Gobble, Gobble!

Here's what I'll be eating tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving...

YUMMY!

The Next Book I'm Going to Buy...

Re-adjusting…

My three months in Ibiza was amazing. I’ve been home for a few weeks now, and I’ve just been trying to re-adjust to life here in Las Vegas. Getting my body clock back in order took me a good 10 days alone! The awesome news is that I’ll be heading back to Ibiza in the spring of next year. I’m super excited, and really just depending on God for all that needs to happen between now and then…

Since I’ve been home I’ve…

• Moved
  
• Eaten more veggie burgers than I care to admit!
  
• Gone Trick or Treating with my nieces and nephew - One of my 4 year old nieces was seriously surprised at each house as she got more and more candy. I don’t think she fully understood the whole concept of trick or treating!
  
• Re-discovered what life with internet is like. (amen!)
  
• Realized that I still do know how to drive after 3 months of being chauffeured around!
  
• Had some amazing God time…
  
• Been writing…thanks to NaNoWriMo

So I am re-adjusting to life back here in the states, but…I’m not getting too comfy, because I know I won’t be here for long…The cool think is that I feel like I’m in this kind of in-between stage. Like I’m in holding while I wait for the next part of my life to take off. It’s weird to feel comfortable here. But, I get that any comfort I feel here comes from God. And when I use the word 'comfortable', I don't mean the kind that is lethargic, and is just going through the motions. I mean the kind that knows that I'm resing in God during this in-between time. The kind of comfortable that knows I'm exactly where God wants me...

I read this great devotional called God Calling, and recently i was struck by a line in the entry from October 30th:

“Use this waiting time to cement the friendship with me, and to increase your knowledge of me.”

That’s exactly what I feel like God is calling me to do during this in-between time. To keep digging deeper, and to keep drawing closer and closer to him.

Part 2

Finally posting the 2nd part of THIS post….

Thanks so much for your comments!  Lovey, you make an excellent point. I think other people can have a HUGE affect on how we view God. Here are some of the reasons I came up with:

Why do we have these misconceptions about God?

1. Sometimes we humanize God. We expect him to act the way we would in a situation. We need to remember that God’s ways are different then our ways. His love is revolutionary!

Ephesians 3:18 – “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his live is. May you experience the love of Christ through it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

God’s love for us is so much bigger then we can fully comprehend!

2.Sometimes it’s easier to believe that God is going to give us we we think we deserve. Grace can be hard to accept.

When I lived in California, I use to drive a silver Volvo. It had over a 100,000 miles on it, and one day it started making a strange noise. I knew I needed a new car, but I also knew that I didn’t have the money to buy one. I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I asked for prayer about my car dilemma during my small group meeting one Sunday night. One of my group members told me about another lady in our church who had just purchased a new car. It seems she was looking to sell her old car at a good price. She suggested I call her to check it out. Even though I really had no money to buy a car, something told me to just call her. When I did she shocked me when she told me that her plan was to give away her old car to the first person who called to ask about it. That person was me, and before I knew it I was driving around in my new FREE car!

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast boast about it.”

Me getting that car reminds me of God’s grace. I didn’t do anything to deserve it. That car was a gift that I didn’t earn. Grace can be hard to accept, because there’s a part of us that feels like we need to do something to deserve it. Which brings me to my next point…

3. It’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we don’t need to work for God’s affection. It’s a gift that we just need to accept. That means we can’t boast about it, but that also means that we don’t have to worry about working to try and earn it.

I think if we realized the depth of the LOVE God has for us, it would change the way we live our lives…

Psalm 139:17-18 - “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”

...but not for long!

I'm back in Las Vegas...

Accountability

vulnerable
open
naked
no desire or place to hide
i bring myself willingly here with you
each of us with trust in our hands
ready to offer
when our shields come down
and our masks come off
all of our weaknesses are laid out
i let you see into me
and I see into you
open
in this time let us be
honest
bare
gentle with one another
there is no space for condemnation or
judgement
only LOVE
acceptance
wisdom
shared freely amongst us
we are sitting in the presence together
being still
being healed
in this place let us
speak
listen
HEAR
reflect
and never be the same again.

