i can trust You..

"yes, i know that You have paved a path for me
yes, i know that You see what i do and don't need
but when it comes to the deepest things
i have a hard tiem relinquishing control
letting go

God, it hurts to give You what i must lay down
but when i let go, freedom's found
God, it hurts to give You what i've held so dear
because of Your love it's clear
i can trust You with this
i can trust You with me
i can trust You

Lord, i know that You are worthy of my trust
for You have shown me time and time again
You're faithful and yet
i'm so scared of letting go of this
afraid of what You might do with it
how could i forget who You are like this?

God, it hurts to give You what i must lay down
but when i let go, freedom's found
God, it hurts to give You what i've held so dear
because of Your love, it's clear
i can trust You with this
i can trust You with me
i can trust You

me forsaking
heart is breaking
i let go of what i've held so tight
freedom's mine now
for the taking
i move in faith, not by sight
let Your will be done

God, it hurts to give You what i must lay down
but when i let go, freedom's found
God, it hurts to give You what i've held so dear
because of Your love it's clear
i can trust You with this
i can trust You with me
i can trust You"

"i can trust You" - rebecca st. james

So... yeah... it is hard to trust sometimes. It really can hurt. A lot. Letting go of what I have held dear is never easy. But I have to trust. I choose to trust God in it all. And I know that through it all, He will make me stronger. I might not like the path that gets me there, but God knows what I need and what is best for me. He will provide for me. And even though I might not like the path so much sometimes... I know that in the end it will all work out for good, because I love God and want to serve Him with my life. "We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose." -Romans 8:28 (Amplified Bible) (For other versions/translations, click on the reference and choose a version.)

I don't know how it will all turn out. Not yet. But I do know that I can trust God with it. And I am choosing to do that. Yeah.. even when it is hard. I was listening to Rebecca St. James' "If I Had One Chance.." cd a couple of days ago (maybe yesterday) and then this morning I got this song in my head seemingly out of the blue. It fits though.. so perfectly. I had to include it because it is what is in my heart. "God, it hurts to give You what I must lay down, but when I let go, freedom's found... God, it hurts to give You what I've held so dear.. because of Your Love it's clear I can trust You with this... with me... I can trust You [with all my life]"...

To know that I can trust God, that He is worthy of all our trust, and yet choose not to trust Him would be hypocritical. It wouldn't be practicing what I preach. It would not be living what I say I believe. Truthfully, in light of this, I have no choice but to trust Him. Because of His great Love, though... I want to trust Him. It is hard to let go.. but it is what I need to do, and I know and trust that God will help me to do it.

"Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge." - Psalm 62:8 (NIV). I so love that verse... I have poured out my heart to God so much, and to know that He loves to hear my heart even though He already knows it all is so comforting. To know that He listens and is my Refuge, the place I can always go, the One who is always with me no matter what... it is so refreshing. And.. since He is always with me, I need to always be with Him too.. meaning I need to live my life so as to reflect Him to everybody. I need to live like He is here with me, not just say it. ~ and.. that means trusting Him in it all.

"I'm so scared of letting go of this, afraid of what You might do with it - how could I forget who You are like this?" How is it that every time I have to let go of something dear to me I seem to forget who God is?? He is still the "God who opens seas, every flower, even me"... (- Bethany Dillon, "All I Need") Look at what He has done - everything we read about in the Bible, and everything He has blessed us with now. He still does miracles today. I think we have so much less faith than people used to though and we fail to see the miracles that are in our everyday lives.

Anyway... I am choosing to trust God. Even though it is hard sometimes. And even though it hurts to let go. If I don't let it go, how can I sit here an expect God to do great things with it? I cannot hold onto something and wait for God to use it or me. I have to let go and trust.

living what i say i believe..

So.. my week has been long. It has been hard at times... But life is that way sometimes.

I can honestly say, though, that God has been giving me joy. The joy of the Lord truly is my strength.

I have been thinking and praying a lot lately about this... I went to my friend's church a week and a half ago to tell about my Nicaragua missions trip, and I ended up tying it all together with missions at home and how we are all called to be missionaries even if we never leave the area by telling about the guy I work with that I've written about before. I told the people at Pam's church as they sat and listened to me that... sure, missions overseas is great. If you have the opportunity, go for it. Go someplace and share your faith there. But we have to share it here too. Because... if we do not share God and what He has done for us at home, at school, and even in our local churches... then it is not real. We have to live what we believe here, or there is no point in going somewhere else on a missions trip.

I just heard somebody say this yesterday or today... and now I cannot even remember where I heard or read it. I don't have a clue who said it. But... "You can say what you want. But you'll live what you really believe." OH!! I know.. I think it was this afternoon, as I was watching Casting Crowns' new dvd. Mark Hall, their lead vocalist, was talking about living what we believe and about loving others like Jesus.

Anyway, throughout the good times and the not-so-good, I want to be an example and a reflection of who Jesus is and of His love for us all. Because... I can recite all the verses I want, and say all sorts of great words, but if I don't live His love to those I encounter in my life, then it is all pointless.

hard times..

"the joy of the Lord is my strength." - Nehemiah 8:10

It is something I have learned before.. and I am learning at this moment that it really is something that I have to constantly be learning again and again. I'm really hurting right now. I know God has a reason and a plan, even though I don't know exactly what it is. He wants to grow me through this hard time though, and I don't want to stand in the way of letting God use this for my good. I don't even quite know how to describe the way I am hurting. I think I feel like I just lost my best friend.. and then I realize.. I did. At least one of my very best friends ever. A friend asked me today after church if I was okay, because she could tell something is not right. I told her I was okay though.. but I think she could see through my facade. I'm not myself.

Just pray for me, please. To trust God, to still have my smile, to be willing to let Him use this time to teach and grow me. I want to let God have all of me - not that I didn't before, but I think that needs to be a major focus. I want to be effective and productive for Him.

I need a hug. In a really huge way.

God is with us...

Sunday morning I went into Sunday school for the first time in a while, since I'd been working in the 2-year-old Sunday school class for the past month or so. I was feeling so stressed and overwhelmed by everything... Our Christmas coffees at church are coming up, and I am in charge of the preschoolers' song for it - what if they don't sing, what if I don't have any help, what if something just goes really, really wrong?? (And it didn't help that I had gone to a Christmas program the night before where a children's choir sang... not all preschoolers, but some of them were... every kid was singing, they stood in perfectly straight rows, and they were being directed - really directed!!) I have a research paper to finish for biology, as well as a final in that class... and I am really not looking forward to that final. I have four papers to write for my English class (Helping Writers Write)... thankfully they are pretty short and easy, but.. they still take thought and time! And then I have to do a rewrite of one of those papers. My internet development project is not done yet... and at that time, my computer graphics project was due the next morning - which I was finished but not completely happy with. I have two Christmas concerts/recital-type-programs I am playing in this coming Sunday. And then add in my regular stuff of just plain old life... school, work, Awana, piano, etc.

