God With Us

 Christmas is the time of year during which we celebrate God's coming to Earth in human form. How amazing is it that a holy, righteous, and infinite God should choose to come to this Earth that has been tainted by our sin, and come in the form of a finite human being. Not just any human being at that; He began His life on Earth as a helpless newborn. He needed His earthly mother and father to provide for all His needs. He lived life, experienced hardship and sorrow to a degree much greater than any that we will go through.

A couple of Sundays ago, Eric preached a great sermon titled "God With Us". You can find and listen to that sermon here (and I highly recommend it). One of things that stuck out to me the most in this sermon was when he said that part of the reason that Jesus came to Earth as a man was so that when we are going through hardship and trial He can say "I know, and I'm here".

In Hebrews 4:15-16, it says "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. "

The last recorded words of Jesus while He was here on this Earth are, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

This Christmas; enjoy the time spent with family, enjoy exchanging gifts, singing Christmas carols, and whatever other traditions you may have. Don't forget to remember and ponder on the amazingly, wonderful, all-to easy to take for granted fact that Jesus is Emmanuel. GOD WITH US! 

Complete

I have finally finished this semester! It was a long, and fairly difficult semester for me, but now it is over, and I am so looking forward to enjoying Christmas break before beginning my student teaching in January. Christmas is my favorite holiday, but I have not been able to enjoy it much yet so I am glad to have some time off (from school) before Christmas goes past. Next semester I will be completing my student teaching (I do not know which school or grade yet) as well as taking a comprehensive exam in February, and I will be working on my portfolio. Then, Lord willing, I will graduate with my Master's Degree in May 2013!

Homestretch

I have finally arrived at the last few weeks of my last semester of classes (next semester will be student teaching only). I am so ready for a break, and so ready to be done with classes! I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break as a refresher to finish out the semester. From today, I only have about four weeks left in the semester.It has been a fairly decent semester; the work has not been too difficult, but I have really struggled with focus and non-procrastination. Hopefully I will improve in both of those things before I begin student teaching. I think it may  be easier because it will be a "real life" situation, and I will be working directly with the kids every weekday, and putting into practice the things I have learned. It's going to be hard, but I think that it will be fun as well.

I am also looking forward to the Christmas season! It is my favorite holiday. I love celebrating Christ's birth. I also love the lights, decorations, music, celebrations, and more. Only about a week until my family and I can begin decorating and listening to Christmas music! First we will enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving as a family.

Month of Thanks

This post was inspired by the many people posting something that they are thankful for: One thing per day. I decided to do them all at once in this post. I also included some pictures to make it more interesting.

1. Thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

2. Thankful that God calls me His DAUGHTER!

3. Thankful for my family!

4. Thankful that I was able to travel to Rancho 3M this past summer 

5. Thankful for changing seasons.

6. Thankful for the right to have a say in the running of my city, state, and country.

7. Thankful for peppermint mochas! Mmmmm.

8. Thankful for my church.

9. Thankful for my pastors.

10. Thankful for my care group.

11. Thankful for the mountains and the trip we got to take there earlier this year.

12. Thankful the God is Sovereign over every aspect of my life.

13. Thankful that I have had the opportunity to go to college.

14. Thankful that I have a job.

15. Thankful for my friends.

16. Thankful that I have the Word of God easily accessible in my language.

17. Thankful for the many friends and family who have helped me out by providing rides during this time of me being unable to drive (you know who you are!)

18. Thankful that it is almost Christmas, my favorite holiday.

19. Thankful that God is ever faithful even though we are not.

20. Thankful for books (I love reading). 

21. Thankful for the beauty to be found in God's creation.

22. Thankful that God loves me despite what I do.

23. Thankful for the internet (think of how different life would be).

24. Thankful that Jesus knows how we feel (Hebrews 4:15).

25. Thankful for the Thanksgiving holiday: A great time to remember to be thankful, and to spend with family and friends.

26. Thankful that this is my last semester of classes!

27. Thankful to be student teaching next year!

28. Thankful that God will provide for all of my needs.

29. Thankful that God allows us to talk with him through prayer!

30. Thankful for worship songs.

Fast and Slow

It is weird how sometimes time can seem to be going by quickly and slowly at the same time. For example, sometimes I feel so close to being done with the semester, and at other times the month and a half that is left feels like forever.

I am looking forward to the winter holidays; Thanksgiving (though technically still in fall), Christmas, and New Years. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love the Christmas season with the decorations, music, etc. I also love that I do not have to be in school during this time!

Only four weeks left until Thanksgiving, and eight and a half until Christmas!

