Into the glorious unknown...

Is the World Race For You?

2011-11-16T16:05:00.012-06:00

So what about you? Do you think that you might be called to step out of your comfort zone? Do you think the Lord is calling you to minister to the orphan, widow, captive, etc., but you are unsure how to do that, or what that looks like? Maybe, just maybe you should be going on this trip too. Check out the following taken from their media kit (If you click on the images they will enlarge) and see if maybe the Lord is calling you to take this trip or one like it. Blessings!

Be Still and Know

2011-11-10T10:55:00.000-06:00

BE HERE NOW from blaine hogan on Vimeo.

Sexual Toll

2011-11-09T09:22:00.002-06:00

We pretend sex isn't something deeper than the physical. After all, TV tells us that we should be having sex with as many people as we can, love 'em and leave 'em. But the truth is God made sex so we could be intimate and intertwined with another person, one other person, our mate. It isn't just physical ties that happens during sex its soul ties as well. Sex was never meant to be purely physical, it is also a joining, or tieing together of souls whether you'd like to admit that or not. Our hyper-sexualized society has brought us nothing but sorrow, pain and baggage. It's about time we respected sex and treated it as something sacred and beautiful, but recognize that when it is taken out if the context it was meant for it can be destructive and dangerous.

Watch this. This is some good truth right here:

Power in the Name of Jesus to Break Every Chain

2011-10-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

The Lord is raising up an army to go out and set the captives free and heal the broken hearted. Through the power of Jesus' name they will break every chain. It's not a hope, it's a promise, it's prophetic. Walk in this truth, break chains, heal broken hearts, set the captives free. Freedom Lord!

Shrek is that you?

2011-10-06T13:21:00.013-05:00

Oh I love God's sense of humor. Did you know that he the funniest practical joker, ever? Well he is and I know that I have been involved or at the center of some of those jokes and all I can do is laugh. Here is a story of one of those "practical jokes".

It all started about a year ago when I was training for my first 5K and had my Zune (for those unfamiliar, this is the Microsoft version of the iPod) working overtime. Every time I would go for a run I would put my player on shuffle to experience some music I hadn't heard for awhile in the far reaches of my library. One such day I was in my cool down walking back to my house when I heard a man's voice with a heavy Irish, or was it Scottish accent come through my ear buds. My first thought was "why is Shrek on my Zune", I immediately looked at my player to find out who this was and found I was listening to some guy named Graham Cooke. I was perplexed since I had no clue who he was and how he got on my Zune. I assumed that someone must have given me a bunch of his sermons/meditations and I unknowingly downloaded them onto my Zune. Regardless of how he got there I was blessed through his words that day and really enjoyed the truth he was speaking into me. Since that first day I have tried to figure out how he got on my Zune I tried tracking down free pod casts from Graham at my usual haunts but come up empty handed. I've asked people I suspect would have given me his sermons/Way of the Warrior, and they aren't even familiar with him. If you gave this to me do me a favor and don't tell me, I like the mystery, and the inside joke between me and the Father, well and you now too. The other funny thing is I cannot even find Graham Cooke on my Zune when I go to artist look up, and I've noticed that when he does come on, the artist and the song are obscure names, different every time. Hahaha! Crazy, and every time all I can do is laugh.

I had no idea then what the Lord would teach me through Graham Cooke and where he would bring me because of a man I've never met. This past year it seemed every time I put my player on shuffle Graham Cooke had something to say, and he had a word that was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment it was delivered. He has a series (that I apparently have) called Way of the Warrior. It's a collection of meditations, exhortations and prophetic words that he speaks out over the listener. This particular series has been affecting for me and I find myself repeating the tracks several times allowing the words to sink in and their meaning to go down deep. This dude is intense, spirit filled and gifted with prophetic words. Graham is big into identity, our identity in Christ, our unique identities. This is significant, because this past year God has been sealing my unique identity in Him. He has been refining my perception of how He has created me to become more like His perception of who I am to Him. Actually his sermon on identity is the only one I can find without fail on my player. I think God knew I would need to reference this sermon several times. Here are a couple points I really appreciated:

When you know who you are then you know how you're supposed to live, both within yourself and towards the people around you.

What you think about Jesus is the most important thing in the world.

True identity is who we are on earth and how we are known in heaven. (personality (who we are on earth (shaped by upbringing, learned behavior), persona how we are known in heaven) Your persona known in heaven must be established on earth, it's who you are in the Kingdom. Your persona is an expression of God's image, it's the place of your acceptance, its the place where you are beloved and favored. It's how you are perceived perpetually in God and it becomes your adopted roll on earth.

Your persona gives you legal authority over the enemy. Quit swanning around in the shallows and get into deep water because that's where your persona says you're supposed to be.

When God shows up in our life and he calls us to a specific task he is introducing us to our persona as He defines it and that persona gives us and elevated status in the situation where we find ourselves.

God loves your true identity, He loves to tell you who you are. When he introduces you to your true self he then relates to you in that way, always. From that time on he will only relate to your persona not your personality.

Our personality is never equal to the task that you are called to. God hasn't called you to do something that is possible, reasonable or obtainable. The calling of God always makes you feel at odds with yourself (personality). You can carry on whining about your task, and you can make up all the lists of reasons why you can't do it and God needs to pick someone else, but all the things you think disqualify you do the opposite.

Once God reveals to you your identity, your persona he will talk to you that way for the rest of your life. WE have some alignment to do. We have to embrace in full the persona of God, otherwise we will do nothing.

That's some good revelation right there. After almost a year of Graham Cooke's thoughts, words of revelation, and meditations, I decided that I wanted to hear him live. I thought to myself surely he will be coming through MN sometime, so I googled Graham Cooke+Minneapolis. Turns out he was here last spring for a conference and I'm not sure when he will be back, but there was a result for a book study, so I clicked on it. The book study was on Graham's book "Approaching the heart of prophecy" so I emailed and joined the group on a whim.

The first night of the study I went to this lady's apartment not really knowing what to expect. I didn't know these people, I had never met them, but I did know Graham Cooke (well sort of) and I was eager to read his thoughts and insight into prophecy and see what the Lord had for me. This was becoming a scavenger hunt and the key word seemed to be Graham Cooke. I was the second youngest woman there and as I sat there listening to the other women introduce themselves and share their hearts I felt right at home. I love that, the community that we have instantly with other believers. After that first night I was able to chat with the 2 leaders a mother and a daughter, and we found out that I actually went to high school with the daughter. Small world eh? I also got to share with them a little about my upcoming trip with the World Race, and they were very encouraging. In fact 2 weeks later (the next time we met) the mother of the duo wrote me a letter with some unknowing prophetic and strategic prayer. We each drew a name of someone else in the group before we left that night, to pray for and ask the Lord to reveal any words he might have for them. She had my name and her prayers for me we spot on. I love how God uses his church to edify one another and encourage one another and intercede for one another. It's incredible.

It's only been about a month now and we've only gotten a couple chapters into the book but God is already using this group and Graham Cooke once more to grow my faith and grow me in the prophetic.

Graham Cooke isn't the point of this past year, he was and is only the messenger and a strategic mouth piece for the Lord in my life. The Lord had his agenda with me and Graham Cooke was an unknowing player in His plan to teach me some pretty amazing things. So thanks Graham Cooke for allowing the Lord to speak through you, and God thanks for the laughs. Keep 'em coming. I can't wait to see what you have in store for me next!

Jesus You're Beautiful

2011-09-16T11:36:00.004-05:00

Last year at onething Jon Thurlow sang this song and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Recently I've been meditating on it and thought I would share the powerful words with you all. SOAK IT UP!

I know your love is written on my heart and there is not a flood that could quench this love. Jesus you are indeed BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! FAITHFUL! FAITHFUL!

Here We Go Again!

2011-09-13T10:08:00.003-05:00

Ok. I think I'm finally ready to share with you all what has been happening these past few months. This is a big step and one that I am so happy to be getting out in the open and making official.

Let me first share with you a little of the journey that God has taken me on this past year. God is good and God is faithful and even when we don't feel Him and don't think we see Him moving and working, he is there by our side, before us, and behind us guiding and directing our footsteps. This past year has been one quite frankly of frustration, and to be honest I'm just at the beginnings of seeing the blessings of this past year. I am at the beginnings of seeing His pattern and design through the stretching, and through the refining of His lessons, His revelation. Praise God!

God has given me a holy discontent with human trafficking as you might well know already, and when I felt the Lord leading me back to Minnesota after MTS last year I dove right into the anti-trafficking movement here in the Twin Cities, or at least tried to. God has blessed me with great opportunities with some great organizations here, but nothing seemed to pan out no matter how hard I pursued or persisted. It seemed that there was door after door closed on me, and to be honest I kind of got used to dead ends.

This past spring I was meditating on the fact that no matter how much I networked, Minnesota seemed to be a closed door for me, and that it was time for me to move on. Around this time I received an email from a girl I had been in contact with at Adventures in Missions World Race, it wasn't even a personal email it was just a mass email to, I would guess an email list. But it was enough to get me to say "oh yeah, I wonder what routes are going out this year", and look at the website. A little background here: I had checked out the World Race last summer becuase they were doing a human trafficking edition of their trip, but as much as I wanted to go I felt the Lord clearly say "wait" so I did.

Anyway, so I looked at the race routes and something in me said, "yes, this is it". The countries one particular route was going to were countries that I have been thinking about, praying for and wondering if I could possibly make a home there. So I filled out an application completely expecting the door to close like all the other times, but this time the doors flung wide open. There were some particular circumstances that I thought would be a deal breaker, but God made a way where there seemed to be no way! Now I am walking through those doors and its a little terrifying if I were completely honest, but I am learning to trust in God's provision and rest in his will. I know that God will provide the $15,000 and I know that he will provide the strength and I know that he will be with me every step of the way, and there with me to face each new day.

I'm calling this a scouting trip. This is a trip to see what the Lord has for me and to see if I "fit" into one place better than all the rest. I am excited to see the Lord narrow down my passion for anti-human trafficking and see how he has created me uniquely to fight this injustice for His glory. I am ready to experience all that he has for me! GLORY!

The World Race is an 11 month trip to 11 countries, so basically we will be staying in each country for a month and do various types of ministry working with other ministries and contacts in these countries. The types of ministry will be anything from teaching english, VBS, community development, etc. Once I know more about when I leave (sometime in january) and where we will be going at what time I will be sure to blog that information. The countries I will more than likely be going to are listed in the last blogpost (Wanderlust for Jesus).

I really need and desire your support. I need a team of people to surround me with their prayers as I go on this adventure. If you are willing to commit to pray for me while I am on this trip I would be very grateful, and I would also like to pray for you all while I'm preparing and traveling so please send me your requests as well!

Also, I must raise $15,000 in order to go on the World Race, which covers all of my expenses on the field. If you are interested, or are lead to support me financially in this next step, the financial support can be given as a one-time gift or as monthly donation, wherein you choose the amount and beginning and end date. If 50 people pledge $25 a month for 12 months, I would have 100 percent of the funds necessary for my trip.

If you would prefer to make your donation online, you may do so by visiting my blog site at : http://leahjohnson.theworldrace.org/. Just click the “Support Me” link in the upper left side of the page and complete your donation as instructed. This will be the blog I update on a regular basis while on the trip.

If you would prefer to send your support, please make checks payable to Adventures In Missions with a note allocating the funds to Leah Johnson, and send to Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA,30353-4470.

Wanderlust For Jesus

2011-09-07T16:32:00.013-05:00

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

2011-09-02T13:27:00.001-05:00

It's finally done!! Check out the trailer below:

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls Official Trailer from Exodus Cry on Vimeo.

There's a Chupacabra in my backyard?

2011-08-18T12:36:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I had never even heard of this mysterious creature called a "chupacabra" until I lived in Mexico, but now it seems like every other day there is a headline on my AOL homepage about this mythical creature. This thing is probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen, but it never seems to look the same when I pull up the picture. Maybe the creature varies in appearance across the regions it's found? Strange. However, I recently came across a report and picture of one that was found here in Minnesota and I have to say its probably the ugliest of all the chupacabras I have seen. Well Minnesota I guess we drew the short end of the stick when it comes to chupacabra species.

When There's a Burning in Your Heart...

2011-07-25T10:33:00.004-05:00

When there's a burning in your heart, an endless yearning in your heart.
Build it bigger than the sun. Let it grow, let it grow.

When there's a burning in your heart don't be alarmed
When there's a doubt in your mind, and you're thinking all the time. Framing rights into wrongs. Move along, move along.

When there's a burning in your heart, and you think it'll burst apart. Oh there's nothing to fear. Save the tears, save the tears.

And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born then it's time to go and define your destination. There's so many different places to call home.

God gives each of us a burning in our hearts. He gives each of us a passion first for Him and second for our neighbor. When we are not satisfying these passions, when we aren't feeding those yearnings we will always feel that we are missing something in our lives. We will have a burning in our hearts that will consume us if we don't let them out and express them.

God desires that we stoke that fire, that burning, that passion, to grow it, to feed it, to let it out and allow it to blaze. Once we have established our passion for God and allowed that fire to burn and blaze the Lord speaks our passion for our neighbor into our hearts. He starts the fire for our neighbor and once he does he expects us to stoke that fire as well and allow that passion to burn in our hearts. For some that passion may be for the orphaned, for others it may be for the outcast, and still for others it may be the leper. It looks different for each of us, because we were each uniquely created to minister to our neighbor. Once we recognize this our hearts are burdened for our neighbor, and they feel like they might burst for all the passion we have and for the sorrow we feel, but there is nothing to fear because the first passion, our relationship with the Lord, will save us and will sustain us.

It is inevitable that once we have our passion spoken into our lives Satan will immediately try to plant doubt and anxiety about the task we are called to. Many try to ignore the passion because of this and try to live "normal" lives in denial of who they really are, but in the end we cannot. Sometimes for some of us like the song says we will feel like tourists in the city we were born because we weren't meant to remain in our hometown. Sometimes we must step out of the boat and into the inheritance we were called to in order to receive blessing and resources. We are always called to take risks.

When there's a burning in your heart, don't ignore it, instead foster it, grow it and explore it to bring glory to the Lord. Step out into the inheritance for which he has called you.

Simply Be With Me

2011-05-28T11:26:00.003-05:00

Love on Me a little longer. This moment is too sweet. You don't have to do a thing. Simply be with me. Because I'm in love with you.

My heart aches when I hear these lyrics, because I can hear Jesus' heart cry in my own heart when I hear them. The truth is the sweet moments are few and far between for me these days and I always have good intentions to sit and be still but something always comes up, or I create things to come up to get in between Him and I. The truth is though that I'm the one who misses out. The truth is that when I'm not in his presence I'm the version of myself I detest the most. The truth is those sweet moments are more than just being still, they are precious moments of Jesus revealing more of himself to me, they are the moments when the lines between Him and I blur and the Jesus in me increases and sinful nature Leah decreases.

This song is something that God is using right now to pull me back into his presence and fill me with desire to be with him and have sweet moments in our secret place. I share this in hopes that you too will begin to have stirrings within your heart and soul to desire His presence above all else this world has to distract. Lord this is my hope and prayer. Fill me with desire for you.

Demand Change Project

2011-04-19T10:09:00.011-05:00

I have been working these past few months with 2 great organizations to put on a fantastic historic event: Demand Change Project. I respect MATTOO and Breaking Free for the way they are blazing new trails in abolishing human trafficking.

