Learning to Shift

A little over a month ago, one of my dearest friends/mentees moved to Denver, Colorado. I've known Rachel since she was a freshman at TCU and we've been close for the past 6 years. Needless to say, when she decided it was time for an adventure and she was moving to Denver, I was excited for her and sad for me. When her mom came in town to help her move, she unexpectedly offered to buy me a plane ticket home from Denver if I wanted to ride up with Rachel a couple of weeks later when she came back to Ft. Worth to get her car. Not being one to turn down a free trip, I said yes!

I absolutely LOVE a good road trip. I love picking out snacks for the car. I love thinking about the perfect thing for the passengers to listen to in the car. I even love taking my turn driving. (Sometimes I've been known to volunteer for the late-night shift when I know everyone else will probably fall asleep. There's something great about driving in the dark and listening to chill music.) But the problem with this road trip is that Rachel drives a stick and I've never learned how. Taking my turn at the wheel was not going to be an option, but Rachel didn't mind doing the whole 12-13 hours herself. She just wanted company.

But then our plans changed a little and we had a great idea. We were initially going to leave on Monday morning, but decided to leave on Tuesday instead. That ended up giving us an hour or so on Monday night for a driving lesson! We went to a nearby parking lot and Rachel taught me how to drive her car. The people I know who drive stick are always talking about how much they love it. How it gives them more control as they're driving, etc. I pretty much think it just gives me too much to do. Too many things I have to think about while I'm trying to sing along to my music. But I'm sure if I had more time to get used to it, I wouldn't have to think about it as much.

Anyway, I had already learned some of the theory behind it, so when we started driving in the parking lot, I kind of understood theoretically what to do. But when I was actually behind the wheel, using both my feet to drive, it was...weird. As we practiced, I never stalled out and Rachel said I did a great job. She even had me drive on a couple roads so I could deal with stop signs and traffic lights and everything. But I was definitely confronted with a little bit of my own perfectionism. Every awkward jerk as I shifted was so annoying to me. I wanted to be able to immediately transition smoothly between gears. I had to realize that that would only come with lots of practice, which we just didn't have time for.

The next day, we rolled out of my driveway a little before 5:30 am, and Rachel drove to Amarillo, where we stopped for lunch, and then for another hour or so until we got into less heavily populated areas. And then - we switched. I only drove for less than two hours, I think. But it was helpful to Rachel, because once we got going, she was able to nap a little bit. And I got pretty good at shifting between 4th and 5th gears in some construction zones. I drove us from New Mexico into Colorado and when we stopped for gas, Rachel took the wheel again for the rest of the way to Denver.

It was lots of fun, and a little stressful. I would definitely need more practice before I would ever try to drive anyone's car alone, but I at least feel confident enough to help in a situation like this. And I learned something I've always wanted to learn! Hooray!

Learning About Worship

Maybe I'm a little too critical, but I kind of have a lot of opinions on worship songs. A friend of mine actually wrote a blog post this week on how he chooses what songs to lead during a worship service that states a lot of my own views way better than I could. This same friend is also an incredibly gifted writer of worship songs. (I'm actually blessed to know at least 3 people that write some of the best worship songs I've ever heard, but it's possible that I'm a little biased.) One song Casey wrote that we get to sing a lot at my church that I just can't stop listening to these days is called "The Privilege of Knowing the King" and I thought I'd write a little about why I love it so much. (If you want to hear it for yourself, you can listen to a live version of it here.)

Oh, how great is the privilege of

Those found with only His righteousness

He is enough for them, and they are content

He is all they will ever need

His blood washed over their depravity

Now they're clean

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

That's verse one. This song is already packed with theological goodness! I think right away part of the reason I love this song so much is that this privilege is something that is so easy to forget. The fact that we even get to KNOW the King of the universe is unbelievable and we take it for granted, but then the song unpacks even more about our privileges that we forget as well. To be found with nothing but His righteousness is more than we could ever ask for. This is a righteousness we could never earn in a billion lifetimes, but He's given His to us and that should be enough for us. His blood cleanses our depravity.

