~School, school, school...

I leave for Honduras in approximately 90-ish days.

I'm not freaking out right now.  Why?

ENG 393
ENG 336
LIT 460
LIT 301
LIB 495

I have a garage sale this weekend to get ready for.

Needless to say, I don't have time to worry.  At least not about my trip.
However...my best friend leaves for Uganda in FIVE DAYS!!!!

As you can see, we're already kind of going crazy....

I'm going to miss her. A lot. 

If ya'll want to keep up with her, check her out at http://reynafuentes268.blogspot.com/

~Halfway there~

God is an amazing provider! I am so incredibly thankful for the friends and the family (and even some random people I meet at Dairy Queen) who have supported me financially. 

I hit the halfway mark this morning after receiving an email from someone wanting to sponsor me!!! 

I am excited, but not surprised.  I knew at the beginning of all this that I was supposed to go to Honduras.  God made that one VERY clear.  With this knowledge, I knew He would provide for my every need.  I'm just astounded at how quickly He's doing so! 

Seriously, don't EVER doubt God's goodness!  I'm writing this for those days when Honduras is going to be difficult and I need one of those moments where I preach to myself.

Music and such...

I'm a very music oriented person.  I wake up to music, I go to sleep with music.  Music is always playing in my car.  Music is always playing in my room.  If I'm cleaning the house (notice the if), I have music playing.  When I'm cooking, I have music playing.  And when music isn't playing, I'm playing it.  So, as you can see, music is a big part of my life.  It has the ability to encourage me or bring me down.

Last night, my mind starting worrying about Honduras.  Questions kept flying through my head.  Doubts kept pummeling my thoughts.  I told God, "I need some encouragement.  I'm not going to make it to Honduras without your constant reminders that You're with me."  And into my head pops the lines, "I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind..." And immediately, those doubts were annihilated.  I grabbed my iPod and started making a playlist entitled "Honduras."

Here's the list of songs that made the cut.  Songs that remind me why I'm going and Who's going with me.

1. Set the World on Fire by Britt Nicole (Say It)

2. Have Your Way by Britt Nicole (The Lost Get Found)

3. Glow by Britt Nicole (The Lost Get Found)

4. Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin (Burning Lights)

5. Always by Kristian Stanfill (Here for You)

6. This Too Shall Pass by James Curlin Band (Stories to Tell)

7. Go Hard by Lecrae Feat. Tedashii (Rebel)

8. Background by Lecrae Feat. C-Lite (Rehab)

9. The Lord Our God by Kristian Stanfill (Passion: Let the Future Begin)

10. Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin (Passion: Let the Future Begin) *this one needed to be on there twice!

11. Here's My Heart by David Crowder (Passion: Let the Future Begin)

12. One Thing Remains by Kristian Stanfill (Passion: White Flag)

13. Sing Along by Christy Nockels (Passion: White Flag)

14. Build Your Kingdom Here by The Rend Collective Experiment (Homemade Worship by Handmade People)

15. Anchor by Satellites and Sirens (Satellites and Sirens)

16. Forever Reign by Kristian Stanfill (Passion: Here for You)

17. Dare You to Move by Switchfoot (The Beautiful Letdown)

18. Worn by Tenth Avenue North (The Struggle)

19. By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North (The Light Meets the Dark)

20. Break Every Chain by Will Reagan & The United Pursuit Band (Hold On)

These songs have encouraged me in the past and continue to encourage me.  I am so thankful for songwriters who love Jesus and have a desire to worship Him through song.  Not only are they worshiping God in their own lives, they are leading others to worship God.  What a beautiful ripple effect.

~Winter Coats and Sunburns~

One thing's for sure, Texas Weather gets crazier every year.  I began Friday morning at the garage sale in a coat, a hat, a scarf, gloves, and a pair of boots. By about 10 am I had shed down to my t-shirt. Was I expecting to get a sunburn? Not on your life!

Garage Sales-
They're a lot of work.
You deal with a lot of stupid people.
People don't realize that when the tables are covered that means we're closed.
People don't realize that 8 o'clock does not mean you can come at 7 am.
People don't realize that we don't take kindly to your rude tone of voice and comments.


They're a lot of fun.
You make new friends.
You hang out with old friends.
You discover stuff you never knew existed.
You watch your friend pick out a pink toilet seat cover for his house...and watch his reaction when he realizes the seat cover is actually pink.
You get to talk to some really fun people.
You try on crazy clothes.
I had the chance to practice my market Spanish. That was fun!

They're a big blessing.
Blessing? What's that you say?
Yes.
A blessing.
I discover each and every day how overwhelmingly generous my church family is.
To those who donated things to sell, thank you so much!!!!
To the Garage Sale Queen, THANK YOU!!!! Not only did you allow us to hold the sale at your house, you brought along your reputation which attracted quite a few customers.  You have absolutely no idea how blessed we are by you and your husband!!!
To those who helped cart stuff around, set stuff up, monitor people, work the "register," y'all were all insanely awesome!!!