...naked personalities

Living as part of a community here in Ibiza has really changed my life. If I'm being honest I'll admit that I'm not the most open or vulnerable person. In fact I think I do more hiding than most people do. Why is it so hard to just be open? There are the obvious reason...like when you close yourself off after being hurt a few too many times. I think it's tough because even the world vulnerable has negative connotations to it. Here's how Webster's defines vulnerable:

Capable of being physically or emotionally wounded. Open to attack or damage.

I mean COME ON! Who wants that in their life?!

What I've learned this summer is that being vulnerable doesn't always mean getting hurt. Sometimes opening yourself up, and letting someone else look in can bring an incredible amount of healing to your life. I read this amazing C.S. Lewis quote today -

"Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities."

In real friendship we can just be ourselves. We don't have to hide. I'm finding that when I can be naked, honest and vulnerable with another person, cool things happen.

Ibiza Graffiti

Misconceptions, Jesus & Santa Claus...

I got to give a preach in church on Sunday, which was awesome. I love getting the opportunity to share within this community. I talked about some of the misconceptions we have about how God views us. Here’s my sermon in two parts…

You probably didn’t know this about me, but I believed in Santa Claus until I was pretty old. Older then most kids. Why was this? When I was about 6 or 7 I remember one Christmas Eve night looking out my window and seeing Santa Claus (or what I thought was the man in red) In reality the city I lived in thought it would be cute to fly a helicopter with special lights over the city while playing recorded sleigh bell sounds (with a few ho-ho-ho’s sprinkled in) through a PA system. When I looked out my window that night, my young mind was convinced that I had seen Santa. Most people stop believing in Mr.Claus because an older brother or sister spoils the fun, or because some big mouthed kid at school tells. When a girl in my class tried to share the news with everyone, I was not convinced. After all, I had actually seen Santa with my own eyes. Eventually my mom had to sit me down and have a conversation with me about what I’d seen. I think I was 12!

The point is things weren’t exactly what they seemed. But I saw what I thought was truth, and believing it had a major affect on me.

I think we sometimes look at God and see things about him that aren’t true. Those things then have an affect on how we look at him, and how we look at ourselves in relationship with him.

Watch this video…In a funny way it shows how we sometimes view Jesus and how he feels about us.



Misconceptions from the video:

1. We can never make God happy.

2. God is angry with us.

3. All God wants to do is point out all of the things we’ve done wrong

4. There is no hope for us,

5. We need to be perfect, or at our best for God to really love us

6. We’re so messed up, that not even Jesus can help us.

If we’re being honest, all of us have felt one of those things at some point in our spiritual journey. But what does the bible have to say about these misconceptions?

Psalm 103: 7-12

“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”

I just want to point out a few things about these awesome verses.

1. God is slow to get angry. He’s not up in heaven on his throne fists clenched just waiting for us to screw up so he can punish us. He’s slow to anger and as the next words say he’s FILLED with love.

2. God does not constantly accuse us…AMEN! (if he did he would be so busy with me, he would have not time for anyone else!)

3. God doesn’t give us what we deserve. That’s basically the definition of Grace. We get love and mercy, when we don’t deserve it.

4. …As far as the east is from the west. God has taken our mistakes and cast them as far away from us as he can. It’s like he’s telling us to forget about them, get up and move on. We’re the ones who have a hard time letting go.

I’ll post the part two to this tomorrow, but I have a question for discussion. Please feel free to put your answer in a comment.

Why do we have these misconceptions? Where do they come from?

to love and serve

It’s been an amazing summer for me so far. Night after night, I’ve continued to be amazed as I’ve seen God lead me to the people he wants me to talk to or help. Monday night, I was out in the West End with Ed. We got a call about a guy lying in a bush, so we went out in search of him. Let’s call this guy Sam. Ed and I head out, and we find Sam in a bush really close to a main road near the West End. Seriously if he had rolled over, he would have been lying in the middle of the road in busy traffic. We managed to find him before that could happen. We spent the next two hours with Sam, trying to figure out where he was staying, and then working to get him sober enough so he could take a taxi back to his hotel. It’s amazing the things you can learn about someone in two hours. He was pretty drunk, and out of it for most of our time together, so we didn’t really get to have a deep theological chat with him. We chatted about football, movies, his job and family. And then after about an hour and 57 minutes he just snapped out of it. It was almost like the clouds cleared and he was coherent. He gave us a genuinely grateful thank you, and then he was in a taxi on his way back to his hotel.