Oh, how sweet His forgiveness for

Those bound and broken because of sin

His grace is enough for them, where freedom begins

He is all they will ever need

His love bought pardon for the weak

And set them free

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

Verse two. Not only do we have His righteousness, but we've been given forgiveness. On the days when we don't feel like we've been screwing things up too badly, we take this for granted. But when we remember what we truly are without Christ - that we are bound and broken because of sin, yet He has, in love, bought our pardon and set us free - then His forgiveness truly is sweet and we remember that He is all we will ever need.

Great is the privilege of knowing the One

Who forever will reign by His goodness and love (3x)

He was broken and bruised for me and for you

Jesus!

This is the bridge and it gets me every time. One of my worship song pet peeves is when we repeat something that isn't the most important theological point of the song, but this one definitely is. We have to constantly remind our hearts of who Jesus is and what He's done for us. He is the King who will reign forever in goodness and love, and despite our totally not deserving it, He chose to be broken and bruised for us and we get to be with Him forever. That idea is absolutely worth repeating.

Oh, how firm through the ages are

Those crowned with life by the Father's hands

His Word is enough for them to endure til the end

He is all we will ever need

His life, our only hope and plea

Eternally

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

The final verse. I love the reminder that this privilege isn't just ours now, but it is ours for eternity. If we know this King, if we place our only hope and plea in His life, His Word will help us endure til the end and we will be with Him eternally. What?! It truly is a privilege to know Him, and I hate that I take it for granted often, but I love that this song helps me remember not to.

What I've Read So Far

In my last post, I talked about my summer goals. One of my main ones was to read 5 classics, and another was to finally finish reading John Adams. That's a lot of reading, so I've been working hard and I've already got three books crossed off my list!

First up was Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I've been wanting to read some Verne for awhile and I'd heard this was a great one to start with. I loved it! If you're wanting to read a classic, but are intimidated by classics, this is a good place to go. It's a fun adventure story with mishaps and misunderstandings and twists and turns and a race to a deadline. The two main characters are delightful. I was genuinely excited to see what would happen.

Next I decided to go for an American book and read Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. This one was honestly a little disappointing. I had seen it on a lot of lists of the best books ever and read some things about how it changed the genre of historical fiction, and these are some of the reasons I picked it. I also liked the idea of the time period - America right before WWI starts. One thing I didn't realize until I started reading it was that it was written in the 1970s and there really isn't much I like about that decade, including literature it seems. I never really connected with any of the characters and it was just a really different story from what I expected. The historical part of the historical fiction was neat though. Houdini, Ford, and other famous figures were also characters in the novel and that was interesting, but not interesting enough to save the book for me. I wouldn't recommend it.

After that I decided to completely switch time periods and genres and decided it was time to read The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I haven't read a lot of Arthurian legend before and this one was really fun. The first part is what the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone is based on. Whereas older epics like Morte D'Arthur describe a lot of what happened in the life of Arthur, this story delves into why things happened and how all the characters felt about it. It was written during and after WWII in England, and the narrator uses much of Arthur's struggles to comment on the nature of war and civilization in our own time. So despite it being the classic tale of Arthur, Merlyn, Lancelot, Guenever, and other knights that many of us already know, there was also a lot of new and interesting detail in it that I really enjoyed.

So now I'm taking a short break from the classics to read more of John Adams. I have about 350 pages left of that, so I'm going to read at least 100 pages and then read another classic. I'm also going to be watching some classic movies soon, so I'll post about those here too!

What I'll Do This Summer

A number of years ago, my friend Jen and I decided to make a list of summer goals. It didn't start out as anything too intense. If I remember correctly, 2 of the goals were to watch the Back to the Future trilogy all in a row and to watch Sister Act 1 and 2. But we also included goals about books to read and new things to try - ways to keep our summer from being too lazy with no direction. Some of our other friends joined us and this has been one of our most fun traditions. Right around the time that my college students are finishing classes, Jen is finishing her grad school classes, and our teacher friends are getting out for the summer, we all start posting our summer goals. I always get so excited to see what my friends are committing to for the summer and what fun things they have planned that I can join them in! Jen has already posted her list on her blog, so I thought I'd post mine here and I'll write occasional updates over the summer on how things are going. Here we go!

