Gloria A Dios

This morning in my spanish class {which is just me and my tutor}, my tutor shared with me her testimony. She is the first christian in her family, and she told me about the burden she has for her family-that they would come to know the Lord. The details were hazy of course, seeing as how my spanish vocabulary is rather small. I completely understood her though. I understood the way her voice became shaky and the way the tears weld up in her eyes. I understood because I know that emotion. I know what it's like watching the people you love live their lives in complacency, not knowing the joy that lies just beyond their pride and disillusionment. I know {not fully, but partially} the weight of this burden that my Jesus carried to the cross.

The body of Christ is so beautiful. Not to speak in "churchy" language-but really think about that! Us as a body of people all have atleast one thing in common and that is JESUS.  He is our common-denominator. It's so beautiful that I can come to a place and culture that is worlds different than mine and instantly have deep relationship with people that a part of the same body as I am.  People that have the same burdens as I do.
Just one perk of following Jesus!!

The people that I have met here are family, and I'm going to miss them greatly. But I know that I will be having one big fiesta with them in heaven one day!! Family reunion, y'all!!! And that makes the thought of having to say goodbye a little more bearable.

And here's a little side note that I thought was kind of funny...
Today my tutor kept saying "gloria adios"while she was telling me her story, which I've heard some of my ballet students say when praying... This statement always confused me though because I've known that "adios" means "goodbye" ever since I was like 4 {one of the perks of being from Texas-you grow up learning spanish without even having to think about it}. So in my processing I was thinking "okay, well gloria is 'glory' in english.. so I guess 'gloria adios' is like 'goodbye glory'..." Come to find out the saying is actually "gloria A DIOS"...which is "Glory to God." Haaaaahhhhh. So gloria a Dios. He understand fully this language that I'm attempting to speak.

Just sayin'
Shalom!!

Ah.. ehhhhh.... Uuuhh..

I'm really no good at blogging. Or journaling for that matter!
Whenever I have a lot going on, like exciting things happening in my life, I find it the hardest to write about it. It's like there's so much that Im processing and thinking about that I can't put any of it to words. Especially in the past month I've been more quiet than usual. I find myself with absolutely nothing to say {that's rare for me}, or when I do force out a thought, it's just that-FORCED. I have so much spinning around in my head though. So much that I feel my heart and soul might explode at any moment. My words just never seem to be enough to release the tension.

And now here I am, learning a new language. Finding myself in "conversations" with people where my main form of communication is miming and using noises like "eehhh" "ahhh" and "uhhhhhhh". Talk about humbling.  I've accepted my place in the Kingdom as court jester!
I'm kidding. But really, when attempting to learn a new language, you learn to cherish the one that you already know {for me that language is American :) }.

So if my blog posts seem scatter-brained and don't make any sense {like this one}, just know that a bunch of really exciting/good/overwhelming things are happening in my heart.

Just sayin.
Shalom.

Hey you! Yeah, you with the tool belt!!

Having one of those "Where the stink is my husband?!?" moments. And for those of you that know me, you know that those moments for me are rare. I tend to settle more into the mindset of "I don't need no man and I pity the fool that do!!" I am aware that this is an extremely unhealthy mindset. ESPECIALLY tonight.

Ya see. My oven broke. Or maybe... I broke it... I don't remember.
Nevertheless- it isn't working. The dumb little knob broke right off! And being the handy-dandy woman that I am, I tried to fix it. I tried my best with what I had {tweezers,  butter-knife, washcloth} but to no avail. That oven was done for.

I couldn't let it go though. I wanted it fixed, and I wanted to be the one to fix it. I couldn't accept defeat.

Then that little teeny tiny thought popped into my mind-"this is going to be one of the great things about having a husband." Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that women should be chained to the kitchen sink and husbands are only good for being handy with tools. {I know how to change my own datgum oil, okay!} But what I mean is- it'll be nice to have some one that might know a little bit more than I do about how electronic stuff works, or how to start a grill, or how to get my radio to quit making that obnoxious ticking noise. Or maybe just be the one to tell me when it's time to call it quits, and remind me that I just am not going to be able to fix everything in life. I just think that I'm starting to see the beauty in this whole man and woman relationship thing.

So hott-stuff, wherever you are out there and whatever you're doing just know that your "honey do list" is already pretty long so you might want to go ahead and start heading this way so you can get started on it. Just sayin.

beautiful are the feet

Here I am, at the end of the first week here in Honduras, trying to take inventory of all the things I've done and learned this past week.
I CAN'T DO IT!!

