// OnRamp Online

a little Celine Dion to bring you in to the christmas spirit

O Holy Night

The stars are brightly shinning

It is the night of our dear Saviors birth

Long lay the world

In sin and error pining

Till he appeared and

the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope

the weary world rejoices

for yonder breaks

a new an glorious morn

fall on your knees

o hear the angel voices

o night divine!

o night when Christ was born

o night divine!

o night!

o night divine!

His gospel preach

to love one another

his love all that

is gospel is peace

shall we pray for

the slave is our brother

and in his name

all opression shall cease

sweet hymns of joy

in grateful chorus raise we

let all with in us

praise his holy name

christ is the lord

forever let us praise thee

noel

o night divine

noel, noel

o night divine

Jehaan did a sermon on this song yesterday in which he focus on the lyrics "long the the earth/ in sin and error pinning/ till he appeared/ and the soul felt its worth/ fall on your knees/ o hear the angel voices/ o night o holy night divine." in his sermon he said emphasized how we should be so over come with emotion that we should "fall on our knees". I had a flashback to the 7th grade when for a church musical we had to sing this song. in the choreography the most impacting part was when we had to kneel down to the baby Jesus on that downbeat. i remember feeling so awe-struck every time i had to fall down on my knees. i mean, this little baby was about to save me from all my sins (ok ok ok 33 years later but in God time thats nothing!) and this baby was part of a Holy God that loves me for everything that i've ever done. He loves me even though i've done so many wrong things in my life (even as i wrote that i was thinking, "what am i talking about i'm a pretty good kid." goes to show you, we sin all the time). For that i will never be able to thank Him enough.

I hope you all have a very blessed christmas and remember why we celebrate.

Anna

18 December 2010
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Untitled

http://onramp.posterous.com/
we need to update this more, and get other people to write on the blog. the point of the blog was to share our God-sightings with each other and other people. we've gotten lazy.
personally, I miss the emails from on ramp saying "someone else has seen God today in this way! keep searching because He is out there! Keep up the faith!"
To me the kept me searching for God and slowing down my life to try and hear Him.

its not that God isn't talking any more, we're just moving to fast in our lives to write here anymore. its very sad. this was a place to reflect on Gods presence in our lives.
I know that we're all busy people. But are we to busy to encourage each other in our faith?
i hope we can get other people to post.

idk maybe its a thing of the past, but i really liked onramp

miss you all. wish i could be there with you guys!
loves
anna

15 December 2010
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16 Words

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come."

13 October 2010
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Coming To Know

Hey Guys -

I posted something on my Posterous that I hope will be encouraging to you.

Check it out when you get a chance...

jehaan.posterous.com

22 September 2010
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Every Imperfection

Is it really against the law
to show our flaws?
to know your not perfect?
We question
and question
about every little imperfection
Is it really against the law
to be proud of every
unknown imperfection
to know your not like
anyone else in this world?
We question
and question
about every little imperfection
Is it really against the law
to scream out how amazing it is
to be imperfect
to never know enough?
We question
and question
about every little imperfection
Is it really against the law
to be so excited
to know Gods not done
and theres no telling what he'll do next?
We question
and question
about every little imperfection
Is it against the law
or is it just against society?
Is it against society
to not care
not care
what people think
when you express your love
and desire to know more and more
about God
about every little imperfection
We question
and question
about every little imperfection
And it all has a purpose

(kind of whats been going through my mind, best way to sum it up was through a poem)
-Maxine Sferra

13 April 2010
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something we all should see

I've been having it rough. i'm not going to lie. its been hard the last few weeks and months to feel anywhere close to God. i've just felt a sad presence in my life that wouldn't go away. on my one-on-one with lisa i was at rock bottom. i didn't think i could get any lower. thank you lisa for praying for me, cause it really saved me.

as everyone knows im not a member of high way (:( ) and the church/denomination that i go to offers a camp every summer for a week. i was talking to one of my good friends from the camp tonight and we were talking about how unfufilling it is. i wish i could copy paste the converstaion, cause that alone was truely inspiring. but the short of it is, we were trying to come up with ways that camp could be more like house boats. we were talking about how our camp was just letting its kids fall in to the funk of TOL BIBLE CAMP summer, friends, camp romance, and oh yeah, 3 hours of Bible study every day. we were talking about how much we thirst for God at camp, how empty we feel it is because we are not encouraged to fall in love with God. I would always see people coming back from house boats and i would see how in LOVE they were with God. thats all they wanted was GOD GOD GOD . and i wanted camp to be that way, but its not. this year was a perfect example. i went to camp with such hopes, but i left drained, and hating everything that i had once loved about that place. i couldn't stand it. and she agreed with me.

