The Real World: Nicaragua

This is the true story...of 10 strangers...called by God to go to Nicaragua...work together and have their lives changed...to find out what happens...when people stop being materialistic... and start getting humbled...THEREALWORLD:Nicaragua.

How did you end up on that trip?
This was originally supposed to be the "Money Money Money" blog from True Life, but I've decided to combine it into this post. Bear with me because its a long story. It all started when I went to a Super Bowl party with some intense Steelers fans. I was keeping a low profile at the party and not socializing/yelling much because I was secretly cheering for the Cardinals, when in reality I was only invited bc I solemnly swore to fling around a terrible towel at any and all given opportunites. So despite not interacting with the Steelers fans who were visiting the DC area, one Steelers fan, Jonathan, to be exact, decided to friend me on f book. Note: apparently he loves f book and will friend anyone that comes within a 15 foot radius of himself, LOL love you J! Since we were now officially friends haha J and I began to chat, asking the usual questions you do to someone you barely know. When asked about where I worked, I told him how I was considering leaving my job and taking some time to travel to possibly Nicaragua, and other places before grad school. J told me his friend Kristen loves Nicaragua, has been multiple times, was going to be going in March, and that he would connect me with her. I remember thinking how sweet it was of J to help me, but didn't actually think it would turn into anything as I was already planning on applying for a trip to Nicaragua through Frontline (my home church).

Welp, I was completely wrong. Kristen and I began exchanging emails and she told me when the trip was, how much it cost, and who was going (not like i knew anyone on the list haha). I later talked to her on the phone for 45 minutes to get more details. At this point and time there was about 3 weeks before the actual trip. After a lot of prayer, (yes I know I should have read the bible as well to help me with my decision, but I was being lazy LOL ) and getting excited from talking to Kristen, I decided I was going to go. Since there wasn't much time remaining before the trip, I figured I wouldn't have time to fund raise money, so I made the executive decision to pay for it out of my own pocket. I remember calling my Dad on President's Day to tell him of the great news and he totally squashed my excitement for the trip by saying "A foreign country?! You're going to get shot" , " This is not a smart financial decision" , " There is plenty of need in DC, why can't you just serve people there". After the phone call I remember deciding that because I would soon have no job yet be paying rent through the summer, and have to be forking over $120K for grad school over the next two years, I should only go if I could somehow get this $1500 by either investing in the stock market, or some other type of miracle.

PUNCHLINE OF THE STORY: I prayed to God asking for wisdom if I should go on the trip and if I was supposed to go that he would provide the financial means for me to do so. Welp, God is incredible! Later in the afternoon I went home to do my taxes via Turbo Tax (which is amazing by the way and everyone should use it!!!! ) and within the hour I was finished. The last step was finding out that I was to receive a federal/state tax return in the amount of $1567 DUN DUN DUN! Just barely over the exact amount I needed to go to Nicaragua. HALLELUJIAH PRAISE JESUS! So yes, I called up my Dad, told him I found the money, and was going on the trip!


Where exactly were you?
Two hours north of Managua (see star on map above). Went to small villages including Bethel, Santa Maria, and Chonco (sp)

Who did you go with?
Vision Nicaragua. And no, we didn't work with any orphanages contrary to popular belief. Mission is to provide for the spiritual (i.e tell about Jesus), emotional (show Gods love), physical (food, houses, medical help), financial (teach skills and trades for self-support and alternatives to working in sugar cane plantation) needs of the people of Nicaragua.