MATTOO which stands for Men Against The Trafficking Of Others, is an organization that is monumental and hitting this issue where it will damage it the most: the demand. I know that may sound harsh, but to be honest men comprise the majority of those who are driving the demand. MATTOO is educating, sounding the alarm and rallying men to come together and come against this issue. They are asking men to step out and promise not to agree with sex trafficking or human trafficking on any level. This means not participating on any level from pornography, which is a gateway activity, all the way to purchasing a woman for sex. I am blown away by their work and I am so grateful for them and for the men who are taking a stand. Bravo to you.

Breaking Free. I can't say enough about this organization, they are so committed to those who society turns their backs on. They love those who are the broken, the bitter, the numb, ...the prostituted. They know most of these women and children do not choose to do the activities they are doing. They know these women are slaves to those who "own" them, they know that these women and children don't have a voice to speak up about what is happening to them. They are their advocates and arms that hold them loveingly when no one else will.

Anyway, these two organizations have come together to put on a "never-been-done-before" event here in St.Paul Minnesota, May 13-14. The first annual Demand Change Project is a groundbreaking event for the purpose of educating and engaging men to decrease the demand for commercial sex and unite the women’s and men’s anti-human trafficking movements, to come together as a united front against the selling of human beings.

The weekend will include an Abolitionist Seminar (where Melissa Farley will be speaking), a VIP launch party with leading national and international abolitionists, panel discussions with survivors and public officials/law enforcement, a men’s march/walk at the Capital with MATTOO, a women’s marketplace and rally to greet the men on the march, and for the finale – the Breaking Free Benefit Victory Concert with Nicole C. Mullen.

Watch the video for more information.

Or visit the wesite: http://www.demandchangeproject.org/home.html

Minnesoootah Girl

2011-03-28T09:17:00.017-06:00

Even though I sometimes feel that my Minnesotan heritage was wasted on me, and that I was created for warm temperature climates and sun washed lands, at the heart of me I am a Minnesota girl. This is a silly post I realize, but recently I've been waxing nostalgic about my home state and the childhood memories I've been blessed with here. So here are some reasons, in no certain order, why I am a Minnesota girl through and through.

As a U of M alumni, I will always be a Golden Gopher. Ski-U-Mah!

I will always have a weakness for hockey players and men in plaid flannel wielding an ax

The smell of campfire and pine on a warm breeze off the lake, or on a cool wind in mid December will forever be one of my favorite scents.

The eerie call of the loon from across the lake as the sun sinks low in the sky.

The brilliant and surreal phenomenon of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis)

"The North Shore" will always be for me a unique oasis of memories, and delightful exploration of Lake Superior.

Camping in the north woods, huddled under blankets and hooded sweatshirts next to the campfire while listening to stories of summers past and plans for tomorrow to a soundtrack of owls, coyotes and crickets.

The Boundary Waters. A place of pure wilderness where your child's heart can once again be revived and your dream of adventure and discovery become realities as you step back in time and paddle and hike your way through a vast forest and chain of lakes.

The story of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe will always bring a smile to my face.

Nordic skiing on a moon-lit trail

Sitting on the dock at a north woods cabin watching a summer storm roll in over the lake

Finding an isolated lake with waters as stills as glass, half expecting to see a moose wade in for a lazy soak.

Snow angels in my bathing suit, with a hot tub close at hand.

Uptown lakes. rollerblading, food discovery, and coffee sipping.

Hockey games

The Mississippi (I can't count how many times while crossing the famous river I've spelled that word forwards and backwards) :)

Potlucks

Paddling of any kind (canoe, kayak, etc.)

The endless system of bike trails through downtown Minneapolis, over the river, through the leafy neighborhoods, around the lakes and into the forest.

A summer afternoon next to the lake, shades on magazine open and a friend to chat with.

Hotdish

I can't say that snow and I have a love love relationship, but I cannot deny the beauty of a freshly fallen snow, or the peace of a snowfall especially at night. It seems the whole world is muffled as the white flakes drift daintily down. In the morning the whole world is transformed.

Boat rides on the lake, maybe a little tubing, and for those that are more coordinated than me: water skiing.

Fall in Minnesota is the best, hands down. If you are thinking of coming for a visit you definitely should stop over at the end of September beginning of October. The world is transformed into brilliant reds, golds, oranges and yellows.

The Minnesota State Fair. 12 days of bliss, eating anything you could desire on a stick, watching the Princess Kay of the Milky Way's likeness be carved into butter, the barns, the art, the shows, the preserves, the rickety rides, and the grease! My mouth is watering just typing this.

The Holidazle Parade. A night parade in the middle of November/December comprised of thousands of lights. Yes its cold, but totally worth it!

St. Paul Winter Carnival. Yep a carnival in the middle of winter, its great.

Aquatennial. Minneapolis' summer celebration.

Seeing a black bear with her cub in the wild and the hope that someday I will see my moose in the wild. Really, seeing any animal roaming free in the woods, is a real joy.

The miles and miles of hiking trails, next to rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and through the tall trees.

My family history.

My family, my friends, Faith Baptist Church.

Freedom Weekend at Faith

2011-03-08T08:35:00.010-06:00

Faith Baptist Church

Would like to invite you to participate in "Freedom Weekend". Please see the below flyer for more details.

**Please click on the image to see it larger and once larger click on image again to make the script clear.

Freedom Sunday - March 13

2011-02-25T09:28:00.001-06:00

www.freedomsunday.org

Freedom Sunday 2011 Not For Sale from Not For Sale Campaign on Vimeo.

Injustice, Shut Your Mouth

2011-02-25T09:24:00.003-06:00

Recently, I've been busy preparing for Freedom Sunday with a team at my church, and I as I look over the research again, at the facts, and the stories of human trafficking I am hit anew with the anguish and disbelief of the reality these people face. Indignation once again rises up inside of me and I feel like screaming, I feel like yelling "INJUSTICE" at the top of my lungs. I want to grab every woman, man and teenager and tell them the horrific facts. I want every breath to proclaim justice for these oppressed. I feel anxious with every passing moment knowing it means another life taken. I want to pull every woman and girl I pass on the street who is selling herself into my car and into safety. I want to go to Cambodia and snatch every woman and child from the wicked brothels. I want to stick my finger in the devils face and say "Shame on YOU!".

Right now as I sit watching, and reading, I feel overwhelmed, and powerless. All I can do is cry, and all I can to is rage at the one who is causing this all to happen. I am not powerless though, I can pray. Prayer, a mighty weapon. For we are promised when we as children of the Most High approach His throne we can do so with freedom and confidence and have faith that when we ask the Father to break the chains of injustice he is willing and hears our pleas.

I thank the Holy Spirit that he is raising up people to fight injustice. I thank the Lord that His heart is for the oppressed, for the needy, and for the orphaned. I thank the Lord that there is hope in a hopeless situation because he is the God of restoration and his will is for restoration. I thank the Lord that because of events like Freedom Sunday the ugly dark truth is being told and light is being shed. I thank the Lord that because of events that speak the truth more people are appalled at the injustices of this world and are called to action. I thank the Lord that because of His great love we are not consumed by the wickedness of this world.

Praise God for His Truth that even though the devil rages around us, He has the victory, and because we are called His we have the victory too. Praise God for the truth that injustice has to SHUT HER MOUTH at the sound of His Great Name, Jesus!

Love146

2011-02-24T15:55:00.006-06:00

love146.org
No, we are NOT satisfied with injustice.

I Was Created For This

2011-02-23T22:03:00.006-06:00

I was created Unique. In. His. Heart.

During one of the preparation meetings for the first missions trip I went on, we were asked to fill out a section that asked about our gifts and talents and how they would contribute to the trip. I was stumped. I didn't have any special gifts or talents that I knew of. Filling out that form I started seriously doubting my purpose on that trip. Praise God I went, because that trip changed my life. It changed everything, becuase from that trip to today God has been revealing his creation, ME.

I love it when God lets me in on a part of how he created me. Silly as that sounds I didn't know and still don't fully know who I am. How amazing it was the first time I felt passion for a cause and indignation at injustice. The first time I had the "I was created for this" feeling. As I grow in understanding about Him I understand more of how I was created to respond to Him. Oh how beautiful that sweet spot is. When I use the gifts and talents he has given me to bring him glory I taste a little heaven.

I'm not a fantastic artist, musician, speaker, doctor, nurse, or teacher. My gifts and talents don't fall into such generic categories and I love that. I cannot describe to you what they are because I don't have the words. But I do know that when I love him the way I was created, I feel like He has bestowed upon me the best, most lavish of gifts.

For so many years I've sold myself short, I have neglected to love who He has created me to be. For so many years I hated that I didn't have such obvious talents and lusted after other's gifts and talents. I didn't understand then and even have days of struggle to comprehend now what a work of art I am. I love the way I am created, and every day I have to battle to remember that truth as the lies of this world try to tear me down. When I do get glimpses into the creation I am and how I fit into His heart perfectly and uniquely I feel joy unspeakable.

The body of Christ has many parts, and each part is beautiful and valuable in its own way. Dear brother and Sister you are a beautiful, magnificent work of the King! Walk confidently in your uniqueness, the beauty he has created you to be.

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:13-31

I've Got a Feelin'

2011-02-22T16:43:00.002-06:00

I know this feeling well. The one that bids me to drop it all and step into the unknown. The beginnings of restlessness. When it starts I always struggle with knowing if its God pushing me or my inner desires tugging me away from exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'm still in that struggle but I have to say its one that I enjoy (most of the time), because with every situation I learn more about my Father and I learn more about the way He is moving in my life.

Waiting. I am not a naturally patient person, I want what I want when I want it. Naturally I can't see the big picture, I guess I see what I want to see. It's crazy to look back on my life and see where the Lord has taken me, none of this was in my plan. My plan was to graduate from college and immediately start a grad program. Since my sophomore year in college I had my grad thesis planned out (honestly I don't remember half the details anymore, I guess it wasn't as important as I thought) and I was going to have my PHD before I turned 30. I would have my own practice and teach classes at a prestigious college somewhere, and at some point after 30 get married. That was my ideal. That was important to me. I still love school and learning, but its importance in my life has diminished. I now see that isn't the life God had intended for me. I don't see anything in that life that resembles who God has created me to be. And even though I'm in a place of waiting I'm so glad that I decided to take a step of faith and go on an adventure, the adventure of going to depths with the Lord and discovering the great mysteries and the great love that he has for me.

This time of waiting hasn't been easy. I can't count the times I've been tempted to hop on a plane and join up with the nearest ministry. The only thing that holds me here in this ordinary obedience is faith in a loving Heavenly Father. Faith that God honors obedience and patience with good things, the best things, His best for me. Obedience and patience in the day to day hurts. The growing done here in the dark moments of denial, refusal and realization of who I am at the core is unpleasant. Oh but the end result is the most beautiful, and that promise is what I cling to at the end of the day.

God's promises are good, always. He never forgets what he has spoken into our lives, what he has promised. He doesn't forget how he has created us, he doesn't forget the desires he placed in our hearts. He just wants to be with us, he just wants to perfect so that we can enjoy his creation that much more. In His way, and in His time He will make good on those promises. Just don't be surprised when they look different than you expected. I mean you do remember the story of Jesus' coming right?

Be Patient. Wait.

"God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6

Yours

2011-02-21T15:32:00.005-06:00

When I am anxious and can't see your promises.

When lies seem more real than Truth.

When I need to just catch my breath.

When I'm weary of the daily grind.

When I'm ready to give up obedience in the ordinary.

When the sobs of this life shake me to the core and face to the ground I have nothing I can say.

When the troubles and injustices of this world cause me to dispair.

When I feel like screaming my anguished horror at the top of my lungs.

You quietly call me.

You wisper to me, with longing in your voice you woo me, you remind me.

You gently scoop me into your arms, and I rest listening to your heart.

I remember who I am. Hope wells and Joy abounds.

I am yours. I am yours. I am yours.

Goodbye My Sweet Baby Girls

2011-02-10T09:27:00.005-06:00

Last night I said goodbye to two of the sweetest baby girls. For the past 7 months I watched them grow and change into 2 girls with distinct personalities and temperaments. I loved seeing them change from frankly 2 blobs of skin (mind you cute blobs) into 2 little people who are very different and sweet in their own ways. I went from not being able to tell them apart to being so familiar that it was hard for me to understand when others couldn't. I cheered for them as they reached new milestones in their young lives, and loved and cuddled them every chance I got.

For those of you that don't know the story, my sister and brother in law have been foster parents to twin girls. When they got them they were preemies and were probably the tiniest babies I've ever seen. You know those dolls that are in the toy stores that are called preemie dolls? The ones that look normal sized when a 3 year old holds them? That is exactly the way these two looked, they looked like dolls. It was unreal that a person could be that little. I remember holding them for the first time and feeling like I was holding the most fragile being in the world and that if I moved the child would break in my arms. Slowly my sister convinced me that I wasn't going to break them and they were just like any other newborn just a little smaller. I love my sister for that. I love her patience and guidance and her knowledge about babies. I love that God has given her an innate ability to sense and know a child's need. She truly amazes me. Those babies are lucky to have had her and her family these past 7 months, I only wish that they would remember her, but the reality is that they are very little and won't remember the love and care that was given to them at such a critical time in their lives.

Taking care of preemie twins is a tough, round-the-clock job. When they first arrived they needed to be fed every 2 hours around the clock. I'm not sure how my sister and brother-in-law accomplished this and functioned regularly but I'm pretty sure you won't argue when I say that it was an incredible feat. Luckily C&C (the babies) are really good babies and again very sweet temperaments, however that being so, babies are demanding creatures and rightly so. Who wants to sit in their own waste for any length of time? Who wants to lay on the ground staring at the same thing for minutes on end? Who wants an empty belly? I know I'm stating the obvious here, but I am amazed at any mother really. Babies are a LOT of work, and thank goodness they are such a joy and so cute, otherwise I'm pretty sure babies would be scarce. Times all that work by two, add in the foster care system, 2 school age children and a job and holy-time commitment batman! Seriously, my sister is super mom. My brother-in-law super dad. I'm not sure how they had time for anything else!

It's also been a joy to watch my niece and nephew with the girls. My niece especially has turned into quite the little mother. She seems so grown up when she is around the babies and spews out baby knowledge that I'm sure is half passed through her genes from her mother and half taught by her mother. She loves on those babies as if they are her own sisters and it breaks my heart a little when I think about C&C leaving their "older sister". I pray that God heals her little heart that will surely be broken to some degree when they leave, and that she will be able to continue to love them from afar. It's hard for a 5 year old to understand such grown up things and I can only pray that God will be her comforter and protector.

For me, I have guarded my heart on the subject until about 2 weeks ago. From the start I knew there was a chance that these girls would leave our lives soon and I think subconsciously I decided that I would guard my heart, letting them into the parts I decided. I loved the girls truly, but up until 2 weeks ago I only loved them as I love all the children at our church. I couldn't allow myself to love them as my nieces, it would be too painful when they left. Then for some reason 2 weeks ago I realized and had confidence in the fact that they were ours. I really believed that they would be with us, as a part of our family, forever and I let down my defenses slowly. Unfortunately this isn't how the story ends and tomorrow they will leave the C family, but I'm not regretful that I let them into my heart and I think to some extent I will always think of them as my nieces. I am grateful that God has been gracious and while I'm sad they are going, I'm ok with it and my heart will be ok. I will pray for them as they grow and think about them often and I will love them always.

I'm so very proud of my sister, and I'm so very lucky to have watched as she ministered to those babies, to their mother and other members of their family and to the case workers involved. She has been a light to all she has encountered and a testimony of God's love. Love you Shell.

We love you C&C. Always.

A New Year. A Fresh Start.

