Christmas on $160

Four children, two adults, presents for everyone and dinner for more.

Can you make it happen on $160?

Somehow we did.





We met this family through a friend who was already working with World Relief.

They came to the United States from Iraq by way of Lebanon five months ago.

Emily has spent lots of time with them, visiting them about twice a week before we moved here and I had visited them a few times as well.

After moving in we were talking about Christmas and Emily asked if we could take the children to our church's Christmas program. Surprisingly, they said yes! So Sunday night we took the three youngest children (4, 8, 10) to our church Christmas program and dinner.

When we returned home we were talking about it and Emily and I decided to have them over for a Christmas party before we both had to head home for the break.

We thought about what we could do on our tiny budgets: we had a bag of potatoes. We had leftover tamales from the church (but we can't eat those, because they're pork and this family is Muslim).

But may all glory be given to God for how he as so graciously provided for us!!

A few weeks ago a girl at work told me that she felt like God was leading her to give me $100. No stipulations. Just use it for ministry.

Sunday another person at church gave me more money, some for Emily (who didn't even have gas money to go home for Christmas) and some for the family.

So we decided we would use the $100 from work and the $60 from church to make Christmas happen for this Iraqi family who has never celebrated Christmas nor even heard the story.

We went to Target where we thought hard about what each person would like:

For the father, a tool set and flashlight.

For the mother, a photo frame and perfume.

For the oldest son (14), a chess set.

For the youngest son (10), a soccer ball and air pump.

For the oldest daughter (8), a beaded jewelry craft kit.

For the youngest daughter (4), a baby Snow White doll.

We made mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and I got two roast chickens.

We all drank hot chocolate while I spoke broken Arabic and English to tell the Christmas story, demonstrating with our Nativity set, drawing pictures, and making big and crazy motions.

Then we ate dinner, followed by the movie The Nativity Story.

After the movie, we opened presents.



They were all so thrilled to receive each of their gifts.

The father said in broken English mixed with Arabic, "I am so thankful to God for my friends Emily, Laura, and Matt, and for dinner and the movie and the presents, and everything you have done." (rough translation)

The poor 4 year old girl fell asleep during the moving and couldn't wake up to open her present! We tried so hard to wake her up but she fell limp on the couch again. It wasn't until they got home that she was finally awake enough to open it, and then she walked around the house holding and kissing the doll.

The children were all so happy, the parents were so happy, and we were amazed and so thankful to God for allowing us the opportunity to share their first Christmas with them.

This is why we moved.

Pray for this family, that they would hear the Gospel and understand what Christ's birth truly means.

Roaches!!

The first thing we saw when we opened the door to our new apartment was a roach.

Crawling on the door.

Then in the closet.

Then in the kitchen.

Yuck.

Emily and I tried to look at it positively: if we had actually moved to the country where many of these refugees come from, we would have a lot more than roaches on our hands.

Thankfully, an exterminator is coming today. It turns out that all you have to do is go tell the office "we have roaches" and they'll put you on the list and the next day somebody will come to kill them all.

Once they're gone, I'm sure they'll come back. But then we'll go back to the office, get back on the list, and kill them again.

:)

Moving and Ministry

I'm moving tomorrow and Saturday.

Again.

In the past three years I have moved four (or five, depending on how you count) times.

But this time instead of moving to a new country or even to a new city, I'm just moving 10 minutes down the road.

The rent is more expensive, the location is less convenient, and the neighborhood is shady.

So why am I moving there?

You may not know it, but Fort Worth, TX is home to thousands of international refugees through organizations like World Relief and others.

Many of those refugees are placed in the LP apartment complex, 10 minutes down the road from our seminary.

All of those refugees have recently been through trauma that most Americans could never imagine or even begin to understand.

Most of those refugees are Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist and have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They've never read the Bible. They've never heard about a God who loves them so much that he sent his son to die for them.

They all need hope. They all need salvation. They all need Christ.

Romans 10:13-17 says:

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So we're going there to tell as many as we can about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Our desire is to reach the nations for Christ but at the moment God has placed us here, in Fort Worth, Texas. But he as also placed the nations just 10 minutes down the road from where we are currently living. If we truly want to see the nations know Christ, what makes us think we will be faithful to proclaim the Gospel around the world if we are not faithful to do it in our own neighborhoods? We must start here and now. We can't wait until we get sponsored by a church or hired by a mission agency. We can't wait until we finish seminary. We can't wait until life slows down or we're working less hours. We have to go now, because right now there are hundreds of families in LP who need the Gospel.