What did you do there?
Ate lots of gallo pinto, took cold showers (only option), taught the Nicos how to do the robot dance, gave lots of hugs, smiled all the time, spoke spanglish, played soccer with the Nicos, watched kids annihilate a star pinata we brought to Bethel and Santa Maria, went to a local water hole for baptisms, handed out gift boxes to the children of Bethel and Santa Maria, assembled and delivered rice, beans, and Bible traks door-to-door to families of Bethel and Chonco, did daily devotionals with the other Gringos (aka other white people from Vision Nicaragua), attended youth group night/sermon night/dance night with the youth of Bethel, learned some dance from Bethel's Church Dance Team, spent a night in the village of Bethel at la casa di Connie, saw a pig and rooster for the first time in real life, held a parrot on my finger, experienced the awesomeness that is chocolate and strawberry flavored Chicky, contracted strep throat and went to the doctor only to be given medicine one of which I refused to take because the translator was unable to tell me the english equivalent, received a sweet pink bracelet and a heart felt letter from my new BFF that lived in Bethel aka 13 year old Irene, realized that roosters are incredibly dumb animals that don't just crow once when the sun comes up but instead crow sporatically with the intention to annoy, always rode in the back of an open flat bed truck with an assortment of nicas/gringos ranging from 15-25 total people, saw a volcano smoke daily, cried when I learned that most of the young men I met have a death sentence from kidney disease as a result of working in the sugar cane field which uses harmful agrochemicals such as aldrin, chlorothalonil, maneb, copper sulfate, endrin, and Nemagon, watched Carmen do some awesome evangelizing with the use of the evangecube, came within 1 foot of a gecko, sang Hillsong United songs in espanol, and got a tour of all of the mini businesses (the block company, the welding shop, the tienda, the medical clinic) that Vision Nicaragua has set up to provide an alternative to working in sugar cane plantations.

What did you learn?
Conveniently God taught me something every day I was there, so the next 5 posts will describe each of the 5 days I was there, more in depth about what happened each day, but more importantly what I learned about God's character and how I as a Christian should be living my life.

Thanks for everyone's prayers while I was gone!

Time is a Bicycle Wheel, and Christ is the hub.

This post is a follow up to the "It's Too Late To Apologize.." post summarizing part 2 of Destination Truth sermon series. Someone messaged me saying " You chart thing mentions 2 things 1. that the only way into heaven is through Jesus and 2. God, therefore as a messenger reveals himself and presumably makes an impression on everyone so as to give them the choice to accept or not accept salvation. Factually however, this is inaccurate as there were people in existence before Jesus,". Inherent in this comment is the question,"What about the people before Jesus? How were they saved?"

Todd Philips, the teaching pastor of Fronline, explains it best "Before Jesus came to earth, since the fall of Adam and Eve, basis of salvation has always been the death of Jesus of the cross. All of time permeates out from the centrality of the cross of Christ. Whether you go back in time, or forward from that point of the cross, everything wraps itself around the reality of the cross. " TAKE A MOMENT TO ENJOY THE VISUAL PICTURE I CRAFTED ABOVE AND SAY 'OOOOO..... AHHHHHH' JK. But seriously, the point is that regardless of the time in history, the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah's ark and the flood, Abraham's covenant with God, the birth of Moses, Esther becoming queen, the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the invention of the printing press which allowed the bible to be mass produced, my relative Christopher Columbus accidentally finding America, the declaration of independence, the great depression, or present day, salvation was/is via faith in Christ alone. Estimated dates for biblical events can be found here.

And finally, for those of you who want a little more back up to my claims about it always being belief that Jesus is the only way even before He came, see the chart below. For more information please see the whole article where I took the information from.

Fairy Godmother?!

Story 1- Fairy Godmother?! from True Life of Gospel Girl
It was New Years Day. I drove home to ch'ville to spend some time with the parents. My Mom said they were getting lunch at the neighbors and to pop in when I arrived. haha yeah right! Not only have I only met these neighbors 1 time on the street in their 8 years of living next door to us, but also I was also not in the mood for small talk. So when I arrived in our neighborhood, I parked my car at my parent's house and decided to just slip inside before my mom realized I was home. I went to the frontdoor, jammed the key into the lock, but to my dismay it wasn't working, odd i know. So i then decided to try to McGuiver my way into the house, and by McGuiver I mean walk around back, go to the 'secret location' where we have a key hidden, and try getting in through the deck/porch door. Well, that didn't work either. I then thought to call my Mom and ask her to come let me into the house, but my cell phone had no reception, awesome.

So after my multiple attempts to avoid going to the neighbors, I decided it was the only option that remained, so I went over there. There were about 15 or so people when I got there, and I immedeately noticed my brother. I found out he was leaving to go get Grace so I decided to volunteer myself to go with him so I could just have an excuse to leave and go back to my house, this time with a working key! Well, God definitely squashed that idea when my brother said "Chessy, that's silly, you just got here, I dont' want to take you away from here". BAH! foiled again. So I started munching on some celery and strawberries, cut a slice of cake, and decided I could just shovel food into my mouth to avoid small talk.

