Off for Singapore

I didn't get a chance to do much of an update on my trip to the tsunami affected area because I've been packing all day since after church. In church today, my dad preached the sermon, and my sister, mom, and I all did our own little part of it. I shared about my trip and showed pictures of it, and I think the whole presentation went really well. We got to go out to eat at my favorite fish place after the service, and then I've been packing most afternoon for my trip back to the States. Didn't take as long as I thought it would! And it wasn't as stressful either.

Anyways, this evening we're off for Singapore. We may get to see the Texas team I worked with in tsunami relief during their layover in Singapore on their way to the US. Other than that, it will just be some good family time! I'm looking forward to it. Will try to write more soon. God bless you all! He is good.

He rocked my world

Well, I'm back in Malaysia! I arrived home yesterday. God did an incredible work and allowed me to stay longer in the area I was working in. The whole experience was so amazing, and I saw God move in some very powerful ways. God really used the trip to refocus me on him, and I've been reevaluating several things about my life. I realized that God is so much more powerful and so much more at work than I was willing to see. He's so big! And I've realized afresh what it means to be in relationship with him and on mission for him. It would take forever to explain everything (which I may try to do at some point), but if I could sum up the whole trip, I would simply say that God is amazing and he rocked my world.

Tomorrow my family and I will go to Singapore to have a few days togther as a family before I go back to the US. I will have to get everything packed tomorrow, so pray for me! I will also be sharing a little bit at our church tomorrow about my experience in the tsunami relief work. I hopefully will be able to write more of an update tomorrow and put up some pictures from my trip. May God rock your world and show you afresh how great, how good, and how powerful he is. Let us not be satisfied with our too often too small view of God and his work.

Brief update!

Hey everyone! I didn't think I would have e-mail access here, but I've been able to find an internet cafe run by the UN. Thought I would just let you know that I'm doing well. This trip has been amazing and such a growing experience; God has done and is doing so much. It would take forever to tell you all the stories, but people here are so open and needy right now. Please pray for God to just help me to love these people out of an overabundance of his love for them, so they might see him through me. They are a beautiful people, and it will already break my heart to leave.

I'll update again soon! Please continue to pray.

The doors are open

Well, I definitely have some news for you all. I won't be posting any updates (I think) for a while because I will be leaving for on a trip for the next couple of weeks. You know the three college kids who have been visiting? Well, in a surprising turn of events (that only God could have arranged), I will be joining them in the tsunami-affected area that they are volunteering at. It's been amazing to see how this all worked out. The long and short of it is that I've been praying for some time for an opportunity to go to one of these areas, but it didn't look like I would be able to. I just prayed, "Lord, if you want me to go, open the doors." Then the other day, one of the college students, Jarod, suddenly asked, "Why don't you come back with us?" And that began a series of events that has led to me leaving tomorrow on a plane to go help out in one of the disaster-relief areas. I'll be working with the three college students, Wendy, Cody, and Jarod, and I am so excited about this opportunity! If I had time to explain how everything worked out, it would be obvious what a God-thing this was; but you'll just have to take my word for it. :-) I think it will be an amazing experience, and I will covet your prayers while I am gone.

I just want to praise God for how amazing, how good, how faithful he is. He is always at work for his purposes, and I've never realized how much until today...just how everything led up to me going and how everything fell into place. The Lord is awesome; I pray he may use me to glorify his name.

I will post updates as soon as I can once I get back. Until then, may God bless you, and keep you, and make his face to shine upon you.

These are the three college students working in a tsunami-affected area who have been visiting with us for the last several days. They are really neat people, and we've struck up a wonderful friendship. Their names are (left-right) Wendy, Cody, and Jarod.  

"Life's too short"

I read this on the blog of my friend, Tom, and asked if I could share it with you on mine; I thought it was very profound.

I'm so blessed everytime that God speaks to me ... and I'm even more blessed when i actually listen :)

I was in church listening to a great sermon ... and though not directly related to what the preacher said, the Holy Spirit stirred in me and challenged with a simple statement

"Life is too short, to live for yourself"

People say to me from time to time, "why would you give up so much to do what you do"
but now I realize that I should be asking them "why would you give up so much to settle for 2nd best"

If you want to visit Tom's blog, click here.

Happy 4th of July!

The lack of posts over the last few days reflects just how busy those days have been. The three college students who have been working in a tsunami-affected area got in on Saturday...and things have just been whirling along since then. Saturday evening we took the college students, Wendy, Jarod, and Cody, to the night market; Sunday we had church, and then our family had an engagement party to go to and to sing at. Then Lindsay and I went with Wendy, Jarod, and Cody to the mall to eat, shop a little, and see a movie. We got home late, I slept late, and then I've been up helping to cook since 1:30 for the July 4th party we had this evening. Another American family who live here joined us--and that made it interesting with four children all under the age of 7 running around! They are adorable kids. The college students came over a little later, and then we all made ice cream together. All of them left around 10:00...so it's been a long day! I've been on my feet almost all day, so my sore foot has been acting up again. Let's just say a bed will feel wonderful tonight!

Anyways, just wanted to put up a brief update. Today will be busy as well, but I'll see if I have time to write again. I hope all of you have a blessed day!

A praise

Just as a brief update:
I may not have mentioned to several of you that I've been having problems with my foot lately. Since last Sunday, I've had severe pain in my foot whenever I put weight on a certain part of it--which, needless to say, makes it difficult to walk normally. There was no visible reason for the pain and no injury that might have caused it. We finally got to see a doctor and a chiropractor today. The chiropractor says there's some swelling in the areas around my toes (metatarsallitis, I think), which could be caused by several things. But the point is that we have an idea of what we're dealing with and can take some steps to getting my foot better. We do want to be careful about this because I have a history of RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy) setting into injuries, so we're keeping an eye on that. But it is a definite praise that nothing too major is wrong with my foot, and hopefully with some therapy we can do here at home, I should be able to walk normally again soon. Thanks for your prayers!