Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
From the Inside Out
Hello hello hello!!
We finished up our work at the women's shelter last Friday. I can honestly say that as frustrated as I got with some of matter is that I the staff and their irresponsible decisions, and some of the kids and their overwhelming disrespect, I was sad to leave and say "goodbye." The truth of the matter is that I will most likely never see any of them ever again. Our time together was a mere blink in their life. The scary part about that is their lives and my life are on very different paths. Talking to a few of the youth over the past few weeks I found that many of them had family that was incarcerated for abuse, battery, or drug charges. Sadly, these kids have a higher likelihood to follow in a similar path...and that breaks my heart. We were suppose to be ministering to these kids but, honestly, I didn't feel like I was. I felt like I was missing out on opportunities, and for most of my time there I felt really discouraged because i felt as though Jesus was not the center of my being there. Praise God, though, Friday brought a new since of encouragement!! Friday morning as I was getting ready I really felt as though I should wear the story Jesus' life that we made during woman's day. So, I did. About 20 minutes after the kiddos had arrived i was already getting compliments on it and sharing the life of Jesus and that he climbed up on the cross to cover all of our sins. That day at least three girls and one boy memorized the entire bracelet!! Hallelujah! PRAISE THE LORD (PTL, emmalog)!!
And they wanted to keep going over it! To have a 9 year old boy say to me repeatedly say to me "Ms, Mari, can I plEase say it just ONE more time???" WOW. cool.
As we entered our last week here in Seattle, we enjoyed a nice break from the fast pace of the last two weeks with a retreat at Discovery Bay retreat center. It was a great time for me to just reflect on what the Lord has done in my life and in Seattle for the past 3 weeks and just share in a time of fellowship with everyone. Friday night, Sam and I had a nice heart-to-heart as we laid out and underneath the stars. Man, can I tell you. She's a god-send. Like seriously. We just get each other and it seems we always have the same thing on our minds. We just relate to each other so well, and she is a complete blessing to have in my life. I hope when we get to heaven, we live on the same block :) Anyway, Saturday we went to the beach (WOW!!! Pacific Ocean= COLD!!!!!!) and into town at Port Townsend. Saturday night we had a home-cooked chicken enchilada dinner!! Uh, YUM! That night, was a big night of meditation and reflection for me. It was raining very lightly and i went out into a big field and stuck my iPod in and just sang to the Lord. Spinning and twirling and laughing, I felt like such a little girl. My favorite part was just rejoicing in the Lord and singing loud! At one point, I was singing Never Let Go by Matt Redmen and I was twirling as fast as I could and i felt sooo dizzy and out of control but I felt God's hand gently around me. I ended up falling down flat on my backside and just laughin' and singin louder! Just lying their beneath the stars looking up and knowing that I can't even begin to imagine the full amount of love that the Lord has for me. That was a good night.
This week we are working in the womens prison. I'll update soon on how that's going. love y'all!!
We finished up our work at the women's shelter last Friday. I can honestly say that as frustrated as I got with some of matter is that I the staff and their irresponsible decisions, and some of the kids and their overwhelming disrespect, I was sad to leave and say "goodbye." The truth of the matter is that I will most likely never see any of them ever again. Our time together was a mere blink in their life. The scary part about that is their lives and my life are on very different paths. Talking to a few of the youth over the past few weeks I found that many of them had family that was incarcerated for abuse, battery, or drug charges. Sadly, these kids have a higher likelihood to follow in a similar path...and that breaks my heart. We were suppose to be ministering to these kids but, honestly, I didn't feel like I was. I felt like I was missing out on opportunities, and for most of my time there I felt really discouraged because i felt as though Jesus was not the center of my being there. Praise God, though, Friday brought a new since of encouragement!! Friday morning as I was getting ready I really felt as though I should wear the story Jesus' life that we made during woman's day. So, I did. About 20 minutes after the kiddos had arrived i was already getting compliments on it and sharing the life of Jesus and that he climbed up on the cross to cover all of our sins. That day at least three girls and one boy memorized the entire bracelet!! Hallelujah! PRAISE THE LORD (PTL, emmalog)!!