Overall, it was an extremely successful weekend!!! God provided in crazy ways and even threw in a couple cool stories. One of which is the story of an oven that wouldn't sell. We had it priced at $20, then $10 then "Make an offer" and finally, a "Please steal me" sign was placed on it.  In other words, we didn't want to have to move it again.  When the garage sale was finished, we left it on the street for someone to pick up.  Instead of picking it up, someone paid $30 for it.  God is not just in the big things, but in the little rain drops of blessings as well!

~All Things...

This past weekend, I had the awesome opportunity to work with middle school girls at our church's Mpact weekend (which is D-now with a different name).

We talked about Redefining Normal.  Our t-shirts have a flying pig on them.  Still trying to figure out that connection but the t-shirts are soft so we're good.

On Saturday night we always have an intense worship time with The James Curlin Band (they're awesome by the way!).  The line in one of the songs practically jumped out at me as it rolled off my lips. "You make all things work together for my good."  I felt God smiling and saying, "All things. Not just the good things. Not just the bad things. All things."

And it hit me.  Every opportunity God has given me to minister to others, He's used that to prepare me for this trip.  Every time I failed and ignored God, He's used that to prepare me.  Even the moments where I stub my toe and cry out, "God! Why did you create Mondays???" He's used those moments to prepare me.

Lately, as I've entered into worship, I can't help but think, "God, I am so unworthy of this calling you've placed on my life! I am so unworthy to be your ambassador in Honduras." And I feel God laugh and say, "You've got that right! BUT I still choose to love you enough to get a taste of what I'm doing in Honduras."

To me, the thought that God uses everything we've been through, is just astounding.  It sounds cliche until you experience it.  I used to roll my eyes when people would say something like this.  Now I'm eating my words! God really does use EVERYTHING!

~Outrageous~

Matthew 10:37- Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 

Luke 14:26-27- If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters- yes, even his own life- he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 

The true meaning of these verses is making itself known in my life.  This weekend, I heard a pastor preach about following Jesus.  One of the things we're called to do as Christ-followers is sacrifice the things we love.

"This could be your boyfriend or girlfriend, your material things, your family."

Your family? *gulp*

That's a thought I could have lived without.  The reality hit me that I will be sacrificing my family when I move to Honduras.

I had always read these verses thinking Jesus was outrageous.  As I look at it now, Jesus was (and is) outrageous.  As followers of Christ, we are called to be outrageous.

Jonah was a prophet (Ooh-Ooh)- Veggietales

There are moments when I read the bible and I simply have to cringe. Moments when you try to criticize the people in the bible and tell them how they should have done things.  Suddenly, you realize you identify with them more than you originally thought.

Jonah happens to be one of those people for me.

No, I've never been inside a whale.

Yes, I've doubted, and disobeyed God.  I've complained about my calling.  I've gotten other people in trouble.  And I've been used by God despite my attitude.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Jonah, I recommend you check it out.  It's only four chapters long. Easily knocked out in about thirty minutes.  Jonah was a prophet of God to his people, the Israelites.  One day, he was called by God to go to the Ninevites.  These people were the most vile in that time period. They did much more than slap people with fish.  As disgusting as that is, it doesn't compare to the decapitated heads that lined the road to Nineveh.  I'll give this one to Jonah, I wouldn't want to take a vacation to Nineveh, let alone tell them that if they didn't get their act together, God was going to destroy them.  So, instead of obeying God, Jonah boards a boat and goes the opposite direction of Nineveh.  A big storm comes and Jonah tells the crew to throw him over (or he walked off a plank, your choice).  As Jonah's sinking to the bottom, a fish swallows him and he's inside the belly of the fish for three days.

I'm sleeping with fishes here, in the belly of the whale. 
I'm highly nutritious here, in the belly of the whale. 

Jam session over.

After three days, Jonah is vomited onto dry ground and makes his way to Ninevah.  He tells the Ninevites to repent because God is going to destroy their city if they don't.  Then he goes out to wait on God's imminent destruction of this evil city.

To Jonah's dismay, the Ninevites obeyed, and prayed, and fasted, and repented.

We're not too sure what happened to Jonah. Last we hear of him, he's complaining to God for not wiping out the Ninevites along with a few other things he decided he wasn't thankful for.  My assumption is he died a bitter man.

Now, while the story of Jonah is kind of depressing, I love it.  We see Jonah in three places in his life.
1) His comfort zone- I'm guessing he had a fairly easy job of being a prophet to the Israelites.  At least the bible doesn't mention any troubles like those of Hosea.
2) In disobedience- God tells Jonah to do one thing, he does the other. Sound familiar to anyone?
3) In obedience to God- He finally obeys God and goes to the Ninevites.

What I love about this story is how Jonah is used by God in every instance.
Jonah faithfully delivers God's messages to his people, giving encouragement and discipline to God's chosen people.  When Jonah disobeys and heads to Tarsus, the crew on the ship, seeing God's power, praise God. And when Jonah obeys, the Ninevites turn from their sin and ask God's forgiveness.

Here's my theory,  the only reason God still works in powerful ways whatever our walks of life are, is because God is JUST that powerful!!! God doesn't need us! God can do things on His own.  Yet, he chooses to let us be apart of His great story and uses us despite our flaws.

We serve a great God!

And just for fun, here's a picture of Jonah, with a swimming cap and a duck float. You're welcome.