Standing in Awe

You know when you find a song that you just love and you listen to it on repeat and it never gets old?  Well I have just stumbled upon one of those.  This song feels like a powerful anthem for my life right now.  I am often overcome with sadness when I think about the darkness of the world that we live in and how I long for things to be different.  This song feels like an answer to those feelings.  As verse three says, "the worst thing is never the last thing.  No, the last thing will be the best thing."  This combined with my recent study into Jesus second coming and how truly awesome it promises to be has given me a new sense of hope.  I listen to this song on repeat in my car and shamelessly belt out the anthem, "as long as God is on his throne I am carried by the hope that love will have the final word." When the voice of fear rages in my head Reading down the long list of my regrets When the ruins are all I see Remind me that it ...

Any of you reading that have attended New Life's leadership training program: not THAT last 10%.  I am talking about the last 10% of my support raising that I have left.  It seems crazy that I could be finished really soon and back doing field ministry.  It also seems AMAZING!!  I am so excited to get back to doing the ministry God called me to and that made me want to go through this whole support raising process in the first place.  I go back and forth often feeling really encouraged by the fact that I am so close to finishing, but also fearing that it will drag out and having no idea where it is going to come from.  If you could pray that I can have courage and faith to call the people that are hard to call and that I can trust God to provide this last 10% in his perfect timing that would be awesome. The last few weeks have been a weird mixture of fear, excitement, joy, doubt, mourning and rejoicing.  One of the things I said to a friend recently...

Wow.  What a week it has been.  God has given me so many unforeseen blessings it is unreal.  As you know I have been support raising to be on staff full-time at New Life Church for over a year now.  It has been some of the best but also some of the hardest time of my life.  Each day I have been learning about myself, about God, and choosing to trust that he does indeed have what is best for me in mind in spite of what I am feeling or my reality seems to be telling me.  In the past couple weeks I have been thinking through numbers and talking with a few trusted friends and mentors and we all came to the realization that I can lower my support goal somewhat significantly.  This may not seem like good news, but it is.  It means that I am a lot closer to reaching my goal (assuming GCM approves my new goal).  As I reflect on how I was feeling before this revelation I think I was feeling really hopeless in the process and like there was no end in ...

So another year in La Libertad, another group of students using their college spring break to serve and grow, and another time of deep thought and questions. As I said in my last post, God showed me a lot just in my first few days about humility and servitude.  In the first few days that I was there alone I had such a great time taking in the sun, reconnecting with old friends, and feeling part of the community.  I had the opportunity to attend a church service where pastor Ivo spoke and to see what it was like to be part of the church down there under "normal" circumstances.  Claudia, my "sister" in El Salvador, and I joked that I was like a celebrity for the first few days because everyone was calling wanting to spend time with me! When the team arrived on Sunday, after missing their connecting flight on Saturday and having to stay the night in Houston, we got right down to business.  Since they had lost a day, we did not want to waste anymore time a...

Well as you probably know by now I made it. After my plane out of Detroit got delayed and I was forced to run through the Atlanta airport in order to make my connecting flight I had a loomin feeling. Normally I keep my backpack (full of all my clothes and necessities) with me, but trying to be the nice, compliant customer I allowed them to put it below the plans at their request. BAD CHOICE. with only about 30 minutes between flights I knew the bags were not going to make it. Upon landing in San Salvador me fears came true. A group of us were left waiting in line to file a missing baggage report and leave with only the clothes on our backs.  In spite of all of this I was in good spirits just because I made it. I figured one day is no big deal. However if you know me, you know I'm not very good at receiving gifts. That first day a friend bought me lunch, another friend bought me dinner, and the family that I'm staying with insisted upon me sleeping in the room with air condition...

....to me.  That's right Valentine's day was my one year anniversary of support raising.  What a year it has been.  Just by simply reading the side panels titled "Prayers" and "Praises" I think it is pretty easy to see the ups and downs of the last year.  I have gone through some serious heart break, disappointment, frustration, wondered if God even cared about me, and had a melt down or two.  However, I have also experienced immeasurable growth. God has led me down a path that I never could have imagined in the last year.  I have had the opportunity to take the biggest steps of faith that I have ever taken.  He has shown me time and time again that he is here, he is present, and that he sees my every need and want, no matter how petty.  I have had the privilege of reconnecting with old friends and and gaining new ones.  I have been humbled and seen God provide for me in ways I never even knew I needed him.  In this last year what I a...

Good morning everyone!  Many people have been asking about when I will be returning to La Libertad.  Well today I am happy to inform you that I will be going down next month!  Ya know what that means???  It's time to round up those clothes you don't wear, those toys you want to give away, and any other donations you would like to send with me!  Things that would be a great to donate include, but are not limited to: New/gently used clothes (only warm weather clothes please!) Kids vitamins Toys (coloring books, crayons, little toys, etc.) Home goods (curtains, pillow covers, sheets, wash clothes, etc.) Books (kids picture books, YA novels) Jewelry Baby clothes Tooth brushes and tooth paste (consider asking your dentist!) Bath soap, shampoo, conditioner Monetary donations (we will use this to help purchase things that are too large to bring with us, or a said need once we arrive) *I will gladly come to you to pick things up.  For the readers not ...