Monday, August 24, 2009

JFA

This is what I get to be apart of!

I am beginning to start a pro-life ambassadors club here on campus; the interest level is high, the activity level is low. Through JFA and Defending Human Value, Barclay can become a student body that is actively pro life.
Hopefully more people from Barclay are able to join me in this venture in October.
Please be praying for us!

The mission of Justice For All is
to train thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time.

JFA Training Exhibit Will Help You:

Learn how to answer different questions ("What about rape?")

Grow in courage; help hurting people; gain motivation for further study.

Learn how to help people change their minds by listening and asking questions.

Learn how to have life-saving conversations through the JFA Exhibit Outreach.

"It will take an eternity for the unborn to defend themselves."

"Make the injustice visible." -- Mahatma Gandhi

http://jfaweb.org/ : check it out.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

"My Life: Thus Far"

Adria Hinrichs

Spiritual Formation

Dave Williams

August 20, 2009

An Efflorescent Expression

As I see it, I really do not. I know where I have been, but I have no idea where I am headed. The one thing I know is that Jesus Christ is Lord, as sole author and perfecter of my faith; thus, I will live in Him, and enjoy his goodness as long as I have breath in my lungs. Through this expression of my life thus far, I will strive to present a little background from whence I came, so that Christ, through me, may go out and be witness to his great and boundless love.

To begin, I accepted Christ at a young age; I have grown up in a Christian home: two parents happily married, an older sister, and two little brothers. I am exceptionally grateful for the positive impact my family has had on my life. Not just immediate family, but my entire extended family; the love and encouragement they have poured into my life are immeasurable. I am so blessed to have such a godly, gracious family to model for me a life well lived.

As I entered junior high, my faith really became “my own”. Through a more mature look at Christ and his love for me, and the help of my home church’s youth group, I was able to begin to grasp the extent of God’s love for me. Throughout high school, the Lord grew me and strengthened me in countless ways. Through my youth group, as well as my own study and experiences, God became more real to me. He is a faithful friend, who has my best in mind, a beautiful Lord, who creates things for my pleasure and enjoyment and the one Truth that stands, when all else give way to the constraints of the world. He is also sovereign. When trial and sadness come, He is right there in the middle of it. The last semester of my senior year was the single most influential few months in my life thus far. Through some friends’ sudden deaths via a car accident, I began to understand his sovereignty. Through a terrible car accident I was in shortly after my friends’, I saw his complete goodness and immeasurability in choosing to save my life, while he chose to take my friends’ lives.

The summer after my senior year, I moved all the way from Southern California to Haviland, Kansas, to begin my ascent into higher education. This was quite an influential time in my life as well, in a completely different way than the semester prior. I grew to enjoy the culture here, and accept the fact that not all things are like California--no mountains or sea in the prairie. The Lord grew me and drew me to himself in a way which I had not discovered last year.

Next, came China. This experience was so incredible, so fully shaping and forming for me. This summer, I went on a missions trip to China, to work with orphans for two weeks. The ultimate opportunity for a girl who adores children, and loves to love the unloveable. Each “volunteer” (me) at this summer camp for orphans has a “buddy” (an orphan). Although I have a heart for needy children, God slammed me with a child so needy and unloveable, that I could not love her on my own; through Christ’s love and grace, I grew to love my little girl. She is a precious Child of God, too. Just like the rest of the “buddies” I had--who were precious, sweet and so very lovable, my little girl, DouDou, needed love, too. So, I showed her God’s love in and through my words and actions that week.

I am now at Barclay for one more year, will graduate with my AA, and transfer to Chico State in California, to study child development and journalism. I hope to return to China to work with orphans and be a journalist for a children and families magazine. I am grateful for the experiences the Lord has given me. My life is so full, so rich; for this, I will praise him.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Road Trip!!

We're in Odessa, Texas right now, and it's 1:15 in the morning.
"...Like the dress that girl in Odessa wore..."
(that's Last 5 Years)
We've had such a fun trip thus far.
Oh, and Natalie, my dearest cousin, Autumn, my wonderful sister, and I, the Barclay-bound, are all on our way, via our 'muted plum' 2007 Ford Focus, to Haviland, Kansas, to drop me off at school.
We started out ont he 15, then onto the 40, and stayed on that through the rest of the most lovely state, California, into Arizona, through New Mexico, and now just tonight as the sun was setting, did we enter the great state of Texas.
SUCH sadness that erupts from my being when I think about next Monday night, when they will be heading off into the sunset...without me. No! It is simply too much to bear.

Tomorrow we're headed to Dallas, which is about 5 hours away. We're spending most the day with Ryan Swindoll, going to dinner with him, then onto Pat Kelly's for the night. Emily Evans will join us for breakfast.
This is the most exciting, anticipated, day of the trip.
I'll tell you why AFTER the fact! ;-)

I just checked my facebook (yay for free wireless at our hotel), and saw some really fun pictures of Carm's, who was my roomie for week one and two, and went onto X'ian for the next two weeks of camp. Such fun of the moped ride, Becca's barndance, swing dancing, and fun ones of she and her buddies. They are so precious! So many memories.
I was laughing one minute, then almost in tears the next, just remembering all the experiences that were had.

Now, it's time for beddy-bed-bed.
A twin, and a Queen, and three girls. Who gets it?! ;)

Oh, and another fun quirk of our trip:

Major premise:
Natalie, the tallest, must have the seat far back to drive. Thus, I, a tad shorter than Autumn, must sit in the backseat, directly behind her, for I have the shortest legs, and am the least prone to clostrophobia. (In fact, it is nonexistent for me.)
Minor Premise:
Adria, the shortest, must have the seat quite close in order to reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. That said, Natalie can sit behind Adria and have ample amounts of leg room!
Conclusion:
Therefore, because Natalie is tall, and Adria is short, our height-differences work out quite well.

Au revoir!