Once Ed and I got back to the prayer room, I just started thinking about how much God really trusts us with his children. I really believe that God sent Ed and I to spend two hours with Sam, because he wanted to make sure he was going to be okay. And so that through the unexpected kindness of a few strangers Sam might stop and turn his eyes to the divine for just a moment, and consider…that maybe there is someone out there watching, and waiting…

gutter love...

Since I've been here, I've had MANY interesting nights in the West End. Before we go out at night, we meet up in our center in the chapel for some worship and prayer time. After about 30 minutes half of us go out in pairs while the other half of us stays in the chapel to pray. After an hour we switch, and we continue that pattern of breathing in and breathing out, until about 4:00 or 5:00 am.

When I head out into the West End, I like to just walk and pray, and ask God to lead me to whoever he wants me to talk to or help. It's amazing how many times people will just walk up to me. Sometimes they want to say thank you because someone from 24-7 Ibiza has helped them out. Or they may have heard about what we do, and they're curious. Whatever the reason, suddenly I find myself in the midst of a conversation, and before I know it I'm being asked why I do what I do. I love that question. It's probably the number one thing I get asked out here. My answer is pretty simple. I'm here because I want to show people that God loves them no matter where they're at. Even if you're drunk and passed out in the gutter, God is still reaching out to them. When most people are in that state, they're a embarrassed, and they think they're the furthest thing from God's mind. It really is quite a mental picture if you stop and think about it. God (through me) is reaching down to pull them out of their mess. One night in the prayer room I was praying and was just reminded that God doesn't wait for us to get cleaned up. He comes to find us when we're still in the middle of our mess. He finds us where we're at, and the most wonderful thing is that no matter what state we're in, he sees beauty in us...do you really get that?! Even when we've messed up and we look around and find ourselves in a situation that is the complete opposite of what God would desire for us...God looks down and sees the possibility and potential. He hasn't given up on us, He still loves us, and desires to know us, and for us to know him... How cool is that?!

Give us Your Courage

There's an excellent song by Tim Hughes that gets played a lot on my iPod. It's called Give us Your Courage. Check out the lyrics:

I'm not backing down
I will stand my ground
Lifting high the name of Jesus

Holding out Your light
To a world in need
Living out the love of Jesus

And though the battles rage
Your blessing still will come

To the ends of the earth we will go
To the ends of the earth we will go
Fill us with power
Fill us with power
For the truth of Your word we will stand
For the truth of Your word we will stand
Give us Your courage
Give us Your courage

Be our strength and song
Till the battles won
Nothing is impossible for You

Stretch Your hand to save
You will never fail
Nothing is impossible for You

Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us
Would You breathe on us

It just reminds me that as I go out on to the streets of the West End, I'm not going in my own power. I don't have to depend on myself to be good enough to save people. I can trust that as I go, I go with God's power in me. Using me and fueling me to be his light on these streets. Here's what Romans 8:5 says in The Message version:

"Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!"

The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead walks the streets of Ibiza with me every night. My prayer is that I would go out in HIS power, and awaken people from the spiritual death that they've been living in.

Amen!

Won't Be Silent...

I'm working her in Ibiza with a great group of other Christians. It's been challenging and life changing for me to get to live life in community. Some of the team live here year round, and during the winter they really felt like God was speaking Isaiah 62 to them for Ibiza. I wanted to share it on my blog, because I think it's so powerful! (Zion or Jerusalem have been replaced with Ibiza)

"Because I love Ibiza, I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Ibiza,
I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
The nations will see your righteousness.
World leaders will be blinded by your glory.
And you will be given a new name
by the Lord’s own mouth.
The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see—
a splendid crown in the hand of God.
O Ibiza, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
until he makes Ibiza the pride of the earth."

Wherever God has placed us, we are watchmen on the walls. Let's not give God any rest, let's pesevere in prayer, until his work is complete!

Real Love

We have a church service that we do in our center every Sunday. I know God smiles when he looks down at the rag tag bunch of people we are. Some of us sure of our relationship with God, and other’s full of questions…seeking. Today, I got to speak, and I spoke from 1 John 3:16 which says this:

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we ought to give up our lives for out brothers and sisters.”