So anyway, that is kind of what was running around in my mind Sunday morning. When Pastor Brian asked if anyone had prayer requests, I said that I did. I first of all asked for prayer for the Christmas coffees and for help with that. Then I went on to share about a guy I work with. I have written about this before, so I am not going to go into that right now... but I briefly told the story behind my prayer request. This guy is into wicca, and he'd grown up in a Methodist church.. so when I found that out, I asked him what made him decide on wicca.. when he said it was because he wanted something real, and that people came to his church just because that is what you do - Sunday rolls around, so you go to church - it was a routine for them, not a part of their real lives. They weren't living it. When he told me that, it really went to my heart, and it began to break me. I wrote about it on here one day.. It made me think about how we so often don't live what we say we believe. And.. if we don't live it, then we don't really, honestly believe it. "Anyone who claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6) So I told them about this, and then I said... "So, my prayer request is for him. But it is also for us..." I went on to say that yes, we need to reach out to others outside the church, but.. not only to them. We need to really reach out to everyone inside the church too. Inside the doors of our own church there are people who are going to leave - not just leave our church, but leave the whole idea of Christianity behind them - if we do not change our actions and reach out to them, and if we do not finally begin to truly live what we profess so boldly to believe. I do not want people turning their backs on God because of something I have or have not done or said. That is not Loving my neighbor, and it is not Loving God. We actually owe it to people to Love them. That is a thought that really strikes me every time I think about it.

Anyway.. I got off on a rabbit trail there...

So I gave them my prayer requests. They asked the guy's name, and I told them, and asked them to also pray for a girl I work with, not that she is into wicca too, but just to pray for her. After everyone was finished sharing things to pray for, different people volunteered to pray for each person's requests. Katie prayed for mine, and as we sat there as she prayed and then the next person and then next... I was filled with such peace. I had been so overwhelmed and stressed with life when I came in the door, and as we sat praying together, praying for each other, I was struck by the realization of a verse playing out right there in front of me. "Where two or three come together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20, I believe...) It just hit me so strongly that God was there with us. I mean, He is always here with us. But as I sat there as we prayed together, it was like He was sitting there right next to me, reassuring me that He is here, everything will end up alright, and all is well.

He knew that I needed that reassurance at that moment. It was perfect.

So.. yeah, my preschoolers might not all sing, they might dance around on the stage... I might play something terribly wrong on the piano on Sunday when I play for the Christmas programs... I might not do well on my biology final, or on my research paper... everything might not get done on my internet development project that I want to finish on there... But.. you know what? -- Whatever happens, all is well, because.. God is with us. That is so amazing to really think about. When you stop and think about what that means. God is here with us?? Yes.. He is. Always. How can I help but have peace because of that??

sharing joy..

I know I have already mentioned it several times... but a theme that just keeps coming up is being thankful and content. Especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas sneaking up so quickly.

Life has this way of being what we make of it. If we go about our lives with an ungrateful attitude and looking for ways to gain everything we can, then we are going to have such a joy-less life. No fun, no smiles, no peace.

If we go through life, though, with the realization that we are so blessed, that makes all the difference. To know that we are Loved by the King makes our hearts want to sing, as Chris Tomlin puts it in his new song "How Can I Keep from Singing?"... To be thankful for what God has blessed us with, and to be happy with what we have. To give to others and Love them. Living like this brings joy. It brings joy not only to ourselves, but also to those around us.

Bringing joy to the people I come in contact with is important to me... I love when I walk down the hall at school and see someone I tutored in math last week, or on an English paper a month ago, or the lady who comes to recruit for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. She always has a smile for me, and she is so sweet. I always stop and talk when I see someone I know, just to say hi, ask how they are doing, and give them a smile.

I remember one day in youth group (so it was several years ago... since I graduated in '02...) Pastor Brian was talking about the good Samaritan and how that story applies to our lives. He was talking about Loving our neighbors, and I will forever remember what he said next... Our neighbor is anyone who is in need. ~ And everybody is in need of something. Maybe it is something big, like a car or a home, or maybe it is something else. Maybe they are in need of a friend, just someone to listen. Maybe they need a hug. Maybe all they need is a smile. But everybody is in need of something. There is always something we can share with others. It is so amazing what just a smile can do to brighten someone's day, week... even their life.

So often it is hard for us as humans to see the big picture. It is really important, though, to keep in mind that the here and now is not the point. We will not always see the results of what we do and say here on earth. God knows how He is going to use these things, though. He has something great in store, if we will just listen to Him and Love others. A smile can change someone's whole life, even though we may never know it until heaven. But keeping that in mind can help our perspectives to stay in the right place, it can help us focus more on the bigger picture instead of just on what we can see right now.

I guess this took sort of a different turn from what I started out saying. God knew what I needed to say though... He knew what I needed to write and what I need to be learning right now. I love how He can use the strangest things to teach us crucial lessons; that is often what He chooses to do. Maybe I pay attention better when something is out of the ordinary. I don't know. But I love how He always has something great to teach me, and some different way to teach it to me. :)

gratitude..

"send some rain, would You send some rain?
'cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
and the sun is gigh and we are sinking in the shade
would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
but maybe not, not today
maybe You'll provide in other ways
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You with gratitude
for lessons learned in how to thirst for You
how to bless the very sun that warms our face
if You never send us rain

daily bread, give us daily bread
bless our bodies, keep our children fed
fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
wrap us up
and warm us through
tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
or maybe not, not today
maybe You'll provide in other ways
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You
with gratitude
a lesson learned to hunger after You
that a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
and if we never taste that bread

oh, the differences that often are between
everything we want and what we really need

so grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
move our hearts to hear a single beat
between alibis and enemies tonight
or maybe not, not today
peace might be another world away
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You
with gratitude
for lessons learned in how to trust in You
that we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
in abundance or in need
and if You never grant us peace

but Jesus, would You please..."

~ "gratitude"... nichole nordeman

Wow.. what can I say?? That is quite a song. Quite a prayer. It really needs to be my own prayer, the cry of my heart. But how often is it not? I hate to think how often... There is always, always, always something to be thankful for. There is something to smile about, something to be joyful about. Paul talks in Philippians 4 about having learned to be content in whatever situation he happened to be in... and he was in some pretty hard and nasty situations at different points in his life. He learned to be truly content when he was hungry or well-fed, when he had a home or not, when he had good clothes and when he didn't. He learned to trust in God for everything that he needed and came to believe that He would provide everything he ever needed. Philippians 4:19.

