Thoughts and Things

I never know where to begin with updating. I always feel like there are a million things happening at the same around me and I can never adequately process through them all or remember to share them. So here are the things that have been going on...

Courtney
I love this girl! I can't wait to spend all summer serving alongside her! We hung out yesterday morning to talk, fellowship, laugh and encourage one another. We both realized that we have so much more in common on a deeper level than we thought. Also, we bought journals (aka drawing pads) to decorate before Montana. I can't wait until my team can all get together and hang out again! They are so much fun! 

Supervisor
My team has heard from our supervisor again!! Whoop! The first time was just an introductory type of thing. They sent us a video of Outdoorsmen Church and a letter. This time we have learned that we are reading "I Once Was Lost" and Sacha metioned what more specifically we're doing. We had to choose our top 7 activity choices from a list of twenty or so.. Mine included whitewater rafting, backpacking, camping, fishing, reading, hanging out at coffee shops and music. Okay, seriously.. this is going to be an awesome summer! 

Fundraising!
Yeah! As far as I know, I have $270 of $600.. so I still need $330. I've been selling a few shirts with other BSM summer missionaries and a beautiful friend gave me a check the other day. God is providing. : ) The first week kinda spoiled me. I saw God's provision almost immediately after I sent out my support letters. If anything that I'm learning this semester, is that God blesses me immediately in very small, joy-filled ways... like, a beautiful painting in the sky, a song to match my mood, a thought to roll across my mind, or even jumping off of a 30' pole.

There are some blessings that I have to wait for and work for. Please don't misunderstand me. I am BY NO MEANS claiming that you have to work to earn God's grace, forgiveness, and blessing. Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is a gift from God-- not by works so that no one can boast." There is no way to work enough get it. Your faith is credited as righteousness, not your works. But God knows the meaning of what hard work can bring. Take my econ exam that I mention later on.. I studied my bum off for that exam and I made an 88. It is by His grace that I understood the material, so I cannot take any glory for myself. But if I hadn't been wise with my time, God couldn't have been glorified through that rockin' exam grade.

Economics
I have a praise. I dominated my last macroeconomics exam. Praise the good Lord for His grace and understanding! Seriously, I could not have done that without Him. Also, this past Wednesday I was still thinking about Aggregate Demand, Short Run Aggregate Supply, and Long Run Aggregate Supply. (I realize what I'm about to say won't make sense to everyone.. trust me, I didn't get the first time either.) Here's the graph I've been working with...

Here are some basic principles you should know:

-SRAS is simply focusing on what's happening in the here and now.
-LRAS is focused on what's happening in the future, a long time from now and will always be vertical.
-AD is always around. It doesn't change very much.
-SRAS & AD can shift right or left at any given time. Which way they will go depends on the circumstances.
-LRAS shifts right over time. It never moves left.

This is what God showed me after lunch that day...
On the left of LRAS are tough times, tribulations that we face in life. On the right are the blessings He bestows upon us, the joy that He gives us. In the short run, right now, we move between tribulations and blessings depending on our circumstances. But no matter what we're going through, we have a hope in the long run--Jesus Christ. Our eyes continue to look upward, hence the vertical LRAS. I haven't figured out what all the labels could be in order that they relate to one another, but I do know that LRAS is Jesus Christ, our Savior who is seated at the right hand of our Father.

I was talking with my professor after class today because I had a question of whether or not AD and SRAS are affected by elasticity (basically, if it is elastic, it is more horizontal.. if it is more inelastic, it is more vertical). He said yes, but that we didn't have the time to dive into it during the semester. One thing that he mentioned that caught my attention was that some economists place the SRAS as completely horizontal and over time it becomes more inelastic over time until it is vertical.

I have two thoughts on this..

One, Father God is LRAS and we (AD) have no hope in ever attaining him and becoming vertical; our depravity causes us to need a Savior, Jesus (SRAS) to enable us to be vertical. Notice that the LRAS and SRAS form a cross. So legit.

Two, as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, we are becoming more and more conformed to the image of Himself and perfected through our faith. Over time and through our relationship with Christ, we become closer to our Father--becoming more inelastic and more vertical.


These are thoughts and things that have been going on. I randomly read through Jeremiah 31 this morning and verse 2 caught my eye... "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest..."

Enjoy your week! : )