You see, this week has been relatively relaxed.
{I mean-if you count jumping head on into a completely new culture, learning their language, eating new foods, smelling new smells, and GIGANTIC BUGS as relaxed. Then yeah, this has just been one week in paradise(but seriously, this place is so beautiful you wouldn't even believe it)}
What I mean is, our schedule hasn't been as frantic as it usually is in the states. We kind of just do everything on Honduran time{similar to "island time"}. And it's beautiful! No rushing, ho hustling, and certainly no bustling!...  (: But I'm so grateful for this week on Honduran time, because in the past week I have gotten to spend more time quietly with the Lord than I have in a while. It's been such a good time of Him just speaking to me, and reminding me that I am here for Him. I am here because Abba told me to come. I am not here because I am a "good person" trying to do "good things". I am here because He has something up his sleeve! {And I'm so glad, because any plans that I could TRY and make would not compare to His!}

A new friend from here told me yesterday, that when she was getting on the plane to come to Honduras God told her that it was time to put feet to her faith. I love that image. I have been in such a season of discovering what faith means {haven't got it figured out yet, so don't even ask}, but now it's time to put feet to my faith! It's time to GO! Time to DO!

So when I say I can't take inventory, it's because there's been too much. I've learned too much just in this past week! Man, is this going to be a crazy 2 months!!

Wherever this finds you as you're reading it, I pray that you're finding your feet. Only God knows where they will take you. But that's kind of the exciting part of it  :)

Shalom

Hola from Honduras!

Just a quick post to let you all know that I made it safely to Honduras.
It has been a great first day! I have already experienced a whole bunch of neato things.

First-I experienced, first hand, the hospitality of the Honduran people. Two Honduran ladies sitting next to me on the plane helped me interpret the form that was in spanish, and they shared their gum with me when my ears started popping. {I have a cold so the pressure in my ears was especially awful}. Second-after I was picked up from the airport  I got to experience a honduran Burger King {the chicken nuggets were the best I've ever had from a Burger King-it was probably REAL chicken}.
Third-got to ride through the mountains that are so fresh and green that they look like a stinkin' painting! Fourth-I got to drink fresh coconut water straight from the coconut! {So good, not like the kind you get bottled in the states}. Fifth-I got to sit on the patio and watch a rainstorm {One of my favorite pass times in the states- but this one was like 10x better}.

In closing- I have had a beautiful welcome to Honduras. And to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing here... But I'm ready and waiting to see what Abba does! Already it has been better than I could have planned.

So fasten your seat belts and prepare for take off, folks!

Shalom y'all!!!

The infamous support letter...

To start this off I'd like to say that a lot of my insecurities on this topic come from my fear of judgment, not from my feeling toward people I have received these letters from.

Support letters. We've all received them. We've all been cynics. We've all judged.
I, myself, have always been very aware of peoples feeling (good and bad) toward "support letters". Maybe it's because somewhere deep down, I've had the fear that I would one day need to write one myself. And here I am! Sitting down, trying to figure out the least awkward way to tell everyone I'm going on a mission trip (without bragging), and ask them for support (without begging). I've decided there's going to be no way around the awkwardness. Story of my life.

But I had a really good conversation with a friend of mine the other day when I was telling him about my trip. After I finished telling him about the children's homes I would be working with he immediately asked for my address, and I immediately changed the subject. You see I have this problem... it's a thing called pride. Maybe you've heard of it? Anyways, I knew he wanted to help support me in my mission. But I was afraid of seeming like a beggar asking for money from one of my closest friends. He was relentless, and I eventually ended up giving him my address. He's a good friend.

After this encounter I started getting really nervous, knowing that I was going to need to probably send out support letters if I am going to be able to raise the $3,000 that I need. So after several days of breaking down my pride, Jesus brought this verse to my attention-3john 1:5-8. It talks about supporting believer that are working in spreading the truth. The writer of 3john is telling a friend that it is to their benefit to support these people, because it makes them co-workers. CO-WORKERS. How neat is that. This also helps me because I definitely cannot do this on my own.. I NEED some solid co-workers on my team. Not even necessarily for financial support, but for spiritual support.

So if you do happen to receive a letter from me, begging you for money, know that I respect you and want you as a part of my team :)

Shalom y'all.