As Americans (and just generally as humans...) we tend to fail to see the difference between what we want and what we really need. Look at how much God has blessed us with. I have been in places where the people have absolutely nothing by our standards. They cook outside; they have to get their food daily, because they have no place to store it from day to day. They don't have a bathroom, and they cram ten or more people into a tiny home with just a room or two. They have a little hook on the wall where they can hang their clothes, whatever they happen to not be wearing that day, which isn't too much. They have nothing to the extent that they pick up what we consider to be trash, and they keep it. They don't have clean water. And yet... these people who have so little are so generous. They invite you into their homes and proudly show off their few possessions and their family. They always have a smile for you. There is just nothing like it. They share what they have. It brings tears to your eyes. Trust me, I've been there.

"show me what it means..."

"i’ve been here a thousand times before
face down on the floor
wondering how i even reached this place again
but You have shown so endlessly
how Your love pours over me
no picture can re-create the beauty that I see

show me what it means
to live my life a sacrifice
if only i would realize
how much it took to pay the price
i know i’d always give
everything to You

i want this world to see
Your perfect majesty
reflecting from my life this brilliant poetry
written all over this place
the signs of all creation that You breathed
words can’t even state how much You mean to me

i want to face my very crime
of not giving all of mine
but i can feel the hope You bring to me..."

~ "what it means"... jeremy camp

I need to live my life as a sacrifice to my Savior. We are called to be living sacrifices. Romans 12:1-2. A topic that keeps coming up lately is really living and sharing what we believe. A friend and I were talking about it the other day at school, and then we continued our conversation on it the next day when the same subject came up in a Bible study we were doing. It is so important. People do not want to be a part of something that is just a bunch of hypocrites. They want to see the realness of our faith. Yeah, so I keep writing about this subject... but it is so important. It is a very crucial aspect of our faith. If we do not live so that people can see Jesus in us, then so many of them will never know Him. "We might be the only 'Jesus' some people ever see." I need to let Jesus be reflected in my life, so that everything I do really shows how much He means to me. I need to be active in sharing my faith and not just be content in letting it be known that I am a Christian. I need to go and share it. Matthew 28:18-20. Whatever it means for my life, I need to share, and I need to be a living sacrifice. I need to put sharing my faith over my own comfort. Trust me, there have been so many times when I have been uncomfortable in situations I have been in... but those are the times when we grow. How can I grow if I stay only where I am comfortable and cozy? And how will others see my willingness to go out and get dirty, making myself on an equal level with people who have less than I do if I don't get out of my comfort zone?

This really is not very organized as far as my thoughts on it go... but it is just something that has been surfacing and resurfacing lately. It is a passion of mine that I want to keep strong and grow even stronger. I have to live what I believe. That is just the way it is.

let my life speak...

After class yesterday, I was on my way back to work at the other end of the school... Walking through the hall, I passed a girl I work with in the Learning Center. We stopped to talk for just a minute. She was on her way to class, and I knew she had a quiz in that class, so as we went on our way, I turned back to her and said something about hoping her quiz went well. And then she just looked at me, and she said, "You always look so happy!"... with a look on her face that was almost incredulous, like "how on earth do you do that?"

That is one of the biggest compliments she could have given me. I want my life to show that I am happy. It is not just happiness though... it is joy. I love that she has seen that joy in my life. She sees me smile all the time, and she sees that I've always got something good to say about whatever's going on. We didn't have time to get into why I have joy... she had to get to class and I had to get to work. But... I am praying for an opportunity to have that conversation with her.

"all the colors of the rainbow
all the voices of the wind
every dream that reaches out
that reaches out to find where love begins
every word of every story
every star in every sky
every corner of creation lives to testify

for as long as i shall live
i will testify to love
i'll be a witness in the silences
when words are not enough
with every breath i take
i will give thanks to God above
for as long as i shall live
i will testify to love

from the mountains to the valleys
from the rivers to the sea
every hand that reaches out
every hand that reaches out to offer peace
every simple act of mercy
every step to kingdom come
all the hope in every heart will
speak what love has done..."

~ "testify to love"... avalon

If we pay attention to it, all of creation testifies to God's greatness and Love. Everything good points to Him, whether or not we connect the dots. I want my life to speak of how great our God is. Just like the mountains and the rivers, acts of mercy, the stars in the sky, and the colors of the rainbow... just like they testify to God's Love, I want my life to testify. I am choosing to live so as to testify to His goodness and grace and mercy.

It is no secret where I work that I am a Christian, and that I go to church. There are a couple of other believers that I work with, which is really encouraging to me. At the same time though, I am glad that I do not work with only Christians, because if I did... I have this feeling that I would get into a sort of rut in my walk with God. Living what I say I believe would still be important, but it would be different in that I would not have people look at me and say "You always look so happy!" with the same look on their face that this girl had yesterday. Maybe here and there, but not like I have the opportunity right now. My mom has said several times that she wishes I were attending a Christian school. But you know what? ~ I really, really believe that I am exactly where God wants me for the time being. He wants me in class and at work with unbelievers surrounding me. For right now, this is my mission field from God. He has blessed me so much. I need to pass along the blessings He's given me. I need to be in school right where I am, sharing a smile and a kind word, encouraging others, and sharing God's great Love.

I thank God for placing me here. When I started college two years ago, I honestly never expected to get to the point where I would walk down the hall and know so many of the people I see on my way to wherever it is I am going. I constantly see people in the halls who I know from class (both current or previous classes), people I work with, people I tutor, people I just know from seeing them all the time, etc. There is one lady who comes a couple of times each month and recruits volunteers for the "Big Brother/Big Sister" organization that goes to public schools and mentors the kids there... I have gotten to know her and now every time I see her, I stop and say hi and ask how her day's going... I love to see her smile. :) The other day she told me I was a bright spot in her day or something along those lines. If I can brighten someone's day or make a difference in their life... then I want to do it. I want to show them Jesus' Love... I might be the only Jesus they ever meet. So I need to make the most of the opportunities I am given.

"live to worship"...

"a simple offering is all that we bring

we give our lives, claim You as King

we are Your servants and before You we bow

with every breath we make this vow

we will live to worship, give You praise

with all our hearts for all our days

Father we want to do what You created us to

we will live to worship You

our every moment is a gift of Your grace

we are all Yours, now and always

more than just words, oh Lord, the cry of our hearts

is to let our lives speak of how great You are

we will live to worship, give You praise

with all our hearts for all our days

Father we want to do what You created us to

we will live to worship You

You are worthy, You are holy

You alone are deserving

You are worthy, You are holy

You alone are deserving..."

