Following Him...

Waitressing....

2008-09-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was waitressing this table that required a lot of service, so when they left me the bare minimum tip I was pretty surprised, and a little insulted. As I was cleaning up the table however I realized that I do that to God all the time!

I understand that there are more things than money that we use to honor God, but we are commanded to tithe ten percent. Now, as a waitress, when someone only tithes ten percent, it kind of means you (as the waitress) didn't do a very good job, and therefore only deserve ten percent, the bare minimum. (Or at least that's my understanding :P)

So, when all I am doing is giving God ten percent I am only giving Him the smallest amount that I can give. I don't know what exactly I'm saying to Him through this, but whatever it is, I was challenged to not only tithe more than ten percent, but to also give more to local and foreign missions.

How can we not forgive?

2008-07-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

So what is up today? Well…I was reading in Matthew (6 and 18) how if I can’t forgive others then God can’t (or won't) forgive me…that was pretty powerful…like, yeah, one of my friends has wronged me…but that doesn’t mean I can’t forgive them.

I have wronged Jesus a lot…I have done many sins that have broken His heart and hurt Him a lot, but He has forgiven me. In comparison to my great sins against Jesus, my friend has only sinned against me a little…I feel that if God has it in His power to forgive me then I have it in my power to forgive others…even more than that, I realized that I was being the servant who walked out of the king’s presence, forgiven with God’s grace just poured out over me, and then went and found my fellow servant to beat them and get my money back that they owed me!

I want so badly to have the grace for those around me…I have been forgiven of much, now I want to forgive much!

God, as always, is still in control!

2008-07-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

These last few days have been kind of tough...I've really been struggling with just trusting God to be in control of my life, my dreams, hopes and aspirations! He asks us to do things sometimes that just don't make sense and are really hard...but somehow in the end (if we obey Him) I believe He works all things out for His glory! This are some words I wrote for a song (my friend wrote the music) a few years back now...It's God's words to His children, and it very much fits my life right now! Thank you God that You are patient and loving and don't give up on us!

Vs.1.
Your plans for happiness
Are nothing compared to Mine,
I have a plan for you
That will be clearer over time

Pre-chorus
And as your plans slip away
You fail to see my blessings
You hold tighter everyday
Instead of just letting go

Chorus
I see you cry again,
I see you cry again,
But I know that in the long run
You will be happier with My plan.

So as the tears fall down your face,
I will forgive you lack of faith,
And I will show you all my grace
As I unfold to you my plan

Vs. 2
And I have a gift for you
That will bring you joy and peace,
So open up your hands for Me
So that my goodness will never cease

nothing but Your blood...

2008-07-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Psalm 86:9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to Your name.

I have never been much of a vision person. Normally God just speaks to me in His still small voice, it's very rare when I actually can see visions. But this is a vision God gave me when our MTS group was praying and fasting for Tlaxiaco:

I saw Jesus on the cross, and then His hand was over Tlaxiaco, and a drop of blood from His hand fell onto the city of Tlaxiaco and washed it clean.

That was it...but immediately afterward I knew what it had meant. The first thing was that God's blood was for the people of Tlaxiaco as well as everyone else...I know this is pretty basic point, but I really got a clear concept of how God died for everyone in the world, and for every single person here in Tlaxiaco! The other thing I felt it meant was that this was Tlaxiaco's time; their time to stop being blind. The light has come and it's time for them to step out of the darkness and into the light. It's time for the streets of Tlaxiaco to be cleaned by His blood!

It was just such a beautiful picture to me, and it encourages me to pray for the people here! God is a powerful God and He moves when we ask Him to, so let's start asking!!

Walking in the light...

2008-07-02T21:32:00.001-07:00

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1: 6-7

We have been doing an inductive Bible study on the book of 1 John and this verse really spoke to me. The first thing that I got out of it was that walking in darkness keeps me from having fellowship with others around me, which explains why when I am having sin issues I struggle with getting along with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The other thing that I realized was I think that I have always thought that when I have been walking in the darkness that I have to get all cleaned up before I can walk in the light…but that’s not really true. This verse talks about how first we have to get in the light and then God cleans us. Isn’t that cool that God accepts us when we are still all dirtied up, and how in order to see out sins we have to step out into the light?