And they wanted to keep going over it! To have a 9 year old boy say to me repeatedly say to me "Ms, Mari, can I plEase say it just ONE more time???" WOW. cool.
As we entered our last week here in Seattle, we enjoyed a nice break from the fast pace of the last two weeks with a retreat at Discovery Bay retreat center. It was a great time for me to just reflect on what the Lord has done in my life and in Seattle for the past 3 weeks and just share in a time of fellowship with everyone. Friday night, Sam and I had a nice heart-to-heart as we laid out and underneath the stars. Man, can I tell you. She's a god-send. Like seriously. We just get each other and it seems we always have the same thing on our minds. We just relate to each other so well, and she is a complete blessing to have in my life. I hope when we get to heaven, we live on the same block :) Anyway, Saturday we went to the beach (WOW!!! Pacific Ocean= COLD!!!!!!) and into town at Port Townsend. Saturday night we had a home-cooked chicken enchilada dinner!! Uh, YUM! That night, was a big night of meditation and reflection for me. It was raining very lightly and i went out into a big field and stuck my iPod in and just sang to the Lord. Spinning and twirling and laughing, I felt like such a little girl. My favorite part was just rejoicing in the Lord and singing loud! At one point, I was singing Never Let Go by Matt Redmen and I was twirling as fast as I could and i felt sooo dizzy and out of control but I felt God's hand gently around me. I ended up falling down flat on my backside and just laughin' and singin louder! Just lying their beneath the stars looking up and knowing that I can't even begin to imagine the full amount of love that the Lord has for me. That was a good night.
This week we are working in the womens prison. I'll update soon on how that's going. love y'all!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Now to Live the LIfe
Happy 4th of July!
It's been another crazy week. So monday I went to the doctor to find out that I had a sinus infection that was turnin into a respiratory infection so I got hooked up with some meds and i'm doing a lot better now! YAYYYY!
Tuesday, Nick, "Sammy Socha", Sean, Angie, April and I went to the Union Gospel Mission for Women's and Children (basically a women and children's shelter) to find out our jobs for the next two weeks. Turns out we were camp counselors! crazy huh? And here I was thinkin I was gettin away from camp. Good thing I love kids, I guess. Well this camp was a lot bigger than anything that I was use to. 80+ kids and only 5 counselors. UNSAFE much??? I personally thought so. that day we took the kids to a local park and played on the playscape and in the wading pool and a few of the boys went to shoot hoops. The staff was very thankful to have another 6 sets of hands to help them. I really enjoyed the day. it was beautiful outside with a high of 76 or so and clear skys....infact it hasn't rained yet!!! Tuesday was exhausting but a ton of fun too! Wednesday, we all spent the day at the shelter and had Kids Church and they learned the theme song for the summer (Ask me to sing it for you!!) and we sang The Stand and In My Father's House and got a chance to share the gospel with some of the kids. Sean and I work in the Kindergarden room so for me that has been a bit of a challenge because I am use to working with slightly older kids. Thursday was actually the work day for us because they were closed on Friday for the 4th. On Thursday we took them to a Roller skating rink. Very very funny! Sam, April and I didn't rollerskate for various reasons but the guys and Angie did. Most of the kids did really well but there were these two boys oh jeez... poor souls. hahah they coudn't stand for the life of them! The day ended on a kind of upsetting but powerful note. On the bus ride home one of the girls got a bad nose bleed. Well turns out none of the counselors are CPR or First-Aid certified...Praise the Lord I just renewed mine. So i'm helping this poor girl in the very last row of the school bus and it's bumpy and the kids are pointing and laughing, she's scared, and there is blood everywhere. So i finally get enough pressure on here nose and the blood stops and she needs to spit and so i have her wipe the blood from her lips and she ends up spitting out lots of blood too. and so i keep all of that up with gauze and Quick Cleans and Alcohol pads and i'm furious at this point because none of the actual paid counselors are paying attention they're talking about drinking and whatnot and carrying on not even noticing the girl i was helping. When we got back no questions where asked about how she was doing or anything.