I ended up going into the Florida room, where my Mom was talking to Carmen. Note this was the first time my family had ever been invited over to Carmen/Dirks house, you could say they were total strangers to us. So Carmen began asking me the general questions, where do you live, where do you work, etc. Although it started off somewhat uninteresting, things took a complete turn when my mom mentioned that she enjoyed walking in the neighborhood. Carmen then topped it by saying her and Dirk go on hikes a lot, and then I one upped everyone haha when I mentioned people from my church are planning to hike the 7 highest peaks in the world as a way to raise $10MM to provide clean water to the entire nation of Liberia by 2013.

The next 30 minutes was filled with tons of new information. Carmen revealed to my Mom and I that her and Dirk used to live in Northern Va, they had been to McLean Bible a few times, and Dirk (a scientist) was once an atheist. We then chatted about Lon Solomon, the Falls Church church that they went to, and other similar religious type things. At this point, I was actually half glad I came, but still was envisioning my queen bed and fluffy down comforter that was waiting for me when I got home. At this point, practically all of the other guests had left or were on their way out the door so I went to the bedroom to get my coat, and headed for the door when Carmen said "Chessy, hang back for a minute there is something I want to show you. "

OK DON'T STOP READING... THIS IS THE MEAT/BEST MOST IMPORTANT PART! Carmen showed me her library that was filled with what looked to be Enclyopedia Britanica's based on the sheer size and number of uniform books. The books were actually commentaries on the entire bible. Carmen told me that her and Dirk had been missionaries most of their life, and that Dirk is always looking for tough questions about faith that he can answer. Carmen also told me that they are very relational based and don't just go up to people and impose Jesus on them (Amen Sista!) . I told Carmen how I had been praying for my parents for years, told her how my parents were both very skeptical when my brother and I became "born again Christians'", how they thought it was a cult/we were brainwashed, and how eventually God managed to change my Dad's heart over a 4 year time period, how my Dad started watching Frontline live via the internet campus, how my Dad after the death of his brother nearly a year ago decided to start a relationship with Christ, and how for the past year I had been praying that they could find either a bible study or at least community with other Christians. Carmen told me that she realized her and Dirk had nothing in common with my parents, but that she would be open to doing a bible study with them. Carmen and I continued to talk for another 45 minutes, and it was crazy!!! I felt like she was someone I had known for years. It's so amazing to me how when two people have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, that's all it takes to make an instant connection.

Three weeks ago, the bible study started at Carmen/Dirk's house. After the first bible study, I talked to my mom and I have never heard her so excited on the phone in my entire life. She was telling me how she had all these questions for Dirk (Yes, my mom is awesome at asking questions, and I'm convinced she missed out on her career as a reporter) and how they learned about the general structure/history/organization of the bible. After the second bible study, one week later, I was talking to my Dad and he was telling me how awesome it was . "Chess , Chess, it's like we're taking classes! We were over there for 2 hours, reading Genesis 1-3 and seeing how it ties into John.. and Dirk is so on top of things! he has his own lesson plan and he gave us homework! Oh and of course your Mom was asking tons of questions, it was so good! ". I had to stop myself from crying tears of joy as my Dad was telling me this on the phone. It seemed surreal. If you knew the back story of my family you would be as shocked as I was. So really, I hope you take away the fact that there is no explanation for how all this orchestrated and developed other than the fact that God exists, He is in control of all the details in our life, and He can change even the hardest of hearts.

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible " Matthew 19:26

It's too late to apologize... so I'll do apologetics instead

Aren't all religions the same? Is there really only one way to God? Does one religion have the truth? Are you saying that other religions are wrong? So everyone who doesn't believe in Jesus is going to hell? How can it possibly be fair that Jesus is the only way?



Over the next 7 weeks my church is doing a series called Destination Truth and is going to answer these questions. What's so cool is that you can watch the church service live on the internet via video. Steps are as follows:
1. www.frontlinedc.com
2. click on internet campus and you're good to go. Just make sure to tune in Sunday at 5:30 if you want to watch the live video feed. Otherwise you can download the sermon at a later date. My parents started watching a year ago this way and now they're hooked!

And finally this past week's sermon was amazing so I've tried my best to summarize the main ?s along with bible verses that were discussed. For the full sermon in video form go here.