~ "live to worship"... recorded by joy williams, written by scott krippayne, john lemonis, and tony wood

A simple, worshipful song of Love to our Maker. I especially love the words in the second verse... the cry of our hearts really does need to be letting our lives speak of how great our God is. It is so beautiful. I want my life to have that beauty of truly reflecting my God and His Love. This could be my life song. I want to live to worship Him. With all my heart, and for all my days.

just a spoon full of sugar...

I was watching "Mary Poppins" the other night.... I have always loved that movie, but somehow, when I watch movies now, even though I know the movie by heart, it seems like I get more out of it now. I could sing along and quote pretty much the whole movie, but watching movies now, the messages of them really get to me. They stick in my heart and I really think about them a lot more than I'm sure I ever used to.

So in watching Mary Poppins, I began to think about the message of the movie. It has such a strong family message. Mary Poppins comes to make the Banks family a real family... to bond them together.

And she makes everything fun. Now, I know life is not about having fun. But at the same time, the point is not to make everything dull and lifeless. My point of view on it is basically the same as Mary Poppins' view... she never actually comes right out and says it, but if you listen to the words as she sings or speaks... it is there just the same. There is always something to be thankful for. There is always something to smile at. There is always something to be glad about. When Mary Poppins comes to the Banks' home to be the children's nanny, she brought with her a joyful smile. She taught the kids how to make an everyday chore something fun. "In every task that must be done, there is an element of fun..." If we choose to look and find that fun, then we'll find it. But if we just sit there and complain, then we're missing out on so much. "Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down..."

When we look for something to be glad about or thankful for, we will find it. Watch "Pollyanna"... she's the same way. :) Paul says in Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. (Philippians 4:4) He says to think about the beautiful things. The things that are true and noble and right. Think lovely thoughts... (Philippians 4:8) When we focus on the good, we will find something to be thankful for. Finding our joy in God, where it truly is, is the only way we can really be joyful. Let God's joy be your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

You know... as I sat there watching "Mary Poppins" the other night, my family was gone. They went camping in Indiana, but I had some major biology homework to finish up, and I had the beginnings of a cold. So I stayed home. I worked on my biology all day Saturday. It is so easy to complain about that. But hey, I got a 94% on my test, and 100% on the rest of last week's homework! So I finished my biology... I watched "Mary Poppins" -- by myself. Who likes to watch movies by themself?? Honestly, I really don't. But it was a nice little spoon full of sugar after a day full of biology. I can't complain. I am so blessed. I enjoyed my movie... even by myself. I got out some cheez-its and milk, and sat and watched my movie.

Be glad. Make your life fun. Don't make it revolve around fun, but just have some fun with the everyday chores and tasks that you have to do. Be joyful. Rejoice in the Lord... always. There is something to be glad about. Always.

And there is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

something to give...

"an image flashed across my tv screen
another broken heart comes in to view
i saw the pain and i turned my back
why can't i do the things i want to?
i'm willing yet i'm so afraid
You give me strength
when i say

i want to be Your hands
i want to be Your feet
i'll go where You send me
i'll go where You send me
and i try, yeah i try
to touch the world like You touched my life
and i find my way
to be Your hands

i've abandoned every selfish thought
i've surrendered every thing i've got
You can have everything i am
and perfect everything i'm not
i'm willing, i'm not afraid
You give me strength when i say

this is the last time
i turned my back on You
from now on, i'll go so
send me where You want me to
i finally have a mission
i promise i'll complete
i don't need excuses
when i am You hands and feet"

~ "hands & feet"... audio adrenaline

The little boy in the picture is Nayrobi. He is in preschool at Josue 1:8, the school in Los Brasiles. This is the community where we spent most of our time during our stay in Nicaragua this past June. I am sponsoring Nayrobi through NRN (Nicaragua Resource Network), which is the group we went down there with.

I am so excited for the privilege to sponsor Nayrobi. See... I have been so blessed by God. No, I don't have a lot of money. But I have a home. I have a family, I have friends, I have a church, I am in school, and I have a job. I have food to eat every day and I do not have to wonder where my next meal is going to come from.

Have you ever heard of Rob Bell? Check out this little clip of one of his videos here... We watch his dvds in Sunday school sometimes, and with each one I see, I am struck again with the simplicity yet truthfulness of the message of them. They are so relevant to life; this guy shares some crucial truths that sometimes we overlook and take for granted.

How often do we really think about our food being a gift from God? Or how about our home? How easy is it to take for granted that we have clean water? So many people do not even have clean water to drink. In Nicaragua, we had to drink bottled water instead of getting it from the faucets. How often have you stepped into a cold shower and complained that you really want a warm shower?... Yet, how many people in this world have no shower? No toilet? How easy is it to complain about cleaning the bathroom??

Mr. Bell, in his video "Rich," comments on the bumper stickers saying "God bless America"... He says God has blessed America. He as so, so blessed us as Americans. And yet we look at commercials or at our neighbors or friends and see something they have that we don't have, and we begin to think that our stuff is not enough. Contentment is so important, so crucial. We cannot go about our lives wanting everything we see. Pastor Steve said this morning that biblical giving is sacrificial. We have to give up something. It is generous, not skimpy. Biblical giving sees a need and does not think twice about giving to fulfill that need.

I am sponsoring Nayrobi because I have something to give. So maybe it means I won't get the latest Newsboys cd the day it releases. But it means that this adorable little boy has clothes for school. He has good food and water. I have seen the homes in Los Brasiles firsthand... I have personally walked through them, and I can tell you that these people live in homes that consist of maybe a small bedroom and that is it. They have a hook on the wall where they can hang their couple of outfits. They don't have any television or dvd player... and even if they did, they don't have any electricity to make it work. They cook outside, and whatever food they have, they have to go and buy it daily. They don't have any refrigerator to keep it cold. When you go and walk through these homes, and these people invite you in like you're royalty... they have nothing, yet they want to share what they have with you.... it brings tears. The tears are coming to my eyes as I sit here remembering these sweet, generous people. I cannot even imagine living like they do. They have joy though, they have smiles. It is so amazing to see the poverty and the dirt, and yet see them smiling and welcoming you into their home.

I had something to give... that is also why I cut my hair in June. Sure, I was going to Nicaragua (and then to be a counselor at camp) and didn't want to deal with the length of my hair in the extreme heat and humidity... that is why I cut it when I did. But I figured somebody else needed it more than I did. It was something I could give.