The day that I read this verse it exactly matched my life. I was going through some sin issues and wondering why all the people around me were so hard to get along with…that’s when God pulled me into the light…It wasn’t the people around me at all, it was me! I was walking in the darkness so I was blind to my own attitude and sin…but that’s where God also showed me the beauty of His grace, He accepted me back in the light before I had gotten everything right, before I was cleaned….Once that cleaning took place my fellowship with everyone around me was immediately restored…I couldn’t get over how easy everyone around me was to love. It hadn’t been them, it had been me all along!

I guess I’d never figured out how much my sin affects fellowship and unity, it just made me hate sin and fall in love with God’s awesome grace all the more! God is good and He cleverly reminds me of that so often!

esperando en Dios....

2008-06-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Esperar en ti --- To wait on You
dificil se que es --- I know that it is difficult
mi mente dice no, --- My mind says that I can't
no es posible --- That it's impossible
pero mi corazon --- But my heart
confiado esta en ti --- Trusts in you
Tu siempre has sido fiel --- You have always been faithful
me has sostenido --- You have sustained me

(Coro):
Y esperare, --- And I will wait
Pacientemente --- Patiently
Aun que la duda me a tormente --- Even when I'm in the storm
yo no confio con la mente --- I'm not going to trust with my mind
lo hago con el corazon --- I'm going to trust with my heart

Y esperare, --- And I will wait
en la tormenta --- In the storm
aun que tardare tu respuesta --- Even though Your response is late
yo confiare en tu providencia --- I'm going to trust in your providence
tu siempre tienes el control --- You always have the control

~Jesus Adrian Romero
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This is a song that we sang in my church the other day, it is such a beautiful song!

Really honestly the clearest word I have gotten from God my entire time that I've been here is just "wait on Him". This song just reminded me yesterday about that, and how even though things are hard, or even though I still don't know where I am going in the future, or what I am doing when I go back to the states, or if I should go to college again, I can trust that God will answer me...even if I have to wait. It has been awesome though learning to have peace knowing that all my major life decisions are safe and being held in God's faithful hands!

Psalm 27:14 " Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. "

My God Provides....

2008-05-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

this is my money testimony…this might not mean as much to you as it did to me, but it reminded me that my God provides!

So going back to about last Christmas, when I got home, I started freaking out ( probably when I looked at my bank balance ) about not having enough money to pay all my expenses here at GFM, and I was also worrying about not being able to pay expenses during my break home.

That was when God reminded me that He was God and that He owns the whole world, and He doesn’t worry about stuff like that. He gave me a few reminders of His power through these little, but awesome testimonies:

First, I was broke and I only had three weeks so I couldn’t get a job. That’s when it snowed like two or three times, so my little brother Daniel and I shoveled our friends’ very long driveway and I made like $60-$70 bucks off that. Next, I had about seven rolls of film ( yeah…still very behind the times! lol ) that I wanted to develop, which would have cost like $50.00. I didn’t have enough money for that, and so I disappointedly decided to only get my pictures on CD, much cheaper, but not as convenient or nice. Well the next week when I went to pick up my film the store had “accidentally” printed all seven of my rolls of film, so I got all of them, and the CD’s, for the price of what I would have paid if I had just gotten the CD’s. Then I got a shirt for Christmas that just really didn’t fit, so I took it back to the store hoping maybe to get five dollars or so ( since I didn’t have a receipt ), and unbelievably ended up getting around $20 - $25-ish for it.

At that point I decided to just give it up to God, and stop worrying about money at all. So I headed back to Mexico, having no idea how or where the money I needed was going to come from, but just keeping the promise in my heart that God was God and that He would provide.

I was still like extra skipping on money though, and not enjoying spending money for fun, or like if a group of us went out to eat I wasn’t able to enjoy it because I was still a little worried about not having enough money. That was when one of my friends approached me and reminded me how much God was in control, and how I was acting through my worries like He was not. So I started praying and working on that part of my life.

Also around that time it was brought to my pastor and my church boards’ attention that I was short on money and they began to pray about supporting me. My pastor had me write a letter and he put it in my church bulletin, and my mom sent out the same letter to a few other of my friends. I had asked for about $1000.00, and God has provided about double the amount! This process has been just an awesome lesson on trust, letting God be God, and just learning how to get over my foolish fears and worries.

