I got home around 11:00 a.m. and was able to take a little bit of a nap. I also read a decent amount in a book that I am trying to finish up. Practice this afternoon went well...it went by really fast! After practice I went out to eat with Jo (roommate) and Liz...we ate at Great Wall which is a Chinese place. On the walk home after eating supper, Jo and I stopped at Starbucks. Here in Turkey, they are already decorated for Christmas (which I find ironic because they don't celebrate it over here). None the less, I guess they have to follow along with the Starbucks in the States ha, although it is still November
Tomorrow we practice at noon and then we head to the Hilton where we will be staying the night before our game. We play at home this weekend, but the coaches want us to get a good nights rest so we are sleeping at the Hilton (very nice hotel). I am excited to have another game coming up :) Will be fun!! Pretty crazy to that we are going to be staying in a hotel in the same city we live in ha.
Speaking of staying in a hotel, I need to do a little bit of packing and then hit the sack!
What I am thankful for:
I am thankful for technology! Being able to communicate while I am over here in Turkey with family and friends is awesome. I can call people's cell phones, text, email, etc. AMAZING!!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world.— 1 John 2:15-16 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Love for things, especially temporary ones, can sure get us into trouble. Even worse, we can begin to think they will make us happy or fill the empty places in our hearts. But if we really sink our hopes and dreams in our Abba Father, we are attached to eternity and what we need most is always with us!
My Utmost For His Highest:
God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.
Our Daily Bread:
On December 4, 2007, a 19-year- old soldier serving in Iraq saw a grenade being thrown from a rooftop. Manning the machine gun in the turret of his Humvee, he tried to deflect the explosive—but it fell inside his vehicle. He had time to jump to safety. Instead, he threw his body over the grenade in a stunningly selfless act that saved the lives of four fellow soldiers.
This almost unexplainable act of self-sacrifice may help us understand why the Bible tells us that there is a kind of love that is more honorable than having great knowledge or faith (1 Cor. 13:1-3).
This kind of love can be hard to find—leading the apostle Paul to lament that more people care for themselves than for the interests of Christ (Phil. 2:20-21). That’s why he was so grateful for Epaphroditus, a co-worker who “came close to death, not regarding his life” in order to serve others (v.30).
If we think we could never put our own life on the line for others, Epaphroditus shows us the first step with his selfless example. Such love is neither normal nor common, and it doesn’t come from us. It comes from the Spirit of God, who can give us the desire and ability to feel for others some of the inexpressible affection God has for us.
To give up yourself for others
Seems like such a tough thing to do;
But that’s how you can know for sure
That God’s love is working through you. —Branon
You can measure your love for God
by showing your love for others.
___________________________________________________________________________
P.S. 39 days until home...crazy!!
Megan