Michelle's Shell

Hello Everyone , So, finally, here's an update on my trip to Nicaragua . I've been wanting so much to write this! But it's hard to know where to start. The facts: From March 3-25 myself and 10 other students/faculty from here at Souls West went to Nicaragua for a mission trip organized by Share Him. The first impressions: Getting off the plane = getting hit by the humidity! (A foreign concept in Arizona ). The reality – we're really here! But the realization also quickly hits that I probably should have started cramming for Spanish before I got on the plane…. The site: There were eleven of us from Souls West speaking in different churches surrounding the city of Matagalpa . Matagalpa is a nice mid-sized city in the mountains of Nicaragua. We really enjoyed walking to the little markets to buy fruit etc. For a mission trip, we really had nice accommodations. Yet housing for the locals tells a very different story. Every day, I would travel to my church for a...

Welcome to the trial resurrection of shellspace. As you can see, I haven't posted to this blog since 2006! MANY things have happened since that time. 2 years ago I was an accountant about to turn brand new Bible worker not sure what I was getting myself into. Since then life has taken me from TN to TX to CA and now to AZ working for the Lord. What did I find? I found that it wasn't easy. I struggled. I worked. I experienced what it's like to battle hard with self and literally to give blood, sweat, and tears for souls. I've seen the battle between good and evil as I studied the Bible with people in their homes. I've had the privilege of watching God win many of these battles and using my feeble efforts as a part of it. I've been lonely, questioned my calling, and realized the danger of letting anything come between me and God. The past 2 years have held the biggest personal challenges, the hardest failures, and yet the greatest joys. And two years later, by Go...

Two more days and it’ll be goodbye Tennessee, and hello Texas. Said goodbye to my parents today. They’ll be in Michigan this week, so I’ll just see myself out on Tuesday. It’s better this way – then I don’t really feel like we're saying a long-term goodbye. I’m really getting excited to see the end of tax season accounting and the start of my first full-time Bible work job… ready to get out on my own again, though the reality of what I’m getting into hasn’t really hit me yet. I’m admittedly a bit nervous. I can just see myself getting to Texas, unpacking, settling in, then sitting down in the middle of the floor, staring blankly at my map, and thinking, “Now what am I supposed to do?” I’m sure I’ll have lots to learn…

Dad: Did you know your car shakes at 75? Michelle: Don't worry Dad, when you drive it at 90 it's just fine!

Mere Christianity. Is there such a thing? Can one choose to be “merely” a Christian? Fact: There are many “Christians” who believe in God, but don’t care to have Him as a big part of their lives. Are “believers” just a chosen title away from “non-believers?” In Matthew 10:38, Jesus described following Him as “taking up his cross.” Carrying an instrument of torture is not something most people do “merely” as a side job. Would we describe Jesus’ death as “merely” another thing He did? We may agree that it would be ludicrous to describe Jesus’ “Christianity” as anything less that “totally.” But then what does the model say for our own? Maybe the question of “mere” Christianity does come down to a choice – but not a choice of what name to take, or label to wear or even belief system to adopt, but rather a choice of who we want to actually be. ~Michelle “There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion …suddenly draw back. Suppose we really found Him? We never m...

Hi friends, I've never had one of these blog things before...not really sure what to write yet! But check back later and thanks for visiting. God bless, ~Michelle