God is an awesome God…not just when everything works out, He’s awesome even when bad things and hard times come along. I always want to remember that…I never want to forget that…I always want to trust God and know that God is God….no matter how scary things get…no matter what happens in this world…no matter how many terrifying things happen….no matter how far away from home I am…God is God, and He’s an awesome God at that!

Thank you all for your help, love, and support! You have blessed me greatly!

not "cut out"

2008-05-28T17:50:00.001-07:00

hey all...here is a lesson that I recently learned and I wanted to share it with you guys.

I always tried to be really tough and to work super hard. I always was the "tough girl" who could carry heavy things, and run pretty fast, and work till I almost dropped. In fact I really became quite prideful in that area....and so I always felt like it wouldn't be really hard for me to be a missionary and to go to difficult parts of the world, or live a fairly difficult lifestyle...I thought that I was "cut out" for it, I might have even thought I had some sort of spiritual gift in that area, I don't know....but then I came here...yeah some of it wasn't super hard adjusting to ( like two minute showers for example )...but I realized that living this life is really hard ( especially like living with my host family ). Every minute, every second of my life needs to be given to God otherwise it won't count for anything. There is always tons of spiritual warfare and ways of living quite different than what I am used to. Learning a different language is tough, just living a different life....

That's when I realized that I really wasn't "cut out" for this. I'm not sure anyone is. Is there anyone who is really good at changing every part of their life ( for example changing simple things like how to take showers or how to cook ), or always being the one who doesn't understand the language, or always having the weird different color skin? I realized that I wasn't humble enough to enjoy feeling like that...I don't think that I ever really will be! It's not easy going to a different culture and learning the different culture rules....the only way that I can be here is because God helps me every step of the way. The only way that I can enjoy being here is because God is with me and giving me the strength to get through each moment.

So this is my point: if you feel like you can't come to the mission field because you "just aren't cut out" for it, join the club, cuz neither am I! It's only because of God's grace that I'm here, and that I absolutely love being here, and I know in the future when I go to even harder places ( because I know Mexico is just a little step) with even more difficult languages, and even more difficult customs and cultures, that it will only be because God is helping me and carrying me every step of the way! It's okay if you're not "cut out", because God doesn't care, He can totally use you in ways you thought He never could...it's because He's God and He's awesome at His job!

journal entries from my host family...

2008-05-25T16:02:00.001-07:00

Last Monday I left my host family and came back to the base. While half of me was relieved to escape from my Spanish life, the other half of me was really truly sad to leave. They are such an awesome, kind family, and I know that I am part of that family now!

Here are some parts of my journal entries while I was in my host family:

April 9th 2008: ...life in my host family has been going well so far. It's hard to think about living here for two months, so I intend to only take one day at a time! I'm very content here though. Gris, Isa, and Adryanna treat me like their sister and Dani and Jose are like my brothers.....It's weird speaking in Spanish first thing when I get up in the morning and last thing when I go to bed, but it's good. Although at this point I don't feel like I can talk much better, I definitely can understand better, I have so much to learn though. So this will be my life for the next two months....

April 19th 2008: ....so life is going, sometimes it's good and sometimes I can't wait to get back to the base and my English life! So this week my family didn't have electricity, which was a new experience for me for a long period of time....actually it isn't so bad, just a little inconvenient, but I didn't really mind....I think it was a good experience...

April 28th 2008: ....I've still got around another month before I get back to the base. I've still got a long way to go Spanish-wise though! My time so far has been good, I'm having a great time and my host family is wonderful, it's just been hard. Although I have learned some awesome things from this I would definitely say that the best thing it's done for me is helped me put more trust in God. Oh my goodness, everyday is a complete reliance on Him for everything...it has reminded how much I need Him for just the everyday little things....Lord please keep giving me strength!

May 5th 2008: So I really thought my birthday this year was just going to be a "bla" birthday and that I wasn't going to do anything, but it turns out I was very wrong....First I had a little Mexican birthday party with my friend Jackie and her family and some of my friends from the base....then Tasha and I went to Oaxaca..where I got another party ( my first surprise party ever! ) from some of my missionary friends in Oaxaca!....When I got back to Tlaxiaco I opened a few packages and cards that I had gotten from friends and family back home....after that I came back to my host family, and to my complete surprise they had a birthday present for me too! It was a Mexican shirt and skirt...I felt so special and loved!

