bad rap and the rescue

here, i shall vent for a few moments. then end with some awesome things that God is doing!

tonight, on my way home from church, i received a text from my sister talking about a church from Topeka coming to FBC/Orlando to protest on Saturday night. so, to see if what she was saying was true, i went to their website. sure enough i found a "list of preachings" in the lower left corner. i clicked, i found, and i scrolled down to the proper date. and, the things they said about Pastor and the church are mind blowing. they are ubsurd and disgusting. they are rude and completely false. to be Christ to people, we have to love the unlovable. Jesus did it. and we are called to. no where in the bible does it say to hate people because of their life choice. it says to not agree with them, but not to HATE them. sheesh. and we wonder why people don't like Christians! its because of these people that give us a bad rap.


ok. sorry. it just makes me angry to no end. people that don't know Jesus deserve to know that Jesus is the only reason for anyone to live and that we are all sinners saved by grace. and if God hated you, he wouldn't have sent HIS ONLY SON TO DIE FOR YOU!


ok, before all this happened, i watched the 2nd invisible children video i have seen. i encourage you to go to invisiblechildren.com to see what its all about. it is all about rescuing children in Africa from the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). this army kidnaps children and forces them into a rebel army killing hundreds of thousands of people. this organization is amazingly effective at reaching this people group. they have talked to senators, the president, UN people and many more people on behalf of these children. these children fight for their lives every day. i cannot even imagine what they go through on a daily basis. so, i am joining the rescue. this organization has ended night commuting (where kids would commute from the homes to a large city to protect themselves from being kidnapped), they have helped the effort of displacement (the kids sleeping in boxes), and now they need everyone's help in rescuing the children from the LRA. please, won't you help me?!

strong women of faith

my discipleship group and i are reading a book called Lady In Waiting. its all about becoming what God wants you to be while waiting for "mr. right." this book is not only a great resource, but it goes through the book of Ruth. it shows comparisons from modern day to back then and also each chapter is named after a characteristic of Ruth.

one thing about this book of the Bible that i find interesting is Ruth's abandonment of everything she knew. the only thing she knew, was that God was the only way to have fulfillment in life. that inspires me. sometimes i wonder if i live my life in abandonment to God. i wonder if the things i do from day to day are God honoring. sometimes, the things i do are not God honoring, and i must repent with an honest heart.

i am also going through the book of Esther with a friend. this has helped both of us, i think. it is great to be reminded that women are strong when they are on their own. now, i am not a part of the feminist movement, but i do believe that God has designed women to be strong without men. and that only comes from complete contentment in God and his abundant mercies. when you are truly reliant on God, you are strong. i know what God has called me to, and i believe that i am good at what i do. i fail...everyday, but i think being a strong woman is more than just getting things right, its failing as well.

now, Esther did not fail. she was "favored" by the king and he did pretty much whatever she asked. with Mordecai's help she pretty much, delivered her people out of a certain death. what a great woman of faith to look up to.

my mom always asks me about different guys and if i think they are "mr. right" and i usually tell her no and to stop asking me that question. sometimes it gets to me, but not as much as it used to. i can say that God has healed my heart of that and only by His amazing love can i say that. i believe i have become a strong woman because of God believing in me. despite my failures, he says "i can still use you!" what a great relief! isn't it awesome to know that, as women, God gave us many women to aspire to in the Bible. and if that truth isn't enough, HE gave us His Son, so we can live to be more than ever imagined.

revisiting asia

if you know me at all, you know that just about everything that comes out of my mouth is about Asia. i just can't get enough of it. something about it intrigues me. maybe its the fact that at any given moment you could be severely persecuted for your Faith. or maybe its the fact that a small city has 1 million people in it. or that there are still hundreds of thousands of people still unreached for the Gospel.

i love their culture. they are so hospitable and extremely gracious. but, they tell you like it is which is hard to find in American culture. it was here, that my love for kids really grew. here is a short story about the far left picture at the top of my page.



my team and i were walking around just prayer walking. it was so interesting to pray out loud while walking. anyways, we were at the main entrance to the city and just taking in the sights, smiling at people yet praying for them at the same time. as we were wandering around in pairs, a fellow teammate and i noticed that we were being followed by 3 girls, about elementary school age. we would look at them and they would giggle and run, but they kept following us. until finally we stopped. we stopped at this open courtyard/square area to meet up with our group. these girls excitedly come over, since we were the only Americans (white people) they would possibly see in their lifetime.

as we stopped, jennifer and i (thats my teammate) decided to teach a few games. so, here we are with about ten kids around us, playing London Bridge. it was a sure hit, and they knew the game! so, we decided to teach them another game. duck, duck, goose was next on our list. they, however, had not played this game. so we taught it to them. soon enough, we realized that our circle had grown 3 times its original size and a crowd had stopped to watch. so, here we are, about 10 total on my team, in the midst of some of the coolest people on the planet. so, we stop our game of duck, duck, goose and continue to a game of red light, green light. this was a hit. that lasted a few rounds, then we started to get tired. playing with kids is hard work sometimes!

after that we ventured over to a set of stairs that were closeby. we (the americans) sat down to take a load off...the people followed us. so, a teammate pulled out his guitar and started playing worship songs. people listened intently, and during that time, those 3 cute little girls surrounded me. we took pictures, and laughed, and sang (well i sang) and clapped. about halfway through singing, someone, asian mind you, asks the guy playing guitar to sing a hymn. but, what is even cooler, is he only knew it in spanish, and she only knew it in manderin! now, i know you probably picture this lady to be late 20's early 30's...nope. this woman had to be in her late 60's early 70's. how cool is it, to know that someone that age, on the complete opposite side of the world, knows Jesus, when it is very much frowned upon in her culture!