1. Go swing dancing with Allison at least once, preferably more often - There was a period of my life where I went swing dancing 3 times a week, and I definitely miss it! Allison has been going consistently and I want to join her. I'm looking forward to getting a group of friends together because it's always more fun with a lot of people.

2. Eat only mexican food for a week - So you know how you love a food so much that you say you could eat it every day? We were talking about it in Belize and I decided I should test it. I don't eat breakfast, so I actually think this'll be really easy. And delicious!

3. Scat Jazz Lounge Black Dog night at least once - Long ago there was a place called the Black Dog and they had a free jazz jam every Sunday night. It was glorious. I recently learned that Scat has started hosting it again and I have GOT to go. Who's in? Great music, great friends, maybe we can use the swing dancing from goal #1!

4. Read at least 5 classics I've never read before - I always want to make sure I'm well-read, and I feel like I've been focusing too much on contemporary lit lately, so it's time for some classics. I spent a long time coming up with my 5  - Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, and The Once and Future King by T.H. White. If I finish these, I have a backup list ready to go.

5. Hang out with Elle, Alyssa, and Bailey - Every time we see each other at parties we talk about how we want to hang out and then it never happens. Well ladies, now it's on the list, so it's happening. Get excited!

6. Finish reading John Adams by David McCullough - Years ago I decided I wanted to read a bio on every president to learn more American history and study for Jeopardy. I read one on Washington and stalled out. Last year I got about halfway through this and then got distracted by other things. I've got to get past president #2.

7. Make salsa - I freaking love salsa and I want to make my own. It'll be fun to try different recipes and find a good one.

8. Blog once a week - In January, Jen talked me into starting this blog. I've written on here 8 times. I figure if I blog at least once a week over the summer, I'll get in the habit and be better about it in the future.

9. Watch 5 classic movies I've never seen - I haven't chosen these yet. I'll look at lists of Best Picture winners and best movies of all times and find some that I've been meaning to watch but just haven't made it to yet. I love old movies!

10. Have 6 friends pick favorite movies I've never seen and watch them - I did this a few years ago and it was really fun! I've asked Jane, Kate, Callie, Josh, Will, and Kevin to pick movies. It's kind of a hard process because I've seen a lot of movies that people suggest at first, but it's fun to find ones I haven't seen! I'll update later when they've all picked movies for me.

11. Update pictures in frames in my room - I have a lot of pictures from the last few years I've been meaning to print and a lot of frames to put them in. I want to finally do that this summer.

12. Memorize the presidents in order - This was a goal last summer and I don't think I even worked on it a little. It's something I think I need to know if I want to be on Jeopardy someday, so I want to work on it.

13. Eat at 5 Ft. Worth restaurants I've never tried before - I love FW and one of my favorite things about it is all the unique restaurants we have. There are lots I've never been to, so I want to try some new ones.

14. Visit music class with Caitlin, Stacey, and Chavon - I won't be babysitting this summer, so I can finally go! I've heard some great stories about this class and I can't wait to see their little boys interacting with each other!

Do you have summer goals? What are they?

What I Read Today: Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

The title of this post today is quite literally true. I read this book in less than 24 hours, finishing it soon after I woke up this morning. It's the kind of book I just didn't get tired while reading, which is why I was awake until a little past 4 am. Oops!
Rob Sheffield is a music critic and pop culture writer for Rolling Stone, MTV, etc, and he's also written two memoirs. I read his first one when it came out in 2007, and I believe that was a one-day read as well. There's something about this guy's writing that I just can't stop reading. His first book, Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, was about the brief years he spent with his wife before she died unexpectedly, and he tells their story through the lens of the music they shared. It was amazing.

