Forever Changed.
On saturday, i returned from an amazing trip to Mexico, to an orphanage that changed my life forever years ago. It was my 4th trip down there and i absolutely loved it. I sponsor a girl there, her name is Dalia. And she changed my life on my second trip there when i was in 7th grade. And I am just so blessed with the time I got to spend with her last week.
God put so much on my heart and moved mountains. The team i was with was amazing as well. we all got along so well and laughed constantly. especially towards the end of the trip. hahaha. thats another story for another time. my friend carissa and I got to sing for the last sala, people from our team spoke, we prayed the prayer with some precious people at adult outreach who are forever in my heart. and just so much more. there is so much that happened. if i told you everything on here, it would be extremely long. but i would be happy to share stories with you if you ask. This trip just really confirmed so much in my heart and was just very moving and powerful. I give all thanks to the Lord for His mighty hand and work in everything that week. He kept us safe, and didn't give us scary situations that we couldn't handle. Praise God.
On friday i leave for Fort Wilderness for the summer. It is so crazy to think that I won't be home until august 9th. I am just continuing to pray for God for this summer and the things he will do in my heart, and in the hearts of the people that i work with in the coffee shop and in the hearts of campers.
Rejoice! Amanda is getting better with fighting her disease. I just burst with tears of joy because I have a God who is faithful.
My heart goes out to the Kelley family. You guys are definitely in my prayers, and I wish I could be there this weekend for Will. Will, you fought the fight and you ran the race. Now you are in the arms of our amazing God. You will always be missed.
♥
24.5.10
12.5.10
its REAL. and I am blessed.
this will be the most unorganized blog post ever. because i just need to ramble and speak whats on my heart and how God just shook up my heart in the last 10 minutes.
I am currently being blown away by God. He is so intense. he is loving. he provides. HE MEETS US RIGHT WHERE WE ARE, NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION IS. HE IS LOVE.
I was talking with my best friend Nicole and she mentioned how my summer starts in 15 days.
15 DAYS.
WOAH. I am just in awe. Like I leave for this missions trip for mexico, in a couple days. And I am just in awe. I am this person that has sinned and is just so imperfect in so many ways and doesn't deserve at all the opportunities i am being given this summer. the opportunity to serve and just do so much is just so amazing. and i am just in awe of God being like "I choose you. to go out and love others. and serve. and do this in My name." its just CRAZY!
God just totally shook my heart when I was just realizing what i am getting the opportunity to do. and realizing that i am leaving for the summer in 15 days to SERVE THE LORD. how cool is that!?!?
God has been closer than ever the last 2 months. like i feel like i am really starting to see him, and understand him, and respond to him finally. its weird. but its GOOD.
and He is just showing me love, and grace, and mercy, and forgiveness and just teaching me so much in SO many different ways.
God is rocking my heart. and today when I felt like God was physically mountains in my heart for like 10 minutes, it is just one step closer to God preparing my heart for the summer, and just him working in my heart more and more. there is no certain number we have to get to of encounters with God or amazing moments with Him, but he is just continuing to be an amazing God in my life.
I am so blessed.
God is loving and so good that it is hard to put to words.
And I am SO in love with the Lord and what he is doing in my life.
Without the Lord I would be lost.
I am currently being blown away by God. He is so intense. he is loving. he provides. HE MEETS US RIGHT WHERE WE ARE, NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION IS. HE IS LOVE.
I was talking with my best friend Nicole and she mentioned how my summer starts in 15 days.
15 DAYS.
WOAH. I am just in awe. Like I leave for this missions trip for mexico, in a couple days. And I am just in awe. I am this person that has sinned and is just so imperfect in so many ways and doesn't deserve at all the opportunities i am being given this summer. the opportunity to serve and just do so much is just so amazing. and i am just in awe of God being like "I choose you. to go out and love others. and serve. and do this in My name." its just CRAZY!
God just totally shook my heart when I was just realizing what i am getting the opportunity to do. and realizing that i am leaving for the summer in 15 days to SERVE THE LORD. how cool is that!?!?
God has been closer than ever the last 2 months. like i feel like i am really starting to see him, and understand him, and respond to him finally. its weird. but its GOOD.
and He is just showing me love, and grace, and mercy, and forgiveness and just teaching me so much in SO many different ways.
God is rocking my heart. and today when I felt like God was physically mountains in my heart for like 10 minutes, it is just one step closer to God preparing my heart for the summer, and just him working in my heart more and more. there is no certain number we have to get to of encounters with God or amazing moments with Him, but he is just continuing to be an amazing God in my life.