so, the singing comes to an end. i pull out a picture of an old friend and i and give it to the girls. and we walk off hand in hand. they tried to ask me questions, but i couldn't answer because of the language. but i would give anything to see those precious girls again.

they simply changed my life.

kids

kids are fun. i see them 5 out of 7 days in the week. some for hours on end, which ends up being fun...most of the time. :)

here are some of my favorites...via pictures. i think i shall post a story about them after each picture!



this is Ella and Magnus. two of 4 that i babysit on a weekly basis. they are super fun! at this point Magnus was sick, but still managed to find this purse and walk around the house with it. it was hilarious! and he LOVED wearing it! haha...oh little kids!



this is Evan Lorenz and i. he is super funny. although, his emotions get the best of him sometimes, he still manages to make me laugh...every time i see him. here we were glow-in-the-dark mini golfing with the college ministry and took a break for some silly pictures! notice his shirt is glowing!




this is caleb and lily. they are in my class at CEC (child enrichment center) and have a crush on each other. its so cute to watch their pre-school romance blossom! haha! Caleb will make this face at me and scrunch his little nose up...cutest thing EVER! and Lily just cracks me up! she always questions me and says "for real?" and i just die laughing cause its hilarious.



and this cutie is Avajane. i love her. like...seriously. if she didn't have amazing parents i would adopt her. i pretty much love her like she was my own child...which is funny...cause i don't have any kids. we both like hanging out at sea world together. she is the smartest 2 year old i know. she knows all her sea creatures...and especially loves the dolphins!



oh my goodness. these girls are some of my favorites as well! they are so joyful...all the time! i love Emma and her dramatics, and Abby and her silly questions, and Caroline and her rendition of "the itsy bitsy monkey." basically, the greatest girls ever! (outside of the ones previously mentioned)



so, that's a little glimpse into the kids that i see on an almost daily basis. they make my life sweeter and more joyful. while they do try my patience...quite a bit...they still bring joy. i'm so glad God changed my plans and called me to be a teacher. i don't know what i was thinking going with Public Relations!! just goes to show that nothing is impossible for God!

tithe offering.

in my small group on monday, we talked about finances. mostly, we talked about tithing. whether its biblical (which it is), how much to give, the difference between tithe and offering (if there was one), and we just shared pretty openly about tithing. and honestly, tithing and giving has been on my mind constantly.

with the economy the way it is right now, i am extremely blessed to have 2 part time jobs. it allows me to give back to God what is rightfully His and also pay my responsibilities. one thing that i have noticed though is God has blessed me through this obedience to Him. like i said before, i am extremely blessed to have a job, but other people who are very near and dear to my heart are not fortunate enough to have a job that pays the bills.

enter change.

my family is in financial stresses. which, i believe every family is in. being the oldest child, it is very hard to know this fact and sit back. i feel my parents have paid for all my junk almost my entire life, so the least i could do is try to help out here and there...financially. like picking up some things at the store. i did that earlier this week. when they told me they would pay me back i told them not to worry. i mean, honestly God gave me that money for a reason...so i'm going to use it when i feel called.

another story is a dear friend. she doesn't have a job and is not from this state. and seeing the stress/fear in her eyes wednesday night broke my heart. in all actuality, i had been thinking of giving her some cash for awhile (since i knew her financial need), but of course, ignored the prompting of the Holy Spirit. well, wednesday i called another friend. and the other friend and i felt God leading us to give her some money...so we did. it was an entire night worth of babysitting money for me, but that didn't even matter. as i handed her the money, both of us had tears in our eyes, and at that moment, i knew it was truly God who led my friend and i to give it to her.

there has never been a time where i was in serious financial difficulty...thank the Lord for that! but even in financial difficulty (because i know it will come at some point), i will remain obedient. only because the Lord blessed me, the Lord is so mighty, the Lord protects and provides, and above all He is alone worthy to be praised. if you want to hold onto your money, don't. giving it away is one of the most rewarding experiences in your life.

i wish i had something poetic or captivating to say, but alas, i do not. the only thing i can do is share some thoughts from my brain that is constantly going at ten million miles a minute these days.

~i am way too busy. i haven't had a day to just rest and reflect on what happened the past weeks. i really need it.

~while i love kids and teaching them and just being goofy with them, they do not complete me. therefore leaving me exhausted at the end of the day with funny stories replaying in my head.

~i love my 10th grade girls. they never cease to amaze me. i know Rach and i are their leaders, but i feel like i learn just as much from them as they do from me. its a great cycle really.

~i wish my ipod was bigger. i have sooo much music i want to put on it, but it doesn't hold nearly enough. i think that might be my next big purchase. unless someone wants to give me one for free.

~i have met some of the most interesting people in my small group at Status. they challenge me to think outside the box and really dive deep into finding out why i believe the things i do. as controversial as our conversations may be, they still challenge me.

~my family rocks. i don't tell them nearly enough how much they mean to me. especially my sister...she really gets on my nerves. but God loves her and i do too...the bad usually outweighs the good. which is not a good thing.

~i can never get enough of Asia. i am absolutely at a loss for words for my love of Asia. the people make me laugh and smile, but the fact that most of them don't know Jesus makes my heart break. they need Jesus so badly...i hope this summer i am able to show them Jesus...at least a little glimpse of Him.

~never take for granted the things you are given. they can be taken away at any moment. live for Christ always.



i really just needed to empty out my brain. all these things have been bouncing around wanting to come out...but never had the chance. i think i shall blog more.