I read that verse one day, and just started meditating on what Jesus giving his life up for us says about real love. Here are a few of the thoughts I came up with:

1. Real Love is self- sacrificing – Jesus put our best interest before his own. He thought of our needs first. (Philippians 2:3-8)

2. Real Love is love with NO LIMITS! – Through his sacrifice on the cross Jesus showed us that he was willing to give EVERYTHING for us. He loved us with wild abandon, not holding anything back, but giving us ALL he had to give.

3. Real Love changes us for the better – Jesus showed us real love by giving his life for us. When we put our faith in him, we’re made right with God. (Romans 3:22-25)

4. Real Love takes the 1st Step -

“ But God showed his his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.” (Romans 5:8)

Real Love puts itself out there, it makes itself vulnerable. It doesn’t wait until it’s safe, or until it knows how others will react. It’s not afraid of looking foolish. REAL LOVE GIVES LOVE NO MATTER WHAT THE RESPONSE! Jesus showed us love while we were still in our sin. While we still had our backs turned on him, he was loving us.

5. Real Love forgives, when there is no reason to – Through Christ’s death, we are forgiven. God showed us mercy, when we didn’t deserve it!

So what should our response to Real Love be?

“ Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”(1 John 4:11)

We need to be self sacrificing in our love. Putting other’s before ourselves

We need to love with no limits

We need to love people in a way that points them to God

We need to take the 1st step and love first

We need to forgive, even when it’s not deserved

“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is brought to full expression in us.” (1 John 4:12)

I’m loving that verse! It gives us a role in revealing God’s love to people. God loves people, and his love is perfect, but when I follow in his foot steps and show people that same love, his love is fully expressed in me. We have a hand in other people seeing God’s love in action. It’s up to us to show them love like he did.

I challenge you this week to show Real Love to the people that God has put in your life. Stop living life on auto pilot. See the people that God has put in your path, and ask him to show you how to love them.

Three Guys, Three Bibles

Most times if we’re out at night, and we find someone who’s really intoxicated that we’re helping back to their hotel, we really don’t get to chat with them a lot. We’re working to try to figure out where they’re staying, or we’re dealing with their friends, or they’re just too drunk to have any kind of conversation with! The good thing is that most people who come to the island come for at least a week, and sometimes longer. So if I get to help someone, and somehow I find out that they’re here for 10 days, and it’s only their first night, I pray that I run into them again. The other night I was out on the streets with Christine, when suddenly these three guys come rushing up to us. The first thing they asked us is “Are you guys the Christians?” We of course replied that yes we were.

Just a little background before I continue. When we go out on the streets we wear our 24-7 Ibiza shirts.


24- 7 Ibiza has been on the island for several years, and has really established a good reputation. The West End is a very branded kind of place. It’s common to see lots of different groups walking around in shirts advertising their club or bar. I’ll always remember my very first night on the streets Claire and I approached a young guy sitting in front of a bar who needed some help. When the bartender saw us this look of relief came over her face. She saw our shirts knew we were with 24-7 Ibiza and that we were there to help.

I say all that to say that the reason the 3 guys stopped us is because they saw our shirts. It turned out that the night before, one of them had gotten pretty drunk, and got separated from the rest of the group. Now if you’re a guy, and you’re drunk and passed out somewhere on the streets of the West End, one of two things is going to happen to you. You’re going to get robbed, or if the police find you, they’re not always so nice. Before anything bad could happen to this young guy, he was found by someone from 24-7 Ibiza, who got him back to his hotel safe. So these three guys were stopping us to say thank you. In chatting with them, I got to talk to the guy that got helped. He told me that he’d never heard of a Christian doing anything like what we’d done to help him. He admitted that he never really thought about God, but because of the kindness of a stranger in God’s name, he’d decided that maybe he should take a closer look at this whole God thing. So I got to chat with him when he was sober, and encourage him to give God a chance…We also were able to give the three of them bibles, that we personalized with a little message and a scripture for them to read.

Later that night when we got back to the prayer room, one of the other teams that was out told us that they’d seen three guys sitting outside of a bar reading their bibles.

How cool is that?!

Vomit Monday...

First of all, aren’t you glad this post doesn’t have a photo?!

