I get frustrated listening to people gripe about their weight.
I get frustrated listening to people talk about their health problems.
I say to myself, "Do something about it...."
I have never been loved by the opposite sex, I judge woman who find it easily.
I hide my pain.
I'm not doing what I am supposed in life because I am afraid of failing.
It scares me that I do not long for a relationship with my parents.
Sometimes I don't feel like getting out of bed.
I cuss.
I question God.
I trust too easily.
I dance in my closet-it helps me pick out clothes.
I don't like when parents talk bad about their kids.
I agree with people sometimes just to make them stop talking.
I giggle when I see or even hear about someone falling.
I pray while people are talking to me.
I want to be better.
OH.....and I'm a Christian.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
warning: what u are about to read is a little bumpy
The definition for Passport in the dictionary is: A certificate intended to secure admission.
Everyone has a different reason for needing a Passport mine was in 2007, I won a sales trip to The Bahamas....yep I sold enough to get a free trip.
I don't know about you but getting your passport in the mail can feel kind of official. I think I even looked around at the mail box before opening it. It's a very "grown up" feeling. Ok maybe that's just me.
I digress.
I never really thought about my passport again until one day in church our Pastor was talking about "having your passport ready" It's such a open statement....did he mean CAN I FIND IT?
I think I know where it is.
Did he mean, "Are you willing to use it?"
See, you don't need a passport to go to Church but you need one to go to a Church out of the country.
We don't need a passport to play with kids who never get to just "play", but you do need one to play with kids out of the country.
I know what some of you are thinking. There are Churches and Kids in need right here in our backyard...yes you are correct. God doesn't have such a small mind though he sees our backyard as being maybe Costa Rica....maybe Nicoya...in Costa Rica. He calls us to go.
I don't think He wants us to stay comfortable. I don't feel like Jesus wants us uncomfortable either...but He wants us to push ourselves. He wants us to use our passport.
Your passport may be a drivers license that allows you to drive to the needy or your passport may be a name tag that allows YOU into the preschool room at church or your passport may be the curriculum that was given to you to teach 4th and 5th graders.
Point is...we have to listen.
We did.
The Bus driver said it was only going to be 40 mins to Nicoya it seems to always way longer than that. We didn't mind.
The first day was exciting. We leaped off the bus ready to work. It was like Jesus met us at the gate of Walter's church with our assignments in hand. We accepted them immediately.
Painting.
"I've never painted in my whole life...." -Melissa (me)
We were not professionals but we were there to get a job done. I took pride in my work.
Everyone did.
The feeling at the church changed everyday around 2:15pm.
The award for all of our hard work was handed to us the minute the first child walked into the gates.
The music started and the smell of the yummy food would fill the air.
I was nervous the first time I saw one of the Moms. Would she like me? Would she think I thought I was better? We were both single moms just in very different circumstance.
I smiled and said "Hola".....she said it back.
Sometimes I wanted to just sit on the bus....I understood nothing they were saying and felt unworthy (what was I doing here)....until I thought about how Jesus must have felt. How dare I go and sit...when Jesus did this exact thing and has asked us to follow his example.
Jesus knows our gifts...we all had a job to do. Sometimes mine was to just walk around and say Hola and smile....sometimes it was washing hands and sometimes it was pushing myself to do something uncomfortable.
Everyone had a job.
piggy-packs for the kids
soccer
cleaning the dishes
dancing
consoling
cooking
painting
organizing
gluing
playing
running
taking pictures
face painting
grocery shopping
The biggest job that I learned while there in Nicoya is LOVING. Even if we had none of the above if we just loved them and each other...we did exactly what God has asked us to do.
I've had people ask me, "So has this changed you?"
Yes I am changed, but the neat thing is that I was myself there. I loved the only way I knew how to love...everyone did what they knew how to do. None of us went to a "How to go on a mission trip" class.
We were ourselves.
I think that when we are put into a place where no one expects you to be a certain way we are MORE authentic.
MY definition of a Passport:
A certificate intended to secure change.
Doesn't mean we have to come back from a mission trip different....just means we have to allow ourselves to love the way He intends us to.
Love differently.
Surprise someone with a smile.
Say "Hola" more.
Everyone has a different reason for needing a Passport mine was in 2007, I won a sales trip to The Bahamas....yep I sold enough to get a free trip.
I don't know about you but getting your passport in the mail can feel kind of official. I think I even looked around at the mail box before opening it. It's a very "grown up" feeling. Ok maybe that's just me.
I digress.
I never really thought about my passport again until one day in church our Pastor was talking about "having your passport ready" It's such a open statement....did he mean CAN I FIND IT?
I think I know where it is.
Did he mean, "Are you willing to use it?"
See, you don't need a passport to go to Church but you need one to go to a Church out of the country.
We don't need a passport to play with kids who never get to just "play", but you do need one to play with kids out of the country.
I know what some of you are thinking. There are Churches and Kids in need right here in our backyard...yes you are correct. God doesn't have such a small mind though he sees our backyard as being maybe Costa Rica....maybe Nicoya...in Costa Rica. He calls us to go.
I don't think He wants us to stay comfortable. I don't feel like Jesus wants us uncomfortable either...but He wants us to push ourselves. He wants us to use our passport.
Your passport may be a drivers license that allows you to drive to the needy or your passport may be a name tag that allows YOU into the preschool room at church or your passport may be the curriculum that was given to you to teach 4th and 5th graders.
Point is...we have to listen.
We did.
The Bus driver said it was only going to be 40 mins to Nicoya it seems to always way longer than that. We didn't mind.
The first day was exciting. We leaped off the bus ready to work. It was like Jesus met us at the gate of Walter's church with our assignments in hand. We accepted them immediately.
Painting.
"I've never painted in my whole life...." -Melissa (me)
We were not professionals but we were there to get a job done. I took pride in my work.
Everyone did.
The feeling at the church changed everyday around 2:15pm.
The award for all of our hard work was handed to us the minute the first child walked into the gates.
The music started and the smell of the yummy food would fill the air.
I was nervous the first time I saw one of the Moms. Would she like me? Would she think I thought I was better? We were both single moms just in very different circumstance.
I smiled and said "Hola".....she said it back.
Sometimes I wanted to just sit on the bus....I understood nothing they were saying and felt unworthy (what was I doing here)....until I thought about how Jesus must have felt. How dare I go and sit...when Jesus did this exact thing and has asked us to follow his example.
Jesus knows our gifts...we all had a job to do. Sometimes mine was to just walk around and say Hola and smile....sometimes it was washing hands and sometimes it was pushing myself to do something uncomfortable.
Everyone had a job.
piggy-packs for the kids
soccer
cleaning the dishes
dancing
consoling
cooking
painting
organizing
gluing
playing
running
taking pictures
face painting
grocery shopping
The biggest job that I learned while there in Nicoya is LOVING. Even if we had none of the above if we just loved them and each other...we did exactly what God has asked us to do.
I've had people ask me, "So has this changed you?"
Yes I am changed, but the neat thing is that I was myself there. I loved the only way I knew how to love...everyone did what they knew how to do. None of us went to a "How to go on a mission trip" class.
We were ourselves.
I think that when we are put into a place where no one expects you to be a certain way we are MORE authentic.
MY definition of a Passport:
A certificate intended to secure change.
Doesn't mean we have to come back from a mission trip different....just means we have to allow ourselves to love the way He intends us to.
Love differently.
Surprise someone with a smile.
Say "Hola" more.
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