Introducing: Team India

Team Indi1. Click here for a larger view of this document featuring team India

It's Christmas Time, Charlie Brown!

YWAM believes in a developing a strong work ethic, and in conjunction with the fact that everything built, made, or running is all on volunteer time (meaning, there is not one paid person on campus), all of us students (and even staff) get to help out with various projects. Saturday I got to spend the day with about 6 incredible ladies to commence decorating the entire campus in Christmas cheer. Our job was to transport about 20 pre-decorated trees to various locations around campus.

This is the trolley we used to transport the trees.

We were the safety keepers of the glass ornaments. Every dropped ornament was a tragedy, and I'm proud to announce that only a handful were sacrificed on this great day.

Jodie was our fearless leader. She did an awesome job over seeing the project, as she has never decorated for Christmas like this since she's not from America. Hats off to Jodie!

Because where's the fun of tree decorating
 without wearing all the beads and bows?

We also received help from those not obligated to participate. Boy, did we appreciate their manly muscles!

Of Course, us girls did pretty well ourselves :)

Setting up trees in the sunshine does have some setbacks... my dear friend regretted the decision not to put sunscreen on.

 Finally finished with the trees!

Sunday night, a few girls came over with a nail polish party. We listened to Christmas music, sipped tea, chatted and giggled while we prettied up our fingers. 

Here's the finished product from Christy's nails and my nails.

Overall, it was such a fun kick-off to the Christmas season :) Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

A Pacific Blue Thanksgiving

Since leaving for college in South Florida when all my family lives in the Northwest, holidays have always been a bit of a random affair. I never really know what to expect, so I have grown accustomed to adjusting to "different" situations in new places; ie, Thanksgiving in Kona, Hawaii.

How was it? Well, it was a bit warm...but there was so much love and GOOD FOOD!

We started the day off with morning worship with the whole campus in the Ohana Court.

Following worship, Danny Lehman shared the story of the first thanksgiving with us. This was a neat experience as our campus is so multicultural that about half of the audience had never celebrated an American Thanksgiving. This could have been the first time they heard the story of Squanto and the Mayflower.

Jaima, Odessa, and Jessa: the 3 lovely ladies on our Outreach team

Ending the service, everyone participated in a prayer/Thanksgiving walk around the campus and the new ground they are developing.

I'm always in awe of the controlled chaos
 with the sheer masses of people on campus

Thanking God for the new developments on campus.

Thanksgiving meal was served in our Community Transformations Classroom/Tent

Marie and I

Unintentionally, several of us married couples (also lovingly known as MCs ;) sat together. It was such a good time. I have really treasured the moments I get to share with each one of them. It's so awesome to see how they are allowing God to do amazing things in their lives through all of our ventures at YWAM.

Bekah, Landon, Marshall, Jen, me, Jonathan

So wonderful to be with family!

I love my momma!

Jonathan and I ended the day with my dad. If you know him very well, you've probably already guessed we went snorkeling :) Sure enough, he took us to a new place called "Shark Cage" where there are some really awesome caves that sharks dwell in. No sign of sharks, but we did see a sea turtle :) I decided that Hawaii isn't too bad at Thanksgiving after all. Anyways, it's who you're with that counts, and if Jonathan's anywhere in the picture, I always know I'll feel lots of love :)

Required DTS Coursework

True story, folks ;)

An overflow of abundance

My dear friend, Christy, took this a few week
ago when we visited the Volcano National Park

There are so many things to be thankful for. Thankfulness is such an important part of my daily walk with Jesus. There is actually power in an attitude of thanksgiving. It becomes us as we lift our eyes out of the darkness of self-pity and onto the blessings God has sprinkled all over our lives. Ephesians 5:15 says

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

We can make the most of every opportunity by enjoying every moment in life and relishing in all the little blessings God sends our way. This was a beautiful lesson I learned reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voscamp. This morning I was so blessed to be able to walk to my parents house with my studly husband. The sky was slightly overcast so the small journey was delightfully cool. When we arrived we made blueberry and banana (handpicked from my parents tree) pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon.  While breakfast was served we ate outside on the lanai and made plans for snorkeling adventures later in the day. What an absolutely abundant morning! But not everyday is like this, of course. Saturdays are such a welcome reprieve from the hectic weekdays, BUT EVEN SO I still can be thankful for a healthy body the Lord has given me to keep up with the vigorous schedule.

I can thank Him that at
7:30am-- I was able to help clean up our own classroom after the 1st 5 weeks were spend in the Ohana Court

8:00am--I basked in the transcendent glory of our Risen Lord in worship and communion for an hour

9:00-12:00pm- David Gava lead our class in our first preaching experiences on the parables Christ told concerning the Kingdom of God...so rich and everything I need for life. Righteousness, Peace, Joy, and the Holy Spirit; this is what makes up the Kingdom of God.

