Standing in Awe

So I talk about the sunrise a lot. Sorry I'm not sorry...I think it is one of the most amazing things we have the opportunity to see daily. However I hope this time around I can shed light (pun intended) on the subject of hope. On Friday some good friends of mine invited me over to stay the night. They also love the beach and so Friday we swam and then watched the sunset. On Saturday we got up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise and as I sat on a piece of drift wood I couldn't help but be in awe. Before the sun had even broken the horizon colors danced across the sky painting the clouds beautiful shades of soft purple and pink. At the first peak over the ocean the sun was a brilliant burning orange that caused the sky around it to glow a delicate pink.  Now normally I would talk about all the possibility in a sunrise but this time all I could think of was heaven.  I was almost in tears at the beauty that was before me and this is nothing compared to heaven.  I was...

A few weeks before Christmas I was shopping at a fair trade store in downtown Ann Arbor with a good friend.  We were looking for Christmas presents for friends and family and as we were headed to the check out there was a box of rings.  I was instantly drawn to one that was a simple twisted piece of metal and says "live simple."  This past year I felt as though God was teaching me to trust him not only for my needs, but also to allow him to delight in me.  I have often denied myself wants or things I know I don't need, and even denied others the opportunity to serve me.  I realized that by doing so it actually doesn't allow others to live as God has called them because we are all called to serve others.  So back to the ring.  I felt God delighting in me in that moment and bought it as a Christmas present from Jesus to me.  It is a great reminder of how God calls me to live, and the life that is truly filling. It is funny how God prepares things...

Are you a person that likes to make new year resolutions?  We are surrounded by advertisements and social media telling us to improve ourselves. "New year new you!"  This might be one of my least favorite phrases.  Maybe you've resolved to workout more, eat less sweets, read more books, quit smoking, make more money, the list goes on and on.   I just finished reading a book called The Circle Maker , by Mark Batterson and I was really inspired by this passage: "Make a resolution not to defile yourself.  Then circle it [in prayer] again tomorrow.  And the next day.  And the day after that.  Some of us don't start fighting the battle because we're not sure we can win the war, but the war has already been won nearly two thousand years ago at Calvary.  All you have to worry about is winning the battle today.  God can take care of tomorrow.  Can you keep the resolution for a day? Sure you can.  That defining decision will le...

It is amazing how quickly our lives can run away with us.  I just realized that it has been over two months sense I have posted!  I apologize.  In my last post I was talking about fall and being back on the ground in the US.  It has been a wild ride so far with a ton of ups and downs.  Sense my last post I have been in one wedding, attended another, run a marathon, and currently I am recovering from getting my wisdom teeth pulled. In the business of life it can be hard to take time to stop and reflect on all God is doing, and simply thank him for his blessings.  As I have been leading a small group and it has been a blessing larger than I could have ever imagined.  God is using the women of the group to grow and encourage me in so many ways.  Their hunger for God has reminded me of how important it is to never forget the fundamental truths of our faith and to constantly be seeking God in order to understand his love more deeply.  I also ha...

What are you afraid of?  The unknown?  Change?  Insecurity?  How others think of you?  Disappointment?  Failing? The list could go on forever.  Logically, as a human being, there are so many things in this world to be afraid of.  However, if you are a Christian we are called to live without fear.  I would like to say up front that I am going to be pretty bold in this post.  I am not suggesting that we make unwise decisions to put ourselves in harm's way.  I read the Proverbs and I value wisdom.  In 1 John 4:18 God tells us that "There is no fear in love , but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."  Earlier in the same book it says that "God is love," so if we are with God there is no fear.  A simple A=B, B=C, so A=C.  Take a minute just to think about that.  How different would your life be if you didn't make any decisions bas...

Something I have dreamt of ever sense I became serious about my faith is a community that lives like the first Chriatians did. In Acts there are stories of people coming together and sharing their resourses so that everyone always had enough. This type of sacrificial love and recognizing that NOTHING really belongs to any human being, but that EVERYTHING belongs to God is a radical but beautiful way of living.  In today's society people may call this socialism or communism or what have you. When people love this way to honor God and to truly love one another the way God calls us to I cal it Christian community. This is what first drew me to El Salvador, and now I would like to try and give you a glimpse of it! Here is a picture of our small group that meets on Sarurday nights. It may not look like much but if you look closely you will see that young and old are together. In the background some women are cooking food for the group, and on the right is Ricardo with his bible preparin...

This is the first of my feature entries I'm going to write. Considering I spend a good chunk of my week at the CDI (or nutrition center in English) I thought it appropriate to write about it first. The basic goals of the CDI are to love children by providing for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. How do we do this? Each child that we serve in the CDI is sponsored by awesome people like you that have decided to give to help meet their needs. Marielos, our pastor's wife, writes the menu each month according to the budget.  What does this look like for the kids? The majority of the kids arrive around noon. They play for a few minutes and then around 12:30 they form their "filas" to go wash their hands. This is one of my tasks. I distribute soap and manage the mayhem that accompanies 30 children all trying to wash their hands in 4 stalls. I have recently taken to timing them. They then head back to the kitchen where the table is all set up. Soñya and Melanie,...