Prayer Request!!!

Just thought I'd post a quick update, and prayer request. There have been some minor complications in the process of getting my Visa for my stay in Japan. Please pray that the Japanese government will accept the conditions that have been presented. Satan is definitely trying to keep me home, and he doesn't want additional Christians over there right now!! Pray for me also, that I will just wait patiently and not borrow trouble and worry about all the details!! It reminds me of the verse Psa 46:10  'Be still, and know that I am God...' I also have a favorite song that talks about the same basic though:

Still my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow

God You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone

Still, my soul be still
Do not be moved
By lesser lights and fleeting shadows
Hold onto His ways
With shield of faith
Against temptations flaming arrows

Still, my soul be still
Do not forsake
The Truth you learned in the beginning
Wait upon the Lord
And hope will rise As stars appear when day is dimming 

Thank you all for your prayers!!! I also found out that Teshio (the town where I will be going) is about 500 mi. from the location of the Nuclear Plant that is causing the radiation problems!!!

Love you you all from NIU, where spring is just around the corner!!!

Spring Break, not going according to plan!!

Hello everyone, from bright, sunny Minneapolis, MN! At least it is sunny today, I has rained, snowed, and been in general, really cold this week...not what was in the forecast last week. I am spending the week at my aunt and uncle's house in Champlin. It has been a wonderful week, I am sad that it is almost over. But I did not come prepared for the things that have happened. With the weather, I was ready for a week of 50* temperatures, it has been in the 30's or lower all week I think...All the plans I had for friends & family o see, places to go, and things I wanted to do that all just ended up not happening the way I wanted them to. It reminds me of the verses in Isaiah 55 where it says 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.' The things I planned for this week apparently did not fit in with what God wanted me to do. I still got to see the family & friends that I wanted to, just not in the time-frame I would have chosen. But God's ways are better than mine, and He knows what is going to happen tomorrow.

With Love from Minnesota,

Jennifer Sandahl

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Life is short, make the most of it!

I have been thinking a lot lately about my life in comparison to eternity. I've heard several messages lately, talked about it in a couple classes, and now in light of the disaster in Japan, it has been prevalent in my thoughts. Proverbs 27:1 tells us not to 'boast' ourselves about tomorrow or the coming years. God does not forbid us to makes plans, on the contrary, God is a god of order, planning what you are going to do tomorrow is not sinful. But don't get so caught up in those plans, that if something happens to prevent those plans from happening, you lose focus on what is important and it destroys your joy.

With the recent events in Japan, I have been thinking a lot about just how short our lives are. If you think about how long God has lived. <------------> He has always been and always will be. We, in our finite state, cannot comprehend just how long eternity truly is. In Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM." God WAS, He IS, and He WILL BE...The wording in scripture is deliberate. God uses, what we know know as, the present tense. I'm not an English teacher, and I'm far from being an English whiz, but I understand this to mean that God is speaking of himself as being permanently the same. Hebrews 13:8 says that 'Jesus Christ (is) the same yesterday, and today, and forever.' He will NEVER change, He will ALWAYS BE. When we think of ourselves in comparison to God, we are barely a speck on the time-line of His being. <--------------------*-----------------------> Yet, He loves us with an everlasting love, and is 'not willing that any should parish, but that all should come to repentance.' (2 Peter 3:9) There is a song that I have learned recently called Be Unto Your Name that sums up this thought perfectly:

We are a moment, You are forever
Lord of the ages, God before time
We are a vapor, You are eternal
Love everlasting, reigning on high.

We are the broken, You are the healer
Jesus Redeemer, mighty to save
You are the love song, we'll sing forever
Bowing before You, blessing your name.

Holy, holy, Lord God almighty
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Highest praises, honor, and glory
Be unto your name, be unto your name.

With Love always, From Champlin, MN (I'm on my spring break)

Jennifer Sandahl :c)

God uses the clouds to make His Son shine!!!

I heard this amazing illustration of how to view the trials we have in our lives the other day, and had to share! We have, what we call, a 'Works of God' chapel every Monday, where students stand up and share things that God has done in their lives, or prayer requests and how they've been answered or what God has been teaching them through the trial...This week one girl stood up and shared this awesome illustration.

She had just recently seen an amazing sunset, and was just awed at how God created such brilliant colors. Then she noticed that there were also clouds that were along the horizon, but the clouds didn't detract from the brilliance of the sunset, they actually added to it, and made it that much more amazing.

It got me thinking about the trials we have in our lives, how we can view them as just an annoying ugliness that detracts from the amazing things God can/has done in our lives. Or we can view it as yet another way God is showing his strength in our lives by accentuating his power through the trial. Today I had a test in one of my classes that I haven't been doing so well in. I had all these facts that I didn't do well on when we were quizzed over them previously, and I had to make sure that I knew them for this test. The test was definitely a cloud on the horizon of my life, I know that God has done amazing things in my life before, and he will do them again. But today I definitely had a cloud (the test) that showed me what an amazing God he is, and how much he loves me!!!

Love to you all from NIU,

Jennifer

We are not alone!!

Sorry I haven't been very faithful in updating about my happenings, it's hard since I'm not in Japan. I hope that you are all interested in what God is doing in my life just here in the States while I'm preparing to go to Japan though! I have recently been struggling a lot with just having a correct view of who God is, and trusting Him for my everyday Joy. My best friend, the author of 'The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength' is reading a devotional from Philippians about Joy, it was very encouraging. If you want to read what she said about it, see the link to the left.

Today in chapel, my society officers stood up and each of them gave a brief testimony of what God has been teaching them this year. It was an encouragement to me to hear what they said, because I saw that I'm not the only one struggling with these things. A couple of them talked about how God has shown them His extreme love for them, no matter what. One of them said she has gone back to her biography of God, and  is building a better view of Him. There were a few more that were also very encouraging to me as well. It was so encouraging to hear from others their struggles with the same trials that I have been going through.

It brings to mind a song that I heard a while ago, here is an mp3 recording of 'We Are Not Alone' by Soundforth Singers & Orchestra.

We are not alone, God is with us...
We are never alone, for God is with us.
Now, through all our days, always.
And God will make us strong, for God is with us.
Now, through all our days, always.
Forever and ever, we are never alone.
Our God is with us now.

I am continually amazed at how God uses everyday, little happenings to encourage me, and draw me closer to him. I am looking forward to the 13th when my Mom and younger brother will be visiting for a week to see my nephew. After they leave, I will be going to Minneapolis for a week for Spring Break.

Thanks you again for all your prayers, I will give an update when I know how much I have progressed with my support.

Love from NIU,
Jennifer