As I write this it's 11:15

and I still need to finish a study guide and write a paper. I would usually say I am a procrastinator, but I don't think so on this one.

Shan and Joel just came and prayed for my stomach, it was a blessing coming before the Father for healing with them. Prayer is such a beautiful thing and when we as the Body can come before Him together in faith, it is absolutely beautiful to me. I really like them together, by the way.

Today at Church I went up to get prayer for my stomach and Alan prayed over me with Cat, and I just was filled with absolute joy that I am a part of a community that is filled with the joy and faith of the Lord.

I have a soft spot for children with disabilities and almost always cry when I see them and their parents together. I think its an amazing testimony to the parents patience. There was a Mom and Dad, who were so cute by the way, who brought their son up to receive prayer for healing today, and I instantly started bawling my eyes out. What faith. God can heal, who says He can't? Who says that its over? All things, whether healed or not, are for God's glory.

I am still praying for healing. It would be nice to have my body redeemed.

Side note: I got to spend time with my friend Iman today at her house with her family and it was awesome. God is so good. Yaaay for friendships.

Sorry, this was very scattered ha.

I love Play-Doh, with a passion. Kendra gave Rachel and I play-doh yesterday... and It happily awaited for me on my desk when I returned from class with a cute note. It's bright pink.

The smell of Play-Doh is one of my favorite smells in the world, other than lavender and Christmas trees. When I opened the lid and took out the little glob of pink wonderfulness it instantly brought me back to the memory of my little play room area, playing with my sister creating little animals for hours and being an innocent kid eating my Mac and Cheese with apples for Lunch. Wow that was a long sentence. But What a life. Nothing mattered, other then playing and always having fun. That was the time when my Mom was always playing with me and I always wanted to be with her. Being a kid was awesome. I remember waiting for my Dad to get home just so I could have a horsey ride and put hair clips in his hair. He was such a trooper. It was the time where I would ride my bike around outside next to the pool house in our neighborhood and sing songs while I was riding my awesome pink banana bike. For some reason this little thing of Play-Doh brought forth all these crazy memories. Thank goodness for Play-Doh; It makes a kids world go round.

bunny ears

I have been babysitting since I was in seventh grade. That is a long time. I have babysat a three week year old baby, to making sure an eighth grade boy is doing this homework. I have babysat one kid to about ten kids. Let me tell you one thing, it has been the best form of birth control ever.

I have heard many people say that they want kids like now, especially from girls at Biola. Haha, try nannying fifty hours a week in the summer and most will realize that being in our early twenties is not when you want a kid. I know Shannon can back me up on this one.

I love kids to death, I do. Every time I see a kid in a stroller or running around I almost instantly bond with them and try to make them laugh. I pull all the "Aww" noises when I hold a baby or see one. I just think they are adorable.

Since I have been babysitting for so long I have seen a lot of different parenting ways.

The family I babysit for now, is the worst. I love them and I love the Mom (who graduated from Biola) but I tell ya the kids are out of control. Cody, the first grader, doesn't even think of throwing away his trash, trashes the house, and his mom cleans his room. Not okay.

Joey, the eigth grader, doesn't even put his dishes in the sink or clean them, doesn't throw anything away, and his mom still cleans his room. And his form of being grounded is only having the computer for an hour.

Bah! I had a good childhood but my Mom was such a good balance. Discipline and fun! They go hand in hand. As you can tell, I am a little frustrated.

This morning I worked with Cody on how to tie his shoes. He is in first grade, and most kids know how to tie their shoes. I was really nice about it, but I am finding with kids today that most of them just don't care and want the easy way out, like Velcro shoes. When I was a kid, I was sooo determined to learn how to tie my shoes and had it down with I was four. I don't think most kids are like that anymore due to tv, video games, movies, and all those things. I tried to teach him the bunny ear way of tying shoes, but after twenty minutes Cody lost all motivation. Such a bummer. Some day he will learn.

obedienceee leads to great joy.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." (John 15:9-10)

Quick side note... this is in arabic verse and I thought it was cool/ I really wish I could read it haha.

9 مِثْلَمَا أَحَبَّنِي الآبُ، أَحْبَبْتُكُمْ أَنَا، فَاثْبُتُوا فِي مَحَبَّتِي.

10 إِنْ عَمِلْتُمْ بِوَصَايَايَ، تَثْبُتُونَ فِي مَحَبَّتِي، كَمَا عَمِلْتُ أَنَا بِوَصَايَا أَبِي وَأَثْبُتُ فِي مَحَبَّتِهِ!

(It is so beautiful to me).

I praise Jesus for forgiving a wretch like me. That is wonderful. Radical forgiveness is what is even more crazy. The big H.S. has been doing some work in me today and the last few days... and its funny how when we are obedient and find joy in it, Satan always is right behind it shooting lies in my ears saying, "Why did you just do that? I mean seriously why?"

Good news, Jesus conquered the grave and calls us to forgive as He has forgiven. It truly is by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the love of Christ I am able to forgive I am coming to realize.