You may ask why we have to move. If it's only 10 minutes down the road, why can't we just go over there and visit every day? Or once a week?

Well, that's the thing. We won't. Emily (my roommate) goes about twice a week, as much as she has been able to go. I've only even gone a few times. Not because I don't want to go more, but taking more than a full load of seminary classes, working 20-30 hours a week, getting involved at church, dating my boyfriend, grocery shopping, exercising, studying, keeping up with my family, attempting (unsuccessfully most days) to keep up with friends from my pre-Spain days, attempting to keep up with friends from Spain, having Bible study with a girl from work, building new relationships with seminary friends...it's just too much. There's always something else to do. There's always a reason why "I don't have time today."

So I'm solving that problem.

I'll just move in with them. Take less hours at school. Bring my boyfriend along when he can. Maybe even take some neighbors grocery shopping with me. Exercise in the fitness room (unless it turns out there are creepy guys in there. Then I won't). Emily and I will do whatever it takes to reach these people.

We don't know them, but we love them.

The Hendricks moved their whole family to Haiti when they saw the hurt and the need of the Haitians. The least we two single girls can do is move out of our comfortable seminary housing and go 10 minutes down the road.

So we're going. It's not Haiti, it's not Saudi Arabia, it's not a mud hut anywhere in Africa. It's LP...just 10 minutes away.

Tomorrow we'll sign the lease and start moving some boxes in, and Saturday we're renting a U-Haul and we'll finish the job.

If you're a believer in Christ, pray for us. Pray that God would give us a ministry. Pray that God would give us favor among our neighbors, and opportunities to share Christ with them. Pray that many would put their faith in him.

More to come later.

Need Some Christmas Music?

Do you need some new Christmas music?

Are you tired of the same old songs?

Do sleigh bells adorning every single song start to get on your nerves?

Do you wish more Christmas music would focus on the purpose of Christmas, Jesus Christ?

Do you need to mix up your musical selection this Christmas season?

Check out WORSHIP THE NEWBORN KING, by Toby Baxley (who just happens to be my brother-in-law).

You can buy his album (or try out a few songs) on iTunes, or on www.CDbaby.com, Amazon mp3, or plenty of other places.

My favorite song on his album is definitely his re-make of "I heard the bells" but "Wonderful" or "Evermore" are definitely up there on my list!

Technology!!!

Guess where I am???

I'm in the car!!

On the internet!!

Technology is so cool!!

My phone has internet (which is handy, since my house does not), and my brother in law told me about a tethering application for my phone so that I can (legally) use my phone's internet on my computer. This is very convenient since I'm still working on a research paper, but we've got an 11 hour drive ahead of us.

Thanksgiving is this week!

I'm going to Atlanta, GA and then to Savannah with Matt for the big "meet the family" trip. He's met my family, but I've never met his since they live so far away.

I drove for the first three hours, and now he's driving for the rest of the trip so I can work on my research paper.

Matt wanted me to tell all of my blog readers a story.

Matt likes to sing random songs. Right now he's singing a random song. About his dog Dodger. And his dog Chester. He's singing the words "bark bark bark" to the tune of some random country song. Apparently, they're black dogs who like to bark.

That was a tangent.

He likes to sing random songs. This morning he was singing "show me that smile again..." Anybody know what song that is??

It's GROWING PAINS!!

So we saw an advertisement for Beauty and the Beast, which made us start talking about the Beauty and the Beast Broadway version, which we both have seen.

Then he started singing the Growing Pains song.

He said that he also saw the Growing Pains musical.

I was like, "what? They did that?"

He said "yeah, it was like, life after Growing Pains. Mike Seaver died. The whole original cast came back for the musical. It didn't last long on Broadway, though."

I said, "really? Was Leonardo DiCaprio in it?"

He said, "no, but Kirk Cameron was." And proceeded to tell me more about the story line.

I believed him.

Then he said, "I'm totally lying."

