4th of July, A Rally, Updates, Classes, God

It has only been a week - but I really feel like it has been forever since I have posted! How are you all? Life here is good - continuing at breakneck speed as is usual! I am overwhlemed to think of all that we have covered in classes so far - there is so much information - so much of God working in us and so much further to go!
After just over 1 month we have begun to study LABOUR - woohoo! Up to this point we have been studying pregnancy, which has been really good, so much information, and just seeing how perfectly and wonderfully God created pregnancy and birth to be the beginning of families, the perfect cocoon for a baby! It is absolutely stunningly amazing - (you can insert an Amen! here if you like, or just nod and smile, if you'd rather just take my word for it!).
But now - the real fun begins - LABOUR! So although the homework is shocking, and sometimes I think I don't want to answer another question or pick up another text - we keep keeping on - because we are being prepared and so soon in the future we will be putting all this book-learning into use and start catching babies!
So - some of my recent adventures, or things I've learned, or classes we've taken... here they are:

• Breastfeeding - the best gift any mother can ever give her child, it is an absolutely amazing intersection of the physical and emotional! In a 3rd world country breastfeeding alone saves thousands of infant lives - and with more education and encouragement could literally be saving thousands more each year!
• Abortion/Pro Life - we had a class last week with Brandi Swindell who is at the church here in Boise, she started an organization called Generation Life here and she is involved in the pro-life movement all across the States. Anyway, the class was absolutely awful - no one wants to be confronted with the grossness of injustice and murder. We'd rather not go there, but we faced it last week and two things hit me - one, it doesn't matter to the baby about to be aborted if I say I'm prolife, it matters if I'm doing something about it (whatever that looks like in my life), and two, Women Deserve Better! Women are really being lied to about abortion, the pro-choice side states that they care about women's health and empowerment, but by the way they act they are proving that they have other motives (MONEY). I know that the whole culture of pro-life/conservatism/political right is different in the States then Canada - but on both sides of the border we need to engage this issue. We need to get God's heart for women in crisis, for the unborn and then we need to act.
• Rally - since then we attended a pro-life rally, its was pretty small, our school made up about half of it! But we spent 3 hours worshipping God and praying and asking Him for change. Being a part of a rally was definitely a first for me! But it was good and I hope we can watch God move, and Idaho make steps towards choosing Life, and better options for women.
• 80's Night - we had an 80's night on Monday - as you can see from the pics - it was pretty special! We had a lot of fun, and went downtown for coffee and ice cream - but downtown Boise - well we kinda fit in!
• Prayer Updates - as far as my two recent prayer requests - the clinic is still shutdown, we are still waiting and ready to see what God will do. And Suzette is still waiting, her babysitter went back home this week and Suzette has pulled out of class. We want her to be able to return and be a part of school full-time, please keep praying. There's a chance a girl could come out here to help out starting in August - and that's better than where we're at right now.
• God in My Life - through our discipleship classes God has been really moving in my heart this week - and I am handing a lot of my "masks" and "idols" over to Him. It is an experience that is both humbling and freeing. I want wholeness and righteousness more than I want to look all put together for you, or anyone here in Boise. So I'll seek God. Right now I am trying to learn what it means to be real with God and before others, I don't want to hide, and I don't want to pursue anything in life other than Him (even good things). Please pray for me as God shows me how to change and teaches me how to live.

So for now, I sign off, homework calls. (OK - the pics aren't posting - I promise they're coming really soon!)