You think you know but you have no idea

I don't believe in coincidence. Although trite, 'everything happens for a reason' is something I believe wholeheartedly (Romans 8:28, Ecclesiastes 3:1-7) . God is sovereign. He created the universe. He is ultimately in control of everything around it. He is the only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15) . His throne is in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all (Psalms 103:19) . He sustains the whole universe by His powerful word (Nehemiah 9:6 ; Hebrews 1:3 ). The government of the entire universe is His (Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 135:6; Daniel 4:35). Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart ( Jeremiah 1:5 ) Yes, granted he did allow us free will. No I don't know or understand how they work together, mainly because the bible doesn't tell us how they do. All the bible tells us is that free will and God's sovereignty exist. For me, it's easy for me to be okay with because I don't understand how vcrs, the internet, cars, gchat, or a lot of other worldly things work. And besides, my brain is tiny tiny tiny compared to the knowledge of God, His thoughts are far beyond my thoughts, His ways are far beyond mine (Isaiah 55:8-9) And plus , this is faith so we will never know all of the answers, duh!

So, over the next few weeks I want to give you a window into my life so you can hopefully get an idea how God is in control of everything and truly cares about the details of our life. The next few blogs will contain short stories about how God has been working in my life, and will consist of the following:

Short Story 1- Fairy Godmother?!
Short Story 2- Money, Money, Money, Money, MON-EH!

Jack = Doubting Thomas

So a week ago, I had the following g-chat conversation:

Matt: Lost fell to #11 on most watched.. what happened?
me: lol yeah this season is dumb
Matt: haha...uh oh, don't be a doubting thomas

Now when he first said this, I thinking in my head "um excuse me, that is not proper alliteration, the phrase is "Debbie Downer", but maybe he was trying to be unique and craft up a male version.. but shouldn't that have been "Dave Downer" or "Dan Downer" because they both start with "D"? I decided to let it slip and we continued talking. Anyways, I had completely forgotten about Matt's 'made up' phrase until I was watching LOST last night and found out the truth (ironic yes). This one bad dude, Ben, was in a church and pointed to the picture of Thomas/Jesus shown above, and was explaining to this hot dude, Jack, that he was being a "Doubting Thomas". As it turns out, this phrase is not only legitimate, but it also is derived from a story in the bible.. Heyyoooo!

So basically, Thomas was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Thomas, once a loyal follower of Jesus, refused to believe that Jesus was resurrected proclaiming "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" John 20:25. Well about a week after Thomas was doubting his entire faith, Jesus appeared to Thomas and the disciples, saying "Peace be with you!" then he said to Thomas "Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" John 20:25-29. So there you have it. Also, I find it highly ironic that I doubted the veracity of the phrase "Doubting Thomas" until I had physical proof that it was a legitimate phrase.

But the point is, we all face doubt at one time or another when it comes to our faith and that is okay! Even the disciples, that saw Jesus, talked to Jesus, and ate dinner with Jesus wavered on their faith all the way to the crucifixion. However, Jesus gave them everything they needed to know he was in fact the Son of God. In a sense, the story of Thomas is not about doubting. The story if Thomas is about a loving and merciful Jesus. He is so merciful that He will come to us and give us what we need to believe. So, the next time you have doubt, are you going to be willing to ask and look for an answer? Well, you should because Jesus is ready with an answer. Remember, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" James 1:5.

Oh and props to Matt for already knowing this phrase!

I Choo-Choo-Choose you!

It’s not surprising that some people are left feeling bitter about Valentine's Day. It can be tough. You share your feelings with someone. You become vulnerable. Interpretations are made. And sometimes you find out that your perception of a gesture, an email, a phone call, or a letter, isn’t at all what it was meant to be. Take for instance the Simpson’s episode “I Love Lisa”. In the episode, Lisa gives Ralph Wiggum a Valentine's Day card when she sees that he has not received any. Ralph looks too much into Lisa's gesture and relentlessly pursues her with affection.

Lisa: Ralph thinks I like him but I only gave him a valentine because I felt sorry for him.

Homer: Ah, sweet pity. Where would my love life have been without it?

Lisa gets very annoyed with Ralph and angrily tells him they are not together and that she never liked him. Ralph is heartbroken, but by the end of the episode he is able to accept the fact that him and Lisa are ‘just friends’.

