See Something More

"So...I want to know." She turned around from where she was sitting in the passenger seat and looked back at me. "When did you fall in love with Jesus?" I wasn't expecting that question, but I was delightfully surprised that she asked. I smiled and began to think as I looked out the window of the backseat. "Well, it is hard to pinpoint the exact date. I guess you could say the first time I really loved Him was when I gave my heart to Him when I was eleven years old. But that was really just the beginning." I paused for a moment as my mind went through all the spiritual milemarkers of my life. "Then there was junior high when I began to read my Bible every day and develop a faith of my own. But it wasn't until high school when I had an eating disorder that I really discovered an intimate person relationship with Him. No, that's really when I fell in love. But actually, now that I think about it, I just thought I was in love. It was

It was my last night at home before heading back to college. Since my mom and I were going to have the house to ourselves, I decided to plan something extra special for the two of us. A mother-daughter sleepover seemed to be the most perfect idea, so I checked the cabinet to make sure we had kettle corn and then marched to the Red Box. We would watch a movie, munch on some popcorn, and then "spend the night" together - complete with back massages and girly talk time. I selected Soul Surfer , knowing that we both love inspirational true stories. I hid the movie in my desk drawer, just in case she might see it in my room before the "sleepover" actually began. Perfect! I thought.  This will be the best surprise! She'll never know! Later that day, my mom and I were riding in the car when my mom spoke up. "I don't know if you'll be interested in this, but I thought it would be special to do something tonight. It is your last night at home for a while,

Does God ever give you more than you can handle? When I was asked that question, I first thought the answer was no. 1 Corinthians 10:13 popped into my head: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." God doesn't give us more than we can bear, right? Right...when it comes to temptation .  But does God ever give us more than we can handle? Let me tell you about my induction into the college of nursing. All week long I have been collecting paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. I think I possess fifteen pounds worth of syllabi. I have enough information sheets and assignments to last me for the rest of my life...but somehow it has to all be done in the next seven weeks. We toured the hospital where I will work eight-hour shifts and called it "orientation", but I left fee

I could tell stories about Nicaragua for the rest of my life. While I was there, I kept a running total of my favorite experiences in a word document titled "memories". There are approximately 132 items, and I could write a whole blog entry about each one. Each memory, experience, and story tells of the character of God in some way, which means that we have one amazing, huge God. Yesterday I took a walk through the park with a friend in order to catch up with her and spend some time with her before we go our separate ways to college. We started talking about Nicaragua, and then an hour and a half later I realized I had been talking practically the whole time, telling story after story after story. I would get so excited that I would begin to talk louder and louder and use my hands to exaggerate. I would get so out of breath by just walking and talking at the same time. When I got in the car to go home, I realized my back was soaked with sweat (due to 100 degree weather) and

"Come over here! There's room for you!" Like junior high girls at a sleepover, Karla, Darlene, Monique, and I talked and giggled even though it was late and we should have been asleep. The only difference between this and a slumber party was that we were under mosquito nets in a cockroach-infested building in the middle of the nowhere Nicaragua. Karla, a translator fluent in both English and Spanish, parted her mosquito net so that I could crawl into her bunk with her and Darlene, another translator. I think they slept in the same bed because Darlene was afraid of the cockroaches or something. Monique gently swung in her hammock, which was also wrapped in a mosquito net. To the light of a dim flashlight tucked into the bunk above us, we talked, laughed, and told stories together late into the night. Our conversation roamed from topic to topic, seemingly random, meaningless, and often ending in bursts of girly laughter. Yet when the conversation turned spiritual, we

Short-term mission trips are a hot topic these days as they are often discussed and debated concerning their value. Are they worth it? Do they really do any good? Is it really what God wants us to be doing with our time and money? When you travel abroad for a one or two-week mission trip, you work hard, do your best, and then leave wondering. Did our work really make a difference? Or does all this just make me feel really good? As an intern for Mision Para Cristo this month, I was blessed to interact with seven different groups as they came and went on their short-term summer mission trips. Even though they were only there a week, I saw a transformation occur right before my eyes. It only takes a week for hearts to be renewed for serving Christ. It only takes a week for work to be accomplished that could not be done without the money, hands, and hearts of the people who come. It only takes a week to motivate a group of people to go back to the United States and share their experie