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran came out last year, and was just as good, if not a little better. Each chapter is named after a song and the year that song came out, all during the 80s, and he talks about growing up through discussing pop music. I love 80s music, but there were a decent number of the songs that I'd never even heard of before, yet that didn't hinder my connection with his story. It's not so much about the specific song or artist he discusses as it is about how, as idiot kids, we think pop music is teaching us everything we need to know about life and love and who we are. When he was writing about being a teenager, I felt like a teenager. Even though my songs would've been more in the 90s, it didn't matter. I understood what he was talking about. It reminded me how much I love music, though I don't know if I'll ever love it quite as much as Rob does. One of my favorite things about him is that he makes no apologies for the types of music he likes - pop, indie, goth, new wave, punk, metal, whatever. He likes some of all of it and he doesn't care what you think. I firmly believe there should be no such thing as a "guilty pleasure"; if you like something, like it and don't be ashamed! Sheffield quotes Oscar Wilde as saying, "No civilized man ever regrets a pleasure, and no uncivilized man knows what a pleasure is." When it comes to music, I agree.

So, if you're looking for something to read soon, I highly recommend checking out either of these books!

Learning about Easter Week

It's almost Easter, y'all! As I'm often heard to say when things like St. Patrick's Day or Valentine's Day come around, I'm not a fan of fake holidays. But I am a huge fan of holidays that actually mark something truly significant, and if that doesn't describe Easter, I don't know what does! I love to celebrate the day when our Savior rose from the dead, conquering sin and death forever! Christmas gets a lot of press, and deserves it, but Easter just might be my fave.

Anyway, I was preparing this week's email bible study for some of my college girls who are studying abroad this semester, and I wanted to include some stuff they could read and meditate on this week to focus on the road to the cross and resurrection. I came across this schedule of Scripture readings for each day this week that shows what Jesus and the disciples were doing as He approached the cross. I also found this great prayer in a book called Valley of Vision (if you don't have it, I highly recommend it!) that talks about what Christ endured at Calvary for us. I wanted to post them both here in case they might bless anyone else this week and help us all prepare our hearts to celebrate next Sunday!

Passion Week Readings

Sunday: Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem – Matthew 21.1-11, Mark 11.1-10, Luke 19.28-44, John 12.12-18

               Some Greeks see Jesus – John 12.20-36

               Jesus returns to Bethany – Matthew 21.17

Monday: Jesus curses the fig tree – Matthew 21.18-19, Mark 11.12-14

                 Jesus clears the Temple – Matthew 21.12-13, Mark 11.15-17, Luke 19.45-46

                 Jesus returns to Bethany – Mark 11.19

Tuesday: Disciples see the withered fig tree on the return to Jerusalem – Matthew 21.20-22, Mark 11.20-21

                Temple controversies in Jerusalem – Matthew 21.23-23.39, Mark 11.27-12.44, Luke 20.1-21.4

                Olivet Discourse on the return to Bethany – Matthew 24.1-25.46, Mark 13.1-37, Luke 21.5-36

Wednesday: Jesus continues teaching – Luke 21.37-38

                      Sanhedrin plots to kill Jesus – Matthew 26.3-5, Mark 14.1-2, Luke 22.1-2

Wednesday/Thursday: Preparations for the Passover – Matthew 26.17-19, Mark 14.12-16, Luke 22.7-13

Thursday: Passover meal/Last Supper – Matthew 26.20-35, Mark 14.17-26, Luke 22.14-30

                 Upper Room Discourse – John 13.1-17.26

                 Jesus prays in Gethsemane – Matthew 26.36-46, Mark 14.32-42, Luke 22.39-46

Friday: Betrayal and arrest – Matthew 26.47-56, Mark 14.43-52, Luke 22.47-53, John 18.2-12

              Trial before Annas – John 18.13-24

              Trial before Caiaphas – Matthew 26.57-75, Mark 14.53-72, Luke 22.54-65, John 18.19-24

