Expecting great things in 2012

2011 was a wonderful year full of changes, challenges, new friendships, re-kindled old friendships, and so much more. Usually I look back on life experiences and gather some lessons learned and share them on my blog, but I am going to take this opportunity to look forward at some exciting things that are to come in 2012...(Well ok there is one thing I must not let go unsaid about 2011, this beautiful, wonderful, precious, sweet girl joined the family on November 8th. I love being an aunt!!)

* The olympics! Can I just say I love the olympics! Especially the summer olympics! Amanda Witte, Do you remember last summer olympics!??! We watched them together many nights! Well it will soon be that time again! How exciting to see so many countries with so many differences come together to play games:) I don't know about you, but to me they always seem so happy there. Sure it's a competition and there are bound to be rivalries, but I can't help but to think that there have to be some friendships across countries that never would have been if not for these age old games.

* Election. Not sure this is something I am super excited about since politics are generally over my head and bore me easily, but I am going to promise to do my best to be as informed as I can.

* We get another exciting date: 12-12-12 oh and 10-11-12;)

* I so look forward to precious moments shared with family and friends! I deeply love the people God has put in my life, even those it's hard for me to show it to. I pray that this year I would not take any of them for granted and truly treasure the time God gives me with each of you!

* Church at Magnolia Crossings. I am so excited to see where the Lord is going to take this sweet church family that I have come to love! I am constantly encouraged by the hearts of these sweet people. Serving alongside you has been such a blessing these past few months, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the year to come as we seek to love God and love people!

* Teaching: I love my job and love the school I am working at. I look forward to learning more and becoming a better teacher as I continue to gain experience and learn from each new challenge.

* The unexpected: This is just a very short list of things to come in 2012...VERY short...mostly because much of the upcoming year is a blank canvas for me (and because it's getting late as I make a sad attempt to make it to midnight), and there are many things to come that will surprise us...good surprises, sad surprises, tough surprises, funny surprises, and the list goes on. So much happens in just a year! I look forward to the good, the sad, the tough, the funny, etc. Plus I love surprises (usually just the good, funny, exciting ones though)!

* Here's a verse that I find appropriate for me as I look toward a new year:

"You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in YAH, the Lord is everlasting strength."

Isaiah 26:3-4

* And this song has been the song of my heart as I look toward a new year:

So what can I say

What can I do

But offer this heart O God

Completely to You

So I'll stand

With arm high and heart abandoned

In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand

My soul Lord to You surrendered

All I am is Yours

So Happy New Year everyone! May we all learn from the past and look excitedly with great expectation to the future! I can't wait to see what God has in store! Love you all!

A Le Belle Maison Christmas

I love what I call street ministry, but really it's just anything that involves going out into the community to just be with the people. No grand event, no hours of planning, no big hype. Simply finding people who could use some loving and loving them where they are at. I have had the opportunity to do this in a few different places in a few different ways. Every time I do it in a new place, I begin to see that place in a completely new light. I cannot really express it in words, because you really have to experience it for yourself.

Well this summer I was blessed with an incredible site that I worked for MFuge. I thought as I was leaving I would be leaving it in the hands of another local ministry. It was hard but I was at peace with that. I knew the Lord was going to continue to do amazing things in the lives of the kids and families. Little did I know that I would still be a part of that. Long story short, I have been able to go back 3 times since, and every time it is such a blessing to see the kiddos and families.

My supervisor in AK, Mark, always said "God is going to do more in You this summer than through you." (or something along those lines:/ I have a terrible memory for details). Well the Lord has definitely been teaching me a great deal through this little ministry at Le Belle Maison. Teaching me to trust, to be obedient, to have faith, to be bold, to step out of my comfortable bubble, to love with all my heart, to partner together with the family of believers, and the list goes on.

I will never understand why He chooses to use me, a simple girl, who is awful with words, who is so easily flustered, who speaks very little Spanish, who struggles to connect with the "cool" kids, and who has somewhat limited resources.

I mean I am just not the person I would have picked for this job of all the people the sweet Lord had to choose from, me... He chose me! Why? I will never understand BUT thankful I will forever be! I love that He chooses me to go out and give my all to love His sweet children. I am thankful that He puts up with my doubts and fears and proves His faithfulness time and time again! I am thankful that He has put so many wonderful people in my life to join with me in this ministry and so many others that I have been a part of. I am thankful that He sees what I can be in Him and that He will continue to challenge me, stretch, and grow me!!