2011-01-12T11:01:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

I trust this post is finding you well in the new year. Ready or not 2011 is upon us and tugging at us to get going. There is something refreshing about a new year, its a chance to start over, and to become a better version of ourselves. I appreciate this photo, I think it speaks volumes about not only what new years' are about but more than that what Christ Jesus does for each one of us when we start walking in his footsteps. Gone, erased, is the old and in its place is the new and clean.

Living in a place that seems to incessantly snow its hard to escape the illustration of Jesus washing us white as snow. As much as its a bother I can't help but see the beauty of a freshly fallen snow. Snow makes an ugly world shine and sparkle, it covers over a multitude of ugly things and makes them into something incredible, beautiful. Unfortunately, like us when the sludge that is underneath gets brought to the surface and the snow is surrounded by cars that kick up dirt the snow becomes brown and grey. Our hearts, minds and souls are just like this. As long as we guard them and work at hedging ourselves in, in His presence, we remain pure, and holy. Purity and holiness don't just happen, its something that we contend for, that we work at and are intentional about. It comes with remaining in His presence, drinking from the River of Life, grounding ourselves in Truth and not settling for anything less than what we know the Lord asks from us. Its when we let down our guard and take our eyes off Jesus that the purity and holiness are compromised. Praise God that even when we do take our eyes off Him he is willing and ready to forgive us as soon as we run back to Him. So then let us run hard after the One who ravishes our souls and Loves beyond what we deserve!

I feel very strongly that 2011 is a year of New Beginnings. He truly makes all things new!

I pray that this year is a year of New Beginnings in my relationship with the Lord. I want new heights and new depths with and in Him. I want a new place of brokenness for the world and for myself. I want New ears, New eyes, a New heart, New hands, and New feet. Not physical ones, but spiritual ones.

For this new year I have great expectations for what the Lord is going to do. But I won't be surprised when He does the unexpected, and I won't be surprised when His "great things" look different than mine. But I will REJOICE in it!

I pray that God blesses you immensely in the upcoming year and that you encounter his son Jesus in a powerful life-changing way. Happy New Year!

A Day of Awareness: Child Trafficking

2011-01-11T15:05:00.010-06:00

I invite you to read the story of child trafficking. Please click on the images to see and read them more clearly. (Resource: http://love146.org/slavery)
**Please be advised the following contains mature material that may not be appropriate for children.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

2011-01-11T13:27:00.007-06:00

"Slavery is more affordable, more widespread and more entrenched in 2011 than it was in ancient Rome or the antebellum South of America. Modern-day slaves, also called human trafficking victims, can be male or female, from any country or representing any ethnicity." ~Change.org~

In the United States, human trafficking victims are forced to work in the sex trade, as domestic servants, on farms and in factories. They are your neighbors. They are the girls on the street, wrongfully called "prostitutes", that so many of us turn our heads away from as we walk on by. They are the "illegal immigrants" that people seem to look at with disdain, working 16-18 hour days in sweatshops down the street, or next door to our houses. Turns out "made in the USA" doesn't always mean sweat shop free. Look Beneath the Surface.

Watch this stunning video from an organization called Not For Sale.

Today I ask that you pray for those that are oppressed. Pray for those that are enslaved. Pray for the END of slavery and oppression in our world. I ask that you be a part of the solution and educate yourself on this issue and inform those that are around you. We have to END the DEMAND.

MINNESOTA

2010-12-20T13:56:00.004-06:00

Today's post is brought to you by "snow".

Oh living in the land of frozen tundra. The cold is what brings out the creativity in us Minnesotans. Some of our best thoughts are born out of frustration, and frost bite. The Minnesotan has a love hate relationship with their state, that keeps them here but wondering why. I have compiled a couple songs that were born out of this mentality.

A country lament about snow:

Like hip-hop? Say: Shhhhh

Out of desperation to move out of MN came this brilliance:

I guess you could say my own quest for "why", why there are people living in a land that is fit for polar bears and penguins, led to this post. Have a great day! If you live in Minnesota safe travels today and good luck on the snowy streets.

Out of the Dust

2010-12-16T09:46:00.003-06:00

Here are two songs I'm loving right now.

"Here with Me Now" by Laura Hackett

I love the the words:
"Don't give up on me now cuz I'm scared and I need you strong when I'm weak hold on and believe in me. When my heart just can't figure out what it wants please give me a reason to trust you'll still fight for me."

How often I find myself crying out these words to the Lord. Most of the time I can't figure myself out and become anxious for the things he has promised me. How often I end up striving, trying to figure things out on my own and end up a heap on the floor weaker than I started my strength used up. Thats usually when shame comes to devour what is left, shame that I wasn't strong enough to constantly trust and lean on Him. To rest in Him. Shame that I failed the good christian life. Shame that anxiety, annoyance, complacency, confusion, numbness and exhaustion exist in my life. Those are the times I relate to the above words. Those are the times I need to be reminded that He is my strength, that He still sees potential in me and believes in me. I want to hear that he hasn't given up on this broken life. I need to be filled with the truth that He is my champion. Then I remember that no matter my circumstance I am His beloved and that is enough, that is EVERYTHING and 'just knowing that he's here with me, changes everything.'

"Beautiful Things" by: Gungor

You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things out of us
You make me new
You are making me new

How amazing is it that the Lord is so Big, so Creative, so Graceful, so Merciful, so Forgiving, so Patient, so Loving that he takes our brokenness and makes something new, beautiful, fragrant and useful to bring Him GLORY. Praise God! Thank you Jesus!

Turkey Day 5K (AKA: Turkey Trot)

2010-12-01T13:43:00.017-06:00

Hello to all of you out there, its been awhile. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I recently completed my first 5K ever. I would have blogged about my running journey earlier but wasn't sure how successful I would be so decided to hold off until I had successfully completed the run. For those of you who don't know me very well I am not a natural runner. For as long as I can remember I have loved playing sports and games of all kinds, but running just wasn't something I could do on a consistent basis. Then one fateful day I saw a flyer at REI advertising the Turkey Day 5K and decided to go for it. I registered before I could come up with any excuses and was locked in. The day I signed up was 60 degrees and sunny. Honestly I didn't think it through and I'm glad I didn't because if I had given it more thought I would have realized that the weather in November in Minnesota is, while unpredictable, usually not very warm. Wouldn't you know it pretty soon after I signed up the temp dropped, the snow started flying, and most importantly the ice started forming.

I believe God was testing my commitment. I know, I know how silly. But honestly commitment is something I've been working on this past fall and you have to start somewhere right? Anyway enough of the serious stuff, and onto the rigorous below freezing training. I ran as many nights after work as I could and let me tell you if it wasn't for that race I already committed to you would not have seen me out there running. Honestly even then for the first mile and a half EVERY TIME (seriously you would think that it would get better the more you do it) my body would say "NO!, NO!, NO!" with ever step. Here is where I came to appreciate the cold because A: you can't just stop running and walk the rest of the way home when its below freezing and you have only a fleece, long underwear and cotton pants, head band, and cheapo stretchy gloves. You would have frost bite by the time you make it home, if you make it home, and B: after that first mile and a half its exhilarating, enjoyable and FUN! Honestly I truly believe that running is more a mental sport than physical. I had to trick myself into running a little bit farther every block until I hit that mile and a half mark. I don't understand this but I know that it is an awesome feeling when you overcome yourself and through sheer determination make your goal.

The week of the race I was praying hard, maybe you saw my facebook posts? I was asking the Lord to change the weather because the forecasters were predicting a high of 11 degrees on Thanksgiving which meant something like 5 degrees for race time. Holy Smokes! A little chilly to say the least. I was starting to settle for no wind or ice and sun the closer Thanksgiving got, because the temp was not changing and snow was expected.

Thanksgiving day arrived finally after much anticipation and I was ready to go. The sun was up the sky was clear and it was 9 degrees (ok not exactly a "warm-up" but warmer than I was expecting), no wind, but the streets downtown were a little icy. Praise the Lord! I got 3 of the 4 things I asked for, so I couldn't really complain, and I was too excited to care about the ice and cold. I've never been a part of any running race before and I had a blast, its a whole sub culture those 5k runs especially the themed ones. I saw 2 turkeys running, several elves a-leaping, 2 Harry Potter characters a-scurrying, 2 panda bears(?) lumbering, 3 men running in shorts without their shirts ummm...half streaking? (don't judge me), people wearing pilgrim hats joyfully and lots more wearing some sort of thanksgiving paraphernalia proudly. I enjoyed people watching while I ran and it made the run seem short. I even got a personal best on my time. All in all it was a fun time on a cold day. Time well spent.

Cold weather running: don't knock it 'til you try it. "What are you...chicken?"

P.S. I have to add my favorite quote of the day from Ms. Andrea Meister, well let me set it up a little. If you haven't ever run one of these races before there were literally hundreds (I'm not certain on the exact number maybe thousands?) of people running this thing and as expected at varying speeds which means you have to be quick on your feet to pass, dodge and sneak past people. and when there's space you "SHOOT THE GAP". Thanks Andrea for all the laughs it was fun.

Africa with Reinhard Bonnke

2010-09-21T11:12:00.003-05:00

This morning I received an email "from" Reinhard Bonnke requesting that I enter into a drawing to win a trip to Africa with him on an evangelistic crusade. Ummm...random and stinkin' AWESOME!!! For those of you that don't know Reinhard, you MUST watch the ISOM videos of his preaching. He is the definition of passionate. He doesn't care at all what others think and will preach the gospel however he can including dancing like an idiot. When you watch him and listen to the passion in his voice you can't help but love the guy, crazy dance and all!

Anyhow, if you are interested in entering yourself click on the link below for your chance to win. One disclaimer here, if you win remember I'm available to come with you!! It's only fair now. God Bless! JESUS IS THE SAUCE!!!!!

http://freeafricatrip.com/?fbid=wUOflCvbQZF

Furious Love

2010-09-12T22:24:00.007-05:00

I have been waiting since January for this. Finally this evening it came.

Furious Love.

Ever since I watched the film "Finger of God" my eyes have been opened in new freeing ways to the work of the Lord in our world, our nation, our city, our backyard. Which is why I highly anticipated this movie.

In the song "people get ready" by Misty Edwards, she says "He's doing a new thing, so we're singin' a new song". I believe with all my heart this is true except the Lord is doing an "old thing" in a new way all across the world. Love.

Love. It is one of the most complex concepts to describe, but the easiest to recognize when its experienced in its true, pure form. It is the language that our souls speak, and when we encounter Love, in its true form our hearts and souls sing. Darkness flees. The devil cringes. Deliverance comes and wounds heal.

Church, let's love passionately, selflessly, humbly and with wild abandon. We were given 2 commandments by Jesus that sum up the rest, Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul and mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Love. Love. Love. That. Is. It. Nothing more is required but loving God, and loving people. Nothing. Everything is summed up in Love.

What happens when darkness encounters the un-defiled love of Jesus? Love wins every time.

You've gotta watch this movie.

GLORY LORD!!!

http://www.furiouslovefilm.com/

These Little Ones Whom He Loves Deeply

2010-06-14T17:44:00.004-05:00

Today I finally got around to reading the much talked about "Kisses from Kate" blog and to say that it stirred something within me doesn't give it justice. This 21 year old with 14 adopted Ugandan daughters spoke to something deep inside me, Jesus. My heart ached for the children this girl encountered on a daily basis, some were malnourished, some were racked with AIDS and some were on the doorstep of death. Her account of life in Uganda is a humble unassuming one, yet one that God calls us all to. Are we not to "seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow"(Isaiah 1:17)? Jesus, the one I know and love, loves the least of these, they are close to his heart. Why aren't they close to ours? Maybe its because they smell, look funny, are dirty, sick, violent, ugly, and unpleasant to listen to. Maybe we are too busy. Maybe we are over-informed and inundated with images of sick and dying children. Brothers and Sisters those aren't good enough! We, me included, need to be love to the most unlovable, especially the unlovable, because the reality is that 24,000 children died today. Right here in America children are dying from poverty, one child every 53 minutes. Does your heart break? Mine is broken for all the children of world caught in the horrors of starvation, disease, abuse and neglect. What about the 1 million who are caught in modern day slavery and trafficked around the world EACH YEAR? Do we care about them? They have no voice, but we do and we are able to make a change, we are called by Jesus to make a change. Lets be modern day abolitionists, lets take in the orphaned, the hungry, the homeless. Lets befriend the lonely, love our neighbors, each other and above all God. Lets be ambassadors of Christ and show the world how much He truly cares and loves.

MEXICO- The Last Hurrah

2010-05-11T11:00:00.031-05:00

Hey Everybody! I'm back in the states now and thought I should finally get around to updating this blog that I promised all of you. I decided to tell the story of our trip through pictures and a few significant stories. I hope you enjoy.

TLACOLULA, OAXACA

Foundations for His Ministry Children's Home

Ashley and I started out our trip at this place and were blessed beyond our expectations. Looking back I would have loved to stay here for longer than the 3 days we were able, but I am glad we were able to even go. We had the immense privilege of being a part of these childrens' lives for a short time, but they will stay in my heart for a long time. The first time we met the kids we were surrounded by hugs and stayed that way until we left. It was glorious! These kids only want to love and be loved and I loved loving on them :). The first night we were there we went with the little girls (6-12) to a village called Yagay to play with the kids there, show a movie and have etole and sweet bread. This village was a very poor village and all of the people there had someone in their family in prison and to say they were living day by day is an understatement. It was fun to see the girls play with the children there, teach them games and songs that they learned in sunday school. It was a precious memory that I will take with me. You see some of these girls live at the home because they too have a family member in prison and their family can't take care of them either. They can relate to the people of Yagay.