              Trial before full Sanhedrin – Matthew 27.1-2, Mark 15.1, Luke 22.66-71

              Trial before Pilate – Matthew 27.2-14, Mark 15.2-5, Luke 23.1-5

              Trial before Herod – Luke 23.6-12

              Trial before Pilate again – Matthew 27.15-26, Mark 15.6-15, Luke 23.13-25, John 18.28-19.16

              Crucifixion (approx. 9am-3pm) – Matthew 27.27-54, Mark 15.16-39, Luke 23.26-49, John 19.16-37

              Burial – Matthew 27.57-61, Mark 15.42-47, Luke 23.50-54, John 19.38-42

Sunday: Empty-tomb witnesses – Matthew 28.1-8, Mark 16.1-8, Luke 24.1-12

               Resurrection appearances – Matthew 28.9-20, Mark 16.9-20, Luke 24.13-53, John 20.1-21.25

 Valley of Vision Prayer

My Father,

Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips,

               supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres at Calvary.’

There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on Thy Son,

               made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;

There the sword of Thy justice smote the man, Thy fellow;

There Thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made;

There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured.

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,

               cast off that I might be brought in,

               trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,

               surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,

               stripped that I might be clothed,

               wounded that I might be healed,

               athirst that I might drink,

               tormented that I might be comforted,

               made a shame that I might inherit glory,

               entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,

               groaned that I might have endless song,

               endured all pain that I might have unfading health,

               bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory-diadem,

               bowed His head that I might uplift mine,

               experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,

               closed His eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,

               expired that I might forever live.

O Father, who spared not Thine only Son that Thou mightest spare me,

All this transfer Thy love designed and accomplished;

Help me to adore Thee by lips and life.

O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,

               my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my enemies crushed,

               Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,

               sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,

               hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portals open.

Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

Learning about Belize! (AKA: Kristin has the best job in the whole world.)

And it's now officially been over a month since my last blog post again. I really will get better about this. Someday. I thought a good way to explain my absence would be to talk about the college ministry mission trip I've been preparing for and just got back from! That's what left me little extra time for things like blogging. This trip was one of my favorite ever in all my years of college ministry. It was just so so relational, and everyone got to share the gospel every day, and it was amazing. I thought maybe the best way to share about it would be to post the update emails I sent home each day for the parents of our kids on the trip, so here they are! Enjoy! (And check out International Servants, the team in Belize that we worked with. They are totally rad!)

Sunday

Hello from Belize!

I just wanted to send a quick note to let you all know that we're finally all settled in at the resort! All of our travel went very smoothly, and our two nervous flyers had great flights! Once we got to the resort, we had dinner on a dock out on the ocean, and now everyone's getting settled into their rooms and hanging out before we head to bed. Tomorrow we'll have our first full day of work and small groups and everything and I'll have much more to report, but for now I just wanted everyone to know we're safe and happy and sleepy!

Monday

Hello again!

So we've finished our first day of work! Everyone is pretty exhausted and finally making their way to bed now. We started our day off with breakfast at 7:30 on our dock, then had a short time of worship and our first meetings with our small groups. We headed to the school, where we split up into 4 teams. One team of 5 people went to the feeding center to help prepare and serve lunch to malnourished children. One group of 3 nursing students got to work in the small clinic at the school with the nurse. They saw 63 patients today! One group of 11 people worked on the construction site at the school, building an outdoor pavilion where they can have larger groups meet for assemblies and things like that. And everyone else put on the program we designed before coming here. Today we worked in the morning and afternoon with the 5, 6, and 7 year olds. We started off with them by singing some fun, loud songs, then we acted out the story of the Prodigal Son. After that, Jackie Cravello shared her testimony and we practiced our memory verse and split up into smaller groups to try to discuss the story and how it shows God's love for us. The discussion time was a little difficult for everyone today because the kids were so young and still learning english, but we still felt like some great connections were made! Then we just got to have lots of play time, which accounts for a decent amount of our exhaustion! This will basically be the pattern every day, but the groups will change, giving everyone a chance to do everything they're interested in.

