These are a few of my favorite things...

My Favorite set of twins: Alessandra y Alejandra.

My favorite roommate next to my favorite giant moth...that stayed in the same place in our house for 3 days, and then mysteriously disappeared. No really...this thing was HUGE!

My favorite place in the mall...I have never actually been in there but I think it is hilarious. You pay by the hour to play video games for playstation and xbox.

My favorite church attire...never complete without the rubber boots!

One Year Plan

I have decided to read through the Bible in a new way this year. I have always wanted to read the story along the chronological lines, so I found a reading plan that will help me do just that. Today I started with the beginning in Genesis. 

I have asked the Lord to give me a new perspective, to open my eyes and show me more. He is so faithful, when we ask Him with a pure motive...to know more about Him, I don't think He can refuse His children. I didn't get very far before I stopped to think about what was really happening. We so often rush though the story of creation because we all know it so well..."And God created the heavens and the earth..."

We breeze through it, half reading - half remembering, not really stopping to think of what is happening. What was God anticipating on the first night...was He planning for the first sunrise? or was He just enjoying the first evening ever in the history of the world? 

What was it like the first night the stars were placed in the skys? Did He lay on the earth and look up at them before anything had ever set foot on the land beneath Him? Did He look at them from the skys? Did He dance in the galixies and watch the stardust move to the beat of His heart?

He spoke and it happened. It wasn't forced. It wasn't difficult. Something came of nothing according to the word of God. How powerful does that make the Bible? It is full of the words of God. It is His written word. 

How exhillirating was it watching the first tree grow from the earth? Was He excited watching the first seed fall from that tree and sprout...beginning the cycle of propagation? Was He there on the earth, was this His first opportunity to play the role of Gardener? 

How much fun did He have creating all the animals in the world...all the bugs...all the fish...all of those funny-looking creatures? And then...the crowning achievement...man and woman were created. The main course...the big event...the reason for creating the whole project. 

He made Adam and Eve with His own hands. He took special care to form Adam from the dust of the earth. From His own creation, He created man. From the something-out-of-nothing He created a living, breathing, complex, organized system of mind, body and soul. He didn't create a lesser version of man...a beta...a rough draft. In one fell swoop He created man with a personal touch and breathed life right into him. 

We have the breath of God in us. You do. I do. We have life because of the breath of God. Our first breath in this world comes from the very mouth of God. What was in Him...is now in us. 

All of this...the land, water, light, darkness, sun, moon and stars, plants and animals...was made for us, to sustain us...with the purpose of giving us life so that we could be in relationship with our creator. So we could walk with Him in the coolness of the day. 

So I am going back to that day. I am choosing to walk with Him. I am reconnecting to the origional puropse of man, which is to be in relationship with my creator. 

All of this from the first 3 chapters of Genesis, and an earnest plea to God to help me know Him.

Wow...it makes me wonder why I waited so long in the first place. 

2009 is going to be a great year!

My Heart's Desire

Some times we have to step back and take a look at ourselves. The new year provides an excellent opportunity to survey yourself, your goals, your priorities and your heart's desires.

For the past few weeks I have been trying to pin down my uneasiness. I couldn't tell what was driving my comfort out. It has been hard to be alone, hard to be with God, and hard to be in the group. I have just been sort of... well out of place. 

I have been in Honduras for 7 weeks now. The newness is wearing off and I am feeling more and more like I live here. I am so glad for this transition...I have been waiting for it. It is weird to be in a place knowing that you are here for a long time, but not really being adjusted to the idea yet. 

At first I thought that my "out-of-place-ness" was a product of being caught between two places. So I was glad to finally take root, but then the feeling stayed with me. Almost like it was hovering around...never really leaving me but never really landing on me either. 

So I went back to the drawing board.

Time to do a heart check...find out what is in me that shouldn't be. I firmly believe I am where God wants me to be, so feeling like I am out of place means that there is something in me that is out of place. Make sense? These conversations with myself are usually not very fun. No one likes to dig in and expose an area of their hearts that likes living in darkness, but it is necessary. 

I have been singing this song for days...even in my sleep...I wake up and it is in my head and I just can't shake it. There is a part that goes like this:

My hands are shaking from carrying this torch,

From carrying this torch for you.

It is a love song...no doubt. With catchy guitar riffs and a great melody, so it has stayed with me. I hum it, sing it, and listen to it on my computer. Tonight I realized something...God is the one carrying the torch. 

It hit me like a ton of bricks. He is the one that has been following me around. Our God is such a gentelman...He has just been waiting. 

How long have I been unknowingly pushing Him away? How long have His hands been shaking? How long has he been standing behind me waiting for me to engage in conversation? How long as He been looking at my back?

Ouch. 

How long have I been choosing to work, to clean, to email, to post pictures, or to sleep rather than acknowledging His presence? This is a hard one to admit, but it is necessary. I haven't been in the Word. My prayer life has become casual conversation. My time with God has become business as usual. 

Ouch, again.

So with new humility, and a realization that I have been keeping Him waiting...I am asking for forgiveness. I am asking the Lord to forgive my busyness and renew a right spirit within me. 

I have been apathetic to the very person I have been searching for, isn't that ironic?

Tonight, I am taking the torch from Him. I am asking Him to light a fire within me, again, and my prayer for 2009 is that I will be consumed with Him.