Monday night out on the streets was an interesting one. Somehow I’ve managed to make it two weeks without really being exposed to much vomit. Monday night ended my streak!

When we go out at night, we go out in pairs. On Monday I went out with Neil, and the evening started slow. After our first hour out we were back in the prayer room about 5 minutes when we got a call, about two girls alone and in trouble. Neil and I were able to help them get back to their hotel. In the middle of the madness of helping them, I was able to have a conversation with one of the girls about why she doesn’t believe in God anymore. I’m still a little overwhelmed by the amount of opportunities I get to share God with People. I was able to encourage this girl, by telling her that God was still there, and reaching out to her. I got to give her a bible, and I really just felt like the whole situation was a divine appointment. Like God brought me all the way out here to Ibiza just to meet her, and share His love with her. As I get to help people, and talk to them, and pray for them night after night, I'm struck by that thought that my being here is God's love. That he's loving people through me. He's meeting them where they're at, and reaching out to them. In the middle of vomit, and mess, God is here.

Greater Intimacy...

One thing I’m absolutely loving about my time here in Ibiza is that I get to spend some quality time with God. This week I was listening to a great sermon by Francis Chan which you can find here. It’s called “You Have Everything You Need,” and It’s based on one of my favorite chapters in the bible 2 Peter 1. One of my favorite verses is number 3 which says:

“By his divine power God has given us everything we need for living a godly life, we have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

The Message version says it like this:

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!”

During one point in his message, he asks everyone if they had one wish, what would they ask for. He gives them time to think, and then he says this:

“Would you have asked for greater intimacy with God, believing that greater intimacy with God is the solution to all of your problems? Believing that a greater knowledge of him will lead you to the more grace and peace.Do you really believe that the knowledge of God is the way to be fulfilled in life?”

That really hit home with me. I think sometimes we get into this mindset where we pray to God to help us with our problems. But we don’t really get, that our knowing him more is the solution to everything. Knowing God more can help me with:

Financial issues

Relationships

Problems at work

Self-Esteem issues

Addiction

Dealing with my past

The knowledge of God is a powerful thing, and something that I’m learning more and more to desire above everything else. Like I said earlier, I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with God since I’ve been here. If I’m being honest, I’d say that a big reason for that is because I don’t have a TV here! In the quiet, I’ve been feeling God challenge me to continue this no matter where I am. Here in Ibiza I have this freeness in my schedule to be able to spend as much time with God as I want. I want to have that habit so ingrained in me that from now on, I never let anything distract me from seeking him.

Jesus LOVES Ibiza!

We have these super cool Jesus Loves Ibiza bibles that were made specifically for 24-7 Ibiza.



Here’s what the back says:

Does Jesus Really love Ibiza?

Totally. We don’t know what you think about Jesus, but we do know that He loves this beautiful island and all who inhabit it. Jesus loves everyone, regardless of race, gender or social standing.

Following Jesus is a bit like dancing. The wrong things that we have done have put us out of step with God and left us in a mess that we can’t get out of by ourselves, but Jesus made a way to rescue us if we follow him.

Following Him is about catching His rhythm and allowing your life to move to the rhythm of his beat! His dance is a dance of love, mercy, justice, forgiveness, selflessness and sacrifice. It’s a dance that lead us to repentance and relationship with God…”

So far this summer we’ve given out hundreds of these bibles, and I’m so struck by the power of God’s word reaching out to people. The awesome thing is that people aren’t just taking them and forgetting about them, they’re actually reading them!

In Isaiah 55:10-11 God promises this:

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the the grain to grow producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

As I get to give out bibles this summer to prostitutes, and sun worshipers, and summer workers, I’m trusting that God keeps his promises!

What's Poppy Doing in Ibiza?!

What is Poppy Doing in Ibiza?!

I’m sure a few of you are still a little foggy on exactly what I’m doing here in Spain. So the goal of this blog is to give you a clear picture of what my work here is all about.

A major goal of 24-7 Ibiza is to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of everyone we come into contact with.

We do most of our work in a part of Ibiza called the West End.It’s a long street that leads down to the ocean. Both sides of the street are filled with bars and strip clubs, and a few fast food type restaurants.