I really, really encourage you to check out the video I included the link for. It is just a short clip of what is an exceptional video. Let God speak to your heart through it... please.

"salvation"...

"salvation spring up from the ground

Lord, rend the heavens and come down

seek the lost and heal the lame

Jesus bring glory to Your name

let all the prodigals run home

all of creation waits and groans

Lord, we've heard of Your great fame

Father, cause all to shout Your name

stir up our hearts, oh God

awaken our spirits to awe who You are

put a cry in us

so deep inside that we cannot find

the words we need

we just weep and cry out to You..."

~ "salvation"... chris tomlin

I first learned this song from Todd Proctor... (our worship leader at Brethren National Youth Conference since 2001). It is a beautiful cry to God to work in our hearts and lives, and all around us. "Awaken our spirits to awe who You are..." I have always loved that line. The whole song, really, but something about that line just catches something inside me and it makes the whole song perfect.

Right now I am listening to Chris Tomlin's latest cd, "See the Morning"... I've had it for over a month now, since I got a pre-release edition from his street team. I love the honesty in each of his songs. They are so real, and that is exactly what they need to be. God knows our hearts. He knows what we cannot find the words to say. He knows whether or not our hearts are truly worshipping Him.

Awaken our spirits to awe who You are, God. So that we cannot even find the words we need but instead just cry out to You in our hearts.

"stars would fall..."

I so love this song by Monk & Neagle. Yeah, okay, so it's a "love song"... See, what I love about it is the picture they paint through it. They wrote this song for their wives, just about how much they love them...

"have i told you lately
how much i think about you
the way you laugh, the way you love
the way i feel around you
the stars would fall for you
and i would die for you

have i told you lately
how much i dream about you
the way your eyes dance in the sun
the way the heavens wrap around you
and i would walk the world
to prove that i am yours

you're my angel, you're my queen
and i will give you everything
i'm crazy, i'm crazy
i've been around the world to see
that you're the only girl for me
i'm crazy, for you i'm crazy

have i told you lately
how much you mean to me
every word from your mouth
is like a drop of honey
the stars would fall for you
and i would die for you

i can barely breathe when i'm without you
i honestly believe i might die without you
you're the rhythm that my heart beats to
and i'll do anything because i love you
girl i love you"

~ "stars would fall (i'm crazy)"... monk & neagle

It is such a tenderly written song, so full of love. That is what I want... not someone to write a song for me like this, but if I eventually ever get married, I want to be so in love like in this song. To have a guy choose to love me like these guys love their wives, the way they have described in their sweet song, is true Love. To have him singing this song in his heart is so beautiful. The simplicity of it... the honesty of it...

Maybe it sounds selfish of me to say that I would want this... but I really don't think so. True Love is unselfish, and I would want to be Loved unselfishly like Monk & Neagle describe in this song. I would want to Love unselfishly also. They sing that they would do anything for their wives, and really, I think that is the way it should be. There needs to be a mutual Love like this. Like doing anything to help the other person be more of who God wants them to be. I don't want everything, I don't want somebody to give me everything... but it is the heart attitude of that that needs to be present. It is so crucial. I think one reason why so many marriages end these days is that people are so selfish.

Someday I want to hear Monk & Neagle sing this song live....

I put this on here today, not because I am aching for a "boyfriend" ~ because I'm not. But I wanted to share this song that I love, as well as my desire that "when I fall in love, it will be forever"... as Nat King Cole sings. :) "Love" is so superficial in the eyes of the world today... but that is not really Love. True Love is a choice. It is choosing to Love, even when the feeling might not be there.

Snow White sings "someday my prince will come..." For me? Maybe.. We'll see what God has planned. If it is not forever though, then it is not at all. I know that much.

"However, as it is written:

'No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared

for those who love him'..."

~ 1 Corinthians 2:9

real Christianity...

Yesterday in talking with one of the guys I work with, somehow the topic of beliefs came up. I have made it very clear that I am a follower of Christ and that I let that affect my whole life. I'm not even sure anymore how the subject came up, but this guy said that most people don't want to hear about what he believes, so he doesn't usually mention it. I asked him why, and what he believes, and he told me that he is wiccan.

Oh...

Okay...

What do I say??

He had already said that he grew up in a Methodist church in his town. I ended up asking him how he got into wicca, what made him interested in it. Not just out of politeness. I really wanted to find out what on earth would make somebody turn from what they'd grown up with ~ a Methodist church, in this case ~ and go into wicca. I wanted to get a little bit of a glimpse into his mindset as to why he would even want to do this.

So we talked...

Guess what I found out.. He said most of the people in his church went there because that is just what you do on Sundays. Sunday rolls around and you go to church. He said, sure, there were some people who really meant it, and they were there a lot more and everything, but most of the people just came because going to church is what you do on Sunday. It was a routine. It was fake. I asked him, just to be sure that is what he meant.

In about 7th or 8th grade, this guy went through a major rebellion. He was miserable, and he made everybody he came in contact with miserable as well. He told me about this one night when he was in his room and he honestly debated on killing himself. He said he had a choice: "suicide or not," as he put it. He chose "not," and he said that with the choice he made came the necessity for something to change.

What he told me is pretty much that he researched a lot of religions and chose the one that he agreed with the most.

My point in telling this story is that we are in need of a change in such a major way. We are turning people off with our hypocrisy as a church. We cannot be fake. We can't be into the ritualistic church-going or rule-following.

Real Christianity is not religion. It is having a relationship with our Creator. I know that is said so much it sounds cliched, but that does not make it any less true.

When I think of religion, I think of the Pharisees in the Bible. They knew all the rules and put the emphasis on that rather than on loving and following Jesus. They were legalistic in what they did.

Hypocrisy is not attractive.

Do you know the song "My Jesus" by Todd Agnew?

"which Jesus do you follow?
which Jesus do you serve?
if ephesians says to imitate Christ
then why do you look so much like the world?

'cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
so which one do you want to be?

blessed are the poor in spirit --
or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness --
or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

'cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
so which one do you want to be?

who is this that you follow
this picture of the american dream
if Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side --
or fall down and worship at His holy feet

pretty blue eyes and curly brown and a clear complexion
is how you see Him as He dies for your sins
but the Word says He was battered and scarred --
or did you miss that part?
sometimes i doubt we'd recognize Him

'cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
so which one do you want to be?

'cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
the blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
but He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
i think He'd prefer beale street to the stained glass crowd
and i know that He can hear me if i cry out loud

i want to be like my Jesus

not a posterchild for american prosperity
but like my Jesus
you see i'm tired of living for success and popularity
i want to be like my Jesus but i'm not sure what that means
to be like You Jesus
'cause You said to live like You, love like You
but then You died for me
can i be like You Jesus?
i want to be like my Jesus"

(- Todd Agnew)

Make the effort with me... please. Reach out to others... even those in our churches need to be reached out to. People outside the church are not going to want to give their lives to Christ when we look the same as they do. We have to be different. We have to shine like the moon, reflecting Christ and His love to everyone we come in contact with. We're turning people off and pushing them away with our fakeness and routine acts. We so need to put our heart into living for God. Make it real. Our world is so desperately needing us to be real.

"Be imitators of God, therefore,

as dearly loved children and live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

- Ephesians 5:1-2

And... pray for me, please, as I continue to work with this guy I was talking with. Pray that I will be open to whatever God leads me to say to him and that I will listen and obey.

"Devote yourselves to prayer,

being watchful and thankful.

And pray for us, too,

that God may open a door for our message,

so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ,

for which I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;

make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace,

seasoned with salt,

so that you may know how to answer everyone."

- Colossians 4:2-6

when our ways are pleasing to God...

"When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,

He makes even his enemies live at peace with him."

~ Proverbs 16:7

I ran across this verse recently as I was reading my Bible, and it really caught my attention. I guess I always think of the verse in 2 Chronicles that talks about God healing a land when the people turn to Him, but although I'd read this verse in Proverbs before... it wasn't one that I remembered all that well.

When we live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God... when we obey Him and are God-conscious in whatever we do... then He is going to make even our enemies live at peace with us. An example that comes to my mind is Loving our enemies, and not repaying anyone evil for evil. (see Matthew 5 and Romans 12...) When we Love others as Christ has Loved us, and when we put others above ourselves, that is such a great example, and it reflecting Jesus to all we come in contact with. If we live so as to obey God, then people are going to notice, including our enemies, and we can have a good influence and impact in this way.

At the same time, I think this verse in Proverbs is written in such a way that we can look at it and say that... if we are living to please God, then He is going to bless that. He will bless us with living in peace with our enemies.

In reading this... I thought of how opposite it seems to be of America. And yet, it makes sense. It follows these verses perfectly. America as a whole is not a country that is living so as to obey God. So why then would we be living at peace?? Until our country becomes humble and turns to God... it is not going to get any better. We can look and read that straight from the Bible.

Keep on praying for our country, and for our leaders. It is so crucial.

"If My people,

who are called by My name,

will humble themselves

and pray and seek My face

and turn from their wicked ways,

then will I hear from heaven

and will forgive their sin

and will heal their land."

~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

what Love is...

Today at work, I was talking to one of the other girls there, and somehow through the course of the morning, it came up that she's been divorced three times. (which I had known, just from hearing her say it, but she'd not specifically told me before...) She said that when she moved from her last apartment to where she is now, she left whatever she couldn't lift herself, because her family would not help her. I just found it all incredibly sad. It is so heart-breaking. If I were in a situation like that, my family would help me. My church would help me. My friends outside of church would help me... I have family and friends all over the place, and if they could find a way to help me, I know without a doubt that they would do it. However they could help. I cannot imagine what it would be like to come from a family that does not love and support you. It is just really foreign to everything I have ever known.

As for her divorcing three times... that breaks my heart too. I am a huge believer that Love is a choice, not a feeling, and when we treat it like a feeling... that is where the problems begin. Love is patient and kind, it is selfless and humble, it doesn't envy... Love gives generously and puts others first.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13)

Love forgives, protects, trusts...

There is no greater Love than to lay down your life for a friend. (John 15:13)

I cannot ~ and quite honestly, I don't want to ~ imagine life without Love. I have found the greatest Love ever in Jesus, and to fall in Love with Him is the best thing that anybody could ever do. It changes your life all around...

Through learning more of this girl's story, I am being given an opportunity, and I have a choice of what I am going to do with this opportunity. I have the opportunity to continue to get to know her better and to show her God's Love... teach her what it is like through the way I live my life. My choice is whether or not I will take advantage of the opportunity to share His Love with her. I so want to. I am praying for God's wisdom to know what to say to her and when to say it. We had a really good conversation today. And you know, she's ten years older than me, but we talk all the time at work, and I really enjoy talking with her. I believe God has given me this opportunity to befriend her so that, although she's that much older than me, I can teach her through what God has done and continues to do in my own life. I can be an example of God's Love for us all in my words, actions, friendships, etc. I am so excited about it all, as the semester goes on.

"Love's done something"... in my life, and I have this need to share it. We all have this need. Sometimes we just choose to ignore and silence it.

Pray for me, please, as I have this opportunity. I choose to take hold of it and go for it.

let the little children come...

I took this picture at our Awana registration bonfire about a month ago... (and then I had some fun with our new photo editor, aging it and all...) This is Megan (2 1/2 years old), holding her dog she's affectionately named Old Yeller.

Megan and I were standing by the door last Wednesday, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder. We were talking about the storm, and she was talking about as fast as she could. She is so hilarious, the way she talks so animatedly. :) She is sweet too. And then we started talking about her dogs...Megan is crazy about dogs, but she only has her stuffed animal dogs right now because of where they live in town; it isn't a good place to have a dog since they live on the main road through town. Anyway, we were talking about her dogs, and then Megan told me "When my daddy was a little girl, he had a dog named Jack." She was so serious. :) She is such a fun little girl.

Megan is in my 2-year-old class... at MOPS, and when I fill in for Sunday school teachers.

Anyway, I guess all of that had nothing to do with anything, but I had to share it. Just one of those little fun things... I have lots of stories of the kids Megan's age. :)

Like when I told Reagan I liked her shoes, that they were really cute, and she said, "Thanks. I got them at Target," so grown-up-like. :)

Or when Jenna got a lollipop stuck in her hair and she cried... not because it was stuck in her hair, but because she wanted to eat it and couldn't because it was on the back of her head.

Or when Aubrey's mom came to pick her up and Aubrey immediately exclaimed, "I had fun, Mommy!"

Or when we talked about Moses and the burning bush at MOPS one Tuesday and then I was in with the 2-year-olds for Sunday school the following weekend and our burning bush poster was still up on the wall; we were supposed to be talking about John the Baptist for our Sunday school lesson that day, but when the kids began telling me all about Moses and the bush, we went with Moses for our lesson instead. Why not go with what their attention was already on? I loved how they answered all my questions and pretty much told me what happened with Moses at the burning bush. I know a lot of Sunday school teachers who would have tried to get their attention switched over to John the Baptist for the lesson... and I'm not saying that is wrong and what I did was right. But I chose to just go with Moses over John. I wanted to make the most of their memories from MOPS about the burning bush, and I wanted to encourage them to listen, remember, and retell the lessons.

