Updating time!

Wow December 2010 is almost upon us!!! I guess I better give a brief update since time flys so fast!!!
I am back living in Michigan. :) I am pursuing getting a post bachelorette degree in Secondary High School Science. I am very excited about this :) I am once again working at the Southgate Lowes store...which I love very much...and every once in awhile I get to use my Spanish...this totally makes my day!!! :)
We have started a small group for the college students that meets in my apartment every Sunday night.
Besides all the other mundane things of life, that pretty much sums up my days.

As I do all these things I am seeking to do them all because of the love of Christ. II Cor 5;14-15 has been the verse I have been seeking to live by recently, "For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus: that if One died for all then all died, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again."

A day at Dunkin Donuts...yummy :)

Dunkin Donuts always brings good conversations and good coffee :) ...

Today I decided to take the day and do some serious reading. I had a sermon that I was going to read by the Father of Elizabeth Prentice called God's Ways Above Men's. Dunkin Donuts was the place I went.
I ordered some coffee and an egg sandwich and started reading. The bases of the sermon was from Isaiah, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
I am not going to preach the sermon again, but there were some great things that stuck out. One of those being, how can we as humans, who are ever changing and growing in wisdom and knowledge, question the God who is omniscient and infallible? He must know so much more than we can ever even comprehend to know, what exists to know. If we were in charge, which a lot of times we try to be in our minds, we would have done things so much differently and they would not have worked!
The fact that many people will say, "Well because you can't explain this to me about God, I am not going to believe He exists," is all the more reason that He really is God. How could we serve a God that we know everything about? How could He really be eternal and infinite if we could understand why He does everything that He does?
But much of the time, we try to set ourselves up as judges. We believe we know what He wants, we know what is right, and we know truth. As the author of the sermon said the fact of the matter is as Proverbs states, "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is a folly and shame to him" How can we think we even understand what God is doing. There is so much to Him, that we don't even know we are missing it. We have been called to trust, to believe His ways are good. This is what we need to do.

As I finished reading this sermon. I opened my Bible and read through Job 38-42. In the midst of my reading a lady walked over. "I see you are reading the Bible, I study the Bible too." she said.
I looked up and smiled, "Oh you do? That's really cool. Where do you go to church?"I asked.
"I go to the Jehovah's witness church," she replied. I thought to myself, who can know the mind of God.. I decided since she approach me I was going to just share what I was reading.
We had a 5 minute conversation or so mostly with me talking about the greatness of God, how His ways are so much higher than ours, how nothing we do could make Him give us His grace, and everything we do is as filthy rags, then we read Romans 3. She then asked if she could come to my house for a farther study. I thought to myself, usually these people you never want to come to your house because they like to argue about scripture and I don't like to do that. But again, who can know the mind of God. I told her that would be fine because I loved to talk about things of the Lord.

Who knows what will happen..but as she left, I thought to myself, How sad it is that people are blinded by their own righteousness. How many even in our christian rings would people declare you have to be a good person. Even myself sometimes, I think that I have the "answers", but I am still a human not deserving of God's love and grace. He is the one that has change my life! Who are any of us to declare that our way is right? It is not our way. It is God's way. God's way is right. He hasn't done anything how we would do it. He took tax collectors and prostitutes and gave them Himself and changed their lives. He has done the same thing for me. And that lady today, even though she is trying to make herself a Righteous person by doing things she thinks will make God give her what she wants...He has already done it for her. He wants her. He wants to change her life. Christ did not come for the righteous but to bring sinners to repentance. Sinners...last time I checked everyone falls into that category.

Updating Time

After talking with many of you who informed me that you followed this blog...but didn't realize that I wasn't going back to Honduras... I figured that I should update and make it clear. The plan was to be there teaching for the year...but because of some visa problems that we had, we were not able to go back. Thank you all for your prayers, I can say I NEEDED them ALOT!!!
I do miss my students. I am able to stay in touch with them over facebook...which is a blessing. As to why God had us come back early...well who can know the mind of God... definitely not me! I have no idea. Actually, I am still wondering on this. I am seeking and praying for what God has for this next step of the journey of my life... cause right now I have no idea! I would welcome your prayers as I seek His direction. Like my dad told me recently..."Just serve God where you are at." I am seeking to do this, but I would still appreciate your prayers too!!!
Thanks for coming with me on this journey to Honduras and back. I hope you were able to enjoy it some through reading the different experiences :).
Well see where God takes us next... Living with God is an adventure...or as the song goes..."living life means taking chances and there worth takin....lovin might be a mistake but its worth makin..." not sure how that fits in but it popped into my mind! Anyway...keep pursuing God!!1