Singing Songs at Yagay

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PUEBLA, PUEBLA

CHOLULA, PUEBLA

After the children's home we headed to Puebla to visit our friend Nelly. I love the story of Nelly and God's divine plan in her life that we had the privilege of seeing unfold this past spring. Nelly recently made a decision to follow Jesus and was baptized on easter sunday. Nelly's story started way before we met her in March; God had been working in her life and in the life of her brother for quite some time (as is how it usually is). Her brother who struggled with drugs for quite sometime until it came to a point where he needed intervention to get free from it. At that point he turned to Reto (Mexican version of teen challenge) to help him get back on his feet, but he got more than he bargained for and instead of getting free from just drugs he found total freedom in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Nelly saw a HUGE change in his life and became curious of what her brother had, so when he told her that Reto was going on a medical clinic outreach to a remote part of Mexico she jumped at the chance to go (she is a doctor). It just so happens that the GFM church planting team was on this same outreach. Rhonda (nurse on our church planting team) and Nelly became easy friends and when we were understaffed for our upcoming short-term medical clinics Rhonda called her up to see if she would be willing to go, and what Nelly didn't know then was that her decision would change her life forever. She came at a very interesting time on short-term #1, when she came into the base we were worshiping and the spirit was thick in the room and as we were worshiping downstairs, upstairs a local guy was getting baptized (can you imagine!! I'm getting giddy just thinking about it). I told the story of this guy in a previous post, but if you haven't read about this story yet you should read a couple posts down, incredible moving of the Holy Spirit. Anyway this is what she walked into that night and none of us knew that she wasn't a believer. On that outreach we realized that she hadn't made a decision quite yet and was still in a exploration phase, where she knew this is what she wanted, but wanted to make sure completely and have some of her questions answered before making such an important commitment. On that outreach pastor Enrique prophesied over Nelly not knowing that she hadn't made a commitment yet, but it was, as always with God, perfect timing for her to hear those words for her life. The next part of the story is in Nelly's words enjoy :)

"After the outreach well, something started working inside me, it was a special thing. I was amuzed of what I had lived with all you guys, it was only 1 week but it was intense; the words of Enrique... wow. I was impressed of the passion you had with God, that joy for life, for worshiping Him, for the relationship between you and Him, I learned some things talking and listening to you those days... I remember I wrote to you something about it in my first mail to all of you. And also I remember that I wanted something like that in my own life. It was a strong feeling that never stopped, but at the beginning I was a little confused. That last day Rhonda gave me a book called Face to face with God written by Bill Johnson(awesome book) Jolynne gave me a bilingual bible, and I must say that reading Face to face with God continued even more that feeling. I was rised as a catholic girl, but honestly just by name. I had been feeling a necesity of being a more spiritual person since few months ago. A week after the outreach I went back to Tlax for the baptisms of Joni and her daughters and another girl from there (can’t remember her name right now), when finally Chino and his girlfriend were baptized too. I remember that while we arrived to the lake, I asked to Rhonda a lot of things about the bible, baptisms, and being a christian; it was good, she always answered me and encouraged me. After the baptisms I went to visit you at the base. You were with the 2nd team that should go to Tida. We talked for a few minutes and I said that I was planning on going again for the Easter, in 1 week. During this time I realized that I wanted more, yes I was hungry for Him and all this became a necesity too, you know? I felt identified while reading Face to Face, someone was asking for me, for sure, along with some encouraging mails from you. I’m a doctor but I don’t wanna keep doing the same, not only give consultations or prescribe some medicine or play the role of a Psychologist when people look for you to share their problems and you try to say the best words ever to cheer them up, which is not bad, but is not enough. I wanted to go deeper, like Pastor Enrique said, maybe let God works through me. If I pray for someone would be with an unshakable faith with God and Holy Spirit as my support, not just words. A couple days before Easter Rhonda went to my home in Huajuapan to visit and meet my mom. I talked with her about that crazy, strong and unstoppable desire of being closer to God. We arrived to the base Sat night and I helped in the kitchen, I made my “cockie man” haha. Next day at the base, april 4th, while we were worshipping God I made up my mind and I thought a simple thing: Why keep waiting if you know what do u want? So I said, no more waiting, I’ll do it today. And I’m completely sure that, that day was as perfect as any day there ever was. Simple, it was Easter and I was going to be with you all. The rest of the history you know it. I know that this happened so quickly! but things happen, and maybe is not too much time since my baptism, just 1 month, although for me seems more time, but I think I've learned some great new things, I feel relief but I want more and more. I need to keep working and seeking Him. Is not easy but I'm not alone anymore. Now for me is not enough to know more things about Jesus, what I want is being known by Him, which is different. Passion!! :)"

Praise GOD!! He is AMAZING! I love Nelly's passion and her desire for her true lover, Jesus Christ! God has blessed Nelly with an incredible heart that I believe you can hear in her words and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is going to use Nelly to do some radically crazy things for him. Love you Nelly!

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GUADALAJARA, JALISCO

After Puebla we headed to Guadalajara to the Youth with a Mission base there. The base wasn't exactly in Guadalajara, but closer to Chapala which interestingly enough has the largest lake in Mexico. God's timing is perfect and He couldn't have been more dead on than his timing in having us here. Ashley and I arrived a few days before some of our other friends and helped get some rooms ready for the incoming DTS students who were coming in a few days as well. Alright now about the perfect timing story, when Ashley and I were planning this trip we decided that we wanted to visit various ministries in Mexico and we knew that we wanted to visit a YWAM base and had decided upon Guadalajara. One day we were talking with our friend Yesi about our trip and she got beyond excited about the fact that we were going to a YWAM base and told us that she had been wanting to go to a school for missions/ministry and so we invited her to come with us. She did come and the timing couldn't have been better because a school was just starting the day she arrived and all of the students spoke spanish (usually they have some english speakers and some spanish, its a bi-lingual school). Yesi was able to attend all the classes and got to know the students and staff very well and she LOVED it and didn't want to leave. The staff said that she could go home and get her stuff and come back the next week and be a part of the school if she wanted and so she left with that intention. She told me that she was 99% sure she would be back that next monday she just needed the blessing from her father, because she already had it from her mom. Unfortunately when she went home she didn't get his blessing and didn't return, but she plans on going next fall and in the mean time she is praying that God softens her dad's heart, also she has decided to support one of the students in the school that cannot pay all of her tuition. God is good!

*A little side note this year is YWAM's 50th anniversary and so Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM) is coming to the Guadalajara base for a visit in October/November so Yesi will have the opportunity to meet him if she decides to go.

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PUERTO VALLARTA, JALISCO

Next up was Puerto Vallarta for me and Ashley. We were intending on working with an organization called Families at the Dump, but due to disappointing circumstances we only "worked" with them one day for 3 hours. The rest of our time was spent being bums, beach and otherwise. It was a good time of reflection, rest and a good way to end our time in Mexico.

And so The Adventure Begins

2010-04-07T19:17:00.003-05:00

Hey there from Southern Mexico!

Things are wrapped up, goodbyes are said and its time to head out and see some other parts of Mexico and work with other ministries and see what God is up to in Mexcio. Tomorrow we (me and my friend Ashley) head to Oaxaca for a day of composure and rest before we start out for real. On Friday we will head to an orphanage just outside of Mitla to hang out there for a few days working with the ministry there. After that we will head to Puebla to visit our dear and recently baptized (Whoop! Whoop!) friend Nelly, lots of laughs are to be expected. After that we head out to Guadalajara to help out a YWAM base there. We are gonna help them set up for the next DTS that's coming in and we will actually get to meet the students and hopefully help out with whatever ministry they have going there. Finally. we are off to Puerto Vallarta to work with a dump ministry for a few days and of course we will end with a day or two at the beach :).

As I sit here with this adventure ahead of me I can't help but feel excited and greatly blessed. My prayer is that God uses this time for His purposes in my life, in Ashley's life, and the people's lives that we will meet along the way. My desire is for the Holy Spirit to have His way and that we would be constantly seeking out His voice to know what He is up to and not miss out on anything He wants to do in us and through us. Whatever happens the next several weeks all glory, honor and praise goes to Him Who Sits on Throne. King of Glory have your glory!

If you think of it we would greatly appreciate your prayers while we are traveling. Prayers for safety, divine encounters, supernatural Spanish ability, and just the supernatural. I'm not sure I will get a chance to update this while we are traveling but I will for sure be keeping a journal and will update this once I get a chance or when I get home. Thanks for your prayers! Hasta Luego Amigos!

Me-me-me Gusta Teposcolula

2010-03-20T10:51:00.019-06:00

Spring Teams are here!!!

I love this time of year here at GFM; the weather is the best in March (in my opinion), school ends, teams arrive and people prepare for what God has for them next. Saying goodbye is never easy, but its bittersweet for us here, because we all have a new phase that God is leading us into and that is always exciting and an adventure, but we have grown so close over the last year and having to say goodbye to each other knowing there is a chance we won't see each other again in this life is tough.

I have so much to say about this past week. God is so very good!! The team arrived on Saturday night and it wasn't without its complications. On the way to Oaxaca our van's breaks stopped working, but praise God they stopped working right outside Oaxaca so they were able to get to a mechanic fairly easily. Then one of our participants didn't show up at the airport on time because of delays (he eventually made it 6 hours later) and one participant just flat out didn't show up. We knew then that something interesting was about to happen with this team.

So that was Saturday, and on Sunday and Monday we had training/orientation, but on Monday night something miraculous happened. This guy that a couple of the students here shared the gospel with (on Saturday) showed up at the base to hang out. As he was hanging out he shared with the guys that he wanted to follow Christ and even drew up a church planting movement on a sheet of paper that he wanted to do! Holy Spirit you are incredible! That was without any discipling or teaching from anyone, a complete move of the Holy Spirit. Then one of the guys was talking about baptism and this guy we'll call him E said he wanted to do that so that he could be sent out so they baptized him that night. PRAISE THE LORD!! Oh how sweet worship was that night, the Holy Spirit was thick in the room that night!

I have another story from that night/week that I won't share here, but if you'd like to hear about another person touched by God this week I would LOVE to tell you, just email me and let me know.

On Tuesday we headed out for Teposcolula (Tepos) for 4 days of outreach that included a medical clinic among other things. The Lord moved in Tepos in some powerful ways and in ways that I'm convinced we will never know about! Glory to God! We were able to share the gospel with several people, pray with them, and love on them. One of my favorite stories from this week was about a bunch of kids. We were hanging out with these kids at the medical clinic talking with them, playing with them and teaching them songs. Unfortunately the clinic ended on this particular day at 6ish and we had a church service with the church in Tepos at 6pm that night. Those kids didn't want to stop hanging out, but I told them that we had to go to a church service at 6 but that we'd be back at 8pm to show a movie in the park. That wasn't good enough for them, they began to ask about the service and what we'd be doing and I started to realize they wanted to come, how could I be so dense not to ask them to come with? I guess I figured that they wouldn't want to come, but God had other plans. I told them that we'd be singing and Pastor Enrique would be talking and they said they wanted to come! So me and 8 kids headed for the church. It was awesome. They didn't stay for the whole time, but they stayed longer than I expected and who knows what seeds were planted that night and what they'll remember from that service. They hung out with us for the rest of the time we were there and I pray that the Holy Spirit moves mightily in their lives. I know I'm blessed to have known them.

Enrique and Ana. What can I say about these people? Not enough thats for sure. This couple pastors the church in Tepos and to sum them up in one phrase: They are spirit filled people. My spirit is refreshed every time I talk to them, they always have a word of encouragement, a story of encouragement or an uplifting smile. They are sweet people who love the Lord and only want to obey the Lord and love people. I love talking with them and never feel like I can get enough of their stories or wisdom. God is and is going to use them mightily here in Oaxaca and I'm privileged to know them. LORD FLOOD THEM WITH YOUR BLESSINGS!!! RAIN DOWN ON TEPOS!!

There is so much more I'd love to say, but I will leave it at that for now. God is so much bigger than any plans we have and I'm glad that its so. We have another team arriving this evening and on Tuesday we will be heading out to Tidaa to do another clinic and the hands and feet of Jesus.

Where Do I Go From Here

2010-02-22T00:06:00.002-06:00

How familiar this place feels. It seems just like yesterday I was in this place of seeking the next of my life, and yet it was more than a year ago. How much has happened since then, how amazing is the grace, the mercy and the hands that have held me, molded me and shaped me into the woman I am today and continue to shape me into a better woman. I am grateful for the process even through the pain of stretching. I can truly say Praise God for all that has transpired this past year!

With that same confidence I can say that God will do the same and greater for the next chapter of this broken road we call life. I stand at the center of innumerable options and opportunities that continue to grow every day, yet I know there is one that fits me better than anything I could dream up, imagine or plan and I want that road. Each day I get closer to leaving this place that I dearly love I have to fight anxiousness because I know that God honors patience I will wait on Him and not move a second sooner than he does. If you think of it, please keep me in your prayers as I sort through, and pray through the things God has been revealing to me. I would very much appreciate your prayers. Love you all, night.

Today We Honor Love

2010-02-15T01:43:00.002-06:00

Today we honored love, today was created to honor love. This day, February 14th was set aside specially to be devoted to recognizing love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. We hear it everywhere we go, the overused, misused, worn out term, Love. Do we even recognize what love truly is anymore? Is it a relationship with a significant other, a passionate affair, a one night stand? Is it physical, emotional, or spiritual? What is true love? Finding "that" person? What happens when that person turns out to be somebody else, does that mean that "true love" does not exist?

Today I realized something, we have made today, February 14th, and everyday about something its not: human love. I came into today indifferent, because I didn't have a significant other to share it with, a part of me felt that I was disqualified from "truly" celebrating what the day was about. Then it hit me as I was getting ready for my party, and as I was sitting with my sisters making valentines for Jesus; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the definition of Love, true, undifiled, pure, divine, amazing Love. That is what today and everyday of the year is all about and neither I nor you are disqualified, in fact we are welcomed in as intimate participants! I am blessed beyond measure to have a lover, THE Lover, the Lover of TRUE love, the Lover of PERFECT love romance my soul each and every day. Praise God!

Recapture the Romance

2010-01-21T22:38:00.007-06:00

Yeah Lord, more...

Where to even start? The Lord is so good, so beautiful, so sweet, so rich, so...words fail me. Deep are the places of the Lord, sovereign are His ways, Holy is His presence. Who are we that we get to commune with the God of the Universe? Who are we that we should share in His son's inheritance. Grace. Mercy. Only by these are we even fit to be in relationship with the Creator, who is the uncreated one. Do you know that it actually says in Revelation that in the end, "God will dwell with man, and he will live them. They will be His people and God himself will be with them and be their God." And what about the mystery the incredible experience of having the Holy Spirit who is God dwelling within us right now? Whoaaaa!! Glory Lord! That very fact blows me away, and yet it took me 25 years to take the time to ponder this fact and have it really sink in. God. Is. Inside. Me. And yet as a people we fail to commit like a wayward wife who says yes to the commitment of a marriage and in her heart has no intention to be faithful and have one husband. The marriage is only a guarantee that someone will be there in the end, and the promise that he will forgive and take her back over and over again. PEOPLE THIS IS HOW WE TREAT GOD! WAKE UP! COMMIT NOW WITH CONVICTION!

Recapture the romance of The Lover of our souls. Love him, pour your heart into him, bathe Him in your perfume of worship, cover Him with the kisses of your affection. Don't hold back waiting for another, there is none other. He's the one you've been looking for, waiting for, longing after. He is the satisfier. Give him all of you. Love Him with Reckless abandon. All he asks is that you love Him.

Revel now in the inheritance that could be yours:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. The riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

- Ephesians 1:17-21 -

The Bride

2010-01-19T14:43:00.005-06:00

Dear Bride,

Are you ready? The wedding day is fast approaching. Are you prepared? Does your heart flutter, jump, and leap with excitement at the anticipation of the day your bridegroom returns? Oh dear beloved bride, why do give your love away to lovers who do nothing but scar, stain and tatter you? Look into the eyes of your Lover. Look! Do they not consume you with passion? He desires you. He is desperate for your love. He delights in you even in your weakness. He is jealous for you. He will not share you with another. You have stolen His heart. Let him steal your heart. Let him make you lovesick for Him. Let Him make you pure. Let Him clothe you in righteousness. Let Him marry you.

Can you hear it? The wedding processional has started. Make yourself ready, for He is coming, your bridegroom, your lover. Eagerly await His return, with mourning, and weeping until he returns. Cry out in desire for Him. This I promise you; no one else will satisfy, so stop chasing after other lovers and chase after Him.

The Spirit and the Bride say come!

Revelation 22:17

Shaking of the Nations

2010-01-11T18:17:00.003-06:00

The following is a word I received from the Lord at Onething.

This is a shaking of the nations and the after shock of this will resound throughout the world and we will go forth like cracks in the pavement to shake the nations to tear down strongholds and to tear down strongholds and to pour out the light of Jesus. He will pour His anointing like warm oil onto His sons and daughters and they will find favor with the leaders of the nations through the bloodshed of those gone before them. He will robe them in garments of splendor magnificently encrusted with precious jewels and they will be a great multitude joining in one loud glorious voice and it will reverberate through the hills and they will be His high priests who have all authority and power of Jesus and they will tear down and build up. They will be lifted up before the nations and the nations in their blindness will tear them down. But they will shine like the dawn because death has lost its sting and cannot keep them down. They will be placed on footstools before the throne of the most high God and they will be before Him praising and worshiping joining with the angels bringing Him glory doing what they were created to do in the purest form. There will be a celebration because the bridegroom has come to claim his bride, and there will be laughing and dancing and feasting on the glorious riches of the Lord and drinking His mysteries, and there will be a whirlwind honeymoon that will last all eternity.

Amen.