During the summer season at night this street is a madhouse! It’s full of people, and always super busy. Each of the places along the West End hires a person called a PR. This person basically stands outside of the front entrance and works to try to get people to come through the door. If you were to walk down the West End at about 3:00 am every few steps you’d have someone stopping you and trying to entice you into their bar with whatever the drink specials of the night are.

24-7 Ibiza has a center that’s right smack in the middle of all the madness of the West End.



During the week Monday through Friday our center is open from 4:00 to 8:00 for workers. Most of the workers here in Ibiza are British, and they come to live and work in Ibiza for the summer. We offer them free internet, we have a Wii, and we have table tennis.It’s basically a place for them to chill. During those times in the center the goal is to fulfill a bit of their practical needs while also getting the chance to chat and get to know them.

Monday through Thursday in the evenings, we go out into the West End from 12 am until 5 am, and just wait for God to lead us. That may mean approaching someone and asking if there’s anything we can pray for them about, or it could be catching up with a worker we’ve met in our center. When we’re out during the night times we split in half. So half of us are in the prayer room praying, and the other half are out in the streets.

If we see someone whose overly intoxicated and needs help, we offer it. Most times that means a ride back to their hotel. We use the 24-7 vehicle that’s lovingly called “The Vomit Van!”



There are taxi’s here on the island, but if you’re too drunk the taxi drivers won’t take you, because they’re afraid you’re going to throw up in their car! There are so many young people that get left in really vulnerable situations. Imagine being in a foreign country, you’ve somehow lost your friends, and you’re drunk. You try to get a taxi, but they won’t take you, so you just lay down on a bench hoping to sober up soon. If you fall asleep or pass out, you more than likely will get robbed, or possibly even worse. We try to keep an eye out, and help those that we can.

So far it’s been awesome, and I’ll be sharing more about specific encounters that I’ve had even in just my couple of weeks!

I'm in Ibiza...

That's right...I'm FINALLY in IBIZA!

Since we do most of our work at night, I’m trying to get into the same rhythm as the rest of the team. The street work that we do usually happens between 11:00 pm and 5:00 - 6:00 am. So I’m working to get acclimated! I’m living in an apartment with 3 other girls who are here long term. Christine, Claire, and KT. Everyone here has been really welcoming which has been great.

On Sunday nights there is a service that the ministry has started doing. It was so cool to participate in it this past week. There were at least 6 of the West African girls who work as prostitutes here on the island who attended. They took bibles, and were really open to chat and pray. These girls are brought to the island during the busy summer season to work. Some of them come not knowing that they will be prostitutes. Once they’re here they’re forced to work off their “debt” before they can return home. When I was here on the prayer team last April, we spent lots of time praying for them, so it was good to finally meet them tonight. I’m praying that God would give me the chance to speak and pray with as many of them as I can.

Exploration...

The girls and I went trail walking. Here's a little of what I saw...

Trust me...I know what I'm doing.

Last year in April I got to go to Spain on a short term mission trip…it was awesome! Click HERE to read a recap of my trip from last year. In mid-July, I’ll be heading back to Ibiza for 3 months.

If I’m being honest, I’ll admit that I’m both super excited and a little scared about going back to Ibiza. As I’ve been praying about my trip, one of my recurring prayers has been that God would give me the ability to look at people and really see them. Most of the time, I’m so wrapped up in my own life, and super focused on me, that it’s really easy for me walk past someone and just ignore their situation. I’ve just been asking God to let me see people like he does. I want to be bold, and I want to be able to see past the “public” face that most people put on. You know, the one we show other people when we’re trying to hide. I want to look at someone, and feel God’s heart breaking because He wants them to know how much he loves them. I want to be the vessel that God used to express that to them in both word and deed. As I’ve been praying about my trip, I’ve been hearing God speak to me…Trust me. For provision, and for guidance. Trust me for everything. I’m going to Ibiza this summer because I really feel like God is calling me to go. I know that he’s going to walk with me. And I believe that if I trust and am obedient, the Holy Spirit is going to lead me in every situation I find myself in. I keep thinking about the story in the bible when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The bible says that “early the next morning” Abraham got up and started on the journey to do what God had asked him to do. He did that trusting that God would provide. I want to have that same immediate obedience. I want to hear the Holy Spirit speak, and immediately set out to obey without a second of hesitation. No excuses, just obedience and surrender.