That's Matt. My Matt. He likes to tell crazy stories, get me to believe them, and then tell me it's not true.

And now he's singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

Amsterdam

While I was living in Spain, I traveled back to Texas for a friend's wedding (Panda). On that trip, I had an overnight layover in Amsterdam. Of course, I had to find somewhere to spend the night, so I asked around to see if any of my internationally savvy friends had some recommendations.

It turned out, Amber had some friends named Rob and Katy that lived there. So I got in touch with them and we arranged for me to spend the night with them. Katy met me at Schipol Airport that evening and took me on the train back to their house. Even though it was late at night, she took me on a walk through their village so I could see just how adorable those little Dutch town squares and houses are. Then we went back to her house where they had a nice warm bed waiting for me. The next morning I went back to the airport and said goodbye, promising that whenever I got a chance, I would come back for more than just sleep and a shower. That was August 2008.

Almost two years later, in June 2010 I returned to Spain to visit my friends whom I missed so dearly. I bought my tickets using frequent flyer miles, so my choices were a bit limited. On the way back I had a layover in Amsterdam, but it was only a few hours long, so I thought.

A few days before leaving Madrid I checked my itinerary and realized that I had made a huge mistake: my flight left a day earlier than I had thought, and included an overnight layover in Amsterdam. I would arrive around 10 or 11 at night and leave around 8 or 9 in the morning. I had three days to find somewhere to spend the night, and almost no money for a hotel or hostel.

I sent Katy a facebook message and again, they were so generous to allow me to stay and made me feel so welcome. I only even had time to see them at breakfast since they were already in bed when I got to their house, but during my short stay they reminded me that I had to come back and actually stay a while! They were so sincere and hospitable, and I was so thankful that the Lord blessed me with a comfortable place to stay on such short notice.

A few months later, Matt and I decided that we needed to take a mission trip together. We are both planning on going into ministry, especially foreign ministry, and we're planning on doing that together. We felt it would be beneficial for us to experience ministry together before we commit to do it for the rest of our lives.

So we started looking at options, praying about where to go, and Matt wanted to go to Europe, which I of course have no problem with! We decided not to go to Spain since I already speak the language and know lots of people and we didn't want one of us to have a significant advantage, since we're supposed to be learning and ministering together. We also wanted to go somewhere where a lot of people speak English, since we could only be there for a short time. So we emailed couples in London and Paris, Rob and Katy in Amsterdam, as well as some non-Europe couples. Rob and Katy responded enthusiastically with specific tasks they would like us to accomplish, so we decided to go help them out.

So, we're going to Amsterdam!

We bought our tickets last week, on faith, praying that the Lord would provide the money to actually pay for them. I'm a waitress and Matt works at an after school program, and we're both full-time seminary students so we're not exactly rolling in the cash right now. We decided to fundraise, and as humbling, frustrating, and sometimes annoying as it may be, we started asking friends, family, and church members for money and, more importantly, prayer.

A few people responded positively that they would be praying for us, which was great, and two people donated. We were thrilled about the blessings we had received, but honestly, a little disappointed that some people didn't even seem interested in praying, or even finding out what we were doing there at all. Prayer is far more important than money could ever be. It doesn't matter if only two, three, or four people give us money. We know and believe that God will provide. But we don't want just two, three, or four people praying. We want fifty, sixty, a hundred people praying. Not for us, but that the Gospel would be made known. That hearts would be changed. That the blind would see, the lost would be found, and Christ proclaimed among the people of Amsterdam.

That's what we want.

Your prayers.

Sure, we can't buy a plane ticket without money, but neither can we be effective without prayer. The whole point of going is to share the Gospel. We don't expect to start a church planting movement in two and a half weeks. But we do expect to plant seeds of the Gospel. We do expect to do something to benefit the ministry of Rob and Katy. We won't be there for long, but they will.

So I was discouraged.

I prayed yesterday, "God, I know you will provide. Please provide. I'm discouraged, and frustrated. Let your Gospel be proclaimed in Amsterdam. Prepare people for us to meet; prepare your sheep. Your sheep know your voice. Prepare them to hear your voice, and prepare us. Put us in their path. Open doors for us to proclaim the Gospel."

I was discouraged by the lack of interest in people, but sure that God is faithful.