He chooses to use you as well. No matter how long your list of inadequacies is, no matter how unfit you think you are for the job. He has chosen You. All you have to do is go. Fears, doubts, insecurities and all, just a simple act of obedience is all that is required and then watch in awe at how God works in and through you!

Thank you all who have come out. I know that you were such a blessing to this community and I pray that you were blessed!

The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our Christmas visit to Le Belle Maison this past Sunday.

The guys had an intense game of football going!
Queen Lanie:)
When they don't listen, I just hang them up by their ankles;).

Sweet Kevin:)
This child is ALWAYS happy!!

They loved Becca!!

Run, Run Rudolph...

YAY!! Half marathon number 2 complete! Even though I couldn't convince anyone to run with me, it was a lot of fun. Every time I ask new friends if they run or would like to start, they give me a look that simply says, " You must be crazy." But even as the aches and pains began and even when I began to struggle, I still loved it! Maybe it's the challenge or running with over 1,000 strangers or the feeling of accomplishment at the end, I am not really sure why I think it's so much fun, but I do!

So here are some highlights of my 13.1 trek around the lakes at LSU today.

* Old man in little purple running shorts decides to water a tree right off the road. What made it so funny was the girl in front of me who said quite loudly, "OH my! He's peeing!"

* I was able to make it the first 8 miles with no problem, but then I began to struggle! Even though I had to walk some, I still improved my time from my first half-marathon. 2:19:37 was my official time (last run was 2:22:12).

* Sweet friends and Mom who came out to watch and cheer.

* Apparently despite the fact that we are in flat South LA there are hills around every turn around the lakes. Killer for someone who has trained on a route that is as flat as it gets!

* The beautiful and warm (warmer than it has been) day the Lord blessed us with today.

* The sweet old man who became my friend at about the half way mark. He was so encouraging, and I am so glad that we met up again at the last mile and finished the race together!

* For Jourdan Edmonds, Kelli Grubbs, and Stephanie Dugard there was salt on my face and legs. :)

* Little running club that passed me and said "Half's get all the fun. By the time we get back around all of this is gone...and the food." They were talking about all the fun spectators and then the food at the end. So that confirmed it for me right there! I like being a half-marathoner:) Maybe one day I will do a marathon just to say I did, but no time soon!

I am sure you are all just dying to start training for a half now;)

I am constantly reminded as I run of how blessed I am to have the health and strength to be active. So I thank You Lord for my health and that You are my constant companion each step of the way!

Christmas time in 2nd grade

What an exciting time of year to be around children. I love to see how excited they get about all of the Christmas festivities. Well it's exciting and EXHAUSTING!! I am pretty sure I lost the ability to carry on a good adult conversation around lunch time on Tuesday, and it has been down hill ever since:/ So you can imagine how thankful I am for three weeks off!

I would like to give you a simple glimpse into my 2nd grade classroom over these past few weeks leading up to Christmas. Most of these will probably be "you had to be there" moments, but oh well.

- So I decided to let the kiddos sing a little Christmas song each morning to get our day started. I usually picked someone to choose a song they would like to sing. First day the song chosen was none other than "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer". We of course did not sing it, but it was funny.

- On the same note, I realized through this little morning activity that many children these days do not know classic Christmas carols, because they learn all of the Christmas program songs for their school and church. So I felt it was my duty to at least expose them to some classics. Let's just say next year, I will be printing up a little song book. It was so funny! We would sing the part that everyone knows and then it would just fall apart because no one knew the actual words. We pretty much just knew the part that had the title of the song it and then from there it was a disaster.

- So of course in Bible we studied the Nativity story. One morning was so precious because they were all very into it. They never participate like they were on this particular morning. One student proceeded to ask:How did Mary have baby Jesus if they didn't have hospitals? I was kind of at a loss because I get a little nervous talking to other people's children about any "where do babies come from" kind of questions. My reply was: Well she just wasn't as comfortable as she would have been in a hospital.

- Our Christmas party was today, which is just pure craziness. There is just no way around it; no matter how well you plan to avoid the craziness it always comes! Well to add to the craziness today, we had no air conditioning. Let's just say the parents weren't sticking around to chat.

- To wrap things up, I am going to brag a bit on my job! I love the place I work. It is so wonderful to be able to share the true story of Christmas with my students and really be able to keep our focus on the birth of Christ. We enjoyed talks of Santa and Elf on the Shelf, but it is so encouraging to know that they truly know what it is all about! Every morning we would take a moment to pray and ask God to help us remember why we celebrate Christmas. I loved hearing their sweet little prayers!

Well that's that (I am too tired to think of a proper way to end this:))