May 10th 2008: Today is the Mexican mother's day....last night we had a Marachi band sing outside of our house...it had to be like two in morning...I was such an American last night, I couldn't get over how rude it was to sing outside someone's house at that time in the morning...but here that's normal, a nice thing, and definitely not rude! haha I have so much to learn! Well, these last few days have been really tough, not exactly sure why...Today I just want to give up and never speak Spanish again...I want to be happy and content, but I know that I'm not! Just about two more weeks!

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Wow...looking back those two months went very fast...I think that I learned lots of good things from that experience ( including Spanish btw ). One really cool thing is today I went to visit my family, and I realized that I was still part of the family. It was like I never left, they didn't even act too surprised to see me...they were just kinda like, oh hi Ana. It was a really awesome visit, and I will always feel at home in their house!

So...God is amazing ( as always ), and He got me through one of the best, most hard, most frustrating, most awesome time of my life! Thank you for your many prayers!!!! God bless you all!

Psalm 145

2008-04-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

1I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
2Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever.
3Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness.
7They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
10All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.
11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power,
12to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.
14The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
16You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
18The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them.
20The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Living in a host family

2008-04-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Life is going well with my host family...it's weird having a slower schedule now after the busy MTS schedule!

I have been able to visit the same twenty people a day ( Mon - Fri ) doing LAMP ( basically I say three phrases a day in Spanish to about twenty people ), and then Saturdays I get to visit my friends from all year. Last Saturday I saw my deaf friend, C. and my friend Ir. and also visited J. who I haven't seen in a really long time. I had a really good time!

I have been learning a lot from God in the simple everyday things of life. Living in a host family is a challenge, and definitely a stretch, but I feel that this experience has and will continue to draw me closer to God. God has really been showing me how I need to give everything to Him daily, and how I do desperately need Him for my joy. I've been having a really sweet time with Him!

Spanish is coming along little by little! My LAMP partners are so encouraging and they always tell me how learning a language is a slow process and that how I am going to learn a lot....it just takes a lot of determination and hard work!

Thank you all for your encouraging emails, letters, and for your prayers! Keep it up! I love and miss you all!

~I'll put some new pictures up when I can!

God please use me!

2008-03-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

So these last few weeks have been really awesome. We've been having short term teams here, so we've been talking a lot about missions and stewardship and stuff. It's really been getting me all fired up about going to the unreached people groups. There are so many people out there who have never heard! Especially the deaf community...who is going to them??? So many of them have never "seen" the gospel! There are about 16,000 people groups in the world and about 6800 of them are unreached. Only about two percent of the missionaries who are going to the mission field are going to the unreached people groups...everyone else is going to the countries and people groups who have already been reached. We need more laborers!

That really makes me want to go. I can't wait to go to those who have never heard. God show me where You want me to go! Please please use my life! Send me; I want to go and be a harvester!

I also have been convicted lately about being a good steward! God gives us gifts and talents and so often we use them for ourselves and not for God's purposes. When I go to heaven I don't want God to ask me what I did with the talents He gave me and have to answer, " I used them to make a reputation for myself...I used them for me"...God blesses us so that we will go out and bless others! God gives us gifts and talents so that we will use them to spread the Kingdom!

Hey guys...we are all stewards! We have an awesome opportunity to give out the invitations to Jesus' wedding banquet...we want to be found doing so when Jesus returns! Let's be good stewards, let's use whatever God has given us to spread the kingdom! Let's let God use us!

Exodus 4:2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.

What has God given you? What can you use for the Kingdom? What is in your hand? How are you going to use what God has put in your hands?

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You want to be real, you want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the king

You want to be whole, you want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind

You want to be set free today
Then lay it all down before the king

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire to be used by you

You want to be real, you want to be empty inside
And I know my heart is to feel you near
And I know my life
It's to do your will
It's to do your will

All my life I have seen
Where you've take me
Beyond all I have hoped
And there's more left unseen

There's not much I can do to repay all you've done
So I give my hands to use

- Jeremy Camp

The reason why we are here!!

2008-03-19T22:02:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we had a baptism with five people! It was such a beautiful time!