During MC, George from OM spoke briefly about radical forgiveness and I watched a short clip about the missionaries from the Amazon in the 1950's whose husband was killed by the people there, yet his wife continued to work among the people and her son was baptized by the very people who killed her husband.

And I thought life was rough. That is called radical forgiveness. God can work through anything. I am trying to love and forgive like Jesus. It is so hard. But so worth it.

"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).

filled

I have decided I have resolved
To wait upon you Lord
My rock and redeemer shall not be moved
I'll wait upon you Lord

As surely as the sun will rise
You'll come to us
As certain as the dawn appears

You'll come let your glory fall
As you respond to us
Spirit reign flood our hearts
With holy fire again

We are not shaken we are not moved
We wait upon you Lord
Our Mighty deliverer my triumph and truth
I'll wait upon you Lord

Chains be broken
Lives be healed
Eyes be opened
Christ is revealed

-You'll come by Hillsong United


This song has been in my head since Missions Conference. I go to bed with it in my head, sing it in the shower, and sing it on the way to class. It is absolutely beautiful. The Lord came, His spirit filled our hearts again.

I was and still am blown away.

Every year, well the last two years now, I have waited anxiously for missions conference. It should just be a holiday, because it is my favorite part of the year. I couldn't sleep on tuesday night because I was so excited for missions.

I woke up Wednesday morning praying that God would move hearts, that His powerful and loving spirit would be moving throughout missions conference, and that He would be glorified above all else.

Every single session, I saw God move. Chains were broken. Burdens were lifted. Prayers were prayed. Hearts were released. And many were reconciled with our God.

God's heart was shown, in a powerful way. His love for the nations and for all people to come to know Him was shown.

I felt like God really spoke to many people about His heart for the great commission, that it is not just there for some people, it it there for all. If you are a Christian, we are all responsible to be apart of the great commission in some way.

There was a wonderful Godly Lady by the name of Marilyn Laszlo who spoke at Missions conference. Marilyn grew up on a farm in Indiana, and one day after she heard her first missionary speak at her church, she made a commitment to God to be a missionary. After studying linguistics, she followed through with her commitment by serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators. She traveled to Papua New Guinea, with a translation partner to Hauna Village, the home of the Sepik Iwan People. She lived among the people, learned the unwritten language, created an alphabet, wrote books, and taught people to learn and write. Twenty-four years later, with the help of her sister and the love of God, they translated the bible for the Sepik Iwan people. Here is a picture I found online of some Iwan warriors.



I am blown away. Before time, God was at work with the Sepik people. Marilyn brought Jesus to these people. One thing that she said that I will never forget is, "There is nothing better than being in the center of God's will." She went on to say that she had dated many men, none who were up to being missionaries. She knew what God's will was for her. As do I... atleast a sense of direction. I wish I could listen to Marilyn for days, her stories and how God worked among those people moved me.

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to not know who Jesus was. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to not have a bible in my own language.

The plans that God has are crazy, wonderful, and all for a reason. I am thankful for the tower of babel, for different languages, and cultures. Because God is above all of them and can work through all of them. God is truly amazing.

Missions conference was awesome. Thank you MC staff and SMU.

Sunday Challenge

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the

1. same mind
2. having the same love
3. being in full accord and of one mind.

Philippians 2:1-2

things like this make me laugh SO hard.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/JCm0AloYxI6YVhR58NAD

haha this is hilarious. x made it.

I wish all things were like this.

I love tennis, so very much. I am playing on inter-murals this year with my friend Christy and its SO fun. I say I wish all things were like this because I love tennis so much and never want to stop playing... even though I am not pro or super good. I am average but still love to play it. There are some things in life where I am not good at or just average but I have no motivation to try harder or improve my skills. But when it comes to tennis, I can't stop because I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

I just woke up at 8:30 and played two matches with soon and mark. It was so fun and entertaining.

Heres some flash backs from the summer. Haha.

... in the end its God who is good.

God is so good. Can I just say that? I catch myself sayign that all the time but it truly is what gets me through the tough and unexpected times.

Yesteday sucked. I can just say that. Its very surprisinly when things go differently than you expect and friends come in and out of your life. God has a time for everything thats for sure.

One thing I learned through my sucky situation yesterday is that I am a huge fan of honesty, confrontation, and that I know who my good friends are. I am so blessed with my true friends. I think I have told Rachel that I love her at least five times today. Good friends stick by you all the way. Thats the way God made it.

Favorite quote of yesterday by Rachel McCord, "Chicks before dicks." Hmm... yes.

One of the coolest things about yesterday was that God just decided to be super wonderful and surprise me with a rainbow when I was having frustrated/sad thoughts, to remind me of His goodness and how he will never leave me. It was rad.

Also, yesterday I got to see my friend from Pennslyvania in Palm Springs. We swam, hot tubbed, laughed a lot, and drink white wine. It was wonderful. Oh and see "The Reader," which was well done but I felt like I was watching a porno. So I would not see it. Lets just say I feel like I know Kate Winslet's body that my own.

Anyways, take it easy friends.