That really upset me. So I started to pray that instead of the Lord removing these people from this camp, instead that he would fill them with love, wisdom and compassion to guide these children. It's been a different experience that's for sure. These kids are very blunt with their questions, especially about money and relationships, which makes since due to their backgrounds. Lots of the kids at camp come from broken homes with a low economical statuses. Anyway, it's been a great experience and I can't wait to go back next week.
On Friday, our first day to really enjoy the city, a few of us went to the famous fish market, Pikes Place Market and ate lunch and shopped around for most of the day. After that we hopped on the bus and headed to a town about 45 min or so SW of seattle for a party thrown by a CCO and her husband. That was so much fun!! Homecooked meal, catchphrase and then a few of us watched 12 Rounds ( a personal favorite)! GreAt NiGht!!
Saturday was Woman/Men's Time. The girls hung out here at the dorms and talked and had a nice fellowship while the guys went out to do "guy things" Lots of fun! then we went out for Greek Pizza!!
Here's the real scoop though. THe Lord is working here in Seattle. Through every single person on this trip. It's amazing. Absoulutly astounding. All of us have this unique bond that only the Lord can provide and by His grace He has crossed all of our paths for a very short time to do wondrous things. Hearing the testimonies that I have and talking with all of these genuine hearts has been such a blessing and such an answer to all of my prayers. My testimony is really powerful pretty intense and to be able to share it (snot, tears and all) with girls that have gone through a similar circumstance is just WOW. It's a feeling unlike any other. To be surrounded by girls that AREN'T caddy and enthralled by the world and it's offerings is something that I miss dearly from CRU. And the guys, WOHA. These are men that genuinely have a heart after the Lord. They know when to show and share they're vulnerabilities and weaknesses and they also know how to protect and fight like the Warriors of Christ that they truly are. The Sisters in Christ that end up marrying these gentlemen will be very, very lucky no doubt.
I do have a few prayer requests as I leave you tonight,
1. My grandma was hopsitalized last Wed and for irregular heartbeat and temp. SHe's also tiny and can't keep on weight. Just Pray for her health and that the Lord would give my grandpa the strength and energy to keep helping my grandma. Ella Mae and Harold HIbbs are their names.
2. One of the girls, Amy is sick. Like really sick. LIke can't stand for longer than a few minutes without feeling like she's going to pass out or puke or both. So pray for her health. I know she is done being sick and we really miss her presence.
3. Pray that the Lord would continue to bless us and give us opportunities and touch the lives of everyone around us.
It's been another crazy week. So monday I went to the doctor to find out that I had a sinus infection that was turnin into a respiratory infection so I got hooked up with some meds and i'm doing a lot better now! YAYYYY!
Tuesday, Nick, "Sammy Socha", Sean, Angie, April and I went to the Union Gospel Mission for Women's and Children (basically a women and children's shelter) to find out our jobs for the next two weeks. Turns out we were camp counselors! crazy huh? And here I was thinkin I was gettin away from camp. Good thing I love kids, I guess. Well this camp was a lot bigger than anything that I was use to. 80+ kids and only 5 counselors. UNSAFE much??? I personally thought so. that day we took the kids to a local park and played on the playscape and in the wading pool and a few of the boys went to shoot hoops. The staff was very thankful to have another 6 sets of hands to help them. I really enjoyed the day. it was beautiful outside with a high of 76 or so and clear skys....infact it hasn't rained yet!!! Tuesday was exhausting but a ton of fun too! Wednesday, we all spent the day at the shelter and had Kids Church and they learned the theme song for the summer (Ask me to sing it for you!!) and we sang The Stand and In My Father's House and got a chance to share the gospel with some of the kids. Sean and I work in the Kindergarden room so for me that has been a bit of a challenge because I am use to working with slightly older kids. Thursday was actually the work day for us because they were closed on Friday for the 4th. On Thursday we took them to a Roller skating rink. Very very funny! Sam, April and I didn't rollerskate for various reasons but the guys and Angie did. Most of the kids did really well but there were these two boys oh jeez... poor souls. hahah they coudn't stand for the life of them! The day ended on a kind of upsetting but powerful note. On the bus ride home one of the girls got a bad nose bleed. Well turns out none of the counselors are CPR or First-Aid certified...Praise the Lord I just renewed mine. So i'm helping this poor girl in the very last row of the school bus and it's bumpy and the kids are pointing and laughing, she's scared, and there is blood everywhere. So i finally get enough pressure on here nose and the blood stops and she needs to spit and so i have her wipe the blood from her lips and she ends up spitting out lots of blood too. and so i keep all of that up with gauze and Quick Cleans and Alcohol pads and i'm furious at this point because none of the actual paid counselors are paying attention they're talking about drinking and whatnot and carrying on not even noticing the girl i was helping. When we got back no questions where asked about how she was doing or anything.