Maybe you’ve been in a similar situation to Ralph. Maybe you thought someone was into you when they really weren’t. And we all have a desire to feel loved, know that we are appreciated and matter in this world. Well the good news is you matter to God. God is Love (1 John 4:16) . His love is unconditional. His love endures forever (Psalm 136:26). His love is priceless and unfailing and everyone can find refuge in the shadow of his wings (Psalm 36:7).

If you still aren’t clear on this, let me help clarify this! God wants to beeeee your friend. He cho- cho-chooses to love you. So, if you don’t have a special someone to share Valentine's Day with, don’t be bummed. Or even if you do, consider this. God wants to know you on a personal level. Just take a look at what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20. “ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

And, even if you aren’t sure that you want to answer the door, because you don’t know who God is, if you really have the desire to get to know God, you will be able to! Deuteronomy 4: 29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. If you want to know why God loves you please go here

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19.

Pop Rocks + Coke = deadly combination ??

It’s funny how easily we believe what we hear without doing our own research. Take for example, the conversations you used to have as a child during recess or lunch breaks. Johnny: did you hear that if you eat pop rocks and soda at the same time your stomach will explode? Now, if you were like me (cute yet gullible) you would have believed Johnny. Or maybe you were like me in the sense that you were too ‘chicken’ to succumb to his dare to eat some cherry flavored Pop Rocks while chugging a fat Coke to prove him wrong. Now I’m not suggesting trying to find the truth by doing something that might compromise your health if it is found to be true, but I am merely challenging you to not be so quick to believe everything you hear, without checking it out for yourself. Oh, and for the record, pop rocks WILL NOT cause your stomach to explode. Myth Busters tested it out and you can find the results here

Now, on to more serious things. I was raised Catholic, and when I first attended Frontline (non-denominational church), my parents were convinced that I had joined a cult. Also, yesterday someone told me I went to a 'fake church' and I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. See below for the dismantling of these myths.

Myth 1: Frontline has to be a fake church. Worship songs are played using electric guitars, and the stage sometimes has a fog machine and or different colored lights. The service is held in an auditorium. There are no stain glass windows or pews. There was a simple cross in the auditorium, but it didn't even have Jesus on it! Am i taking crazy pills?!?! ? HELP!

Truth: Contrary to popular beliefs, a church is not a building but instead is a body of believers! Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The universal Church is the Church that consists of all those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” We see that anyone who believes is part of the body of Christ. The true Church of God is not any particular church building or denomination.

Myth 2: Frontline is definitely a cult. Each Sunday at 5:30pm, 3,000 young people between the ages of 18-40 gather together. Sometimes a few people are seen with their hands in the air during worship songs.

Truth: Wikipedia definition of a cult: a cult may refer to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding population considers to be outside the mainstream. According to www.gotquestions.org in distinction from a religion, a cult is a group that claims to be Christian, yet denies an essential truth of Biblical Christianity. The two most common teachings of cults are

1.) that Jesus was not God

2.) that salvation is not by faith alone.

As you can see, a cult is no where defined by large amounts of people gathering, or people putting their hands in the air. Furthermore, Frontline is not a cult because it believes that #1 Jesus is God, and #2 that the only way to get into heaven or receive salvation is by trusting Jesus to be your savior (i.e. faith alone). For a more complete description see Frontline’s statement of faith .

If you are curious, what would qualify as a cult, two examples are the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons believe many things that are in agreement with and/or similar to what the Bible teaches. However, the fact that they deny the deity of Christ and salvation by faith alone qualifies them as a cult.

So please, before you make false assumptions, do your research. I love Frontline and think you will too. For service times (including internet campus i.e ability to watch if you don't live locally) go here.

Drink More Ovaltine!

In the movie The Christmas Story there is a scene where Ralphie finally receives his Little Orphan Annie Decoder in the mail, rushes into the house, goes into the bathroom to decode the SUPER SECRET message that he has been waiting to unveil for a long time. Welp, little Ralphie is severely disappointed when he learns the decoded message is "Drink More Ovaltine". Can we say "dagger"? I think so.

But great news today everyone!!!! Last night, Emilee, my amazing small group leader, decoded part of Genesis... no she didn't have a little gold decoder like Ralphie... no you won't be disappointed when i reveal this awesomeness... and no you don't have to lock yourself in the bathroom to figure it out. Ok, so throughout the Old Testament, there are often chapters that solely talk about genealogy.. as in this dude was the father of this brah, and this brah was the father of this kid, etc etc. While these chapters are sometimes hard to get through, they are really important because they point to the bloodline of Jesus... AND if you look up the literal Hebrew meaning of each name... A SPECIAL AWESOME AND EXCITING MESSAGE is revealed.