I am so blessed.
God is loving and so good that it is hard to put to words.
And I am SO in love with the Lord and what he is doing in my life.
Without the Lord I would be lost.
11.5.10
many days to say.
So I haven't blogged in what seems like a while. because i have had finals, moved out of the dorm and left purdue for the summer, and have been unpacking at home and seeing friends. so there is a lot to blog on.
many days to talk about.
so here it goes...
So Bright.
"So Bright" is the theme for Fort for the summer. It is based off of the verse Matthew 5:16. Just thinking about it and analyzing it, and relating it to my life just makes me so pumped and excited and get a lot of things planned for this summer and for the ways that i can impact those that i work with in the coffee shop (campgrounds). so i have a ton of things going through my mind and my heart that i want to do this summer. and i have so much excitement about it. and have already started to pray about it all and pray for the people that i will work with and pray that God will work in their hearts and in the hearts of the campers we will serve. I am so pumped for it, that words can not express it. When people ask me about it, i like screech with excitement. It will be so great. So if you feel lead to, please be praying for me for this summer.
Foundation for His Ministry::Hogar para niños.
Foundation for His Ministry is the name of the orphanage i will be working at for a week with 19 other people from my church, including my parents and sister. i leave this saturday, the 15th. and get back the 22nd. I am so pumped for that as well. And how God is gonna use us there. Also, I sponsor a girl at the orphanage. Her name is Dalia. I havent been there in 4 years, and cannot wait to see her. It is going to be an amazing moment when i just shower her with gifts. Expect pictures when i get back. there will for sure be a ton of pictures taken while i am down there. I am a huge fan of photography, so that will definitely be happening down there. I am just so pumped. I love serving SOOO much, and so for me to be able to go back down there, and work in the "Nut House" (macadamia nut house) and work with the kids in the nursery, and go on outreach trips, and play soccer with the teen boy house, and worship in Sala, and go to the Tiendita and get snacks, and the flea market for souvenirs, and get the best pastries ever in the morning from the little guy on his bike cart. i can already hear him ringing his bell and just being excited to give us some of the best pastries you will ever experience in your life. please be praying for our team, and that God will use our hearts in every way possible. it will be amazing. pray for our safety as well going through the border. be praying for God's presence, and work in our hearts and in the people that we will be serving. 4 more days!!!
Too cool for School.
I can't believe i have finished one year at purdue. To be honest, not many people thought i could do it. It was a shock to most that i could get into that school and do work there. And i did it. i really did. as i got my last things in the dorm, i just sat in my moms arms and cried. and just cried tears of joy. that i had really done it, and tried so hard. it was just a really big accomplishment for me. and i love it. i love seeing that i really did it. it just really hit me, and meant a lot to me.
church and home.
being home is weird at times. like i love seeing my family, and people at my home church. but sometimes i get this weird feeling like i don't fit in quite well anymore with my home church because i am gone most of the year, and will be gone this summer. but in little ways, God still shows me love there at times. i loved being a part of a hub that met at my friend sarah's house. and now that has all changed and its weird, because i loved growing through that. and my friends here have changed. and so i have really been trying to find where i fit and where God can work in my heart here. And this last saturday i found it. God works in my heart at Elevate. in my previous post, i talked about how i love junior high kids. well, this last saturday i had nothing to do at home, so i decided i really wanted to serve in Elevate. and i lead a group of girls, and really loved it. And met this little girl named karen. And we sat next to each other for worship and the service, and it was just so powerful i can't even explain. God just really tugs on my heart when i am with junior high kids. and so i've decided i really want to get plugged into a church at school that has a junior high ministry, and continue to work in junior high kids hearts. its such a beautiful thing.
new friends.
i have this new friend. her name is nicole rappe. and we have become so close in such a little time. and we encourage each other all the time and talk about goofy stuff and just really bond via text, skype, and facebook. and it is just awesome. and i am just really thankful that i have a friend like nicole. she has really been a blessing to me.
God has really been continuing to work in my heart everyday through his word and through friends and through things i encounter everyday. and i am in love with it. I love that everyday i am continuing to grow closer and closer with God, and that i am continuing to be molded and changed into a better woman of God. God's grace is just so amazing, and his love is neverending. and it is so beautiful and precious.
a verse that has really been on my heart is this: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
<3
many days to talk about.
so here it goes...
So Bright.
