Loving Brotherly in the City of Brotherly Love

I think it's appropriate to type out a bit of a life update; not so much because my life is so exciting that I need to share. Moreso as an effort to keep myself sane amidst the wildness that has been the last 8 months of my life. I'm currently stationed in Phiadelphia, PA, doing an internship with Evangelicals for Social Action and enjoying myself bigtime. The Lord has been so gracious to bless me over and over again with great friends and good circumstances; there isn't too much to complain about. I'm here for five weeks, which doesn't seem like much time, but five weeks is the most time I've spent in the same place since January before I left for Uganda. Speaking of Uganda, I've done some more reflecting on that trip to Africa lately, realizing how much I really miss some of the people and the settings I was in. Some days I would love to hop on a plane and drink a cup of tea in the slums with my friends. Anyway, after I flew in from Kenya I spent a week in Jamaica, which was AWESOME. It's wild, but I really did have to leave the country again just to be with the people I wanted to see most. Having both of my parents there along with my four three best friends from home was an awesome, awesome way to spend the week. Ten days after Jamaica I flew down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for Band of Brothers in Christ. Speaking of being blessed, BoBiC was such a great time for me. Seventeen days with 6 men who's hearts were set on seeking the Lord and growing in fellowship with one another. Still tough to put into words how valuable that time was for me. And now I find myself in a coffee shop in a Philly suburb, reading a book and doing some writing, trying to be thankful for all I've gotten to experience in these last 7 months. I am very, very, very excited to be back in Elmhurst in August and actually have a home...I'm not sure how nomads did it. But nonetheless, I have really had a great time trying to be present-minded with the circumstances I am in. Just a few minutes ago I was reading through Psalm 119, which I why I wanted to type this blog up to begin with. I think about how faithful and how good the Lord has been to me in this crazy stretch of my life. I've gotten to know Him more as a Father than ever before. Isaiah 33:6, which says "he will be the stability of myh times," spoke to me in ways I never understood before. And today, when I read Ps. 119:50, which says, "this is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life," I was kind of blown away. I am, like most Christians, a big fan of God's promises to us. Reading about how God promised the gospel before-hand through the prophets (Romans 1) and living on this side of that Gospel, it causes me to trust him so deeply for the assurance that his promises about me will be fulfilled. When I read about how faithful God was to bring his promises to fruition, I trust more and more fully that he will be faithful in his promises to me. So when I read that "his promise gives me life," I understand what He's telling me. Psalm 16:11 says in God's presence is the fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forever more. How depraved am I that I am constantly looking at things here in the world to give me joy and pleasure. He has already told me that the fullness of joy only comes in His presence, but he has also promised me that I'll be in his presence. When I read 1 Peter 1, and see that I have been promised an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, being kept in heaven for me, I trust that. I can't wait to fully receive that inheritance and truly live in the fullness of joy! How glorious will that be!!