The end of one phase..the beginning of another

Well, my time here in Honduras is coming to a close. I am very excited to go home and see my family and friends. But my heart is also sad to leave my students here. I have grown to love them. They are very special. They also have a lot of love to give, and are very satisfied with little things. But due to problems that are out of our control, Laura and I will not be able to return after Christmas. This makes me very very sad. But I know that God has a plan and that He is in control. I have NO Idea what I will be doing this next semester of my life. But I am choosing to trust Him. I would appreciate your prayers as we finish up our last week here. It is hard to say good bye...and we have been asked by the principal not to let the students know...this is very hard and I am not sure I can do this. Anyway, I am so thankful for all of you, and thankful for your prayers too!!! God has taught me a lot here...I am still processing it all. Psalm 33 has been a huge encouragement to me...
vs 10
"The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.... vs 20 We wait in hope for the LORD he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

God is good...

Today I am reflecting on the how good God is... I am so thankful for His goodness to me in many ways. But the most particular way today is the goodness of God in the parents that He gave me. I have been blessed so much!!!! How many people have parents that love God? Not only do my parents love me, but they love God so much more. They are a beautiful example of trusting God with every detail of their lives. Besides God they are the biggest source of wisdom in my life. They encourage me to seek what God has for me and to live my life for Him, even when it hurts them. They are my biggest cheerleaders! They are a great model of servants of God. Sometimes when things happen, I am amazed at their response of love! I praise God for them. He is good in so many ways...but what an amazing God to give me them!!! Dad and Mom.... I love you so much your the best!!!!!

3500 meters

If God's Power is made perfect in my weakness..then I will boast in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
A couple months ago I took a trip with my church to the wilderness of Algonquin. Such a beautiful place to take a trip for a week. I enjoy going here tons! Normally all we have is our packs and canoes and we travel about a 100 miles or so. We paddle for large amounts of time and then take a break from that by portaging with our packs and canoes through the woods. Usually I will carry a canoe with another person as to distribute the weight. This time however I decided to set a new goal. I have carried the canoe a little by myself before but only for 500 meter or so. This trip I decided to try just a bit farther. I took it 1,000 meters. After I finished this, I realized that to carry a canoe requires mental strength. If I can make my mind carry it, than I can do it with God's help! I decided that I was going to carry the canoe the longest distance that we were going by myself. This distance was 3500 meters, 2 1/2 miles. As I carried it, there were people around me that talked with me the whole way. We sang songs together and enjoyed the walk. This is not to say that it was easy...in fact there were times when I wanted to quite. I want to put the canoe down and be done. I asked God for strength to continue and He continued to help me persevere. I was able to finish it! As I reflected on the trip and what God was doing in my heart one of the lessons that I was grasping, was with God I can do anything that He enables me to do.
One night I shared around the campfire my uncertainty about the next year. I knew that I would be going to Honduras for the year. But as to what I would find and how much I would miss my family I did not know. That 3500 marker in my life meant a lot more that just finishing a portage with a canoe on my head. It meant that God could help me through anything.
Now here I am, sitting, missing my family, fellowshipping with people, the Word being preached, communication, using the gifts God has given me, special occasions, worshiping with believers, and understanding people. I getting close to the middle of the portage. But I need the strength of God to continue. He is the only one that will help me finish! He has sent me here, He will enable me to finish because there is no way I can do it on my own!!!!
As I reflect back on the lesson that God taught me this summer through going 3500 meters, I know that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Right now I have a lot of weaknesses, as I am not in tune to this culture. But through this God's power is shown.
This is what life is about right? Bringing glory to God. If this is how I can bring Him glory...than bring it on :). I want the power of Christ to rest upon me so I will boast in my weaknesses!

Church's Chicken???

Today my 3rd graders were learning how to make the word church plural. Usually as they are learning how to use words, I will attempt to explain the definition. So thinking that most of them would know what church was, I posed the question, "What is church?" The reply I heard amongst them was, "Chicken, Pollo!" I was a bit confused for a moment. Then I heard one child say, "Church's Chicken!" I suddenly realized that the word church to these 3rd graders meant a place where they would go and buy chicken with their family. I just started laughing. I then proceeded to draw a picture of a church building and told them the Spanish word for church. Once they put 2 and 2 together, they were really baffled that a resturant would be called Pollo de Iglesia, Chicken of Church. We all had a good laugh.
This caused me to think of how people think of different words. When I think of church, I think of the people of God, the encouragement, the fellowship, the love of God, the way God works today, and the worship that we share together. But to many people the word church just means a building that people go to practice religion. I am sure even as these children learned that the translation for church is iglesia, many of them did not know what church really is. How many people do I pass on a daily basis that have a misconception of the word church? They might not think of it as Church's Chicken, but they really don't know the love, worship, teaching, and fellowship that takes place amongst the people of God. I want to be a persosn who demonstrates what a true church is.