That really upset me. So I started to pray that instead of the Lord removing these people from this camp, instead that he would fill them with love, wisdom and compassion to guide these children. It's been a different experience that's for sure. These kids are very blunt with their questions, especially about money and relationships, which makes since due to their backgrounds. Lots of the kids at camp come from broken homes with a low economical statuses. Anyway, it's been a great experience and I can't wait to go back next week.
On Friday, our first day to really enjoy the city, a few of us went to the famous fish market, Pikes Place Market and ate lunch and shopped around for most of the day. After that we hopped on the bus and headed to a town about 45 min or so SW of seattle for a party thrown by a CCO and her husband. That was so much fun!! Homecooked meal, catchphrase and then a few of us watched 12 Rounds ( a personal favorite)! GreAt NiGht!!
Saturday was Woman/Men's Time. The girls hung out here at the dorms and talked and had a nice fellowship while the guys went out to do "guy things" Lots of fun! then we went out for Greek Pizza!!
Here's the real scoop though. THe Lord is working here in Seattle. Through every single person on this trip. It's amazing. Absoulutly astounding. All of us have this unique bond that only the Lord can provide and by His grace He has crossed all of our paths for a very short time to do wondrous things. Hearing the testimonies that I have and talking with all of these genuine hearts has been such a blessing and such an answer to all of my prayers. My testimony is really powerful pretty intense and to be able to share it (snot, tears and all) with girls that have gone through a similar circumstance is just WOW. It's a feeling unlike any other. To be surrounded by girls that AREN'T caddy and enthralled by the world and it's offerings is something that I miss dearly from CRU. And the guys, WOHA. These are men that genuinely have a heart after the Lord. They know when to show and share they're vulnerabilities and weaknesses and they also know how to protect and fight like the Warriors of Christ that they truly are. The Sisters in Christ that end up marrying these gentlemen will be very, very lucky no doubt.
I do have a few prayer requests as I leave you tonight,
1. My grandma was hopsitalized last Wed and for irregular heartbeat and temp. SHe's also tiny and can't keep on weight. Just Pray for her health and that the Lord would give my grandpa the strength and energy to keep helping my grandma. Ella Mae and Harold HIbbs are their names.
2. One of the girls, Amy is sick. Like really sick. LIke can't stand for longer than a few minutes without feeling like she's going to pass out or puke or both. So pray for her health. I know she is done being sick and we really miss her presence.
3. Pray that the Lord would continue to bless us and give us opportunities and touch the lives of everyone around us.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
THE WHOLE AMOR OF GOD
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
THIS IS MY PRAYER FOR MYSELF. So basically I woke up this morning with a sore throat. ehh not that bad. Well throughout the day it got progressively worse and i started to feel a bit dizzy and then I got the chilly willies. YIKEs!
