arrived

hello everyone! i don´t have time to write a whole lot right now, but i wanted to put a post up and let you know that i have arrived in guadalajara, and the trip went very smoothly. the family i am staying with is very nice, and the mom actually teaches at the language school! we´ve had some good converstation so far, and i´ve enjoyed their two sons: jair aged 4 and josue aged 2. they are dang cute, that is for sure!

anyway, i am resting up and unpacking. i am trying to soak up the next couple of days of down time and really enjoy the rest time becuase i know things will pick up once classes begin on monday. please pray that this will be a rejuvenating time.

i´ll write more soon...thanks for your prayers!

Brave...

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
You're safe and sound and
Until now, it's where I've been

'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything
But it's been love, your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave, brave, brave

I am small
And I speak when I'm spoken to
But I am willing to risk it all
I say your name
Just your name and I'm ready to jump
Even ready to fall..

Why did I take this vow of compromise?
Why did I try to keep it all inside

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave, brave, brave

I've never known a fire that didn't begin with a flame
And every storm will start with just a drop of rain
But if you believe in me, that changes everything

So long
I'm gone

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me wanna be brave, I wanna be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave, brave, brave

BRAVE!

By Nicole Nordeman, from her album Brave

~~~~~~~~~

I love this song! There is just so much in it that makes me go YES! It hits the nail on the head on so many issues that I think we as Christians face daily, but so often we're just too afraid to take the fall or the leap and get out of the middle ground into the Promised Land. Thank you Nicole!

The Skinny...

Well, I leave ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! In fact, one week from right this minute, I'll be in the air between the US and Mexico! CRAZY!

This past weekend was my last real weekend in Fredericksburg. I'll be up in Stafford this Saturday night in order to be at church on Sunday, but that's it. So, last night (Monday), there was a get-together at my friend Jen's townhouse. My small group friends all came over, and we had great fun eating, laughing at the special few who got doused with water in unfortunate locations, and playing Scene It Squabble, a game I have heard so many things about but have never been fortunate enough to play with this group of folks. So, they arranged for us to play it last night. I enjoyed it! Can I just say that I LOVE my small group! I'm sad that they are no longer meeting together as such, but I'm so overjoyed that the Lord has built up those relationships and that we/they will still be hanging out as friends for much time to come!

Chip and Katy, Becky and Matt, Jen, Noelle, Bethany, and Madison!

I also got to have dinner with a very precious girlfriend of mine from work (pre-Mexico). This month actually makes it one whole year that we've been friends. We met while suffering through proposal work on our contract last year, and hit it off immediately. The Lord has just blown my socks off through knowing her. Every time we get together and talk I walk away with this incredible joy and excitement and this deeper and more profound amazement at who God is and just how amazing He is at work! Because every time we talk I'm given these massive glimpses into God actively at work, and it's always stupifying to behold! So, we had dinner last night. It was WONDERFUL! We have been missing each other and playing phone tag (or phone stalk) all summer; this was the first time we'd been successful in getting together, and we talke for about three hours. Then I had to head to Jen's for the good-bye get-together. But I got to see her again today when I went in to the office to terminate myself--aka, quite my job! HALLELUIAH! I'm so glad to be done with that STUPID BOAT! But while I was there I got to see all sorts of friends that I made while working there the last two years, and I drove away thanking the Lord for the relationships and people that He placed in my life as a result of that job. I certainly have no regrets from my time there, and I'm very thankful for it!

The rest of this week will be crazy busy: another dinner date tomorrow night in Fred before worship team practice. Friday I have a dentist appt in Fred in the morning and then will see another friend from college and meet her youngest child! Then Saturday night my family and I are having dinner in Fred (again) with a cousin and his wife, and I will then spend the night in Stafford so as to be at church bright and early. After church I'm heading straight home to continue packing and being with my family before flying out on Tuesday, Aug. 22. In the midst of all this traveling, there will be the purshasing of final needs, trial packing, figuring out what to do about the stuff that doesn't fit, lugging stuff to my grandmother's basement, final packing, final details, and finally saying goodbye to folks around here in Richmond. I'm not sure how it will all get done, but I am confident that it will, and that it will get done well.

Update on the fund-raising! PRAISE THE LORD! I'm somewhere around 75% of my goal! He has just been showering me with provision in this way. I finally let go of the reigns and it started pouring in, and even from folks who originally didn't think they'd be able to do monthly support! HOW INCREDIBLE IS OUR GOD! My funds went from 32% of my goal to 75% of my goal in TWO WEEKS! So, I am now at the "safe" point for my time in Guadalajara--meaning there will be no savings or whatnot, but at least all my bills will be paid. And if no more were to come in, I would be a little over the safe point for after my return to Cofradia! It is comforting to see on paper (and in the bank account) the provision for every need coming true! Thank you, Lord! My goal is still to reach the 100% mark. We have certainly gotten closer, but please continue to keep that in your prayers!

Folks are definitely being generous in the one-time gift department as well. I'm overwhelmed by the generosity being litterly lavished upone me! My needs are being met in ways I just didn't think possible, and so quickly too! So, thanks to all of my supporters, both monthly and one-time! You guys are amazing! I have so much to learn from you. Thank you!

Well, now I must sleep! Long week ahead!

it's coming!....

So, I leave in less than two weeks! I can't believe the time is coming so quickly! I keep getting more and more excited, and just can't wait to get back there!.....exciting things! Please pray!

Undeserving...

So...I've recently been overwhelmed by the amazing and undeserved goodness of God.....again! I don't know why I'm surprised, but I do find myself amazed by that...maybe because very often my experience of His goodness is accompanied by a deeper understanding of just how undeserving I really am which makes me aware that the gap between what He is and what I am is even wider than I originally thought and that His grace is even more amazing that I could have imagined...

I had it out with God last weekend, and much came out concerning my frustrations with trying to raise funds for getting back to Mexico. In an online conversation with my friend and mentor and fellow staff-member in Mexico, Faith, on Monday night (while at the wonderful Townhouse), I found myself trying to figure out why I got so truly angry with the Lord....I'm still not entirely sure, but I found myself summing it up to the Lord by saying, "It's just a lot, Lord. It's just way a lot." And in that moment, I heard Him respond,

"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." ~Matt 11:28-30

And I realized something....my frustrations in this stem from the fact that I come up against an obstacle and I do everything I can to tackle it. Then I get to the point where I need to step back and let God do his thing, but instead of leaving the burdens on His back where they belong, I pick them up and try to do it all myself. The result is I end up frustrated and disappointed and feeling defeated, and then I get mad at God for putting something in front of me that I simply am incapable of doing...DUH...THAT'S THE POINT, right?!

But I guess in my flesh I find it easier to pick up the burdens I think God is dropping the ball on than to concentrate on NOT picking them up and instead focus on walking step by step with him....learning to take steps the way He does...just like two oxen yoked together. If they don't walk in sync, then things go really badly for the poor farmer. But if they walk well together, then there are straight rows in the ground ready for planting and eventual harvest...and anyway, isn't the point of sanctification to walk more and more like Christ and in tune with Him??? It's not about the tasks, but how we approach them and how we interact with Him in those tasks.....

And when HE carries the burden and I simply walk with Him the way He does, then I find rest deep down inside and I get to watch Him be amazing and then share it with me....

...will I ever get that one right? One step at a time, I suppose...