Kids, Trucks, and a Grasshopper

The city has been doing some work on our road putting in new water lines. When the construction crew is not there they leave the trucks parked on the side of the road by the field across the street from our house so the other day I took Joel and Sarah out to snap some pictures. While we were there a little, green grasshopper jumped onto Sarah's shirt and got a picture of that as well. She was a little unsure as to whether she should like it or be afraid!

What WILL you DO?

Before reading the rest of this post, I ask that you watch this video. I know it is somewhat long (but not that long), but it part of the inspiration for this post, and if you only listen to part of it then you will lose some of the impact.

So now the question comes, what do you do? Or what WILL you do? I think that all too often our response is like that of the biblical story of the good Samaritan, only that's not who we imitate; instead, we cross over to the other side of the road. We look down upon and judge people in dire situations saying that is their fault and they need to suffer the consequences and/or get themselves out of it. In many cases this is true, but isn't it true of ALL of us? And Jesus did not leave us to suffer the consequences, but rather came TO us.

Now I am not saying that this means that one should always give money to the man on the side of the road, but maybe sometimes it DOES mean that. Or maybe it means helping, with time and/or money, at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, a homeless shelter, an orphanage, or in a drug rehabilitation program. Maybe it means reaching out to your neighbor, or the person you know is a drug addict or worse. We can reach out with practical help as well as with what they need most; the Gospel! I do not think that the "least of these" are those people who have it all together. They surely include those who need help, but in no way deserve it just like we do not deserve the help Jesus offers.

As the song says, "When men here are hurting/And children they cry/When women are lifting their face to the sky/With hope disappearing and their backs to a wall/Now tell to me, Christian, who'll answer the call?/Oh we can't ignore them/The Church cannot sleep/If we sow indifference/Then what will we reap?/We may have the answer/right here in our hand/But how can we help them/With our head in the sand?" 

And even more importantly, as the Bible says;

    "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

    Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:34-46 

What will you do? 

P.S. This is in NO way trying to say that our works determine our salvation. 

Trusting For Real

In the Bible, we are commanded to trust in God. "Trust in the Lord will all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5-6. While it is often fairly easy to make our brains and mouths say the words "I trust You", it is even more often difficult to make our hearts and feelings trusting. I know for me I can often, in a way, be thinking, "Yes God, I trust that your way is best, but..." I still really want my way, or I want answers now rather than waiting until God says it is time to show me the answer.

For example, sometimes I wonder what I should do after I finish school, and yes that can grow worrisome to me at times. By no means is it wrong to think, pray, and even plan now, nor is it impossible that God will give me an answer before I finish school. However, I need to trust in Him, and not worry that I do not have the answer NOW. I need to trust that by the time I need it, I will have His answer. I like Elizabeth Elliot's quote related to this aspect of trusting God. She says, "The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?." The rest of the verse that I began in the first paragraph says, "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (or "direct your paths").

Another aspect of trusting God that He is working on in me is in trusting that His will for what He gives me in life is perfect. His timing if He chooses to give me things is perfect. If I do not have what I want now, or even if I never get it, it truly is because it is better this way. God's way is perfect.

What about you? What do you struggle with most when it comes to trusting God, and how do you fight those challenges? How has God encouraged you in those areas?

9/11 : A Day in the History Books

We do not often think about whether or not we will live through events which will end up in the history books that our children, grandchildren, and more will be reading. But on 9/11/01 we did just that. Sadly, this was not a joyous, triumphant historical event (such as tearing down the Berlin wall), but one of immense tragedy.

I remember sitting in our living room, and my dad came in the house and turned on the TV. The attack was all over the news. I remember, in a way, understanding what had happened, but not really grasping the severity and tragedy that it was; I wanted to finish schoolwork. I was only 12 years old. I have since grown to understand the terrible sadness of that day. It is a horrible thing that happened in our country.

On this 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks let us remember. The word "remember" is used quite often in association with that historical day. However, let us not just, simply remember and ponder that day. Let us use our memories to spur us on to pray. To pray for those affected by the tragedy; those injured, those who survived, those have loved ones who did not survive. Yes, let us even pray for the remaining terrorists and others who planned and/or enjoyed this attack due to their hatred for our country. God tells us, "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44.  As much as we may not want to, we should pray for those people as well. Pray that God would touch their hearts, and that they would repent and be saved. We can also pray that God would keep us, and other countries, safe. That future attacks will be prevented.