THis is actually what's been going on:
As some of you may know, I almost missed my first flight when I left Saturday morning ( I literally had about 3 minutes to spare). Yesterday i spilt a full fruit punch gatorade in my purse...the result: dead iPod. THis morning, my throat. When I got home, my computer wouldn't turn on. So to sum up, Pray. I know that the Devil knows that I have such a hungry soul and heart right now that he is attacking me. I'm surrounded by most Christians than I ever have been who all relate to what I want to do to serve the Kingdom (Social WOrk, those of you who don't listen :P ) ANway, after spending the morning learning about the prisons we are going to visit and getting some training on behavior we all split up and went in small groups to. My particular group went to a branch of the Pierce COunty CCO offices.-- DOn't know what CCO stands for? Community Corrections Officer. DOn't know what that means? THey are the lovely, underpaid Parole Officers!...It's okay, i didn't know any of that until about noon today. SO Megan and I (megan is one of the Campus Crusade Staff Interns) and I met up with a Lady named Julie who was a Sex Offender CCO. SHe was SOOO funny!! maybe later I'll type out a story she told us! SHe went over a few of her different cases with us (she has a total of 41!) and a "typical" day for her. I say that because they told us that NO day is ever typical...ha! story of my life! So we hung out with her for about 2 hours or so. Other people went to do ride-alongs and a few had a lecture over sex offenders. When we were all back, we went out to dinner at a "Mexican" food restaurant. That's all i'm saying about that. NOw we're back home and soon we will head down to form our mission small groups.
Can I tell you something? All of this is filling me with more determination than I have received in a long lONg time!
God's Blessings to All.
Also, can you say a prayer for my momma--she is having to start taking insulin tomorrow and it's tearing her apart a bit.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
THIS IS MY PRAYER FOR MYSELF. So basically I woke up this morning with a sore throat. ehh not that bad. Well throughout the day it got progressively worse and i started to feel a bit dizzy and then I got the chilly willies. YIKEs!
THis is actually what's been going on:
As some of you may know, I almost missed my first flight when I left Saturday morning ( I literally had about 3 minutes to spare). Yesterday i spilt a full fruit punch gatorade in my purse...the result: dead iPod. THis morning, my throat. When I got home, my computer wouldn't turn on. So to sum up, Pray. I know that the Devil knows that I have such a hungry soul and heart right now that he is attacking me. I'm surrounded by most Christians than I ever have been who all relate to what I want to do to serve the Kingdom (Social WOrk, those of you who don't listen :P ) ANway, after spending the morning learning about the prisons we are going to visit and getting some training on behavior we all split up and went in small groups to. My particular group went to a branch of the Pierce COunty CCO offices.-- DOn't know what CCO stands for? Community Corrections Officer. DOn't know what that means? THey are the lovely, underpaid Parole Officers!...It's okay, i didn't know any of that until about noon today. SO Megan and I (megan is one of the Campus Crusade Staff Interns) and I met up with a Lady named Julie who was a Sex Offender CCO. SHe was SOOO funny!! maybe later I'll type out a story she told us! SHe went over a few of her different cases with us (she has a total of 41!) and a "typical" day for her. I say that because they told us that NO day is ever typical...ha! story of my life! So we hung out with her for about 2 hours or so. Other people went to do ride-alongs and a few had a lecture over sex offenders. When we were all back, we went out to dinner at a "Mexican" food restaurant. That's all i'm saying about that. NOw we're back home and soon we will head down to form our mission small groups.
Can I tell you something? All of this is filling me with more determination than I have received in a long lONg time!
God's Blessings to All.
Also, can you say a prayer for my momma--she is having to start taking insulin tomorrow and it's tearing her apart a bit.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day!
Howdy!
SO right now a group of us are downstairs singin around a piano. It's awesome. I started tearing up a bit actually because it was such a beautiful sight to see. If you don't know what it's like to be surrounded by peers that are singing from their souls about something that means (litterally) more than life to them...well it's an awesome feeling; I wouldn't do it justice to try and explain it. so i won't =) i'll just say i hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.
ANyway let me give you an update on what my first 24 hours have been like.