"So Bright" is the theme for Fort for the summer. It is based off of the verse Matthew 5:16. Just thinking about it and analyzing it, and relating it to my life just makes me so pumped and excited and get a lot of things planned for this summer and for the ways that i can impact those that i work with in the coffee shop (campgrounds). so i have a ton of things going through my mind and my heart that i want to do this summer. and i have so much excitement about it. and have already started to pray about it all and pray for the people that i will work with and pray that God will work in their hearts and in the hearts of the campers we will serve. I am so pumped for it, that words can not express it. When people ask me about it, i like screech with excitement. It will be so great. So if you feel lead to, please be praying for me for this summer.
Foundation for His Ministry::Hogar para niños.
Foundation for His Ministry is the name of the orphanage i will be working at for a week with 19 other people from my church, including my parents and sister. i leave this saturday, the 15th. and get back the 22nd. I am so pumped for that as well. And how God is gonna use us there. Also, I sponsor a girl at the orphanage. Her name is Dalia. I havent been there in 4 years, and cannot wait to see her. It is going to be an amazing moment when i just shower her with gifts. Expect pictures when i get back. there will for sure be a ton of pictures taken while i am down there. I am a huge fan of photography, so that will definitely be happening down there. I am just so pumped. I love serving SOOO much, and so for me to be able to go back down there, and work in the "Nut House" (macadamia nut house) and work with the kids in the nursery, and go on outreach trips, and play soccer with the teen boy house, and worship in Sala, and go to the Tiendita and get snacks, and the flea market for souvenirs, and get the best pastries ever in the morning from the little guy on his bike cart. i can already hear him ringing his bell and just being excited to give us some of the best pastries you will ever experience in your life. please be praying for our team, and that God will use our hearts in every way possible. it will be amazing. pray for our safety as well going through the border. be praying for God's presence, and work in our hearts and in the people that we will be serving. 4 more days!!!
Too cool for School.
I can't believe i have finished one year at purdue. To be honest, not many people thought i could do it. It was a shock to most that i could get into that school and do work there. And i did it. i really did. as i got my last things in the dorm, i just sat in my moms arms and cried. and just cried tears of joy. that i had really done it, and tried so hard. it was just a really big accomplishment for me. and i love it. i love seeing that i really did it. it just really hit me, and meant a lot to me.
church and home.
being home is weird at times. like i love seeing my family, and people at my home church. but sometimes i get this weird feeling like i don't fit in quite well anymore with my home church because i am gone most of the year, and will be gone this summer. but in little ways, God still shows me love there at times. i loved being a part of a hub that met at my friend sarah's house. and now that has all changed and its weird, because i loved growing through that. and my friends here have changed. and so i have really been trying to find where i fit and where God can work in my heart here. And this last saturday i found it. God works in my heart at Elevate. in my previous post, i talked about how i love junior high kids. well, this last saturday i had nothing to do at home, so i decided i really wanted to serve in Elevate. and i lead a group of girls, and really loved it. And met this little girl named karen. And we sat next to each other for worship and the service, and it was just so powerful i can't even explain. God just really tugs on my heart when i am with junior high kids. and so i've decided i really want to get plugged into a church at school that has a junior high ministry, and continue to work in junior high kids hearts. its such a beautiful thing.
new friends.
i have this new friend. her name is nicole rappe. and we have become so close in such a little time. and we encourage each other all the time and talk about goofy stuff and just really bond via text, skype, and facebook. and it is just awesome. and i am just really thankful that i have a friend like nicole. she has really been a blessing to me.
God has really been continuing to work in my heart everyday through his word and through friends and through things i encounter everyday. and i am in love with it. I love that everyday i am continuing to grow closer and closer with God, and that i am continuing to be molded and changed into a better woman of God. God's grace is just so amazing, and his love is neverending. and it is so beautiful and precious.
a verse that has really been on my heart is this: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
<3
3.5.10
tapping into the heart of middle school.
so i am sitting here, feeling many different feelings.
one of them being i wonder if anyone even reads this. or am i just talking to myself.
two, feeling like i should probably start to pack up my room.
three, packing? woah. im packing up my life here this last year? and then i start to reflect. and usually end in a few tears of joy.
four, finals are this week. shoot! i should study!
and then another feeling is, avoiding packing and studying, and just looking through old pictures on my computer.
so i did that. and went down memory lane.
and felt my heart clench when i went past the pictures from when i was an elevate small group leader.
i started to bawl.
i absolutely loved. seeing those girls every week.
even though sometimes it would be rough, and one or two girls wouldn't give me the time of day to tap into their lives, i still did everything i could, and trusted that God had control of it all. and that he would use me in whatever way possible to be there for these girls and lead them to God.