Once we made it back to the hotel, we had a couple hours to swim, shower, or rest before another delicious meal on the dock. Then we sang a couple songs and Ben taught from our small group curriculum (which is called The Gospel-Centered Life, and is really amazing). After that, everyone wanted to worship on the beach for a few songs, and we ended up singing for an hour and a half! It's amazing to sing to God in such a beautiful setting and with people who love the Lord so well!

One thing we'll be doing every night while we're here is a time we call Give God the Glory. We spend a few minutes letting people stand up and give God glory for something He did that day. I want to end by sharing what people gave God the glory for tonight:

- for a kid we met at the feeding center who said, completely out of nowhere, "you're my brother because in Jesus we're all family."

- for guiding me today because I literally don't have any experience with kids, but it was fun and awesome and easy

- for the ridiculous cow outfit I wore in the skit that helped me connect with kids

- for making me realize how great I have it

- for showing me how blessed I am to get to be on this trip and for Kalla getting me to come. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on my spring break.

- for giving us favor in the lives of these kids, who welcomed us so immediately with huge hugs

- for the kid who looked at a picture of Christ and said, "Wow, He died for me."

That's all for today! I know I promised pictures, but I'm pretty sleepy, so I'm going to send an email tomorrow during our afternoon break before dinner with just a bunch of pictures from today.

Thanks for praying for us!

PS - A few of you emailed me back about where we're staying. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that last night! It's a beautiful place called The Placencia. You can check out their website and find contact info at http://www.theplacencia.com/.

Tuesday

Hey everyone!

Okay, first of all, apparently there was some kind of disaster with the picture emails I sent out today and only a few of you got any of them. I sent two emails of pictures and almost all of them came back to me. I think what happened was that I attached too many pictures to the first email. So I'll attach just a few to this one and then send a few more emails following this with the rest of the pictures. Sorry if you get the same pictures multiple times!

Anyway, today has been amazing again! A bunch of us have been saying we can't believe it's only Tuesday because we have been so focused on being here and serving here and it feels like we've already been here for at least a week. Different groups went to the same 4 places today - the school, the clinic, the feeding center, and the construction site. The girls at the clinic told me it's been really fun to see some things they've been learning about in school and get to put it into action! The prodigal son skit was great, too; it's been funny to see people use acting skills I never knew they had!

In our small groups tonight, our lesson focused on the differences between false and true repentance. We split up into even smaller groups of guys and girls to spend some time being open and sharing about things we need to be repenting of in our lives right now and ways we've been avoiding that. I can't speak for the guy groups, but from my group and hearing from the other girls, I can say that it was definitely a great time of growing closer together and encouraging each other!

I think that's all for today! I'll send some more pictures following this email, and I'll write again tomorrow night!

Wednesday

(from Ben)

Hey Friends and Family,

I gave Kristin the night off from writing the update email…it's pretty late and has been a gloriously exhausting day.  We are really settling in to the pattern of the work day but the relationships that we are building with the kids and each other are getting deeper and deeper.  I'll keep this update short because my eyes are closing on me, but a quick story about what God is doing in our group:

Every night we have been on the beach worshiping together after dinner and it has been a sweet time!  However, one of the trip organizers (from the ministry we are with here in Belize) planned a special pool party at our hotel for us to enjoy after dinner.  The students all wanted to continue to worship so we turned the pool party into a two hour long worship service that was a beautiful time!

We are so blessed with an amazing team and an even more amazing God who chooses to use us on a week like this!  Please continue to pray for strength, safety and hearts to be transformed.

Thursday

Hello again!