Just look at Adam’s bloodline (Adam also had blood line through Cain and Abel, but the one below is the one that eventually led to Jesus)

Name	Literal Meaning of Name
Adam	man
Seth	appointed
Enosh	mortal man
Kenan	sorrow
Mahalalel	the blessed God
Jared	shall come down
Enoch	instructing that
Methuselah	His death shall bring
Lamech	despairing
Noah	comfort/rest.

Then add “And,” "but", "of", "the", "is/are" as mere connector words. And you get.. "Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the blessed God shall come down [and] teach. His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest."

It's a secret message foreshadowing the coming of Jesus!!!!!!!! For more info about Jesus go here

Highway To The Danger Zone

So apparently when I cop puts his lights on that means you are supposed to pull over. I had to learn that the hard way this afternoon. It was 11:55am. Five minutes until the Sparks basketball game started. Yes, I am the head coach for 11th grade girls in a recreational league. I was running late because I was coming from McLean Bible where I was having my third grade girls make VIP badges for friends/family members that read, "You're a VIP to me because you're a VIP to God".

As I left the McLean Bible parking lot, I asked my oh-so-wise iphone to calculate the shortest route to Westfield High School because I didn't trust my instinct to just take 66 to Ballston then head up George Mason (DOH!). The iphone made me do it! (I wish I had told that to the cop). I ended up staying on route 7 for about 5 miles and focusing on how I was going to apologize to the girls for being late. (Note: my biggest pet peeve is being late.) Less than a mile before I was about to turn, I noticed there was a police car behind me. Long story short, I ended up pulling over after realizing he was trying to get my attention. "Ma'am you were driving 51 in a 25. License and registration now! “. WHOOPS! Unfortunately I didn't have time to explain because I was concerned the game would be canceled if I didn't show up within 10 minutes of the start, so I just kept my mouth shut and didn't try to play the cute/innocent/ignorant/don't write me a ticket or I'm going to cry move.

I was given a ticket and told I could either pay the ticket or show up to court on March 11th, and try and 'make a case'. I am planning on going to court on March 11th to explain to the judge that 1.) Didn’t realize the street randomly changed from 45-50ish to 25 (ignorant) 2.) Was going down a hill (innocent) 3.) Was going from one volunteer activity to another. (sympathy for being a good Samaritan?)

In essence, the young cop showed justice, and I'm hoping the judge will show mercy. But want to know what is really cool? God grants us grace.. let me explain but first provide quick definitions that came from an amazing sermon by Todd Philips.

Justice- Getting what you DO deserve
You break the law (speed), you suffer the consequence ($200 because it was residential + $7 for every mile over the speed limit.

Mercy- NOT getting what you deserve
I deserve to pay the $382 fine, but am hoping the judge will not make me pay any money for my breaking the law.

Grace- Getting what you DON'T deserve
I don't have to pay the $382 fine, and instead the judge gives me $100!

Now, I certainly didn't do anything to earn the $100. In fact, I certainly don't deserve $100 for breaking the law. It was a free gift from the judge. This idea of grace is exactly what the God of this universe offers us! So imagine you die and are suddenly in front of God, the ultimate Judge. He examines your life, all the good and bad. The truth of the matter is just ONE sin separates us from God. James 2:10 tells us: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." We are a fallen people, we all deserve to be eternally separated from God, that would be showing us justice. BUT BUT BUT , instead of making us pay the penalty for our crime, because of His love for us (John 3:16), God took on human form and died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). AND...In addition… God offers us the free gift of eternal life in heaven to all who accept that Jesus as savior (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; Acts 16:31).

It would be like me going to court, and the judge saying "Okay Chessy... this man named Jesus came here and said he is willing to pay your $382 fine, so you're off the hook. Oh and by the way, he wanted to give you $100 also". Not only has Jesus taken on our punishment, but he also offers us a free gift... eternal life! You can't earn salvation. You don't deserve salvation. Salvation is a free gift from God because He is a loving and unconditional God. All you have to do is trust in your heart that Jesus is your savior.

For further reading, please check out ‘Is there life after death?

Oh and if you were wondering, the Sparks won! Holla!