So yeah, I have lots of stories about the young kids. (Lots about some of the older ones too!) They are so sweet, and so good. And so fun. :)

see the beauty...

I am not really one to like getting up early in the morning... But I have to be at work at 8:00 on two mornings each week, and 9:00 on my other two mornings each week, so I have this opportunity to watch the sun rise as I drive to from my home to Piqua. Yes, that means I am getting up when it is dark outside... I'll live though. :)

The other day on the way to work/school, I watched the sun coming up, and I got to see these clouds in front of the sun... they made dull orange stripes across the sun's bright yellow-orange glow, and it just struck me how beautiful it was. I thought about how God never grows tired of creating these stripes across the the sun, He never gets bored with making a flower bloom, and He always loves making each snowflake. I love that.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

(This is a photo that I took last winter of the cattails in our yard.)

worth it all...

"you are Mine

you are Loved

you have always been thought of

when you hurt I feel it every time

you are Mine

you are Loved

and I'm never giving up

till I've dried all the tears you cry

long before you took a breath

I took your pain upon My chest

I knew your name

I heard you call

and it was worth it all

it was worth it all

You are worth it all..."

~ from "worth it all"... by ffh

I love how this song is written from God's perspective. We are His, and we are Loved. So Loved. We need to act like we are His though. Really believe it and live like it. This whole cd is written from His perspective ("Voice From Home" by FFH). A cry to us to believe and to come to Him, to let Him Love us.

this is where i see You... part 2

This is where I see You...

One of my camp girls from my cabin in July called me the other night, and it was the highlight of my day... or maybe the highlight of my whole weekend. :) I'd gotten a couple of letters from Julie, but we hadn't actually talked since July, so it had been a while. We talked about everything random... from school to staying up late to camp to whatever came to mind. I saw Him in that opportunity to talk with Julie. It was so fun to pick up the phone and recognize her voice before she even told me who she was.

I saw Him in our "Fishers of Men" sing-along last week. How many people would be embarrassed to sing a "little-kid song" like that? Hey, it was fun, and I think the pre-schoolers loved it that everybody else knew their song and sang it along with them. :)

I see Him in the beauty of His creation. I love when the seasons change and I get to see the leaves turn colors and fall from the trees. I love to watch the snow fall, and to look at the intricately beautiful design of each one. I love the smell of spring and the newness of the world... and I love the energy of summer.

It is so great to watch the ways God loves to show us Himself. It is often in the smallest things... maybe the things it is so easy to miss. But I think that so often it is those very small and seemingly unsignificant things that turn out to be the most important and significant. They are the things that teach me the most and that humble me the most.

Look at how God Loves us... see how lovely His creation is, and how much more He loves us than everything else we can see. His Love is so big... how can I even wrap my mind around it??

"how can i keep from singing Your praise

how can i ever say enough

how amazing is Your Love

how can i keep from shouting Your name

i know i am Loved by the King

and it makes my heart want to sing..."

~ "how can i keep from singing"... by chris tomlin

I will make you fishers of men...

Last Sunday, the pre-school kids all got up on stage and sang one of the Sunday school songs that we all learned when we were that age...

"I will make you fishers of men
fishers of men
fishers of men
I will make you fishers of men
if you follow Me

if you follow Me
if you follow Me
I will make you fishers of men
if you follow Me..."

They had hand motions to go with it (you know, acting like they are casting their fishing line...) and they were absolutely adorable. I love kids.

Anyway, after they sang, while the kids were still all assembled on the stage, the most incredible thing happened... The worship team came back up on stage, and sang along with the kids, leading the whole congregation in this Sunday school song. :) I so loved it. It was fun to sing along with the kids like that.

I work with pre-school age kids a lot anyway, but I know that the majority of the people in the sanctuary do not. The kids get up and sing, and everybody thinks they are just the cutest kids as they sing their little song and then go on their way, back to their classrooms. And I mean, they are cute. They are sweet. But why watch them from a distance when we can be involved in their lives and teach them about God and about Love? I think it is easy for people to watch and listen to the kids sing, or for people to even teach a pre-school class, and look down on the kids. It is usually very unintentional, but I still see it all the time. It is so easy to think of them as "just kids"... but God made them too. God Loves them just as much as he loves grown-ups. I think He so loves the way small children will befriend anybody and everybody, without looking at them judgmentally or critically. They are not going to shun someone because of dirty clothes or a handicap or whatever.

It can be really humbling to work with kids. It often puts me in situations where I am not really acting my age. But you know, there is nothing wrong with that. Just have fun with the kids. Be a good example to them. Be goofy. Sing their Sunday school songs with them. Watch a "little-kid" movie. Read them a book... over and over and over (and they definitely will ask that sometimes!) If I don't relate to the kids, then how am I going to teach them about God? How can I live like Him, how can I live Him to them? Jesus always made the little children welcome. He would never turn them away or say that He did't have time for them right then. Shouldn't I be just like Him? (Philippians 2; 1 John 2:5-6; Mark 10:14)

He will make us fishers of men... if we follow Him. Sometimes that means we are fishers of children. Little children. And that means getting on the floor and playing with them. It means speaking 2-year-old language. (I don't even know how many different 2-year-olds I have worked with, but they all have those words that you just have to know what they are saying to understand them... I've learned to speak Josh, and Stevie, and Lydia, and Megan, and Ethan, and Ellie, and Eli, etc...) :) Whatever it means to follow God in our specific situations, we must be willing to do that. And if we follow God... He will make us fishers of men. :)

let our worlds collide

"wrestle with the things i saw
stepping through the door
knowing things won't be the same
when i get back on the plane
i look into your eyes
and i feel like i know you
so far removed our lives
but so close inside
let our worlds collide

el salvador
el salvador
you'll never know what you have done
you'll never know what has begun
you left your mark on me
you left your mark on me

wrestle with the things i saw
stepping through the door
circumstances are beyond your control
i see your hands they touch my soul
this memory i'll always hold

i know more now than i have ever, ever known before
i learned more in one day than i have learned all years before
don't let my heart grow cold
for this i've seen and you have shown
beyond this space, this time
we must let our worlds collide..."