9/11 : Remember. And pray

Three

This week is the 3rd week of the semester. The first two weeks went by fairly quickly, and were a mix of craziness and stress, but were overall not that bad. Hopefully as the weeks go on I will get more into the swing of things, and get used to my schedule and to doing homework again. As I type this, the windows in my room are open letting in the amazing fall weather that has finally arrived, at least for a little while  (one never knows how long it will last here in VA).

One of my classes this semester is Children's Literature. I am excited about this class because we have/get to read a LOT of children's books through the course of the semester. I few are assigned, but many are up to us to choose. I really enjoy reading so this is fun for me, and I sometimes almost feel guilty while reading, and have to remind myself that I AM doing homework (though I can't forget my other work)!

An End, A Beginning, and a Beginning of an End

An End: Summer 2012 has drawn to a close; my classes at ODU start this week, and I must say goodbye to summer. Overall, despite some setbacks, it was a good summer filled with memories including my trip to Rancho 3M and our family vacation in the mountains.

A Beginning: This is the beginning of a new semester at ODU. New classes, new homework assignments, new schedule, etc. I do not know yet all that this next school year will hold. I think I know some of it, but it is always possible that God could have completely different plans.

A Beginning of an End: This is my last semester of classes for my Master's Degree in Elementary Education, and I have already submitted my application for student teaching in the Spring semester. If all goes according to plan, I will be FINISHED with my degree by May 2013. I am ready to be done with school, but at the same time the question of "what next?" and having to enter "real adult life" somewhat scares me, haha.

Mountain House

This past weekend our family (minus Alexandra who had to work) was able to go to the mountains in North Caroline for a short vacation. We rented a beautiful house with a beautiful view. We referred to it as the "mountain house" to Sarah and Joel. After driving over six hours (including rest stops and a dinner break) we arrived

 

While there we visited Grandfather Mountain, Linville Falls, Blowing Rock, the original Mast General Store, and more. We were able to do lots of hiking, even some climbing, and sight seeing. I love it in the mountains. It is so beautiful and peaceful there, and I would not mind living there.

Time went by all too quickly, Sunday morning rolled around and we had to leave. However, on our way home we were able to stop at Mt. Airy, NC which is the town that inspired the town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show! Even though it was raining, it was till kinda cool to walk around the the old town a little bit, and drive by some sights.

 

It was a great vacation, and I hope that we can go back to the mountains (even if in a different area) soon. If you would like to see more pictures then check out my Facebook page.

Rancho 3M 2012

My week at Rancho 3M with the kids, staff, and the rest of the E-team was one of the best, if not the best, week of 2012 so far. Excitement built as we drew closer and closer to the ranch and especially when we pulled in the gate, and the children surrounded us with welcome, hugs, smiles, Spanish chatter, and begs for pushes on the swing.

One of the things that Dean (the director of Rancho 3M) had told us that the kids really needed was love and attention. With the danger in Mexico in the past several years the teams have been fewer, smaller, and more focused on work leaving the people on the teams too tired to play much with the kids. This week at Rancho 3M we were able to spend a lot of time interacting with the children. Melissa had brought enough crafts to have an activity for them every day. We also spent a day where Alicia gave the girls fabulous haircuts, other ladies on our team styled the girls' hair, and we even painted fingernails. Other members of the team involved the kids in various sports including soccer, volleyball, and baseball.

Other work was also completed. Garden beds were moved and planted, swamp coolers received maintenance, the rooms of the house of one of  the families on staff were painted, and some of us organized and sorted clothing in a storage area. All these, and more projects, were completed while still allowing for plenty of time playing and loving on the children which was wonderful.

Sunday we were all able to go the church in Juarez. It was a neat experience being in a Spanish church and singing worship songs in Spanish. A small taste of the biblical reference to "every tribe, and language, and people, and nation" (Rev 5:9). I could understand the sermon very well because Eric preached (with a Spanish interpreter).  

Monday we all woke up around 5 AM or earlier and by 5:30 we were outside to begin the goodbyes. Many of the staff and most of the kids had woken up at this early hour in order to say goodbye. It was a long time getting back home, I was exhausted. It was good to be home, but I miss Rancho 3M and those children. I think that this trip has firmed up my thoughts that I want to do something missional with at least part of the years of my life. I do not yet know for sure when or where (though something long-term with Rancho 3M is a possibility), but I want to do something. If you think of it, please be praying that God's leading would be clear to me, and that He would provide for all the needs for whatever He calls me to do.

Below are some pictures from the trip. I have even more posted on my facebook page if you would like to see them!

 Santos has one of the cutest smiles around

 The dirt was so dry and dusty we all had to wear face masks!

 Hairdos!

 The skies there were so beautiful