That’s one of my prayers for this summer, and for the rest of my life!

Viva Liberace!

One of my crazy sisters is OBSESSED with Liberace. So for Mother’s Day her kids decided that they would treat her to the official Liberace museum here in Las Vegas. She was thrilled, and I learned way more about this flamboyant performer then I ever wanted to! (the picture in the shorts is by far my favorite!)

Family at the Park...

Lost...the end

This past Sunday marked the end of one of my favorite shows of all time. I’ve watched from the very first episode. I distinctly remember the end of episode one when the castaways are all staring into the forest as the “monster” shows up for the first time. From that moment on, I was hooked. I know a lot of people feel strongly about the finale. Some loved it, and some hated it. I actually liked it a lot. It was deeply spiritual, and I’ve loved trying to wrap my head around what it all means. I still have it saved on my DVR, and I’m sure I’ll watch it several more times before I delete it. In the end, I’ll admit that there were a lot of questions that didn’t get answered. But in the last 10 minutes of the episode, I was in tears, and it just didn’t seem to matter to me anymore. As I watched Jack at the end of his journey, it hit me just how far he‘d come. From a man of science to a man of faith. If you haven’t seen the finale, you may not want to read any further as I’m about to share some of my favorite moments (in no particular order) -

1. Sawyer and Juliet’s awakening - so sweet and passionate. I was never a Kate and Sawyer fan, so I was pleasantly surprised when he and Juliet fell in love. It was good to see them re-united. Did anyone else catch that as they were embracing he whispers to her “I got you”? This was of course in reference to her death (falling down the well).

2. Kate tells Jack that she loves him. I thought Matthew Fox was in the acting zone during the finale. The look on his face, and his response just took my breath away. Also in the final church scene when Kate comes up to him and takes his hand, again his expression was just priceless. So full of just raw emotion.

3. Hurley asking Ben to be his 2nd. A major theme through out the series and the finale is redemption. And who needs it more than Benjamin Linus?! I loved seeing the look of awe and disbelief on his face as he finally gets the purpose he’s so desperately been longing for.

I think I’ve been so consumed this season with trying to figure out all the mysteries of the island that I lost sight of the fact that these people were a community. At the end of the finale that point was hammered home. The tears were definitely flowing as Jack steps into the church and you see his reaction to seeing his island companions. At that point it hit me that even with all of the crazy mysteries of the island (polar bears and all!) at its heart lost was about these people. It was about there individual journey’s of redemption, but also about each of their parts within this community that was forced upon them because of the crash of Oceanic 815.

If you’ve never watched LOST, I’d encourage you to get season one on DVD and get hooked!

Transparent

Transparent def. - "So sheer as to permit light to pass through, easily seen through, Open, free of pretense or deceit."

If I'm being honest, I haven't been the most transparent person in my life. Even as I write this, I want to edit myself, and be less OPEN. Why is being transparent so hard for me? That's a question I've been asking myself this week. My answer boils down to the fact that I'm afraid. When you're transparent, people see EVERYTHING. There is no place to hide. No mask, no pretenses...just you. The raw, bare, real you. I think maybe we're all a little afraid that if people see who we really are they won't like or accept us. The fear of that rejection, causes us all to hide to varying degrees. My goal is to move past that, because I'm coming to realize how important being transparent can be, to how I share Christ with people. If I make myself vulnerable by being transparent, will that let people see Christ more in my life? I think the answer to that is yes. Knowing that challenges me to make sure that Christ is prevalent in my life. Because when you're sheer, if there's no substance, people see nothing. Here's a cool verse -

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God..." (Colossians 1:15a)

So basically when we see Christ, we see who God is, through him. I want the same to be said of me. I want Poppy to be the visible image of Christ to people. To do that, I have to get rid of all of the things that get in the way of people seeing Christ in me. It's a tall order, but one to work on!

...

"Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action."

Mahatma Ghandi

My Reading Machine!

I FINALLY got an Amazon Kindle. Can you tell that I'm excited?! For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, it's basically an electronic book. And because it's got wireless capability, I can download a book almost anywhere I'm at. I'm a bit of a book worm, so you'll have to excuse me, because I'm in reading heaven!

Steady...

There’s this great Baz Luhrmann poem that was turned into song called “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” One of the lines in the song goes like this:

“Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.”