Onething

2010-01-02T16:48:00.008-06:00

If hunger is the escort to the deeper things of the Lord I want to be ravenous. It's funny how it works when you are hungry for the Lord, you get a taste and it makes you hungrier then you get a feast and you starve for more. It makes me laugh, because I realize I will never be satisfied with my knowledge of the Lord and depth of my relationship with Him no matter how deep I go. That very fact fills me with joy. I never want to be satisfied.

I'll briefly tell you how I came to the Onething conference in Kansas City: It was God, because he is extravagantly good to His children. I have been blessed with a yearning for the Lord and a holy discontent with my faith and depth of my relationship with God. This fall I realized that while I was walking in my spiritual giftings here and there it wasn't a consistent outpouring that I desired. I wanted to have the life of power that I was promised and exhorted to live in the Bible. I took a deeper look at that starting this summer but really began to live it out this fall. I was frustrated because while I felt this hunger that consumed me I still had not experienced the radical outpouring of the Spirit that I was reading in the Bible. I learned and continue to learn that patience is something valued greatly by the Lord so I waited and I continue to wait on the Lord for extreme outpouring in whatever way He decides. I will say here that I have also learned that however small He seems to move, value it because He is moving. When I came home from Mexico I heard about the awakening that was happening at IHOP and I desired to go to where God was moving in powerful ways and soak in that, and as I was sharing this I was told about the Onething conference and it got me thinking, but I didn't think it would work out. A few weeks later this same person told me that she and her husband were going to go and invited me along, this stirred something inside me and I began to pray. I prayed for a week and a half and during that time God put so many things into place that I couldn't deny that he was leading me to this conference. So on Monday the 28th I left MN to go to Kansas City for the week.

To really share everything that happened this past week would take a book, so I will share just a little and if you want to know more let me know I would love to share with you. Wow, well if you don't know a little less than 2 months ago IHOP-KC had an outpouring of the Spirit and He manifested in many ways from healings to people drunk on the Spirit to people being delivered from bondage. The Holy Spirit has stayed and manifested himself in these and many other ways since then, so this years Onething conference was quite eventful to say the least. The healings, drunkenness on the Spirit, and deliverance and other manifestations spilled out onto all of us that were at the conference. I don't think there was anybody that wasn't touched by the Holy Spirit. He was like a rushing river, if you stepped in you were swept away and it was amazing. Seriously, you want to get swept away. Ask the Lord to sweep you away today, I promise you won't regret it.

The conference consisted of 3 sessions a day which pretty much took up the entire day, from 9am to about 12am. I'm not sure what the final count on participation was, but I know it could be up to 20,000 people. At the same time that Onething was happening Urbana about 3 hours away from us was going on at the same time and they also had about 20,000 young men and women on fire for God and ready to finish the task set before us to quicken the coming of our bridegroom Jesus Christ. You know what that is my friends? The beginning of revival in America, pray for it. Earnestly seek it.

Prayer. Worship. Ministry. Three very important pieces of the puzzle are the things I took away from this conference (among other things). Without these three things the task will go unfinished and we will fall deeper into complacency. Please, please, please don't horde your salvation but do these three things: PRAY for people, Jesus to come back, revelation to understand the deeper things of God, your country, your countries leaders, etc., WORSHIP your Lord and Savior, and go out and do ministry. MINISTER to the poor, the widow, weak, the sick, the lost, the orphan, etc. in the name of Jesus and through His power.

Stand Firm. God demands Holiness, Righteousness, and Purity from us and we cannot do this by compromising His truths. Don't back down because its unpopular, don't give in because you feel uncomfortable, don't sugar coat because its politically incorrect. Don't. Speak truth, speak light, but do all these things through a spirit of love. Yes, you can bring a hard truth to someone in love, it can be done. We must do it through love, because God says the greatest command is LOVE. If you don't have love for people, spend time with the Lord and He will give it to you because he loves people more than anything in this universe.

I could go on, but at the risk of losing your attention I will end it there tonight. Again I would love to tell you more about the conference, but you can check out some great resources by Mike Bickle (founder of IHOP) yourself if you are curious what IHOP is all about here:

http://mikebickle.org/

God bless you and keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you, so that His ways may be known on earth, His salvation among all nations.

Oh Holy Night

2009-12-24T09:24:00.017-06:00

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." ~Luke 2:12-14

O Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T22:25:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas!

So I thought I would give a little update on what is happening with me. I have just decided that I am going to be going to the Onething conference in Kansas City! To say that I'm excited just doesn't seem to give this feeling the justice it deserves.

God is and has and will continue be so good to me. I praise Him for the things he has done in my life and the good gifts like this conference that he has given. To say thank you for His goodness, His deep love, His wondrous riches isn't saying enough.

"And when .......they saw the young child.......and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh." Matthew 2:11

Christmas is a great time to reflect on these things in a deeper way, and when you do, don't be surprised if you begin to weep as you come to the realization of what He has done for us. He truly loves you in the deepest way, in a way you have never felt from human kindness. He has done what none of us could do, and that is make a way to our Heavenly Father. When you think about what he went through on the cross, bearing ALL of our sin, how retched, lonely and miserable that must have been. It is incomprehensible.

I love to think about the story of Jesus' coming and how Herod was looking for a strong, rich leader as the Messiah, but as it says in 1Corinthians 1:27, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." God came to this world in the flesh of an infant born to two young people who didn't have many material possessions. Its just like God to do something like that, come as a baby so that He could truly understand our sufferings and our human condition, becuase he lived through the stages that you and I go through. Granted he didn't fall prey to the sins that you and I do, but he is not a stranger of the temptation to do so. I am so thankful that my Lord and Savior came to this earth as a little baby and grew into a bold man and died unselfishly for my sins, because if he hadn't I would be completely hopeless.

Blessings of Peace and Joy to your family this Christmas Season and throughout the year.

Greetings from Minneapolis

2009-12-23T22:08:00.004-06:00

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I last blogged about what I'm doing and what I've been doing, so I guess we have a lot of catching up to do.

I've been home for a little over a month now and have not been lacking in things to do with my time. God has blessed me with work in abundance! Praise the Lord! I'm back at both of the jobs I was working at before I left for Mexico. One has been full-time work and the other is a part time job so I have been quite busy as you can see. I have also had the chance to catch up with my dear friends and family while I've been home. Thanks to all of you for making my time home so much fun and enjoyable. I will be home until January 8th and then will return to Mexico for a couple more months of school and short term mission trips. I'm looking forward to returning and really making use of the time I have left in Mexico. I can already tell that leaving is going to be hard, my friends are already asking me about it and if I will come back to visit. I hate talking about it because it makes it that much more real, but I know my time will be up sooner than I realize.

Before I left to come home I had opportunities to have good God talks with some of my friends. One of my friends, Mari, I've known for over a year now and up until the week before I left we hadn't had any really good God talks, but then one day it happened, out of the blue at cooking class. Honestly, I don't have good Spanish and I don't know many of the complex "christianese" words that you should know when talking about God, but on that day the Holy Spirit gave me the words to speak and I'm so excited to go back and continue to have conversations about God and Jesus with her.

As far as I know I'm not called to Mexico longterm, but its hard for me not to leave a piece of my heart as I move into a new chapter, whatever that may be. I love those people, and I'm going to miss them terribly, but I know that God has people there, good people that will tend His flock and I feel perfectly comfortable leaving the work in their capable hands.

As always I'm sending all of you my love.

Brother Yun = One Amazing Man of God

2009-12-06T17:06:00.007-06:00

While I've been home I've been slowly reading through Brother Yun's "Living Water" book. I have to say that this man is a man on fire for the Lord and says it like it is and it is so very refreshing! I hate it when authors sugar coat things when people's eternity is at stake! We must preach the gospel in FULL no ommission, and no additions. As it is. is enough. Read the following excerpt from the book. I hope it challenges you in your faith as much as it has challenged me. If you want to talk further about this I would be more than happy to have a conversation with you, email or call me.

The will of God should be the primary focus of all Christians. To glorify Him should be our greatest honor and privilege. All else is a waste of time, and this world is perishing while too many Christians live out fleshly lives full of compromise and selfishness.

The good news is that our Lord is loving and merciful, and He will forgive all who come to Him in humility and meekness, He can take your life and make you bold as a lion and bring your days as a timid Christian to an end. Are you willing to submit to this process of being daily shaped and molded by the Holy Spirit?

Reflect on this passage this week.

Job 11:5-9, 13-19

2009-11-14T09:30:00.001-06:00

Oh, how I wish that God would speak,

that he would open his lips against you

and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave —what can you know?

Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

"Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.

Set Apart

2009-11-13T19:44:00.004-06:00

Here am I. All of Me. Take my life. Take all of me.

Are you testing the waters of following Jesus? Are you just playing the game of Christianity? Enough already! Jump in with everything you are. Follow hard after Him, he deserves a life set apart for Him and His purposes.

I set my life apart for you, so you can do all that you created me to.

I set my heart apart for you, only you will do.

I set my sights on you and your glory how I yearn to see you

All that I am and everything I want to be I lay down at your feet

Submitted to your will in your perfect timing all is made complete.

How great is your splendor how marvelous your works

Endowed in the splendor of salvation undeserving I come to your table

I feast on the richest of fare in your presence, I indulge myself on your mysteries

The deepest riches, hidden treasures, and unutterable secrets are my greatest delight

You are mine tonight.

I want you. everything. all that you will give me.

I yearn. ache. long.

My soul groans within me.

Only you. only you. will do.

I am chasing after you.

More.

2009-11-02T12:57:00.003-06:00

Have you ever tasted the best...(insert food here), and couldn't stop thinking about it days, weeks even months after? You think to yourself I want more of....

Why is it that we don't think that about God?

God is continually working miracles in our world do you know what He is doing? If you don't then you should immerse yourself in the great riches of His Kingdom! You've read the stories in the Bible, but do you know that those stories are alive? They are and they are being retold every single day all around the world. If you haven't heard about these miracles or seen these miracles maybe you should be asking yourself why you haven't. This isn't meant to be harsh, but we are supposed to be living in the spirit and that involves His mysteries, don't you think His mysteries include more than everyday life? I do, and I want to know more of His mysteries. Once you open that door to more of Him I promise you won't want to shut it, in fact you will only want and desire to open more doors from there. He is big. Bigger than your imagination, bigger than your world view, bigger than your idea of Him, bigger than your experiences, bigger than your logic, bigger than your expectations. Let Him blow your mind today. Open up the scriptures read about David, Moses, Elijah etc. and imagine how much more God wants to do through YOU!

See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? -Isaiah 43:19

Exodus 33:18-23 (New International Version)

¹⁸ Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

¹⁹ And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

²¹ Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

**Can you imagine seeing God's glory? Moses got to see God's back! What?!? What does that even look like? I wanna see that. do you?**

Isaiah 40:18-31

Hello. No, I Haven't Fallen Off a Cliff.

2009-09-19T11:18:00.007-05:00

Hi friends and family,

I'm very sorry this post is so very belated in coming your way. I will catch you up as quickly and concisely as I can.

- First of all this summer was amazing, incredible and life changing for all who were involved. Let me give you just a couple highlights:

Worship- the worship this summer was in a word deep. This summer worship was taken to a new level, a deeper level of intimacy with our Lord and Savior. Many people encountered the presence of God through private and cooperate worship, and lives were changed futures were revealed and bondage was broken.

Healing- the last clinic we had was incredible, we had something like 15 people healed. Praise the Lord! We also had about 5 people surrender their lives to Christ! Our God is so good. The best part is that the church planting team will be able to follow up with those people and hopefully disciple them.

-I was able to go home in August to see some of you (and re-new my visa) and fellowship/catch up with you all. If I missed you, I'm sorry and would have loved to see you had I more time. I'll see you at some point I'm sure, but would love to hear from you in the meantime (e-mail me at: leahbethjohnson@gmail.com).

- I'm back in Mexico at the GFM base. I am on staff now at GFM helping out with administrative tasks for the organization, discipling current mission training school students and continuing relationship ministry in the community. I will be on staff with GFM in Mexico until April, after which time I'm not sure what will happen, but I do feel that the Lord is calling me back to the United States for a time, however I'm not sure where that will be, for how long, and what that will look like. I would appreciate your prayers as I seek God on what's next, and that I wouldn't be consumed with the future but that I would seek God and live completely in today and what He is doing now. Thanks!

For now that's all that's happening in the life of Leah. I'll try and keep you better informed in the future. Love you all!

And so it begins... Welcome to summer!

2009-06-27T08:10:00.003-05:00

Hello to all of you.

Yes as it says summer has begun officially here at GFM. Our first summer team arrived last Saturday with 15 participants. We started with 2 days of orientation for the participants and then we headed to Tepos to do outreach. In Tepos we had health camp in 3 different schools where we teach them about how to stay healthy by washing hands, brushing teeth, etc.. It's a great way to help represent the church in Tepos and show that the church there really does care about the community and to get their name out there. It was a great success the kids really enjoyed the lessons and hangin' out with the "Gringos" and the interns and participants really enjoyed playing with the kids and loving on them. The guys helped our Mexican brothers with their new church building. They are in the process of building a new bigger church and the guys helped pour cement which is a lot of work down here because it is all hand mixed. It sounds like it was a good time of fellowship for them all. Jessica, Lindsay and I were in the kitchen for the outreach, we will be handling kitchen stuff for each outreach this summer so it will be a learning, strike that it already has been a learning experience, but I've come to enjoy it.

We are back in Tlaxiaco we got back yesterday and the participants will be leaving tomorrow morning. Our next group arrives on Monday and we will do it all over again, my life won't be lacking excitement or activity for quite awhile. Well until next time...Lots of love from Mexico.

An Elementary Faith

2009-06-16T15:27:00.005-05:00

Hello again!

Here is a quick update again on my life:

We have been having a great time with the interns here getting to know them and training them in on the ropes of GFM. This past weekend we went to a village called Tedaa, which you might remember from Spring Break trips. God knew that I needed this trip more than I did, but it was so amazing to just fellowship with my fellow bothers and sisters in Christ and to love on them and be loved on by them. It was fun to see how much my spanish has progressed, its not great mind you but a whole lot better than it was the last time I was there. My heart was filled when I left and it was a hard goodbye. I'm seriously thinking about buying some land and building me a shack there it is so very beautiful and more importantly the people are beautiful. Please be praying for the believers in Tedaa as until recent it hasn't been easy for them.

And as usual God has been teaching me lessons,

Hebrews 6:1-3

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the Resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

This past week my LTG (Life Transformation Group) read the book of Hebrews and even though I have read these verses several times I was struck by them this time. I couldn't believe the Bible's definition of elementary faith! Resurrection of the dead is elementary faith? Wow I know now that I haven't fully tapped into advanced faith because I know for certain that I have never seen someone raised from the dead.

Recently I've been hungering to go deeper in worship and see depths of God's character that I've never seen before. I feel like the past week God has brought me to a deeper level where I feel a freedom I've never felt, and worship I've never experienced and joy I've never felt. God is so good and when I read these verses it makes me excited and saddened all at the same time because there is so much more of God that I have yet to learn about and yet to experience. My prayer for my summer and for yours is that you see God and worship him in ways you've never experienced.

I love you all and thank God for you.

Remember: He loves you so and He is jealous for you.

I just joined CTEN (Commission to Every Nation) which is a fincial institution that helps take care of financial support for missionaries. So now if you feel God leading you to support me financially you can either send money to Just Giveor to CTEN.

If you would like to use CTEN please send your checks to:

CTEN

PO Box 291307

Kerrville, TX 78029-1307

The check should be made out to Commission to Every Nation or CTEN with a note with my name on it.

or if you want to use Just Give:

Go to: https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=31-1738321

and in the "Designate My Donation" write: Leah Johnson

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

We The Undeserving

2009-06-09T06:14:00.000-05:00

Hola!