~ "el salvador"... phil joel

No, I haven't been to El Salvador. But I have been other places that have had this effect on me. I've been on six missions trips so far... to Dayton, Ohio... Mississauga, Canada... Sydney, Australia... Jackson, Kentucky... Chicago, Illinois... Managua, Nicaragua.... Each place and the people there had great impacts on my life and on my mindset, all in different ways.

In Dayton, one thing I learned about was the value of having a missions team. We were a team, brothers and sisters, on a mission to share with others. It was my first missions trip ever, and I know now that I had so much to learn. I still do, but I think that at that point I thought I had more figured out than I really did.

When we went to Mississauga, I learned to Love. I learned how to really fall in Love with Jesus and how to carry that Love over into my relationships with others... how to let it overflow into my life. I learned a lot about how a team works on that trip too, because our team was having some major problems; I was one of about three people who could talk to anybody on the whole team throughout the whole trip. In order to be effective, we have to let our lives reflect God and what He has done for us and in our lives. We have to be Jesus to others. Another thing I learned in Canada was to not complain. Up until then, I wouldn't say I complained about everything, but complaining was not something I really thought a lot about... sometimes I just did it though. In that humid heat... I made this decision to not complain anymore about humidity and heat. I'll acknowledge that, yes, it is hot and humid out, but I won't complain about it. Find something to be glad about. There is always, always something we can be thankful for. :) Always.

Syndey... what memories... wow, it is so hard to believe that we went there over three years ago!! In Sydney I learned about being willing to just jump in and do whatever I was called or asked to do. Don't question why God wants you to do something. Don't ever question the point. He will show you in His timing what the purpose was for it. It might be hard to trust... but do it anyway. Trust God that He knows what He is doing. He knows the plans He has for us. They are plans to prosper us, not to harm us. They are plans to give us hope, and to give us a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) God always, always knows what He is doing. I promise. He taught me a lot in Sydney about trusting Him, just jumping in and going for it... stepping out of my comfort zone. How much am I really trusting Him if I don't get outside the little box where I'm comfortable? He gave me the opportunity to play the piano a couple of times there... one of those times was for a church service. I didn't know most of the people there. But I wasn't nervous. I had to just trust God and go for it.

In Jackson... my first trip as a leader... I learned about the huge effect a simple smile can have on somebody. This sweet, sweet lady at the Happy Church, Margaret, taught me so much. Let me tell you about Margaret... she is a petite lady, maybe in her early 30's. She has an adorable daughter named Lori, who was two years old at that time. One of Margaret's arms is kind of shrivelled and unusable, and she just holds it close to her body and does everything she needs with her other arm. I don't know what happened to her arm; I don't know if it has always been that way or not. That doesn't matter though. She had a college degree, but she didn't have a good job because she had a little girl to watch and take care of (she didn't have relatives or anybody there to take care of her) and also couldn't do some things with her arm. I got to talk with Margaret a little here and there during our weekend trip to Jackson, and something I noticed about her is that she never complained. She was just so sweet and joyful. She always had a smile. She had situations in her life that were less than desirable, but she made the choice to have joy instead of complaining or blaming God for the way her life was. Then... right before my team and I left to drive home... Margaret made sure to get a minute to talk with me. She told me she loved my smile. I'd had an impact on her life through sharing a smile with her... And yet, her comment made me feel so unworthy, because I mean, what did I do for her? She is the one who inspired me, right? I guess it goes both ways. Just know that people are watching our choices and reactions; they watch our smiles. We can have such a great impact.

When we went to Chicago in June of 2005, we had a huge lack of communication between us and the people in charge of the ministry we were working with there. We ended up having misconceived expectations of what we were going there to do and of what it would be like working with their ministry. It is a really great ministry... There was just a lack of communication on both our parts. One of our other leaders and I went with the expectation of getting to actually work with the kids more than we ended up being able to. Donna and I were assigned the job of making lunch for about 50 - 60 kids each day for day camp, so we ended up in the kitchen most of the time. After both lunch shifts had eaten and we finally got everything cleaned up, we were able to go and actually spend some time with the kids and with our team, but we didn't have the opportunity to really get to know the Chicago kids like the rest of the team did. What did I learn from this? I learned to be flexible. Things don't always go the way we want them to. They often do not go as we plan. God's plans are better than ours though. His ways are higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9) When things go differently from what we expect... make the most of it. Learn from it. Have fun. Neither of us expected to be in the kitchen all day, but it was fun to just have that time to talk about random things and get to know each other better. And we have stories to tell from our kitchen times now too.

And Managua... I don't think there are words in the English language to describe everything I learned there. The no-complaining commitment from Canada is still in effect. Yeah, it was definitely very hot and humid in Nicaragua!! When you are on your 3rd and 4th showers after spending just barely 24 hours in the country, that is pretty hot and humid. :) We made the best of it though. And you know, I never thought I would enjoy a cold shower. In Nicaragua we often chose cold showers over hot ones.... That is something you'll rarely find in the U.S.! Just before leaving for Nicaragua, I read this book by Ted Dekker called The Martyr's Song. It talked a lot about everyone being beautiful. Our human eyes may not see them that way, but we need to learn to see everyone as beautiful, because... God made everyone. We are all beautiful to Him. We need to see others as God sees them. At the first church service we went to, I saw a little girl (probably about 4 years old...) whose eyes were crossed, and I just felt this deep Love for her. It never would occur to me not to love her. God Loves her, and so do I. It just struck me as we worshipped with these people in Los Brasilles and I watched this little girl and others... it struck me how beautiful she is. Beauty is what we make it... If we see ourselves as beautiful, just as God sees us as beautiful... then others will learn to see us the same way. And those who can't learn to see us as God sees us... well, they don't have God's Love in their lives. The song I quoted by Phil Joel says "wrestle with the things I saw... knowing things won't be the same when I get back on the plane... let our worlds collide... you left your mark on me... I know more now... I learned more in one day than I have learned all years before..." This describes my experience in Nicaragua so well. Wrestling with the things I saw... the people living in the garbage dump, the children's home kids, the village kids and their living conditions, the joy in the Nica churches, the hospitality of the Nicas... No, things are not the same when you get back on the plane. How much I learned there... How great an impact God used it to make on my life and heart. Nicaragua and its people left their mark on me. Let our worlds collide. We need our worlds to collide.

I could go on and on about things I learned on each of these trips... from the people there, etc. But I think it is enough to say that they all have left their marks on me. God has used the people and circumstances in each place to grow me and work in my heart and in my life. I cannot even begin to describe how much He has grown me in the past six years as I have been involved with missions team. It is incredible to be a part of God working and to know that He is using us in His work, as well as growing us at the same time. I so love to watch Him work. "You left your mark on me... Let our worlds collide..."