new years eve!

today is new years eve! we are back home... i love traveling, but it's always so nice to be home. we have finals coming up, at school, so much of these next couple days will be devoted to studying! i spent about 3 hours yesterday cleaning my room, and filling a garbage bag with all the things i've kept, that are just garbage! which was good, but those hours will not be helping me on my finals. so today is all about studying, finishing an english project, and then relaxing!

i got a new picture in the mail of my compassion child, milagro, yesterday. she is growing up so fast on me! she also sent me a beautiful christmas card. it is amazing the way that god can totally open up doors and create a relationship, even between two people that are so different that you would never imagine us being friends. but god has torn down boulders, and i am loving seeing our relationship grow. milagro is now 7, and lives in El Salvador. AND, how could i forget?!? her baby brother is almost here! she is so excited to get to see him, she cannot stop talking about him!

more later... happy new years eve!

christmas 08!

we had a wonderful christmas... happy birthday jesus!
we were with all of our family, and had christmas morning at both grandparent's houses, and god was good and provided abundantly. it was warm here, and we went for golf-cart rides, and played around... and all had christmas dinner together at my mom's parents house. it was a wonderful day... hope you all had a great day with your families. i will post some pictures when i get home and can plug my digital camera in! i talked with all my friend's from back home, through some texting and phone calls! so it was a grand day.

we ended up not seeing miss mary earlier this week, and will now be seeing her on saturday. she wasn't feeling up to it, so we are planning on seeing her on saturday for lunch. i just found out from my grandma that she had a stroke, and is barely moving now... it broke my heart to hear. i know my grandma didn't tell me earlier because she knew it would break my heart, but now i am just awaiting to see miss mary and see how she is doing. i'm praying that she has not lost hope, and that her heart is still as big and bright as it was before. i'll post more after our lunch.

now, one of the most exciting parts of my christmas was my dear friend ALLISON! Miss Allison began her travels to Cambodia on Christmas night. She helped build a school there, through a group run by United Nations called "For Each Other". She is the Ohio Delegate. Her mother, her, and four other delegates (I believe four..) will be traveling to Cambodia to see the opening of the school and meet the kids. It's a school for kids, by kids. It's a beautiful story. She is amazing! And I am so very excited to hear about how Jesus uses her while she's there. Please join me in praying for Allison, her mom, the other delegates, the kids and school, and their families. I will post more upon Allison's return.

now this part might sound weird... so bear with me. i think jesus is trying to talk to me through numbers. not just through any number... through a very specific number. 11. everywhere i look, i see an 11. especially with the clock. it's always "something:11" or "11:something" or the numbers will add to an 11. or someone will call me, and their phone number has an 11 in it. and it's getting more and more intense and almost impossible to ignore! it's so bizarre! and i have no idea what it means. any ideas? 11...

more later! merry christmas to you all!

florida!! and the gloerfelts!!!

so i am in florida! yes! it's warm here! when we left home on monday morning, it was 5 degrees outside. it was so cold that it almost hurt! (yes... that is possible!) but we are here! and that is so very exciting. my entire family will be here... so far it's my family, my mom's parents, my dad's parents, and my mom's brother... but my dad's brother and my cousin will get here tonight, and then my other cousin gets here on saturday! so we are just missing my uncle, aunt, and 1 cousin! otherwise, we are all here! (small family!) but it's always a hilarious and wacky time when we are all together. so i'm looking forward to it! and christmas is almost here! hard to believe...

i'm doing well... i had an EXCELLENT weekend! my dearly beloved GLOERFELTS were in town! yes!!! mel and i spent friday night talking and laughing, at max & ermas and the mall! she is soo funny. it was so good to see her! love you mel! and i got to pray with mel, laurent, and mel's mother! :o) very very exciting. then sunday night, was absolutely hilarious... i got to spend dinner with some of the funniest people i know! mel and megan (stone coe? hm... not sure!) we went to a Woh! for some chinese food. yummy... i've never laughed so hard. and i'm looking forward to more fun when i get back, before my dears have to return home!

i am having lunch today with my sister, grandma, and miss mary. miss mary is the sweetest old lady you've ever met... i've known her forever, she's one of my grandma's best friends, and everytime we come to visit, she has us over for lunch. the poor woman has had a rough couple of years; her husband passed away a while back and she recently lost her daughter to cancer. but she is a dear... so that's my plans for this afternoon. and then my cousin and uncle come in tonight.

the pain is about the same... the steroids are kicking in a little... which is helping. but i think i'm mostly feeling better because i'm distracted! my new year's resolution is that i grow closer to jesus and further from anything that distracts me from him. and that i get more comfortable with handing over everything to him, and trusting that he knows what he is doing and can be trusted, with everything. and that i am okay with the idea that by giving him total control and praying that he will bring me closer to him whatever it takes, that what may bring me closer to him may not be exactly what i want to do or go through... but knowing that he can be trusted amidst that. so, closer to jesus, further from distractions!

merry christmas to you all! i will post more later.

today's prayer

i've had 7 doctors appointments, since monday. it's been a really rough week, and i'm struggling and tired and weak tonight... and this is my prayer...

jesus, i thank you for tonight. i thank you for my health issues. lord, i know you have placed them in my life for a reason and for your glory. and so tonight, amidst my confusion, frustration, fear, worry, and broken, worn-down heart, i'm relying on you to get me through. and i am thanking you, for my pain, my struggles, all the bumps in my path, and my tears tonight. i want to thank you for the ways you are at work in my life, and the amazing extremes you've gone to, to get my attention. i want to thank you for the support system you've given me. and jesus, i will admit tonight that i am struggling. that i am weak. that i am tired and frail... and my body is sick. but i also will admit tonight that in my weakness i am finding your strength, and i am learning the new wonders of your mercy and grace. i give you my life, once again, tonight. i am not my own. i am yours. hold me, mold me, use me for your glory. i love you, daddy! no matter what. it's in the precious name of jesus i pray, amen.

all over but the shoutin'

live out your dreams and rise above circumstances, but never forget where you came from and the people who got you where you are.

this was what i decided was the theme of a memoir i recently read for english class. the novel, all over but the shoutin' was excellent. it's by rick braggs. and as i am working on the poster for the theme... i was thinking if i agree with what rick braggs life has portrayed. it sounds good... i mean, the words just fit when i put them on the page. i think we can flip them around, and they might work.

starting with the "live out your dreams"... maybe, we can. as long as our dreams are jesus' plan. i mean, once you fall in love with the King, then we want exactly what He wants. so my dreams are that jesus does exactly what He wants in and through my life. so i could live out my dreams, because they are for jesus to do exactly what He wants!

"rise above circumstances"... sure! look for the Light in the darkness. search out jesus in everything. see what He's up to in circumstances. rise above them, find glory, and direct it to Jesus.

"but never forget where you came from"... absolutely. never let your pride grow. always remember that we are all broken and weak, and He is at work in all of us. never forget that you are a sinner. don't let yourselve judge others, and put them "beneath" you. its when our hearts grow bitter and cold and judgemental that it becomes difficult for Christ to be exalted.

"and the people who got you where you are." one word- gratitude. don't give yourself the glory. give it to jesus. don't forget about all the people who got you where you are. the big impacters and the smaller ones. they all did it. say thank you. share the satisfaction. share the success. give the glory to god.

so go out there! go share the light! say, here i am god, send me!
check your heart. make sure it's in the right place.
then go...
live out your dreams and rise above circumstances, but never forget where you came from and the people who got you where you are.