I know that I have been silent for far too long and I apologize for that. Let me update you on my life up until this point:

I finished language school on the 29th of May. It went very well I learned a lot of words, grammar, verbs, forms, conjugations etc.. It was slightly overwhelming, but much needed. The down side of coming back to the base and living with english speakers is that you loose your spanish if it doesn't get used. I try to get out as much as possible and talk with my Mexican friends here, but unfortunately there isn't a ton of time for that.

Summer has started here at GFM and the interns have arrived! I'm very excited about this summer and can't wait to see what God has in store, but now that the interns are here we are very busy. We have 2 weeks of intern training before the first short term team arrives, so we have a lot of preparation and fun times to be had.

Now please let me tell you about how awesome my Lord and Savior is. If you can't tell I'm a little excited about God right now and who he is and how gracious he is to share Himself with us.

God has been teaching me lately to completely rely on Him for everything and trust that what he has for me is better than anything I could ever plan. I will say here that for some reason this is a hard lesson for me to learn, it seems like he has to keep teaching me this lesson of death to self and total reliance on God. I like to rely on myself and others rather than rely on God and guess what? I fail and people fail, big surprise right? Not so much, which is why its frustrating to have to learn this lesson over and over when I should just know it already! Okay, so on to the really cool part, God is faithful to show us things over and over when we turn our hearts and earnestly seek him.

It says in Joel 2: 12-

"Even now," declares the LORD,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your heart
       and not your garments.
       Return to the LORD your God,
       for he is gracious and compassionate,
       slow to anger and abounding in love,
       and he relents from sending calamity.

Who knows? He may turn and have pity
       and leave behind a blessing—
       grain offerings and drink offerings
       for the LORD your God.

Joel 2: 28-30-

"And afterward,
       I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
       Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
       your old men will dream dreams,
       your young men will see visions.

Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.

How amazing is that!! God wants us to seek him fully, whether you have turned completely away from Him, or if you are luke-warm in your relationship with God he wants you back fully! Not only does he accept you with open arms, but did you see that he also pours out his blessing. Not only that, but he also wants to pour out his spirit on us and we will prophesy, dream dreams, see visions, miracles, and wonders! Its right there in the Bible folks and that book is a living book that we can take as promises for today. I expect my God to do the same things he did in the old testament, and the new for that matter, today in our lives.

Sunday night God was merciful to grace me with His presence and show me that he is everything that I need and that when people fail me its ok because he's got me and in him is all. Today's little girls get taught about knights in shining armor, prince charming and living happily ever after, but honestly that doesn't exist. No man, not even the godliest of men can fulfill that expectation, because they weren't ever supposed to. God is the only one that can fulfill those expectations and exceed those expectations. I've now learned that relationships with others are just the icing on the cake, and that they should never be the actual cake or sustenance in our lives that role belongs only to our God. Let God be your knight in shining armor let him sweep you off your feet and woo you and fill your heart with joy. He is faithful to do it and he will never disappoint.

Being Missional in Oaxaca

2009-05-09T14:13:00.002-05:00

Hey to all of you!

I hope you are all doing well today, and I hope wherever you are in the world that you will remember that you are a light for Jesus whether that's in your home or on the streets or in your workplace, you are Jesus to those around you. Living a missional life makes you a missionary wherever God places you.

That being said you are probably wondering what I'm doing to be missional where God has placed me, and that is a great question that I had to ask myself when I got here. You might remember that when I was in school I did a "cookie ministry" so I decided to continue it in Oaxaca with some variations. The following is my daily account of the last week and what happened:

Day One of Missional life in Oaxaca: Bread Ministry

Martha

Tonight I bought a loaf of bread in the bakery and asked God to put a woman in my path that needed that loaf of bread. As I walked down the street sure enough there was a woman with her baby sitting on the sidewalk begging. I walked up to her and asked her if she wanted the bread and she accepted it gladly. I then asked if she knew Jesus Christ, and she said that she did. I then asked if I could pray for her and at this point she said she didn’t know what I was saying so I tried a different word for pray and she still said that she didn’t know what I was saying. Then I asked if she knew Spanish and she said that she didn’t. I asked her, her name and she said that it was Martha I told her that I was pleased to meet her and went on my way all the time praying for Martha and her little baby. I don’t know if Martha really didn’t know Spanish or if she just didn’t want me to pray for her, either way I pray that she felt that God blessed in some way through that brief meeting on the street. I also pray that God received all the glory and praise.

Day 2: Bible Verses

Maria Cruz

Last night I looked up bible verses in Spanish and wrote them on a note card so that I had something today to give along with the bread. This afternoon I went back to my usual bakery and bought another loaf of bread (I’ll have to take note of the name next time). As I went on my way praying that God would put a woman in my path that needed that bread I came across Martha from yesterday. I said a quick personal hello and went on my way. I think I’m gonna try and find her everyday and try to talk to her, I have a feeling that she really does know Spanish but doesn’t want to let it on, maybe because she doesn’t trust me, I don’t know, anyway I’m gonna be persistent. I went to the Zocolo and sat down and in a little while a old woman came to the people next to me and begged for money. I felt God telling me that she was the one I was supposed to give the bread to so I sort of followed her (I know it sounds creepy, but I promise it wasn’t and if it was I don’t care cuz it was in the name of Jesus). Once I caught up with her where there weren’t a lot of people around I gave her the bread and this time asked if she understood and read Spanish and then gave her the card and asked if she knew Jesuscristo and she said that she did. I also asked to pray for her, and she said yes, but was more interested in either getting more money or leaving or both. Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to pray with her but as I walked away I did pray for her. So far this experiment in human standards has not been a success, but I know that God is so much bigger than us and can use anything he wants to speak to his children and I’m trusting in that and am trying to be obedient to his instructions.

Day 3: God is Faithful to His Children

Today I didn’t buy bread I had a full day of things to do, but I don’t consider it a waste. I had a couple of good spiritual conversations. Today I had my first intercambio with Beeanay (phonetic spelling, I don’t know how she spells her name) she is 21 and a Chirstian from a strong Christian family. We talked about what I’m doing here in Mexico and Tlaxiaco and I had the chance to share with her about the 10/40 window in Spanish! I’m glad to have a Christian friend in Oaxaca. Tonight I went out with Catherine a student from the school. We just walked around and talked about life and about God and some spiritual matters. I am excited to see what other opportunities I will have to talk about God with her, it seems that she doesn’t have a personal relationship with God but rather sees it as a religion only.

Day 4: Just Add Water

Sandra

Today I added water. So I bought my loaf of bread again today and walked the street looking for the right woman to give it to, then I saw a woman with 4 children who were dressed in dirty clothes sitting in the street. I had already walked past them before I realized that this was the woman that I was supposed to give the bread to. I turned around and walked back to where she was I squatted down and asked if she understood Spanish and she said she understands a little. So then I asked if she wanted the bread and of course she said that she did. I asked if she knew Jesus Christ and again she said she did, so then I asked if I could pray for her and her children and she said yes so I got a chance to pray with them for a little while (yeah!) and after I was done I gave her a note card with some verses on it and told her that they were from the bible. I really hope she reads them and takes them to heart. After that her oldest daughter asked if I would buy them a water and really how could I say no to that request something as basic as water…so I went to the store and bought them some water and when I came back I talked to her for a little while longer then said goodbye, I think that God wants me to find Sandra again and talk with her some more, and I hope that as my Spanish progresses I will be able to talk with her more about Jesus and what He did for her. I really want to be able to pray for people in Spanish, please pray that God will give me the language abilities to do so. I want people like Sandra to be able to understand what I’m saying when I pray for them. Thank you Father for this opportunity, my your name be glorified through this.

I'll continue to record my days here in Oaxaca and let you know what is happening in my life and what is happening through the bread ministry.

On a different note, language learning is going well I'm learning a ton, 5 tenses in 1 week! Uffdah!

I know that God is good and will see this language work in me to completion, I can already see a difference in a week so I'm hopeful that the next 3 weeks will be just as successful. Even though learning is going well I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep me in your prayers as I go through this process. Thanks for all your prayers, I have really felt them here! Love you all!

Until next time....adios!

The Start of a New Adventure: Language School

2009-05-03T21:12:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Oaxaca City Mexico!

For those of you that don't know what the heck that Johnson girl is up to; I'm doing language school for a month in Oaxaca. I arrived in Oaxaca tonight and found my host family without any problems praise the Lord! I'm staying with a lady and her daughter here in the city. They have been extremely nice and welcoming to me and I am very grateful. I feel also especially blessed because I have my own little suite here complete with a bathroom! I feel down right pampered and very thankful. Tomorrow begins Spanish classes at the language school I'm going to. I'm a little nervous but also excited as I step out into a new adventure with God. I know that God wants to use me here the next month and I'm excited to see how he does. I'm gonna try my hardest to keep you all up on whats happening here with me, but I also want to immerse myself in the language and try and keep my English communication to a minimum. That's all I really have for tonight, but stay tuned....

Prayer Requests:

- God would give me supernatural language learning abilities

- That I would be able to enjoy the process and not get frustrated

- That I would be presented with opportunities to share the gospel

- That I would stay healthy

- That I will be able to stay focused

- That God would be glorified through this process

I love you all! "Talk" to you soon. :)

Minneapolis My Lovely Home

2009-04-24T10:25:00.003-05:00

Hello to all of you out in blogland!

I realized that I haven't sent an update for quite awhile and while its been awhile it has been for good reason, I'm home and I don't have much to report on. So I thought I'd share some information about my city Minneapolis and missions in general:

Minneapolis:
Minneapolis/St. Paul have 136 languages and more than 70 ethnic groups represented.

The Philips neighborhood of Minneapolis alone has 100 languages spoken.

More than 20% of the population of the Twin Cities is first or second generation immigrants. This is more than 500,000 people.

In 1990 there were 4 Muslim mosques in the Twin Cities. In 2005 there are more than 70.

The Twin Cities has the largest Hmong, Somali and Ethiopian populations in the U.S.

The Twin Cities has the second largest Tibetan population in the U.S.

The Twin Cities has the largest concentration of Native Americans in an urban area in the US.

University of Minnesota:

130 countries represented

The university community includes approximately 3,300 international students and 1,200 international scholars and faculty members

Top 5 Countries represented: China, India, Republic of Korea, Taiwan

10/40 Window:

2.5 billion people in 6500 people groups are un-reached worldwide.

97% of the world’s un-reached people groups live in the 10/40 window.

10/40 window contains over 70% of the world’s people but only 8% of the church’s missionary efforts.

So why, you're asking yourself, is she giving all of this information?

Well, its simple. To encourage you that you can be a missionary and reach the entire world right where you are at. These days the world is literally at our doorsteps; what are we gonna do about it? I hope that you reach out to your foreign neighbors and show them the love of Jesus and hopefully through that relationship you can start discipling them and hopefully that disciple catches the vision and go back to their country with the gospel and make disciples there. The possibilities are endless, but the result is incredible.

Be missional with your life.

Spring Short-Term Trips

2009-03-26T17:50:00.003-06:00

Sorry I kinda fell off the face of the earth, but here is the latest and greatest on the life of Leah Johnson:

3 weeks ago we finished classes and now we are at the end of our short term trips. so let me catch you up on whats been happening here:

Trip #1 March 7-14: Village of Tidaa
* We went in to work with a church there that GFM has worked with in the past. We drilled a couple of wells and were able to locate water in one, we also did a community service project, Health camp in the elementary school and a medical outreach that was based out of the church.
* The things that the church in Tidaa has gone through in order to get where it is today was a huge encouragement to my faith and a challenge. The earliest believers went through a lot of persecution in order to practice their faith in Jesus Christ. The first Christian from that village is still alive and in the congregation today, and he's been going over the mountains to reach the unreached village of Diuxi about two kilometers away. The first Christians in this particular village were subjected to beatings, public embarrassment, jail time, loss of property and privileges, and some of them were completely rejected by friends and family just for pronouncing faith in Christ and leaving the Catholic church. It was so amazing to me to see these old people that had been tested and prevailed over all the odds through their faith in the Lord, and are now free to worship in the way that they want to. How amazing our God is!

Trip #2 March 14- 21: Town of Tepos
* We partnered with a missionary named Bernardo and his wife. Again we brought in medical teams, taught health classes in the schools and drilled a well, along with helping them construct their church building. I was able to spend a lot of time with Bernardo's wife Synthia and their 4 children while cooking for the team in their household. They are truly remarkable people who truly love the Lord and want to do his will. They have been missionaries in this area for 5 years and in July they will be returning to their home church in the northern part of Mexico since they have raised up leaders in tepos to continue the work.
* This is a pretty cool testimony of how God uses short term trips for his glory: We met a man at the church who told us that the reason he accepted Jesus was because of a medical outreach that GFM did in his village about two years ago. Although they weren't able to do much for him other than give him medicine, they prayed for him and he said that no one else had ever done that before and believed that God could heal him. He then went on to accept Jesus into his life. It's always an encouraging thing to see the fruit of past labors here in towns that we go in to.

Trip #3 March 21-28: Tlaxiaco
* This week we are here in our colonia (our city) we are doing the the health camp at the school with the kindergarteners and also holding a medical clinic both here and in a village and in the jail. On Tuesday night we had a movie at the base, we showed "Fireproof" and about 100 of our neighbors and friends came. We are still in the middle of the trip so I can't fill you in on everything, but I had a lot of fun working with the kids in the school, we weren't able to directly share the gospel message with them, but we were able to love them and pray for them.
* The guys are in a village 2 hours away drilling wells. I heard that they struck water in one well which is good, but more importantly I heard that one of the guys, Jordan, was able to share his testimony with a guy who is struggling with some substance abuse and because he was able to share with him the guy was so excited by what he heard he asked him to go on his radio show and share it again along with the whole gospel message. Praise the Lord! I don't know what happened, but I'll keep you posted.
* This week has been good for me to catch up with my friends in the colonia and in town. I'm hoping to have some more time to visit my precious Mexican friends and spend time building those relationships. I continue to pray for them and I hope that my time in Oaxaca will produce better language skills that I can then use to communicate better with them and go deeper in those relationships and hopefully be able to disciple them.
*************************************************************
There you have it my life for the past month in a crazy, busy, amazing nutshell. I would appreciate it if you could keep me in your prayers as I continue to seek after what God wants for me and for the steps that he has already revealed and laid out for me.

In case you don't know I will be home from April 9th to May 2nd then I will be returning to Oaxaca for language school from May 2nd to June 1stish, then I will be returning to Tlaxiaco for the summer and be down here doing summer teams. After that is still up in the air, but I still believe that God is calling me to stay on next year to staff MTS and then GFM USA either Atlanta or Houston, but I'm not gonna put God in a box things change and usually they do for the better.

Love you all and will see most of you in a little over a week!

Oh Sweet Clarity

2009-02-15T20:29:00.005-06:00

Praise the Lord I have direction!