back to our conversation, i showed my friend onramp explaining to her what our youth group is like, and she showed me this video. this video just spoke to me. its exactly what i've been feeling like. i was so close to God and then i just feel like everything got in the way. and i wanna find Him again. the scene where she throws away the gun and flings herself towards Jesus made me start crying. I could see Jesus tugging on the rope, and her trying to hard to grap hold of it with all the temptations and lies holding her back. when Jesus came to save her, i was in tears.

this is such an inspiring video. thanks to morgan for showing it to me.

anna

21 January 2010
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Benchpress and Quiettimes

This year has been one in which I've been trying to be in better shape. I know: what exactly constitutes "better shape"? Better than now! Just overall healthier, I suppose. The thing is, though, I'm not a huge fan of working out. I'm not excited about trying to lift my bodyweight on a bench-press (which I can't), going for a run (which is probably closer to a speed-walk), eating a salad instead of a burrito (or, thanks to Chipotle, can be a burrito-salad). But I'm still trying to do it... for the most part, anyway. :) I'm trying because the goal of being in better shape, being healthier, having more energy and alertness is something I've deemed as a goal worthy of putting effort into, of putting discipline into. I see where I am, and I see where I want to be. I may not enjoy every step in between those two points, but I'm willing to venture into that journey because the goal is worth it.

I've been thinking this week about my tendency to stray away from time in the Word, time with God. It's not always something I'm running toward. It's not always something I'm itching to do. So I've begun to think about the goal: I want to be a person who is in love with Jesus - desperately, overwhelmingly, unquenchably in love with Jesus. I see where I am, and I see where I want to be. I may not run to those steps in between, but the goal is more than worthy of venturing into that journey.

The cool part about this journey, though, is that there is a promise tied to it. Jeremiah 29:13-14 says: "You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord." God promises to be found if we seek with all our heart. So what does it mean to "seek with all your heart"? I don't fully know. But I do know that I won't figure it out if I don't take a step in faith based on God's promise to show up when I seek.

Admittedly, my level of discipline in working out and eating healthier could use some work, but I'm on the journey. Similarly, I'm not the most disciplined person in the world when it comes to consistent time with God, but I trust that where I am weak, He is strong. I'll come in my weakness and will experience His strength. I'm on the journey, and God has and will continue to meet me there.

Carving out time for God is a discipline, and it may not come easily. Even if your heart doesn't exactly run toward a time of being alone with God, allow His promise to be found serve as the impetus to make time to meet with Him. Remember, God was in the whisper:

1 Kings 19:11-12 - The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." And God was in the whisper.

Hearing God's Spirit speaking to us means quieting ourselves such that we can hear the whisper. In quieting ourselves, we elevate our view of God, telling Him that He's worth this pause... and so very much more! Trust that you will find Him because He promises that He will be found if you seek Him with all your heart.

I pray we experience God in new ways as we call Him out on His promises and take a step of faith.

Jehaan

20 January 2010
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Humility vs. Pride

I've been really thinking about this topic for the longest time now.

Humility vs Pride....
I read an article on this topic recently. and it gave this example:
humility-- "i am a good mechanic, and my goals are to learn and grow into a better mechanic"
pride-- "i AM the BEST mechanic in this whole shop, the whole WORLD for that matter"

I think its great to remember this, because, i've said this before, you will NEVER have enough of learning about God and his ways. There is always more to learn from God. God is everything, and it would take as long as He has been here to fully understand Him and His ways.

This is also really important for me to remember when thinking about leadership. I originally thought "hey the leaders know it all and i want to be like them"

yes! i do want to be exactly like them!! Hebrews 13:7 Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you, consider their outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

but NO! their not perfect and they dont know everything and they know it. And great leaders know they're exactly like us. same struggles, same blessings. Jehaan and Lisa said "it's ok to say I dont know" and it is one of the most under-used phrases in our language, because we want to be precieved as noble and wise when giving advice. thats NOT what humility is about.

The way i interprut it is that God doesnt like pride in people, because there is so much more to be learned about Him, God doesnt want us to give up because "we have it all figured out"

God wants us to say,

"I am a great Christian, and I love my Father with all my heart...my goal is to know more and more about Him, up until the day i die"

God cringes to hear,

"I know EVERYTHING there is about my Father"

God is amazing and sometimes (most of the time) so overwhelmingly huge, i cant wrap my mind around how awesome he is.

If you show pride in knowing about God, consider creation and how every human is constucted the way He wanted, and how you yourself are a speck in a sandstorm of humanity, yet God has eyes for you, and your neighbor.

