!

Blessings,

Mary