So here's the deal, I'm staying in Mexico after all, for the summer at least. So here is the complete story:

I have to say up until about two weeks ago I didn’t think that I was
going to stay here in Oaxaca for my apprenticeship/internship. That all changed when Dan and Grant told the class that GFM was going stateside in about a year and would no longer be in Oaxaca, but rather focus on the large cities that have people from several different countries. I think God had been preparing my heart ever since we read a Perspectives article that talked about how strategic large cities are. It was one of those things that seems so obvious, but yet you don’t really think about it until someone points it out to you and lays it out in a way like the Perspectives does. 2 weeks ago during worship time I did a listening prayer and asked God if I was supposed to go ahead and do GFM USA and God gave me a yes, but being a human I asked God to give me clear confirmation on His answer. Last weekend while I was in Oaxaca I started to think about language school and was very excited about the prospect of doing language school if I got God’s confirmation to stay. Also last weekend I felt God’s peace rest upon me and I felt as I looked out the window in the suburban that this was going to be my home for the next year. Still I felt like peace and his yes in prayer wasn’t enough until last week when we talked about how God guides us in decisions, and sometimes it's through peace in our spirits. At that point I felt confident that God was leading me to stay here, which for now means language school in May, doing the apprenticeship this summer (June-August). After that hopefully I will also help out with MTS next year (September-April 2010) and helping to set up GFM USA, and then actually doing GFM USA where-ever that may be next summer. I will be home in April for a few weeks (probably April 9-May 1) so if you'd like to hear more about what God is doing in my life I'd love to tell you.

If you would like more information about GFM USA you can visit this link: http://www.globalfrontiermissions.com/usa/index.html

I'm still unsure how much I will need monthly for support and I will let you all know as soon as I know, but if you are interested in coming alongside me financially you can go to this link: https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=31-1738321 and in the "Designate My donation" write: Leah Johnson

Thanks for all your prayers on my behalf for direction, I have really felt them the past months! I love all of you and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Counting the Cost of God's Blessing

2009-02-02T01:10:00.005-06:00

As I celebrate my 25th year of being in this world my one desire is that this next year be wholly and completely dedicated to the purposes of the Lord. I know that I just referenced a song in my last blog, but my life is heavily influenced by music so I'm sorry, but I guess you'll just have to bear with me:).

I have frequently thought about and prayed the song "I want it all" by Shane and Shane, but today God revealed a new thing to me that I would like to share with you all. In case you don't know the first part of the song goes like this:

Use me, break me, waste me on You, Lord
Ruin me, take me, waste me on You
For to die is to live...

To starve is to feast
And less of me is more of Jesus
Lord, I want it all
Lord, I want it all
If i lose my life
I gain everything
And at the cross
Away with all death's sting
Lord, I want it all
Lord, I want it all

In Philippians 1:21 It says: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Today it struck me as I was listening to this song that this death that is talked about is not only physical death, but also death to my dreams and aspirations. In Western culture we are told that we have rights to personal happiness and comfort in our lives. I realized that up until now I wanted a relationship with Jesus on my terms and that meant having the life I desired: getting married, having a pleasant, enjoyable job, having kids, a nice house, spreading the love of God in the way I wanted, to retire comfortably, and enjoy my grandchildren, and die a peaceful death at the end of my life. (I would like to say here that I believe that God does call some people and blesses them with this type of life)

Now I realize that God calls us to give up everything including our lives to follow him. Of course I've heard this before, but I still clung to the idea that surely when God told Abraham in Genesis 12:1 "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you", and when Jesus told his disciples to leave everything to follow him; he didn't mean that I needed to literally leave/give up everything to follow him. Today I realized that yes he did mean me too, he wants every aspect of our lives to use for his glory. Today I say, if that means remaining single, going to a far off village where life is everything but convenient, not having contact with my family, not being able to retire in comfort, giving him my youth for his purposes instead of mine, releasing all other dreams and struggling financially for the rest of my life for the sake of His glory then I say "Praise the Lord!". Today I choose to die to myself and my human desires, because as Jesus says in Mark 10: 29-31: I tell you the truth, Jesus replied, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

God has so much to give to us, no it's not always the same success this world recognizes, but it is so much greater than that. He offers peace, joy, love and the best thing ever a personal relationship with Him that includes eternal life with Him. We will never experience these gifts while we chase after the things of the flesh, because God isn't concerned with what we can acquire, but instead He is concerned with our hearts. Where is your heart? As for me my heart is spoken for, Jesus is Lord of my life, I am his child and as a child of God I submit to his plans and his authority. His covering is the best place we can be.

Lord, I pray that as I start a new year of my life that I continue to remember that this world is not my home, and I need to live as such. I commit this year into your hands and will chase after your heart instead of my own.

His Provision is Worth the Wait. Always.

2009-01-26T21:14:00.012-06:00

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

As I wait on the Lord to reveal His plans for the next season of my life, I cling to the knowledge and security that He has my future in his hands and that settling for anything less than His provision in my life would be rebellion and less than satisfying. I want it all, all He has planned for me, I want to see God work in and through my life and use me the way he uniquely created me to be used. I want to be obedient in all that I do, I want to be in His good and perfect will. Below is a song that I've been meditating on during this time of waiting. I hope it maybe helps you too in your time of waiting on the Lord. Love you all!

My Future Decided: By Hillsong

You hold the future in your hands
You know my dreams and you have a plan
And as you light my way, I'll follow you

My eyes on all of the above
My soul secure in all you've done
My minds made up
And you are the only one for me

Jesus, savior, in my life you are everything
My future decided, I will praise your name
And I know that I am, I am yours
Yeah, I know that I am, I am yours

You hold the earth in your command
You are the rock on which I stand
And as I live each day, I'll follow you

My eyes on all of the above
My soul secure in all you've done
My minds made up
And you are the only one for me

Jesus, savior, in my life you are everything
My future decided, I will praise your name
And I know that I am, I am yours
Yeah, I know that I am, I am yours

Aren't afraid, aren't ashamed Lord we know who we are
We are your people and we won't be silent
Unified hear us cry at the top of our lungs
You our God and we will not be shaken

Aren't afraid, aren't ashamed Lord we know who we are
We are your people and we won't be silent
Unified hear us cry at the top of our lungs
You our God and we will not be shaken

Jesus, savior, in my life you are everything
My future decided, I will praise your name
And I know that I am, I am yours
Yeah, I know that I am, I am yours

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

New Direction and No Direction. Confused? So Am I

2009-01-19T01:03:00.005-06:00

Hello to all of you out there!

Here is an update on where my life is at presently.

New Direction:

Before I left Mexico for our Christmas break I was quite frustrated with my ministry time here in Tlaxiaco. I was struggling with people not showing up for English class, coffee and other social meetings. It's completely culturally acceptable for them to not show up, but being a northern American girl I still have not quite adapted to that. I was really glad to have the time away to think about how God was going to use me in Tlaxiaco, but the problem was I never really did hear from God while I was home on how to redirect my energy and time. One day when I came back after break I took a walk by myself through our Colonia (what we call basically a suburb here) and just prayed over it. God spoke that day in a simple way and said that I should focus on our colonia instead of Tlaxiaco, specifically just going around to the houses and bringing them cookies and chatting. Loving our neighbors.

This past week I put that plan into action, on Tuesday I worked on Spanish phrases to use, Thursday I made the cookies (peanut butter if you were wondering), and on Friday I went out into the colonia. I must say I was very nervous to go out by myself with my limited Spanish and talk with our neighbors. Before I left on Friday the girls prayed for me and as I walked to the first house I prayed that God would give me super natural understanding and use of the language and also that he would direct my steps. I am happy to say that He did just that. As I was walking I saw a woman outside of her house with her 2 kids and I felt God's leading and went up and talked with her and her kids. Her name is Patty and she graciously invited me to come back sometime (I actually understood a good portion of what she said by the grace of God). I know that I probably won't be able to make deep relationships with people in the 2 months I have remaining here, but I know that God loves these people and we are called to love our neighbor in whatever shape that takes, so I know this won't be in vain. I praise the Lord for this new direction.

Old Friends:

I realized that I generalized a bit in the first part of the blog because not all of the people I've met down here have flaked out on me, I do have some dear friends that I count myself lucky to know. My friend Mari has been very kind to me and I'm grateful for her friendship, kindness and patience. I had lunch with her on Saturday and as always felt welcome in her house and in her family.

Yolanda (I realize at this point I haven't blogged about Yolanda's story and will make that right very soon I promise) is also a woman that God has put in my path and feel that she and I have a special friendship based on faith that God can work miracles.

Lorenza, as you will recall I met Lorenza at the beginning of my time here and went to her house to make tortillas. I'm sad to say that I haven't seen her since, but am very excited because a friend of mine at the base recently saw her and she was inquiring after a couple of us, so I will have the opportunity to see her again quite often I hope. I'm very grateful for all the relationships God has given me down here and I cherish each and everyone of them.

No Direction:

That all being said I feel like I've taken a step back as far as direction for my future. I was positive that I was heading to Thailand in April, but now finding out some information on Visas I'm not quite sure God is leading me in that direction. Right now all I know is that I will be here until the very beginning of April, but after that I'm not quite sure where or what God has planned for me. I know God has my future in His loving and caring hands, and I'm sure there is a lesson being taught about trust and patience here, but I'm far from learning it. I want to know whats next!

Prayer Requests:

Patty- She would be open to me and receptive to me visiting her.

Yolanda- She had foot surgery before we left for break and it hasn't completely healed yet

Mari- She would be open to spiritual matters and that our relationship would deepen to talk about those matters

Lorenza- God's provision for her and her family

My Future Plans

My New Direction in Ministry here in Tlaxiaco

P.S. Sorry about the problems with posting comments on my blog. I did some re-formatting and believe that it is now fixed. Post away!

Yearning, and Burning with Passion for God

2009-01-09T21:27:00.006-06:00

Happy New Years to You All!

I had a wonderful time at home visiting all of you! If I missed seeing you I'm very sorry, I'll have to catch you next time around. I am thankful for each and everyone of you, you all mean so much to me and I realize that without your support and friendship I wouldn't be where I'm at today, so thank you for that.

I'm back in Mexico and am doing really well, I'm still trying to adjust back to life as a Mexican, but am loving every minute of it. This week is revival week here at school and I have been deeply moved by the subject as the following will testify to.

God. When you think about the concept of God, do you think about a being far removed from our human condition, someone who rules over our lives with a tight fist? Or perhaps you think of a being who loves us so much that he sent His son Jesus to become our atonement so that we could be in relationship with Him. The latter of these is what I think of when I think about God, he is my friend, companion, and so much more. He is to be feared, revered, praised, glorified, and worshiped, but yet he wants to be in relationship with each and everyone of us. What an amazing gift that is, let's not take that for granted. He has made a way for that relationship through Jesus so let's take it and let him reveal amazing things about himself, about his creation and about us. I can't wrap my head around how glorious my God is and how much he wants to show me if I would only let him by being in His presence daily, and in His Word the Bible daily, and just letting him move in the way he wants to move.

I pray for revival in our country, a country that is dangerously falling into selfishness and independence from God. God is the very thing America needs, but I realize that if I want revival it needs to begin within me. I need to be open to what God has for my life, I need to be refined before I can be used. So my question to you is this: What are you living for? Money, possessions, people, partying, etc.? What worth do these things have in the eternal realm? I have to say that I was at one time deceived into thinking that if I only had...I would be happy, but it never happened because those things don't last, but one thing does last and matters the most is God. If you don't know Him and his son Jesus, please ask someone about Him today. He loves you and wants to do amazing things in your life, let him. God is a gentleman, he would never force himself on you, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't love you, he does. Let him in and watch him change your life in ways you never imagined. I promise you won't be disapointed.

My prayer for both you and me this new year is that we would be yearning and burning with passion for God. Let's put God first and see the world changed forever. No more hunger, no more abuse, no more killings, no more disease, no more mourning, no more hopelessness, no more anger, no more loneliness, only love.

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful new year filled with God's blessings.

By God's Grace

2008-12-04T23:10:00.005-06:00

**Note: this story happened back in November*

God has revealed Himself to me in ways I have never experienced before. One example happened during Healing week. During healing week we learned about how God wants to heal and it is his will to heal us. When Jesus died on the cross he took not only our sins but also our sickness and therefore we as Christians need to walk in this promise. In class on the first day of Healing week (intense I know) God told me that I needed to pray for my friend Yolanda. Let me rewind a bit to the Sunday before all this happened, Yolanda goes to my church and in the service on Sunday God told me to pray for her foot. She has a foot that is crippled so that she has to walk on the side of it. Unfortunately, I was disobedient and didn't pray for her that Sunday in the service, but God in his infinite patience gave me another opportunity on Tuesday. On Tuesday Rachel, Heather and I all went to her house. God gave me a specific vision that involved washing her foot. I must say I was a little afraid because I wasn't sure how she would react to me washing her foot and praying over it, but I knew I needed to step out in obedience. The first time we went to her house she wasn't there so we returned that night and she wasn't there again, but just as we were walking down the road to our car we saw her walking up with her small son. She was very receptive to us praying for her foot and didn't even flinch when I asked to wash her foot. We ended up praying for her foot in the van that night and even though her foot didn't straighten I think healing happened that night. It may have been an emotional healing or the beginnings of a physical healing I will maybe never know, but it really isn't my business to know why or how, its my job to be obedient. Since that night Yolanda has had surgery on her foot, but I can't say if it was a successful surgery because I haven't seen her since her surgery. Please keep Yolanda in your prayers not only does she has physical scars and wounds, but she has some deep emotional wounds that need healing that can only come Jesus. She is a believer and I can tell that she loves Jesus with all that she is, but she is still wounded. Please keep her in your prayers.

Spanish Blunders and Cultural Encounters

2008-11-07T19:59:00.003-06:00

Hello to all of you wherever you may be.
In this weeks edition of Leah´s blog we have some fun language stories, so without further ado:

El Encante (a restaurant here), 2 weeks ago (right after I posted my last blog), World Series game:
We were all sitting down when the waitress came to take our orders, I had carefully planned out what I was going to say and what I wanted to order (a milkshake and french fries with a side of mayo, cuz that´s how we roll in Minnesota). I had asked Missy (a girl who speaks just as much Spanish as I do) how to say french fries (this by the way is usually a big mistake). So when it came to my turn I ordered my milkshake and ordered ¨fritas y mayonaisa¨roughly translated I ordered fried mayonnaise. Whoops! Slightly embarrassing, but we worked it out and got my order in...or so I thought. Later the waitress came back with our food and she´s putting all of our orders in front of us and as I´m watching everyone get their food I´m seeing that everyone got what they ordered. Then she puts my plate in front of me and I look at and blink a couple times and look again...it was not what I thought I ordered, instead of french fries with a side of mayonnaise it was 2 pieces of what could be likened to country fried steak, a salad and a small pile of french fries. Missy looks at it too and busts out laughing and even though I know that laughing at this very moment is a bad idea I can´t help it and laugh too. I guess that´s all you can do right? Is laugh? The best part was after she brought it out I had to ask for mayonnaise for my french fries.

Last week, in the park, meeting with my friend Thelma:

I have been meeting with Thelma for a couple weeks now and last Thursday she brought her friend Eduardo. In Mexico when you are friends with someone you do the cheek to cheek air kiss, keeping that in mind Thelma introduces me to Eduardo and he goes in for the friend cheek to cheek air kiss (which is ackward for me first because he is a guy and second because he´s a guy I don´t know) and instead of saying ¨mucho gusto¨or nice to meet you¨. I say ¨me gusta¨ or I like¨ I knew instantly that this wasn´t right and could be construed in all sorts of bad ways so I tried to make up for it by saying that I get the two phrases confused (I don´t) and that they sound a lot alike (they don´t). I laugh about it now and he seemed to take it the right way, but that could have turned out bad.

Cultural Things:
So I mentioned previously that I have been meeting with 3 girls to practice my English and them practice their Spanish, well in Mexican culture it is completely normal for people who you have been meeting with to not show up. This has been my experience with these 3 girls. At first I was very frustrated and discouraged, but now I have come to accept it as a part of being in a different culture. The 2 high school girls haven´t shown up for a couple of weeks so I don´t think I´m meeting with them anymore, but I´m still meeting with Thelma and in fact hung out with her last night.

