Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas. I'm the person that has the tree and decorations up without fail the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I was fortunate enough to have housemates that love it as well and we had a tree up November 1. Yes, you read that right...they actually drove to a pumpkin patch/tree farm on the last day of pumpkin season and purchased a beautiful tree that we've now decorated three times. Yes, three.


The third time, my roomies learned a valuable fact about me. Never ask me if anything is straight...I am apparently incapable of making that determination according to roommates past. But, despite the Christmas music, garland hung by duct tape, and the decorated squirrel cage (we really tapped into our inner W.T.), this Christmas season has seemed to be different for some reason. The Christmas s piritthat usually consumes me has been absent. Perhaps its been the long hours at work or the busyness of the season, but it really didn't even hit me until this past weekend that season I typically love and look forward to was passing right by. It actually started to feel a little more like Christmas as we were singing "O Holy Night" at church last weekend...it's my favorite Christmas song. I love it...the great lyrics, the powerful music. I've read through the lyrics several times this week and it seemed fitting to share them today.

O Holy Night

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night divine.
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise me from Orient Land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Valley of Vision

The following is a prayer from The Valley of Vision. Great book filled with amazing prayers and devotions - this is one I read today and felt like sharing.

The Spirit of Jesus

LORD JESUS CHRIST,
Fill me with thy Spirit
that I may be occupied with his presence.

I am blind - send him to make me see;
dark - let him say, 'Let there be light'!

May he give me faith to behold
my name engraven in thy hand,
my soul and body redeemed by they blood,
my sinfulness covered by thy life of pure obedience.

Replenish me by his revealing grace,
that I may realise my indissoluble union with thee;
that I may know thou has espoused me to thyself for ever,
in righteousness, love, mercy, faithfulness;
that I am one with thee,
as a branch with its stock, as a building with its foundation.

May his comforts cheer me in my sorrows,
his strength sustain me in my trials,
his blessings revive me in my weariness,
his presence render me fruitful tree of holiness,
his might establish me in peace and joy,
his incitements make me ceaseless in prayer,
his animation kindle in me undying devotion.

Send him as the searcher of my heart,
to show me more of my corruptions and helplessness,
that I may flee to the,
cling to thee,
rest on thee,
as the beginning and end of my salvation.

May I never vex him by my indifference and waywardness,
grieve him by my cold welcome,
resist him by my hard rebellion.

Answer my prayers, O Lord, for thy great name's sake.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Mario Luis


Over the course of the four days we were in the orphanage, we got to know some of the kids and learn a little bit more about their stories. Mario Luis' story was probably the most heartbreaking to me. This little guy has been there since shortly after he was born - he was even named by the orphanage staff. One would think that he'd be at the top of the list for adoption, right? Not so in Guatemala. There's no paperwork on him, so he's not adoptable. He hasn't been declared abandoned even though he's lived there all of his two years. Ridiculous.

Mario Luis was so fun to play with - he'd climb up the ladder on the big playground with no help at all and go flying down the slide so fast that he didn't stop until he hit the AstroTurf in front of the slide. Then, he'd get up and go again and again. Such a cute little kid.








Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Guatemala

I promised some post-Guatemala blogging and for various reasons hadn’t gotten around to it just yet, so I apologize for the delay, blog-reading friends.

A contributing factor to not having written about it yet has been the heaviness I’ve felt since getting back. Overall, the trip was really good. It was definitely challenging and stretching, which I am grateful for, but I came home with some weighty questions that I didn’t see coming. And, I think that’s okay, its just going to take some time to work through those.

Our goal for the week was to go in to the orphanage and do a VBS for the kids during the day and to just use that opportunity to love on them. Each morning and afternoon started off with a big group lesson where Robyn and Melissa shared the story of Joseph. From there, we broke into smaller groups to play games, read stories, or do crafts. My rotations consisted of tissue paper cross making, bingo/hot potato, and then my last day was spent with the babies and toddlers. I enjoyed each one, but I loved playing hot potato with the kids. They would get so excited as the potato passed from person to person. The anticipation would build and then when the buzzer went off a loud “oohhhh” would echo through the whole building. So fun.

In the evenings we enjoyed great food and fellowship with one another. Once we got back to the hotel, we did a devotional as a group and had time to share. I think this was one of my favorite times of the day. We got to pray together, sing a couple of worship songs, and hear how the Lord was working in the hearts of those who shared….a very sweet time.