All trooping out to the baptism spot.

Con mi amiga!

eating botijas...

2008-03-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

This is a botija...it is pretty much an ant with a big butt, and in the butt is juice that tastes like sour apple juice!!!

I think this one was still alive!

And yes...here I am eating it!!! Ewww...actually, it didn't taste that bad. It was much better then the grasshoppers!

Written on the palm of His hand...

2008-02-20T13:26:00.002-08:00

Tasha, Kell, and Monica

Lizzie and Zach

Awww...Dan and Kelly

Seve, Lizzie, Kelly, and Sam

Visiting some friends in Oaxaca city this past week...these pictures were taken in the zocolo in Oacaxa...it was very beautiful, but very tourist-y. It's weird to see other white people, it made me feel like a tourist too!! Dan and Kelly will be doing language school in Oaxaca for about two months, and Seve is staying with them...I'm really missing them!!

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So the last few days have been insane...lots of things to do this week!! Lord willing, I hope to see my deaf friend, C. and my friend, Ir. this week....I hope that God will continue to work in their lives, and that we will be able to have good conversations this week!

Yesterday God showed me a really awesome passage in Isaiah 49:14 - 16...my favorite is in verse 16 where God says "see, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually around Me." That just reminded me how good God is, and how He never forgets about us! You know when we need to remember something important and we write it down on our hands??? It just reminded me how God never forgets...He doesn't forget our lives, our joys, our sorrows, our broken hearts, or even the silly little things that are important to us! He has you written on His palm!!! Don't forget that! What an awesome God we serve!

Love you all....God bless!

My date with God

2008-02-13T20:23:00.001-08:00

This morning I climbed this mountain! It was so fun and awesome....I enjoyed just having alone time with God...isn't it beautiful???

I can't help praising God...

2008-02-11T09:12:00.001-08:00

Here are two of my friends, Kelly and Seve. Kelly has three kids and is one of my big sisters/mentor. Seve lives a few houses down from the base, I hang out with her all the time...yeah, I finally have a good friend as my neighbor! They are two of my best friends here...I love them so much!

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These last few days have been really awesome, God is definitely working!! I am so excited what He's been doing with my deaf friend C.. She is so excited and interested in learning the Bible, and telling Bible stories in sign language is totally what gives me joy! It was so exciting when she told them in sign language...it was so beautiful. Please be continuing to pray for her, that she will continue wanting to learn the Bible, and about God, and study it with me!

God has been giving me a lot of joy and a lot of peace the last few days...I'm not sure how many of you guys know, but I will be returning from Mexico in August. I'm not sure how long I am going to stay in the states, but I know my heart is for missions, and that the mission field is where I want to end up. Missionary training school is going so fast, and will soon coming to an end! Please be praying for me to make the most of my friendships here now so that when I leave to go home in August there will be some fruit and I won't be leaving anything unfinished.

God is so awesome, I can't help praising Him!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

"However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace."
Acts 20:24

Do what You will....

2008-02-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is me with my friend Liz, she's very cool and I love her muchisimo. We do a lot of ministry together.

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So the last few days have been going pretty well. I saw the super bowl on Sunday, we went to a restaurant and they played the game for us...it was a very awesome game...I never realized I liked futbol americano so much!

Last Saturday was very awesome. God worked everything out and I was able to visit with all of my friends who I hadn't been able to see in awhile, and this weekend Ir. will be coming over to our house and we ( Liz and I ) plan on teaching her how to make banana bread, and we hope to start studying the Bible with her more consistently...she doesn't like to study the Bible at her house, I think she is afraid of what her family will think...

I also was able to see my deaf friend L. on Saturday. I was supposed to visit her on Sunday but it didn't work out...Mexican Sign Language is coming along, I feel like I can normally say what I want, which is cool. I plan to get more focused on talking about God and the Gospel message. They have watched the videos with the Gospel message, but I haven't really been able to talk with them much since then. I should be seeing C. and L. tomorrow.

So, life here is going...lots of homework and school, but God is still working.

Thanks for all your love and prayers!!! I love and miss you!

God is gooder!!!