I cling to the thought of that! Here I am 39 years old, and I feel like I’m 17, still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Sometimes I feel bad about this. I look at my life, and I wonder why I don’t have it all figured out yet. This last year I’ve come to a realization. I may not know what I want to be when I grow up, BUT I do know what my life’s ambition is - to please God. Simple but true. I think I’m finally getting to a place where I’m realizing that that’s enough. I don’t have to have my life mapped out. I’m not a failure. It’s okay for me to wake up each day, and offer myself to God for whatever he may want. To follow him, no matter what that means. I was praying the other day, and I started thinking about Enoch. This is what Genesis 5:23-24 says about him –

“Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him.”

That’s the kind of relationship I want to have with God. As I read those verses, I just imagine two people walking on a path together - Enoch and God. Notice that it says he walked steadily with God. Here’s the dictionary definition:

Steadily – Even, or regular in movement, Free from change, Constant, Habitual

I think that Enoch’s relationship with God was his focus. It wasn’t something that was optional. He ALWAYS walked with God – Period.

I like to think that the reason that God took Enoch was because he wanted to be with him. He didn’t want to wait. He enjoyed his relationship and company so much that he just decided to take him home.

Sometimes I’m right there walking with God, in step with him in every way. But I also know that I’m easily distracted! Something else will catch my eye, and before I know it I’m excusing myself to go off and put my focus someplace else. I’m really trying to learn how to change that. I’m trying to really get that there’s nothing else in this world that deserves my focus like my relationship with God does. I desire to have a constant, habitual and steady relationship with him. I’ve been seeking change in my life, and that’s where it comes from. From me being intimate with the creator, and letting him change me from the inside out.

Resolve...

2009 was not a great year for me. To be blunt…it was kind of crappy. I went through some major transitions, and was forced to make choices that I otherwise would not have. I spent the last couple of months of the year looking around at my life in bewilderment.

“How the heck did I get here!?”

There’s something inherently “clean slate” about the New Year. It’s like a fresh start, a new beginning - another chance to start over again. Hence the rush that happens the last week of every year, as people scrounge to come up with their New Year’s resolutions. I haven’t had one in several years. Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely think they can be a positive spark of change in a person’s life. I just think around this time of year, they’re something people do, because it’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s probably why only about 8% of people actually achieve their resolution. I’m a little turned off by making promises for promises sake. If I resolve to do something, I want to mean it and most importantly, I want to actually do it!

I’m a huge fan of dictionaries. I think we use way too many words that we don’t even really understand. Here are a few eye opening definitions…

Resolve – To come to a firm decision about something
Firm – Unyielding, solid, unlikely to give away, unbending

This year, for the first time in a long time I’m encouraging myself to make some
resolutions…Now it didn’t happen before January 1st like it’s supposed to. But I’ve really started thinking about some things I’d like to accomplish. I was having a little quiet time the other day when I thought…”What if this is the year I REALLY let God CHANGE my life?” What If I let him change the areas of my life that have grown familiar, comfortable, and stale? When I thought that, it hit me that I REALLY want to do that.

I really want to stop being scared of that.

I really want to open up my hands and surrender the things that I’ve been holding on to for so long.

Surrender – To yield, to the possession or power of another – To give up, to abandon
Abandon – To leave completely and FINALLY, to desert, to yield without restraint or moderation

That's my prayer for this year. That it would be a year that I yield without restraint or moderation. A year in which I completely abandon myself to all that God has for me...

Bring it on!

December

I've been such a bad blogger lately! No excuses! Here's what I've been up to...

December was a fun month. I got to participate in a 5K here in Vegas called The Santa Run. It was me and 14,000 other people dressed up like Santa, running a 5K. It really was one of the coolest things I did all year long! Here are some photo's...


I also spent the month of December as a Vegan! It all started when my vegetarian niece asked me to watch a video on YouTube called "Meet your Meat". Let's just say that after viewing it I had to sit down and have a long conversation with myself about consuming meat. So I decided to pledge to be Veg for 30 days. It was interesting. The biggest thing I learned is that it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to give up meat. Here's me having a Tofurky for Thanksgiving...


The 30 days are up, but I'm still hanging strong. Eating a cross between Vegan and Vegetarian...and I'm actually loving it!