If you could keep Thelma in your prayers I would really appreciate it, I don´t know much about her yet, but I´m really excited to get to know her better and I hope that we can be good friends. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in her heart and that he would give me the words to say at the right time.

I love and miss you all. I will hopefully post again sooner than later.

Broken teeth, crashed computer, and mechanical bulls

2008-10-27T18:50:00.006-06:00

The title of this blog post pretty much says it all. The past week of my life has been a little tumultuous to say the least. Let me fill you in on a few things that have been happening:

Last Sunday:
I was was watching a movie with my fellow GFMers and eating a tortilla with guacamole in it when, I bit into the tortilla and was surprised by "crunch, crunch" unfortunately there wasn´t anything crunchy in that tortilla, instead it was my tooth that had broken somehow. Luckily it didn´t break down to the nerve, but still a little irritating. Especially since my insurance is less than spectacular.

Last Tuesday:
The past couple of weeks have been Tlaxiaco days where they celebrate their city and part of that celebration included a carnival complete with rides that have been rejected from the US carnivals. After taco Tuesdays a group of us decided to go to the carnival and check it out. We had churros with chocolate inside they were delicious and oh so fattening. It reminded me of the State fair I felt like I was on the midway. After we had churros we began to walk around and see the rides. I was determined to ride on one of these "rejected rides" and then we saw it in all its glory, the mechanical bull. (singing: ahhhhh). For those of you who were with me on my birthday last year, it was like finding the holy grail. I had to give it a go, so I paid my 20 pesos and got on. I have to say here that the ride was not all that I hoped for it was not what I had dreamed it would be but it was fun for the memories. Up next: a real bull (I´m convinced it would be better on a real bull).

Last Thursday:
I returned home from being in town all day only to turn on my computer and err, umm, it didn´t turn on. I thought ok this is only a fluke thing it will work if I try it again. No, it did not. Bummer, so folks I´m without a computer for the time being. Right now I´m at a Internet cafe and will have to rely on them and the generosity of friends probably until I come home for Christmas.

All this to say God is still good and even though things like computers crashing and teeth breaking are extremely inconvenient God is still there and he will use it for his glory. I know that there are lessons to learn in the midst of problems and will probably look back at all of this and see quite clearly what God was doing. In the mean time I choose to laugh and continue on with life.

On a positive note I have been meeting with three girls in the park on Wedensdays and thursdays to teach them english and have them in return teach me spanish. I am excited about these new friendships that are in the making. Please pray for them that the Holy Spirit would be working in their hearts and also pray for me to know what to say to them and that I would learn spanish fast.

I hope you are all doing well. Love and miss you all!

Catch Up!

2008-10-15T22:48:00.002-05:00

Ok so I am failing miserably at this updating business. I am terribly sorry, but you are going to get the condensed version of the past 3 weeks (!).

Freedom Camp
A couple weeks ago I went to "freedom camp" with the other MTS students here. It was a 3 day fast and camp retreat. Basically it was a time where we all could focus on getting ourselves right with God by identifying sin in our lives both past and present and repenting from them one at a time. Let me just say here that repenting from a lifetime of sin (that I had asked for forgiveness, but used a blanket forgiveness statement) is exhausting and a little overwhelming, but incredibly freeing. I would love to tell you more about this experience, so ask if you want to know more.

Last week
Last week we talked about personalities and how they fit into ministry and a mission team, being a psych major I thoroughly loved this week. I love finding out what everyone's personality is and also learning more about the way God created me both with strengths and weaknesses.

This week
This past Monday we celebrated Canada's Thanksgiving (yes that does mean 2 thanksgivings this year Yee-haw! gotta love that!). The Canadians made the meal, which was delicious by the way, and we played a game of football in the afternoon (after all what would thanksgiving be without football?), which was a lot of fun even for those of us who are not super great at the sport.

I should mention that on this past Sunday in upper room the Holy Spirit moved in a big way. I experienced him in a way I have never experienced him before. I feel that my faith has been deepened in a way I never knew it could be and am excited to explore what that means in my life and am excited to grow in that. If you would like to hear more about this I would love to tell you I can only write so much here but there is a lot more to this story than is here.

I am still loving my time down here and have really felt God's hand in really everything I have been doing, and I'm excited to see the rest of the year play out. Thanks for all of your prayers and support I really appreciate it. Love you all!

Making Tortillas

2008-10-02T21:18:00.003-05:00

This is a belated post that should have been posted on Sunday, but due to some complications was not posted until now.

On Saturday I met Tashia's friend named Lorenza. We had a good time of fellowship and talking on Saturday night, she practiced a little bit of english and muddled through some spanish (a botch job mind you, but I tried). As we were about to leave Lorenza asked if we wanted to come back the next morning at 7am to make tortillas. I am not a morning person, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity of learning how to make tortillas, so of course we said we would come back.
Sunday morning I woke up at 6am and caught a taxi in the pitch black of early morning and met up with Tashia to go to Lorenza's. We got there a little after 7am, but its okay because we were on Mexico time and there is no worries about arriving late (my kid of culture). She had already started by the time we got there, the dough was already made (made of corn, water and salt) she said that, that part of the process only takes about 10 minutes. She does her tortillas over an open fire in a metal dish (pics are coming I promise, I just haven't had time or good Internet to do it yet) she puts this white chalky stuff in the dish so that the tortillas don't stick. Then she got down to making the tortillas, she takes a bit of dough and pats it between her hands and flattens it then she puts the dough on a round piece of plastic (home-made from a plastic bag, very ingenious) and proceeds to make a perfectly round tortilla with only the palm of her hand (they pride themselves in the roundness of the tortilla). Now it was Tashia and my turn, let me just say we did not do very well, but Lorenza came to the rescue and perfected them for us. We each only did one, I don't think she wanted us to do any more than one, but we did get to eat the tortillas we made fresh off the fire with queso it was delicious!

Spontaneous Combustion

2008-09-25T21:22:00.002-05:00

Turkey, Turkey everywhere, on the ceiling, on the walls and on the floor.

So tonight we were having dinner and talking when Troy comes out of the kitchen and "klablooie" an explosion coming from the kitchen and a cloud of white proceeds to fill the entire kitchen, and when the dust settles (so to speak) there was cooked turkey everywhere.

So here was the deal: there was a pressure cooker on the stove cooking away when apparently something went awry and the pressure got to be too much inside and the next thing we know there goes the pressure cooker soaring up to the ceiling and slammed back down to the stove where it proceeded to make a HUGE dent in the stove. So needless to say the kitchen got a little extra cleaning tonight.

Climbing Mountains

2008-09-23T18:54:00.004-05:00

Hola!

Since it's been awhile since I last updated my blog let me catch you up:

On Saturday we had a September birthday party/Oaxaca Idol (lip-synching competition). Us single ladies did our lip-synch to "Jesus is a friend of Mine" (its on youtube if you are interested and seeing the original song/group its rather hysterical) the song is by a group from the seventies so we all dressed up accordingly we got some interesting clothing pieces from Reto, a used clothing store (for those of you who are on facebook that's where I am in my profile pic) for the occasion, it was a lot of fun. That night we played Ultimate Pong a ping pong game that gets pretty competitive (if you would like to learn we'll have to have a Ultimate Pong night when I'm home)

Here in Tlaxiaco we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, and ever since I got here they have been calling my name, so yesterday we finally climbed one. It took us about 2 and a half hours to climb it and I have to say that it kicked my butt the entire way, but it was totally worth it when we were at the top. I hope that it will get easier the longer I'm here and I get acclimated to the altitude. On the way down we ran some of the way and I took a complete no recovery tumble. Don't worry mom I'm ok I just have a sizable bruise on my bottom. No problem. It was a really good time, yet a very tiring time!

Today we started a new week of classes and this week we are learning about intercessory prayer. It's only one day in and I'm already feeling challenged by the things we are learning. I have been praying that God would break me and refine me so that there would be no more of me and all of him. This is a scary prayer for me because I know that there will be a lot of pain and questions that will come with this prayer, but I desire to be at that place. If you guys could keep me in your prayers as I'm going through this process I would really appreciate it. Also, if you could keep my health and everyone's health here on the base in your prayers I would appreciate it. Living in community with others is a wonderful thing, but it also comes with its own problems like sickness, so if you could keep that in your prayers I would be grateful.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Till next time, much love...

World Turned Upside Down... Check.

2008-09-17T17:07:00.005-05:00

This week is death to self week here at GFM and that means a lot of dying to my way of thinking. To say that my world has been rocked just doesn't do it justice...I now know that I will not be the same person I was when I got here and this is only the second week. I'm sure over the next months you guys will start to see changes (at least I hope you will anyway).

Just to share a little about what I've been learning, I have been challenged in what I believe is suffering and what I believe is complete surrender to God. I have come to the realization that God's glory is so much more important than my life and my comfort and that God may use me in ways that I might not think is comfortable or convenient but it isn't about me its about God and his glory. I have also come to the realization that my relationship with god has been me-centered and not God centered, God wants to bless us don't get me wrong, but He blesses us so that we bless others for his glory and not for our own.

Whew.....that is just a little taste of what I have been learning. I can see that the process will probably be a long and painful one, and I know that God is going to chip away at me until I am completely broken so that he can use me for his will and glory. I'm ready, or at least I think I am. If you would like to know more about I'm learning I would love to tell you about it in more detail, just shoot me an e-mail or wright a comment.

On a lighter note, On Monday night we went to a neighbor's house who's daughter was Miss Mexico and we had dinner and walked in a parade to the Colonia's recreation center for the "Greeto", where they had a ceremony and the 'gringos' got ambush foamed. It was fun to get a little taste of culture and see how they celebrate their independence day (I was wrong in the previous post their independence day was yesterday September 16th).

I love you all and miss you guys!

In His Hands,

Leah

The Rockin' Church

2008-09-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Mexico-

I hope that you have had a restful and challenging Sabath. I personally have had a good one. This morning I went to church with Dan and Kelly Farr and their family and the Wheelers to a church that was on the otherside of town and outside on the side of a mountain and it was awsome! When we arrived they had already started music worship and I was pleased to see and hear that they were doing worship with an electric guitar, drums and an electric bass guitar I loved every mintue of it even though I didn't necessarily understand everything.

Ok, so I'm still trying to learn the language so this morning I was trying to pick out the words I could understand and I heard over and over again: "Gloria adios" and I thought to myself, 'why do they keep saying 'glory good-bye'', Finally I realized that Dios is God in Spanish and they were saying "glory to God". You've gotta love the humor in learning a new language, sometimes it just doesn't quite make sense.

Also, during the service they did a trust fall with some of the church members (whoever wanted to participate could) I didn't end up participating because I wasn't quite sure how that would work with a skirt on, I definitely did not want anything to fly up and offend them :). I always love worshipping with my brothers and sisters in different languages its a beautiful thing. I think I will probably continue to go to this church for now at least.

So far that's been my day, we have today and tomorrow off so I'm not exactly sure what we will be doing, but tomorrow is Mexico's independence day so I'm hoping to be able to go into town and see how they celebrate. I hear it can get pretty crazy.

Until next time..

Eating Grasshoppers

2008-09-13T20:17:00.001-05:00

Hola!

So I hope that you are all enjoying an event filled Saturday night! I got back from town about an hour ago and am ready for a night of relaxation and fellowship with the "gringos" here on base. However I must say that today was a spectacular day in and of itself. Let me expound:

So this morning/afternoon we went into town and tried our communication skills (or lack there of) we had a scavenger hunt where we had to ask towns people different questions to fulfill the points. I went out with Heather and Missy, Heather knows a lot of Spanish and was a very patient teacher encouraging us to use what we know and helping by giving new phrases to use with the people in town and translating when they answered back with words we couldn't understand. We met quite a few people today and I hope that we will be able to build on that foundation and create relationships with those people.

At about 2pm we met up with the rest of the "gringos" or white people (that's what they call us down here) and went to lunch with the groups that will be our Saturday lunch groups for the rest of the year. After lunch Tashia, Jon and I went back to the market in search of grasshoppers. Tashia said that I had to eat one (yes I'm blaming you Tashia :)). So after wandering around the market without success we finally found a woman who lead us to a vendor who had them and graciously (not sure if that's the right word) let us try one. My first grasshopper...interesting, not exactly disgusting, yet not exactly appetizing. After the grasshoppers we decided to get some coffee at a local coffee shop (I was happy to hear they have coffee shops with espresso drinks) and had a good time of fellowship.

Tonight I had alone time God sitting on the hammock, watching the lightning and drinking coffee (it was lovely) and felt so blessed to be here learning more about my Jesus and learning about how to be best be his vessel. I still don't know what exactly it is that God is calling me to, but its ok because I know that it's in His Hands and there is no better place for my future to be, right?
You can continue to pray for me in the language area I still have a ways to go, but I know that God is right there with me. Thanks for all of your prayers in this area I have definitely felt them!

Butchering Pigs and Such...

2008-09-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

I have been in Tlaxiaco for 4 days now and haven't exactly gotten into a routine quite yet, but I am hoping that I will next week since this is an orientation week.

So let me catch you up on my life the past couple of days, on Monday we had some neighbors kill and butcher one of the base's pigs, because she could no longer walk due to abuse from the male pig she indeed led a sad life of abuse, so it was better that she was put out of her misery. That was pretty much the excitement for that day.

On Tuesday we ate the pig in pork tacos they were pretty good! On Tuesday night we went into town, toured it and had taco Tuesdays at one of the restaurants the people here really like (it was pretty delicious). We will be doing taco Tuesdays every week so I am very excited (this will also be a night of ministry time where we will try and form relationships with the local people).

Today we had class (we've had class since Monday) and had a lesson on speed reading (I must say here I was a little skeptical, but it actually does work, within 30 min I improved my speed by 50 words per minute!). This afternoon I finally went for a run. I have been a little stir crazy the last couple days so it was nice to get out and stretch my legs and get some exercise. On a side note the one thing that wasn't enjoyable were the 3 dogs that chased me, luckily they didn't chase me for long. Tonight I'm not sure what we will be doing I suspect I will attempt to get some reading done and possibly go back into town. Thank you all for your support both now and as I've been on this crazy journey called life, I think back and don't know what I would have done without your prayers and support. I am one lucky lady to have friends and family such as you!

Prayer Requests:*Please pray for me as I am trying to make relationships with people here that I would be able to pick up the language fast and that I would be able to adequately communicate with them in order to make those relationships.

Safely in Tlaxiaco

2008-09-07T13:26:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca Mexico!

I have arrived safe and sound last night and have (shocker!) settled in for the most part already. Yesterday was a long day of travel that started at 8am and ended at 12:45 am (Tlaxiaco is an hour behind Minneapolis in case anyone was wondering). By the time we arrived at the base I was quite ready to go to sleep, so I was happy to hear that we would have the chance to sleep in until 10am this morning! Although I think I was too anxious to sleep that long I probably woke up at about 8am, so really not too bad. Today we had brunch as a big group and I met several people at the base here (however, I don't remember many of their names, I'm sure I will get a chance to learn them over the next several months). The rest of the day is a free day until 8pm when we will have mandatory fun time, I think I will probably take a nap and visit with my new classmates. I think we begin classes tomorrow, so if I have time I will try and do another update then. Love you all and hope that you are doing well!

Welcome to my blog!

2008-09-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

The blogging begins...

I am leaving for Mexico in 4 days and can hardly believe that it's already time to go! My goal is to update all of you, my family and friends, on my life while I'm in Mexico. Hopefully that means weekly updates, but knowing me I have a feeling that it probably won't be every week, but I will try my best. So, until next time...