2008-01-30T19:03:00.001-08:00

Hola todos,

I know you'll already know this, but God is a really really awesome God! ( Isn't He?? )

This past week I have felt really discouraged. I don't know why, I feel like I haven't been having very productive ministry lately...every time I went to visit my friend's mom to pray for her she wasn't home, I wasn't able to visit my deaf friends last Friday,I felt like I had been miserably failing in my Spanish, and I had been feeling really stressed about future stuff, where to go, and what to do with my life. But then earlier today I had an awesome prayer time and God really changed my attitude!

He reminded me today that He is totally in control and that my life, dreams, hopes, and plans, are all way better in His hands....He's the only one out of the two of us who knows the future and can see the big picture...so why should I even waste my time worrying?? The other day I preformed the song "lay it down" by Jaci Velasquez , in sign language at our big birthday party...I guess I feel like that is my life right now....God is faithful, and God knows best. He knows exactly what I want, and more importantly, He knows exactly what I need. Isn't He so cool?

So, tomorrow I am going to try to visit S. mom, and then on Friday our worship team is going to a village to perform. I am excited...we have been practicing about five songs, I think that it will be really fun. I plan to see my friend Ir. on Saturday, and she wants me to teach her how to make banana bread which will be fun. Also, Liz ( another student ) and I have been trying to study the Bible with her, which she seems really interested in...so please be praying for her!!

God is working....keep praying! Dios te bendito!
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Lay it Down

I've been looking till my eyes are tired of looking,
Listening till my ears are numb from listening,
Praying till my knees are sore from kneeling on the bedroom floor.
I know that you know that my heart is aching,
I'm running out of tears and my will is breaking,
I don't think that I can carry the burden of this anymore

All of my hopes and my dreams and my best laid plans,
Are slowly slipping through my folded hands

So I'm gonna lay it down,
I'm gonna learn to trust You now,
What else can I do,
Everything I am depends on You,
And if the sun don't come back up,
I know Your love will be enough,
I'm gonna let it be,
I'm gonna let it go,
I'm gonna let it down

I've been walking through this world like I'm barely living,
Buried in the doubt of this hole I've been digging,
But You're pulling me out, and I'm finally breathing in the open wind.
This room may be dark but I'm finally seeing,
There's a new ray of hope and now I'm believing,
That the past is past, and the future's beginning to look brighter now

~Jaci Velasquez

Well Drilling...

2008-01-28T21:10:00.001-08:00

This is us making a well for our garden!

I promise there is a reason for sitting on it...I'm not as weird as you think!

But, it was a little scary, I almost fell off a couple of times...yes, I already know that I am clumsy!

Here's a new song that I wrote

2008-01-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

Here I am crying out to You/ Please make it clear/ What You want me to do. / There are so many roads/ and so many paths/ Please keep me focused-don't let me lose track

So here I am/ Show me Your plan/ Waiting is the hardest part/ Want to feel I belong/ Fear I'm waiting too long/ Give me a patient heart

Here I am and my eyes are on You/ I am still waiting/ Still don't know what to do/ But I know that You know/ I need just to let go/ Please keep me focused-so Your way I will go

So here I am/ Show me Your plan/ Waiting is the hardest part/ Want to feel I belong/ Fear I'm waiting too long/ Please give me a patient heart

Clases de ingles

2008-01-22T21:36:00.001-08:00

This is the classroom where I teach my English classes...

...and this is the outside of the school...

...Lacy and Alia are both on my English team.

God is good!

2008-01-20T21:44:00.001-08:00

So....this last week has been insane....some awesome, awesome ministry stuff, but then just a lot of stressful stuff too.

My friend's mom had asked me to pray for her the other night because she couldn't sleep, so I did, and apparently she slept well the night I prayed for her (!!!), but she hasn't been sleeping super well since then, so she want me to come back and pray for her again, and this time to pray over their house! I'm pretty excited...she isn't a Christian yet but I'm pretty sure she's getting close. (She also has been coming to Bible study now every Tuesday night!)

Please be keeping her in prayer...God is definitely working. Please be praying for us and for the people in Mexico!

Thanks a lot!!! Love you!! Anita

This is where I live!

2008-01-14T10:39:00.001-08:00

These are the mountains behind the base! Aren't they so beautiful...I climbed them!!

.

...this is part of the base...there are two buildings, this is the apartment building for the families....

....this is in the colonia, near the base. I go walking here in the mornings.