Today was a mostly normal day, as far as work goes, though it definitely seemed hotter than the last few have been! The construction crew was able to finish the pavilion at the school, which leaves them free tomorrow to focus on finishing some computer desks. If these desks get finished before our day is over tomorrow, then another group has promised to donate 8 computers to the school in April! When you think of us during the day tomorrow, please pray for endurance for the construction crew to get those desks done. No one will want to leave without finishing them, I'm sure. We've also been hearing reports of lots of great conversations with kids at the school about Jesus, so praise God for that! And you'll all be interested to know that after lunch at a pastor's house yesterday and today, many of you now have kids who have tried iguana meat, iguana eggs, and a true delicacy here in Belize, the meat of a giant rat! I can tell you that the first had a pretty great flavor, the second had a weird casing on it but was delicious inside, and the rat tasted a lot like jerky and was quite good! Many of us also got the chance to hold an iguana and a boa constrictor. Needless to say, we've been pretty adventurous this week.

The most exciting thing for me to report today is that at sunset in the ocean, we had baptisms! It's always my favorite part of the trip when students want to declare that they've identified their lives with Christ by being baptized in front of their friends here. The guys and gals who got baptized were Madeleine Rebouche, Madison Tooley, Becca Roth, Kalla Kline, Alexandra Brown, Nicoletta Bradley, Victoria Nachman, Riley Ralmuto, Brett Musslewhite, and Steven Stults. I'm so proud of all of them! Praise God!

And speaking of that, I really have been proud of and impressed by all of your kids this week! They are such hard, joyful workers, and they are so open with each other and excited to talk about Jesus with everyone! The team from International Servants who is working with us here have all been telling me the same things about our group, too. You should all be very proud!

Tomorrow will be our last day of working! Everyone is definitely going to be tired, so pray for strength and stamina (and good sleep tonight, if you happen to read this before morning). Thank you!

Friday

We had our last day of work today! It ran a little longer than usual, but all of the desks got finished and the school will get their computers in April! The clinic was also able to see a total of around 170 (I think) patients this week, with the help of the nursing and pre-med students! And hundreds of children at the school got to hear the gospel! As everyone was loading onto the bus to leave the school, there were tears from both the kids and our group. Many kids brought little presents for us to remember them by and promised to remember us in their hearts forever. It was definitely a special day!

After everyone got back and we had dinner, we had a time for giving God the glory and worshipping on the beach. We've been able to do that a few nights this week, and it's so amazing to worship in the dark under the brilliant stars with the sounds of the ocean next to us and remember how huge and wonderful our God is. Tonight, people gave God the glory for:

- showing each of us different things about Himself and ourselves on this trip

- the fact that we didn't know each other before we came here, but now we are a church body

- the tears that were shed as we left the school and the joy the kids put in our lives

- the guy who brought us fruit today from his own garden

- the kid today who said, "will you promise to be my friend forever?"

- humbling me

- sports and allowing us to connect to the kids through that

- being all-loving all the time

- meeting us where we're at - filling us up and sending us out

- the teachers at the school

- the fact that our mission doesn't stop when we leave here

- my new nicknames from the kids - "sir" and "big gringo"

- the hope we have in Heaven

- theological discussions we've been having and being able to love Him with all of our hearts and our minds

- leaders who have to worry about us and are still excited to see us every day

- walls being torn down and the Holy Spirit being among us

- the strength the children have and Amanda who runs the clinic

- the big ways God uses me

- that we're able to show Christ's love to the children the way He did in the Scriptures

- overwhelming emotions

- walls - the kind that get broken down to connect with each other and also the kind we hit when we're exhausted and show us that we can't do anything on our own

- calling Paul to be here and that he took a leap of faith 21 years ago to move to Belize

- the fact that we can sit on a beach and give Him the glory that we're sitting on a beach and realizing how big He is

- and the fact that the same God made and cares for each one of us

- how each person gave their all this week

As you can see, we spent quite a bit of time on the beach tonight! I know that's a long list, but I just didn't want to leave anything out because everyone here has so much that we're praising God for!

Tomorrow is our free day for shopping and hanging out on the beach and resting! And there is one group taking an excursion to what sounds like a pretty awesome reef for snorkeling. Right now our resort is having karaoke out on the dock where we eat breakfast and dinner, and I'm listening to everyone have a lot of fun with the other guests of the hotel! It really has been a great week and we're grateful for your prayers! One more day and then we'll begin our journey home!