By far my favorite day was Thursday. We threw a big rodeo themed party for the kids that afternoon because that was our last day there. We all wore cowboy hats, bandanas, and painted our faces. We fed the kids pizza and ice cream, danced (we taught them the Cotton Eyed Joe the day before), took pictures of them sitting on a horse, and gave them each some gifts at the end of the night. After goodbyes were said to the kids, we hung around for a few minutes on the playground. One of the men on the trip, Tim, led us in one last prayer over the kids and staff there before we went back to the hotel. Also a very sweet time.

We spent most of the day Friday traveling to Antigua where we got to sight see and do some shopping. The drive there was interesting – we had to detour around several roadblocks. Miners were striking and had blocked off the roads in a couple of the towns we were passing through. We had dinner that night in an old monastery that was converted into a hotel.

After dinner we headed back to Guatemala City, and that was definitely the best bus ride of the week – we played the iTunes game the whole way back. This was totally new to me, but consisted of picking a song, turning the volume way up on your headphones (so you couldn’t hear yourself) and singing along. Eventually, everyone on the bus joined in with you. It was great. Thank you, Jouleen, for introducing this game into our lives.

We got back early afternoon on Saturday - I had no idea how tired I really was until I got home. I slept a good 14 hours or so that night and had a couple of naps on Sunday!

So…that was a weak attempt at summing up a week long trip in one blog post, but it’s a start! More to come!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

I'm off to Guatemala

It’s been a while since I updated the ole blog, so I thought I’d do that before I leave tomorrow for Guatemala.

I signed up to go on this trip several months ago and at that time we were supposed to go to Honduras. In the weeks leading up to the trip, some political issues developed in Honduras and it was deemed unsafe to travel there. So, we were rerouted to Guatemala to work in the Xela Orphanage. As the departure date has approached, I think I’ve run the full gamut of emotions – from nervous, to scared, to excited. This is a totally new experience for me. I’ve spent a couple of weeks out of the country before, but not anything like this, nowhere like this. I think it will be a challenging week, and I’m looking forward to that.

Our week will be a busy one. We’ll be doing a VBS at the orphanage during the day. We’ll have the boys and girls separately – they’re still in school in Guatemala. Our evenings will be spent doing dinner and devotionals. Apparently there is a good coffee shop close to our hotel we’ll get to check out as well. So, as I prepare to leave tomorrow, here are a few things I’m excited about and some I’m nervous about.

Things I’m excited about/looking forward to:
· A week away from technology. I think a week away from my cell phone, internet, etc. will be good for my soul.
· Not having to wake up at 4:30 every morning for work.
· It’s winter in Guatemala, so it’ll only be 80 instead of 180.
· New experiences in a new country.
· What the Lord can and will do.

Things I’m nervous about:
· Flying. I’ve never really been afraid to fly, but some fear has definitely crept in here as several plane crashes have been in the news over the last few weeks.
· Communicating in a place where I don’t know the language.
· How my job might change while I’m gone. I’ve had co-workers come back from a few days off to find that they’ve been moved to a completely different job. I’m not excited about that prospect.

I won’t be updating the blog while I’m gone, but I plan to share about the trip on here when I get back. Please pray for our team as well as for those we’ll be getting to work with each day.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Funny Video

What do Matt Chandler, Wilson Phillips and a yorkie have in common?

This video - check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je_f7xBZbP4

Monday, April 27, 2009

Thanks, Dad!

The summer before my senior year of high school, I went on a little weekend trip to the Frio with some friends. On the way up, we had a blowout and were essentially stranded for a while as none of us knew how to change a tire. So, the van full of girls filed out and stood along the road and waited. Lots of passers-by did just that - passed by with no offers for assistance. One guy even stopped to pick up the hubcap that had rolled across the road, handed it back to us, got back in his car and drove away. Eventually, a very nice man in a well pressed shirt (which was ruined in the process) stopped and changed our tire for us and we were on the road again.

I returned home (with the worst sunburn of my life, by the way) and told my dad about our blow out. After the lecture about the sunburn, he promptly took me out to my car, showed me how to change the tire, and then made me do it myself.

That little lesson has come in handy on several occasions and I was reminded of it again today as I changed my tire in the work parking lot. So, thanks, Dad!