Overflow of Grace.

"We have seen his glory...full of grace and truth...for from His fullness we have received grace upon grace" John 1:14-16

The Lord is so full of grace and truth that the undeserved gift He bestows upon His beloved children is overflowing with grace upon grace. He spilt His blood not in a minimal portion, but drained it to the last drop for so that we could be sanctified.

The Lord has been opening my heart to greater understand this truth of abundant grace; it is completely undeserved and often neglected in result of my carnal flesh. This is a season of Thanksgiving and praise for the ample blessings that we have. This is one significant blessing that I hope I do not just reserve for my Thanksgiving meal when we all go around and state what we are thankful for. I hope and pray that I will be driven to proclaim this life giving truth with every breath that comes out of my lungs.

It has been too long since my last post, for that I apologize. I write now from Indiana, in a house filled with welcoming people that I have never met. Though separated by geography and being genetically diverse, we have found indescribable unity through the blood of Christ that acts as a glue holding us all together. This has led me to greater appreciate the love and support of my family and friends back in Abbotsford. I have been in Chicago for over 3 months and I am consistently reminded of the prayers covering me and sincere questions of "How is Mitch doing" that are asked of my parents throughout the weeks. 

Moody has been a season where I have both been surviving and thriving. Being quite different from my experience at CBC, I have had to adapt to new rules, different professors, a huge city and new friends. The most amazing thing is that God is constant everywhere, there is no location in which God is not/cannot go. I have been able to do a lot of work with the marginalized people here in Chicago on a few different levels. I have been volunteering at a homeless shelter and with a few other students at Moody providing daycare for the children of homeless and single mothers. My heart has truly been breaking over these kids each week. They are not well behaved and lack discipline to the standards that I have been raised, but we are able to show the love of Christ to them each week through stories, games, songs and simply through our presence. I also have been able to be involved with Moody's homeless ministry called Frontlines. I have been going out every Tuesday night, giving out sandwiches, blankets and clothes to the homeless on the streets surrounding the campus. My mindset has been challenged and my heart healthily convicted each and every week from these ministries. The Lord is working, yet it is hard to go back to the dorm to my warm room and bed when I know I have friends that struggle just to find a place to lay their heads. Have you thought about that lately?

The semester is truly winding down now, so I only have a couple weeks left of actual classes and then I have exams. I look forward to going back to Abbotsford for Christmas break, coming home on Dec 20. Thank you for all of your support and prayers!

Prayer:

I would really appreciate to have prayer that God would continue to open doors of ministry for me as I am here in Chicago, and that He will use me to see the advancement of His Kingdom. Pray for the people that I am meeting with weekly, and that the Lord would reveal His Spirit to them that they may believe in His glorious truth. Also, I would humbly ask for trust that God will continue to provide financially for me as I am at Moody, both for flights and for tuition costs.

Godspeed.