People will always let you down, but God will never leave us nor forsake us.

I got dressed to go to work and left, sure that God would provide. Not only for Amsterdam, but also to pay next month's rent. To pay the next electricity bill. To buy some shoes to keep my feet warm. As pitiful (and humorous!) as that is, I don't have any winter shoes. I couldn't buy shoes in Spain (they don't carry my size) and after two years of walking everywhere every day, I wore out a lot of shoes! So last week I sucked it up and used my savings account (miraculously provided by the Lord through a gift from my mom! Praise the Lord for my mother!) to buy some winter boots.

On my way out I saw the mail truck, so I decided to check my mailbox before leaving.

There was an envelope in there from a guy I went to college with. I sent him (along with nearly 200 other people) the letter that Matt and I wrote about our trip to Amsterdam.

I opened it up at the stop light and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the check.

I went straight to Matt's house before going to work, and showed him. He jumped up in the air, picked me up, and almost cried.

His gift was so generous. Matt and I cannot find the words to thank him.

All three who have donated to this trip have made such generous gifts. I'm amazed and so thankful. I'm in awe. God is so good. He's so faithful. He always provides just what we need.

We still need a bit more money, but we have no doubt that the Lord will provide. He has proven Himself faithful beyond what we deserve. I am so humbled. So blessed. And I pray that we honor the gifts of those three individuals who gave in the name of the Lord so that we may go and proclaim the Gospel. I pray that we honor the Lord through their gifts. I pray that the Lord be pleased with our work. We simply must be faithful, because He has been so faithful to us.

We still need people to pray.

Three have given financially (and will pray, I'm sure), and a few more have expressed their desire to pray for this opportunity, but we need more prayer. "A few" is not enough. Pray for us. Pray for the lost. Pray for those who have never heard the Gospel. Pray for the refugees in Amsterdam. Pray for the potheads and prostitutes. Pray for the postmodern intellectuals who have no need for God. Pray for the lost sheep.

Amen and Amen.

Why Christians Shoudn't Be Too Nice

I go to a Baptist seminary.

That means that the majority of the people around me on campus are Christians, or at least call themselves Christians.

Not only are these people who call themselves Christians, but they are Christians with the intention of going into ministry. So in theory, they're pretty serious about living out their faith.

Christians should exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

BUT...

Sometimes we're too nice.

Both of my readers are shocked that I would say such a thing. So let me explain, and I am quite sure you will agree.

The government institutes laws, and those laws are meant to preserve order.

Some of those laws tell us we can't steal things, we can't kill anybody, we can't lie to a judge, etc. Those are all good things. Some of those laws govern the way we drive and tell us we have to stop at stop signs, cross at a crosswalk, give right-of-way at certain times and places, etc. Those laws keep people from getting in car accidents, and that too, is a good thing.

And that's why Christians shouldn't be too nice.

On a seminary campus, everybody wants to be so nice and friendly to those around them that sometimes they forget that we have laws that tell us how to drive.

For example, pedestrians should cross at a cross walk. In the normal world, you could get at ticket for jaywalking if you cross outside of a crosswalk, especially if it interrupts the flow of traffic (however I would like to meet somebody who's ever been ticketed for jaywalking!).

But in seminary world, if a car sees somebody standing on the curb about to cross, they stop and let the jaywalker cross. How very nice of them, right? Except that then the pedestrians become accustomed to nice drivers allowing them to cross at any time and start to cross the street all the time, without looking or waiting for the cars to stop. Before you know it, there's people crossing the street everywhere, and cars are piling up behind them. Or, mothers are crossing the streets with their toddlers without looking, because they assume the cars will stop. Danger danger!!

But our seminary doesn't have enough crosswalks, so let's blame that problem on the people who forgot to paint stripes on our streets.

Let's take another example: at a stop-sign intersection, the first car to arrive is supposed to go first. This is to avoid accidents. But at a seminary intersection, the first car to arrive wants to be considerate and motions for the second car to go first. But maybe the second car also wants to be a kind Christian, so they motion for the first car to go first. But the first car wants to be kinder than the second car, so they motion for the second car to go first. But the second car arrived last and wants to, in all kindness, follow the law, so they motion for the first car to go first. But the first car is still motioning for the second car to go first, so the second car starts to inch forward, but by that time the first car begins to think that the second car outdid him in kindness, so he starts to inch forward. The second car stops when he sees the first car inch forward, but the first car has already seen the second car inching so he stops. Then the second car inches forward again because the first car stopped, but by that time the first car has begun to inch forward again upon seeing that the second car stopped.