i would cry almost every week for the last couple months before graduating them into impact (the high school ministry). when matt mccoy would let them sing out the lyrics during worship and him not sing, just hearing their voices made my heart so full.
i would get so choked up. it was so beautiful. i felt like everytime i heard that God just kept saying to me "this is it. these are the kids are you are called to lead. they are the generation that is gonna make a difference in this world. these kids have the strength to do it." i just kept loving hearing them worship, and just feeling like they are gonna really shock the world with the way God is gonna lead them. and knowing that God is using them to show the love of God to the world, just made my heart so warm and full in so many ways.
these kids changed my life. every week when we would discuss the service in small group. i would try to impact them. but i felt like i would get more out of it from them. they would probably say the opposite. its just so crazy.
i have felt so many times like maybe working with jr. high kids after college is something i am really called to do. cuz they continue to set my heart on fire for the Lord in really cool ways.
You can learn so much from a junior high kid. Don't ever underestimate them. they are some of the best people i know.
<3
2.5.10
fire.
Meet my precious Dalia Alvarado.
i am going on a missions trip to mexico from may 15th-22nd.
to Foundation for His Ministry, an orphanage in the Baja Mexico.
Hogar Para Niños.
Home for Children.
i just think about serving, and i get these shivers down my spine. I have such a HUGE heart for serving. serving takes my heart into some of the deepest places with God. That is an area that i feel like i feel God the most. When i serve, i just get this instant joy. i see God in this crazy cool way. and it is amazing.
whether it is serving at fort, or at the orphanage, or elevate, or wherever. he always does amazing work. well, God is amazing all the time really. But serving just makes me feel a feeling that is indescribable.
i just cannot wait. 13 days. 13 DAYS!
i sponsor a girl at the orphanage there. her name is Dalia. and i love her. when i had heard her story of how she got to the orphanage, i just bawled. and knew this was a girl i wanted to help pick back up again. my heart was just breaking into pieces for this little girl. i love her so much. and can't wait to have an updated picture of her and i, and bring her lots of toys.
my heart longs to care for the needy, the broken, and the wounded.
i can't wait to marry someone that loves missions too.
i want to be a missionary for the rest of my life. do art. love others. and love someone for the rest of my life.
oh man. i love God.
he has rocked my world the last month. and he has so much planned for me, its amazing to see.
1.5.10
La vita è un sogno.
last night i slept for 19 hours. it felt amazing. and thats all i have to say about that.
by the way, the title translates to: "Life is but a dream" in italian. :)
right now i am looking into things for wanting to go study abroad. and i just get so excited thinking about going study abroad in the home and heart of all art--- Italy.
i have family in italy (from my mothers side) and so for me to visit with them, and hang out with them, would just make me the happiest person in the world. hahahaha. i just love photographing pretty cities and doing art outside in the most beautiful places, and so me doing art on a balcony at SACI, the art school i would attend that overlooks florence, would be amazing beyond belief.
so i am really considering studying in either either for the may-mester of this next school year or for all of the fall semester of my senior year. and that would just be amazing. so just exploring those options and opportunities to expand my mind in the heart of art, and to experience God in italy too and find a church there and stuff, oh man. thoughts of that too just gets me so excited and puts shivers down my spine. so as i continue to research my opportunities, i also continue to pray about what God has for me, and if he sees my heart in italy for a semester. and if he sees me not only growing in my major, but in him as well.
i have some more thoughts that i wish i could post right now, but i need to do some studying for finals this next week.
later tonight there will be an intense post about whats going through my head about life and things.
-lis.
by the way, the title translates to: "Life is but a dream" in italian. :)
right now i am looking into things for wanting to go study abroad. and i just get so excited thinking about going study abroad in the home and heart of all art--- Italy.
i have family in italy (from my mothers side) and so for me to visit with them, and hang out with them, would just make me the happiest person in the world. hahahaha. i just love photographing pretty cities and doing art outside in the most beautiful places, and so me doing art on a balcony at SACI, the art school i would attend that overlooks florence, would be amazing beyond belief.
so i am really considering studying in either either for the may-mester of this next school year or for all of the fall semester of my senior year. and that would just be amazing. so just exploring those options and opportunities to expand my mind in the heart of art, and to experience God in italy too and find a church there and stuff, oh man. thoughts of that too just gets me so excited and puts shivers down my spine. so as i continue to research my opportunities, i also continue to pray about what God has for me, and if he sees my heart in italy for a semester. and if he sees me not only growing in my major, but in him as well.
i have some more thoughts that i wish i could post right now, but i need to do some studying for finals this next week.
later tonight there will be an intense post about whats going through my head about life and things.
-lis.
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