The Spirit of Christmas - Day 4

I'm a little late writing tonight!  I stayed up until 2  last night - can't remember the last time I did that.  TONS of FdL projects to work on this week, so I was trying to get ahead.  (I'll share some of my work soon!)

Before my late-night crafting binge, I went to an ornament swap at my church.  This is a tradition with the ladies that everyone has always talked about fondly.  I hadn't' been before, so I decided that this was the year I'd go - and I brought my Mommy!

My Mom has congestive heart failure, survived a brain tumor, and has several other health complications. So getting her out of the house is an ordeal and a HUGE treat for her!

On the way to pick Mom up, I got to drive through the arches that are up every year in my parents' neighborhood.  

I.

Love.

It.

I drive so slowly down that road at night in December.  It's just so festive and beautiful!  That put me in the perfect spirit for some holiday fun!

At church, we shared finger foods and broke each others' hearts stealing ornaments and decorative items during Dirty Santa.  The sweet ladies in my church family have been praying for Mom for years, so she got lots of sweet attention.  She had a great time!

I left with one of the most coveted gifts!!!

My friend's mother in law made it and another one like it.  I'm SO happy to have this!  It's beautiful, handmade, and simply shares the meaning of the whole holiday season!

I brought two of my towels that are listed in my Etsy shop - I hope their new owner loves them too!

I will be going to the Ornament Swap every year now!  Such fun!

Honduras Story - Lourdes

My husband and I are, by no means, professional speakers.  But, somehow, I have 2 speaking engagements the month of November!
This past weekend, we flew to Houston to speak at Conroe Church of Christ about foreign missions. While we were nervous about speaking in front of so many strangers, we are always thrilled to share our passion for mission work.
God totally took care of us through the amazing folks at that church.  We got the royal treatment - it was really humbling.

One story that came up Sunday morning is one that I want to share with you.  It's about my little friend named Lourdes.

My first trip to Honduras was in 2006.  We went to Tegucigalpa and worked with a clinic there.  Our duties included medical, VBS, construction, and food delivery.
One morning, after a rambunctious VBS experience, we loaded up the bus to head to a school for the blind.  On the way out the door I noticed a piece of pipe cleaner that had been left on the floor after our VBS craft.  I wasn't near a trash can, soI just wrapped the pipe cleaner around my finger.
When we got to the school, I immediately noticed a darling little girl with no eyes.  (I later found out that her mother had been so malnourished during pregnancy that the baby's eyes never developed).  She wandered over to me and grabbed my hand, immediately discovering the soft pipe cleaner on my finger.  She stroked the soft "piece of trash" and kept calling it a ring as she settled down in my lap for a long while.
We didn't understand much of what we said to each other, but we still communicated about the ring and her hair and the breeze - me in English and her in Spanish.
After a while, we went into the main room of the school where Lourdes settled back into my lap while most children sat in chairs at the tables.
They began to sing in the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.  Tears immediately filled my eyes.  Lourdes must have heard me crying.  She reached up and wiped my tears away - over and over.  Of course, I cried more!
Then they asked us to sing.  It was nowhere near as beautiful as their singing.  Lourdes kept reaching up and pulling my mouth to her ear.  And that little girl told me it was beautiful.  I don't know how she heard beauty in my cracking voice, but she did!
Then we had to leave.  It was awful.
First I cried.
Then I sobbed.
I didn't want to leave her.  I wanted to see her again.
Then it hit me.

I WILL SEE HER AGAIN!

We will be together again with Jesus.
She will have eyes to see.
I will have a beautiful voice.
Lourdes got me hooked on foreign missions.  I've been back to Honduras 11 times since and plan to continue as long as God allows.

 


If you'd like to be involved in the mission work in Honduras, please visit www.MissionLazarus.org
We are all called to be missionaries - I promise that you are able!

To see our talk from Sunday click here.

November Thankful Challenge, the 4th

I'm oh-so-grateful for my church family today.  I love those people!
I am specifically talking about my family at Crossbridge.  What an amazing Spirit-filled church where everyone is a dirt bag, but we love each other anyway!
From the first day I attended a service at Crossbridge, it has felt like home.  It is my family - complete with the crazy uncle nobody ever talks about (you know who you are).  There are hurts and struggles within this family and we are always stronger on the other side.  There are so many HUGE struggles that we are walking through together now.  Every time I see the love of the Spirit pour out of a brother or sister there, I am in awe of the God who created us.
What a blessing it is!

Several Crossbridge members at the Race for the Cure
Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Positive Thinking Thursday

I'm seriously going to try this every Thursday.
Today I'm leaving for a ladies' retreat in the mountains with 23 other ladies from church.  It's my first retreat with this group and I'm excited!  Satan, of course, is trying to get in my mind and make me nervous about it.  Why am I nervous?  No logical reason.
But if I had to list the reasons:
1. I'm on Day 8 of my new diet/exercise routine and I'm proud of myself for sticking to it and working hard.  I'm afraid I'm going to get off track and ruin my exercise and eat junk.
2. What if I say something stupid?  I'm pretty sure I'm not as good of a Christian as these other ladies.
3. What if I don't like it?  I'm trapped!

So, here is the positive thinking...
1. I'm excited to be able to face these challenges and defeat them. I'm going to feel so good when I head home on Sunday having eaten well and gotten my exercise in. I'm going to the store to stock up on healthy low-carb food to bring with me.
2. Who doesn't ever say something they wish they could shove back in their mouths?  God knows my heart and he knows I love him. These ladies won't care how silly I am, they will know how much I love God!
3. You get what you give!  I'm going to have a great time because I'm going to have a great time!