officially funded.

Amazing news!! Through much prayer, guidance and financial support from my friends and family…I am excited to say that I’m FULLY FUNDED. The costs needed to support my living and ministry expenses have finally been raised. Tonight through the faithful support of amazing family in Christ, I was blown away to recieve an email that said, “Consider yourself fully funded.” Whoohoo! For some reason, trusting God with finances has been the hardest thing yet. What really astounds me, is God’s continual faithfulness and my inherent faithlessness. No area of my life that seems hard to surrender to God, challenges or weakens Him. I have this quote written in my Bible and I love it,

“In the perplexities – when we cannot tell what to do, when we cannot understand what is going on around us – let us be calmed and steadied and made patient by the thought that what is hidden from us is not hidden from God.”

There is no safer place to be, than in hands that have the ability to accomplish anything. Its true that I felt like a nut-case telling others last year that I knew God called me to Panama and that He would provide the funds for me to go. Now here I am and here I will stay. I feel like bursting out in song singing, "Great is thy faithfulness."

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of my faithful warriors in prayer, and generous givers of the finances God has entrusted to them. I have loved from the bottom of my heart, being the hands and feet that make this ministry work. I am being shaped by through the opportunities here in Panama. Students are being changed, with their minds opened to hear what this life is all about. Most importantly, our God is being glorified. He deserves all the honor and praise forever and ever. “Dios ha sido bueno.” (God has been good.)

a vision of timeless existence.

There are things in the world that die. Like the plants I abandoned on my vacation (though I’m trying to resurrect them!) or “Mickey” my childhood pet. Parents split up and children move out. Everyday I grow older (5 months till my 22nd b-day) and thus near closer to death! Catch my drift? Change is a given. And this has been on my heart for the last couple of weeks.

While on vacation in seemingly paradise, I received a call from my sister and mom from Canada. I was in Bocas Del Toro wishing I was in Canada. Then entering on the highway going home, things felt odd. The new “family” Laura and I acquired during our stay and amazing moments flashed through my mind. I was driving into Panama wishing I was still in Bocas. Now I sit here in my apartment, knowing that in a few short months I’ll be in Canada wishing I was back in Panama. Change can be really difficult. Difficulties are inevitable.

This world is full of stuff that I just don’t like: heartbreaks, funerals, airport goodbyes, insecurities and unknowns. Yesterday after I sat down exhausted from work (next week is frosh week on campus!) and all I longed to do was seek God. I felt sadness in my heart about the future and a deep burden for Laura and some fears/spiritual darkness she’d been experiencing. So last night, Laura and I went to Casa de Oración (my church) ready to hear from God. During the service Laura and I started praying simultaneously for each other, praying through pains foreseen in saying goodbye again in 5 months (early, I know) and all that was on our hearts. Though amidst my worried prayers, God silenced me with a breath of heaven.

I saw a girl…full of joy and freedom…playing in a green field-like area. It looked like bliss, pure delight, everything radiated…it was beautiful. Tears flooded as the picture zoomed out, exposing a path through the beauty that surrounded ME! God showed me just a glimpse of how He sees things. My body is physically home on this earth but my spirit lives in that place with God, eternally. And as the vision expanded, so my tears continued to burst, revealing Laura by my side in that place with God. And as we continued on the path, so we grew and the journey still continues. This whole Blog entry might be a little heavy for some of you, but this moment yesterday really has made a mark on my life. How come? Well, first of all…I’d never had such a vivid vision from God, and second my viewpoint has expanded GI-normously! In Laura’s words, this life is a “road-trip.” I’m wearing eternal glasses now, cause everything in this world isn’t really it. Things change. I’m not physically where my spirit lives, cause that place is eternal. And my God is unchanging.

“My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.” Psalm 39:5-6

vacation: bocas del toro.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2008!

I trust you guys had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, wherever you find yourself reading this blog. What an amazing time to restart/recharge your “Batteries” so to speak. I find myself full of ideas and thoughts about what this year will bring. I am refreshed and renewed after spending 2 weeks on vacation with my best friend Laura. We headed out New Years Day on a 10 hr. bus ride through the night. God blessed us with an awesome time, learned ALOT about myself and all sorts of people and animals! Here are some pics of the highlights!

Something I really miss about living in Panama City, and from summers at home is biking. With so much traffic on the roads and very little space for a sidewalk, its just not ideal here. But in Bocas we rented bikes right away, and it felt great to have that freedom to explore the Island.

One of the first days we took a boat tour to 3 different areas of the pearl islands… Two boys greeted us as we arrived on the famous “Red Frog Beach”, both holding their local treasure. There were really large waves, so Laura and I spent most of our time out of the water. Our guide warned us about the strong current and still someone was swept away quickly (leaving the whole beach in panic) but then rescued, thank God.

It is hard to say what was my “favorite” part of the trip. But...I LOVE SURFING. So much, I’m going to start researching how to keep on practicing in Canada…Great Lakes anyone? Two reasons: 1. Riding a wave is unbelievable fun and exhilaration. 2. It works every muscle in your body (including the ones you don’t know about).

What really struck me through my time spent there was the intricacy of God’s creation, a world that I hadn’t really experienced before, underwater. With Corals of all shapes and sizes, fish of all colors and vibrancies…what a wonderful maker.

Bocas is full of tourists, and we met people from all over the world. Including these guys from Louisiana (where Laura lived for a year) and went on a hike to this cave called “La Gruta”. I felt like I was in an India Jones movie, trekking in the dark through cold cave water, knowing the place was filled with bats by the thousands…very cool experience.

One of our last days there, we hiked to "Playa Estrella" where Starfish just flooded the shore. This was my first time holding one, and I will never forget it. Such treasures.

Here is our first upclose sighting of dolphins, my first experience with dolphins in the wild. I fell in love...they are such joyful, beautiful, peaceful animals. ENJOY!!

"The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours—you created it all." Psalm 89:11