Forever in Him

Humble Maxine Sferra

5 January 2010
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an oasis in the middle of a desert

Recently, I haven't been feeling God. Its been hard. I feel like there hasn't been anyone I can lean back on. I mean, I KNOW He is there, but I just haven't felt it. Its been a busy month for me: lots of concerts, rehearsals, school etc. A few nights ago, after a concert, I was just feeling down. No one was around as we were walking back to the cars (I had stayed behind to pass out sponsorship booklets) and I just felt horribly lonely. I started talking to God out loud, asking Him why I felt so lonely, and miserable. Why my director was always picking on me. why I wasn't trying hard enough. Why I didn't feel Him anymore. I prayed that I wouldn't be lonely anymore. Almost as soon as I said that, I heard two people from my car calling out my name. God had answered my prayers, but i still felt ungrateful.

Last night we had our big Christmas concert, I already felt alot better having been rested, and I had been praying for a bit. We had a fantastic concert! After the 2.5 hours that the concert lasted, our director collapsed. None of us knew why, but the paramedics were called and he was sent to the er. for a few hours, no one really knew what was going on. I called Lisa and Jehaan and asked them to send a text to everyone asking for prayers.

I found out later that night, that he is safe and he had fainted from exhaustion and dehydration. God had answered our prayers.

I still am having a hard time praying, and I see God answering my prayers...its just hard to feel it. But i just wanted to tell you of my little oasis moment during my dry spell.

thanks to all of you for praying. i love knowing that i have such a strong christian family behind me

in Him

-Anna

14 December 2009
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Life is a journey

Sometimes life doesn't make sense. Sometimes what the world says is responsible and right and the only possible choice is the opposite of what God is asking you to do. And sometimes, knowing if you're being irresponsible or faithful is very difficult. I find that when I feel lost in that place -- not sure where God is calling and being so tempted to leave the path I'm on for safer more 'responsible' grounds, I have to stop and look at the journey I've been on with God.

This story in Joshua reminds me how important it is to remember what God has done and when I'm in doubt to look back at the times God has been faithful in my life and remember He is ALWAYS faithful:

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:4-7

God tells us often to remember what He has done, to share it as a testimony so others can grow in faith and so our own faith is strengthened. I know for myself that it's so easy to come up against a hard season in my life and start wondering if God is really going to come through this time, if he's really big enough to make his voice heard, if what he's asking is really worth the sacrifice. I have to stop and take time to go back through my life with God and remember how he's led me. When I've felt completely broken and abandoned he healed me and restored me, when I felt lost he was faithful to guide me. All the risks he's asked me to take have been worth every tear shed and have come with incredible blessings at the end of it. When I remember that, then I'm encouraged to keep perservering, to keep seeking God and surrendering those difficult parts of my life to him. I know he's faithful, I know he's good -- but that doesn't mean the road is easy, it doesn't mean there's no pain, it just means that he is deeply good and more than anything wants the best for us so that we can be close with him. He doesn't spite us or hurt us becuase he's angry, he gently leads us through this journey so that at the end we can be with him. When I realize that everything in life is for and about him, and that he's been so incredibly faithful to me it gives me courage to let go and to follow him, whatever he asks of me.

I feel like I'm at a place in my life where everything is in suspension. Everything in my life could change in an instant, God might call me to surrender everything and move into a new place, a new season. Or he may ask me to wait in this place of uncertainty and just trust him. Trust that's he's faithful and has a purpose. I'm not forgotten I'm loved. I know these things but I struggle to live it out.

This post doesn't have a tidy ending, I'm very much in the process of seeking God -- sometimes I'm good at it, sometimes I fail. But more than anything I want to be where God wants me, because I know that even if it's difficult it is good, and the deepest parts of my soul will be satisfied in him.

I liked reading Maxine's post because it's true -- leaders are far from perfect. We are people who have failed and are learning and trusting in God. What makes a good leader is a person who's heart longs for God more than anything and is willing to walk towards him, no matter how many times we fall or fail in the process. He's what we want. I wanted to let you into the process to share that I don't have it all together and I dont' have all the answers, but I want God. And that's something we can all pursue together.

In the journey,
Shannon

1 December 2009
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OnRamp Online's Space

We want to see God in our everyday lives. When you're in love, that relationship takes centerstage. It's not in the margins. It's everywhere, and it's everything. If God's calling us to fall in love with Him, then let's call Him out of the periphery and onto centerstage.
OnRamp Online is a space for students in OnRamp, The Highway Community's High School Group, to make note of God moving in their "everyday" lives as a means of encouraging each other to continue to expect God to show up in the "everyday."
- Contributors