I'm rooming with a LaShandra (My friend, Sam says when you say her name you gotta say it with flava). LaShandra reigns from Atlanta, GA. She's what some might call a "soul sista." Basically, she's awesome! super sweet and a little shy. SHe got in about 11:30PM last night, so we talked for a bit and then drifted off to sleep.
So this morning I woke up. Good start to the day, huh? I thought so to! It was already light out, and i thought it must have been at LEAST 8 or so...right? No. 4:55AM, actually. Apparently Mr. Sun wakes up early over here. haha so I went back to sleep for a while. we had to be ready to leave at 9:59AM for Seattle International Church, a predominately black church in West Seattle. Man, let me tell you it was neat! Can I say that I thought that my pastor, Matt was treated with respect (and he is, don't get me wrong), but not like this. Rev. Dr. Bishop Hampton (try saying that 5 times fast!) was given more respect by not only his congregation but also is family than i have ever seen. His wife, Julia, was the church "Mother" which, we learned, is a norm in black churches. So after some great worship, it was time to appreciate the father's! EVery father, EVery weather they belonged to the church or not, received a gift. then we listened and studied the Word. The moral of what we learned was the the Lord overflows our hearts. That to have true faith, you must have true belief.
After that we went to our underground tour. I also got my first Seattle cup of Starbucks! yay!...but i also spilt a whole bottle of fruit punch gatorade in my purse and killed my ipod. that was sad. After the tour (which was really cool! check back for pics!) we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant .
Then came the really fun part! we went to Kelly Park where you can see the whole Seattle Skyline and waterfront. It was at this tine that Drew, Chris and I decided to roll down a huge, rather steep hill...covered in hay. I love rolling down hills.this is why: when I roll down a hill, i feel like a kid, when I feel like a kid, I feel innocent, that innocence reminds me about how I strive to be the innocent daughter that has been made in His image.
then we came home and went over tommorows plan and a bit about what we will be focusing on during our time.
You know what's awesome?? I'm starting to see just how the Lord has prepared my heart for this trip. I'll explain that more in future posts, but let's just say that the struggles that I have gone through in the past few months the reasons for them are starting to unravel.
I also want to take the time to introduce the rest of my team since I will be speaking about them a lot, i figure it might do y'all some good to know a bit about them. I'll try to do that tomorrow, but now I'm going to get ready for bed since it's 1AM and I have to be ready to leave for Prison Mug Shots at 7:14AM...i'm starting to think Uncle Tom (our project director) has a very similar since of humor.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Phoenix
I'm in Phoenix.
I see some mountains.
I didn't get a window seat from Austin to Phoenix; I love window seats. My last plane trip I had a window seat; I flew across the Atlantic and high above the Sahara Desert--it was very long but much more exciting than West Texas and New Mexico.
My computer still thinks I'm in Austin, silly Brooko (that's my computers' name--named after Brook Ellsworth, if you were wondering).
I'm really excited to be in Seattle. I hope i don't freeze. I miss Texas, it's warm there.
I'm excited to meet my new friends face-to-face and not through Facebook.
I'm wAY excited to see how God shows up when i'm there!
I'm going to finish my breakfast now: a blueberry muffin and a Naked Mighty Mango smoothie.
God's Blessings to you all =)
I see some mountains.
I didn't get a window seat from Austin to Phoenix; I love window seats. My last plane trip I had a window seat; I flew across the Atlantic and high above the Sahara Desert--it was very long but much more exciting than West Texas and New Mexico.
My computer still thinks I'm in Austin, silly Brooko (that's my computers' name--named after Brook Ellsworth, if you were wondering).
I'm really excited to be in Seattle. I hope i don't freeze. I miss Texas, it's warm there.
I'm excited to meet my new friends face-to-face and not through Facebook.
I'm wAY excited to see how God shows up when i'm there!
I'm going to finish my breakfast now: a blueberry muffin and a Naked Mighty Mango smoothie.
God's Blessings to you all =)
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