I cannot believe that it has already been a week since my plane touched down in Little Rock. This past week has flown by, and my emotions have flown with it. I will confess that I have danced with delight at God's works, but I have also cried with longing to be back in Jinotega. Sometimes I am so thankful for the memories, but other times I really miss being there. I realize that of all the emotions I have felt - gratitude, happiness, homesickness, sadness, longing, delight, joy, amazement, awe - only one really makes sense. Joy! Yes, I miss Nicaragua, but it just doesn't make sense to spend the best month of your life there and then spend the rest of your life being sad about not being there. It doesn't make sense to see God's amazing works of love and grace and then respond to it with sadness. It just doesn't make sense to be a part of God's global mission and then go home and mope about it. What does make sense is this: the explosion of joy that radiates an

"Praise the Lord, O my soul." What a perfect way to begin Psalm 104, and what a perfect way to begin my day. After a month in Nicaragua of personally witnessing God's work and experiencing His love, these words expressed the emotion of my heart. I continued reading. "O Lord, my God, you are very great." Yes, Lord! You are so very great! My heart swelled with delight as memories flashed through my head of things that God did in Nicaragua while I was there. He proved over and over again how great He is. "...He stretched out the heavens like a tent...He makes the clouds His chariots..." I remembered laying on the roof of the mission one evening, just watching the glorious night sky. It was full of twinkling stars, which God stretched over us like a tent. We lay on our backs and watched the clouds pass over, which made the starry sky seem like it was moving and spinning around us. "He makes springs pour water into the ravines." Sud

Last night, my family had some friends over for dinner so we could catch up and talk about my time in Nicaragua. What a privilege and joy it is for me to be able to share my stories, pictures, emotions, and experiences with people that I love! On the menu for the evening was an authentic Nicaraguan meal of chicken with jalapeño sauce, gallo pinto, fried plantains, and mango. I started cooking with high hopes because the mango was ripe, orange, and almost as sweet as a fresh mango from Nicaragua. However, my excitement was crushed when I first tasted the gallo pinto I made. Even though I brought the seasoning packets back from Jinotega, it just wasn't the same. So I next started the jalapeño salsa, which I have actually never made before. I have watched Marina do it a thousand times, but I know that I don't have her amazing touch. But when I added the sour cream to the onions and jalapeño peppers in the pan, I smelled the most wonderful, familiar smell. It smelled exactly li

I may be home from a month in Nicaragua, but I still have so many stories to share. For the next few days, I want to share with you just a few of those small stories. They may be short and sweet, maybe even seemingly insignificant, but I choose to see something more. ~~~~~ Take a handful of books, for example. When I jumped out of the van after the morning’s work, I was greeted in front of the mission by a few little girls from the market. Because their families work in the market, they just hang outside the mission by the market all day long. I don’t know why they chose me to love, but they did, and they were always there, waiting to greet me and hug me. On this particular occasion, I held a handful of story books in Spanish. They noticed right away and showed interest in them, so I sat down right there on the dirty curb of the market place and opened the cover of “La Historia de Jesus” (The Story of Jesus). After finishing, I read “La Historia de Noe” (The Story of Noah) and “Davi

Being back home in the States is like jumping under a waterfall of emotion. Part of me feels the most intense joy that I have ever known- a joy that comes from seeing, experiencing, and coming to know God's love in more of its fullness. This past month has been jam-packed full of life-changing experiences and divine revelations. I have seen God work in amazing and beautiful ways, which has expanded my view of who He is. I have seen the expanse and vastness of His love, which reaches far into the wilderness of Nicaragua and far into the depths of human hearts. Most of all, I have witnessed the power that His love has when it is given away freely. When His love spills over, it can truly change the world. So I can say with confidence that I have come to know God more. I am amazed at His love for me, for He loves me enough to allow me to see Him vividly and join Him in His kingdom mission. I have heard His calling on my life to mission work, and I am filled with a burning passion a

I felt like I had gone back in time or entered another world altogether as I walked around the village of San Andres. This remote people of Nicaragua can only be reached by boat, so we took a ten-hour trip in pocahontas-style dug-out canoes down the Rio Coco River, which makes up much of the northern boundary of Nicaragua. Stepping into their village was like turning the pages of a National Geographic magazine. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to journey into a tropical paradise to reach a remote people and spread the gospel. I could hardly believe where I was or that it was even real. The people and their language and culture fascinated me: the wooden houses on stilts, the hammocks hanging on the porches, the livestock roaming the paths, the women washing their clothes in the muddy water of the Rio Coco, the barefooted children playing soccer in the mud or hopscotch on the hard-packed dirt. Oh, the simplicity of life. In the same place as the towering coconut trees, lush m