12:00pm--I partook of the delicious and healthy lunch our talented cafeteria crew put on

1:00-3:00pm--More glorious worship to the One who deserves it all and then interceded on behalf of Cambodia's salvation and revival.

3:00-5:00pm--I got to serve this amazing campus by cleaning some really dirty flagpoles and setting them up in preparation for the big Christmas Celebration in a few weeks

5:30pm-- I got MORE food for dinner. Most folks in the world barely get one meal a day!


6:00-8:30pm-- I was educated in a most entertaining manner involving skits, songs, and homemade movies on the 18 Foundational Values of YWAM < You should check this link out to see how YWAM rolls. I'm so blessed to be a part of this God honoring organization!

8:45-9:45-- Find myself in encouraging conversation with another couple living their life, which lead to some amazing revelations of how I can live my life in even more freedom that Christ gives me!

10:45--I kissed my sweet husband goodnight with a happy heart from a full week of full days

The last part of the passage in Eph. 5 from verse 18-20 says,
^18b Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This thankfulness gives us joy which gives us a light heart. Conversely, complaining gives us despair resulting in a heavy heart.

Which do you choose? Joy or Despair? You'll never regret thankfulness, I promise :)

Much love to you all!  

Heart Surgery

So how do I sum up 2 of the most heart changing and life altering weeks of my life? Words really won't do it justice, but I hope the life I continue to live will support everything God has been doing in Jonathan and my lives personally and together while we've been here.

The Bible verse that we had read at our wedding was from Colossians 3.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We didn't know at the time, but since we've been here, God has been molding our lives to reflect exactly what is in this passage. I just realized that this week when our speaker, Eric Swanson-Dexel, had us open up to this passage together to discuss relationships within community. Then it hit me.

God revealed to us the first week how dearly loved we are as His children.

Since then, we can open our hearts to Him and freely to allow Him to mold us into people that are full of "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

Forgiveness is such a defining part of who we are in Christ. Jesus died so our sins could be forgiven. We are people marked by forgiveness SO THAT we too can forgive others. What incredible freedom we find when at last we can forgive and seek forgiveness. I've had to make some difficult phone calls in the past couple weeks, because I realized that either I needed to seek forgiveness, or I needed to give it. Jesus is so faithful, and I can joyfully tell you today, that those relationships have been RESTORED because of the forgiveness Jesus offers. Wow!

Love. Love I've been learning is absolutely NOT a feeling. We feel good, we feel bad, we feel jittery, excited, or anxious, BUT we DO LOVE. I can say with all honesty that I love the dirty, scruffy, bedraggled man sitting on the corner of the drugstore with a sign for $$, so I tell him how he too can find true freedom from the bondage to drugs and alcohol BECAUSE of the LOVE Jesus gives. I have begun to ask the Holy Spirit to give me His heart about all these kinds of people so I can GET OVER MYSELF and learn to love those who need it the most.

It is the enemy's WORST NIGHTMARE for me to truly realize the person God designed me to be. As soon as I claim the purpose for which I was made, I step into my Father's amazing realm of light and love and immediately am propelled to share it with others BECAUSE of the JOY that I experience. I am a daughter of the King, and can have all power and authority in Jesus name, because of the blood that was shed and His resurrection power now flows through me. This is God's desire for you as well.

All this gives me such a beautiful peace. Peace in spite of the uncertainty of the times. Peace in spite of no paid job. Peace in spite of no for sure plans after our DTS. Peace that passes all understanding. I am nothing without the guiding hand of my Father and I would have absolutely nothing, and even my best attempts to become something and have everything would be meaningless without the knowledge of His guidance in my life. I have given it all away, because I can not keep it; in the process gaining everything that I cannot lose.

Lastly, my personal relationship with Jesus has become so rich and colorful. He whispers in my ear the meaning of what I'm reading in His word. He shows me which way I should go. He gives me the strength for the next temptation I'm going to face. I know that my hand is firmly held by his warm strong hand anytime I begin to stumble. He nudges me forward when I'm supposed to bold. He gives me confidence when I'm to let others take the lead. My walk with Jesus has transformed the way I look at every situation in my life. I know that I can sing a made up song of love and gratitude to Him and that He laughs full of delight when he hears me. I can utter I love you in a crowd and He catches those words up like candy rain. He brings new friends into my life to encourage me and build me up. He sends a good friend across my path when my eyes are brimming with tears and I really need a hug. Jesus loves me just like that. None of my life goes unnoticed, nor does yours. He is just waiting for you to grab His beautiful strong hand and ask for His help.