Make that a three-way intersection and we've got some real confusion on our hands!

Almost every day I witness a traffic violation due to a nice Christian forgetting the law, or a nice Christian pedestrian assuming that the nice Christian in the car will be so nice as to let them pass.

So far, I am unaware of traffic accidents due to nice Christians being too nice, but it is only a matter of time.

And that, my friends, is why Christians shouldn't be too nice.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

2 Timothy 1:7-13

For God
has not given us
a spirit of
timidity,
but of
POWER
and
love
and
discipline.

Therefore
do not be ashamed
of the testimony
of our Lord
or
of me His prisoner,
but
join with me
in
suffering
for
the GOSPEL
according to the
POWER of GOD,
who has saved us
and
called us
with a holy calling,
NOT
according to our works,
but
according to His
own
purpose
and
grace
which was
granted us
in
Christ Jesus
from
all eternity,
but

now

has been revealed
by the appearing
of our
Savior
Christ
Jesus,
who
ABOLISHED death
and
brought LIFE
and
immortality
to light
through
the GOSPEL,
for which
I was appointed
a preacher
and
an apostle
and
a teacher.
For this reason
I also suffer these things,
but
I AM NOT ASHAMED;
for
I know
whom I have believed
and
I am convinced
that
He is able
to guard
what I have entrusted
to Him
until that day.

Retain
the standard
of sound words
which
you have heard from me,
in
the faith
and
love
which
are in
Christ Jesus.

http://www.swbts.edu/chapel/chapel_archive.cfm

Click on "Justin Peters"

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in him, all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority..."

- Colossians 2:6-10

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But if even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"

- Galatians 1:6-9

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and by His kingdom, preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

- 1 Timothy 2:1-5

The Boy

I was skimming through my few posts over the past year...one was when my six year old nephew said, "you need to find someone to get married with."

Haha!

Well, as you can see from my new blog picture, I have found myself a man.

His name is Matt.

He is from Georgia.

He lived in Nepal for two years and speaks Nepali.

He is also getting an mDiv here.

We met in January, when he and his roommate helped my roommate move in. She said she would cook dinner for them as a way of saying thank you. I was super excited about meeting boys, so of course I was all for it. Then on the first day of class she introduced them to me. He was so talkative and friendly, and at the end of our first conversation, he told me that I was "very interesting."

Then we went to chapel and he sat next to me.

He sang really loudly.

It was out of key and absolutely adorable.

A week later we had them over for taco soup. After dinner, we played a game of Spades in which he and my roommate were partners and lost terribly.

Our roommates say that was when they saw the sparks begin to fly.

We started hanging out every single day - chapel, class, gym - he even came to Starbucks, despite the fact that he hates coffee, to "study" with us.

One evening the guys had "Pancake Night" at their house. After we ate, we all watched "Seven Years in Tibet." Near the end of the movie, he held my hand.

The next day we had a "discussion."

We didn't start dating right away (but I wouldn't let him hold my hand until he was ready to commit!), but a week or two later. He wanted to "take some time" to think about it and get to know me better, since it all happened so quickly (we met early January, started dating Feb 12), but just couldn't seem to wait, so we decided we either needed to make it official or stop spending so much time together.

So we made it official. :)

And now we've been official for seven and a half months.

Yikes!

I like Matthew quite a lot. :)


Any questions?

Why Do I Always Do This?

So far this semester, I've had five quizzes in Greek, if you include the one I'm about to take tomorrow.

With the exception of one of the quizzes, I realized I had a quiz the night before, about 9 or 10pm...

Why do I always do this?

Thankfully, they're all review quizzes from what we learned last year, but still - yikes!

Back to studying participles...

I'm Back!!

Well, sort of.


I can't promise my bi-weekly (and sometimes more) blog posts that I used to make, but I am determined to get back in the swing of blogging.

"Where have you been?" you might be asking.

Well, you're not the only one asking such a question. It's filled my email in-box, my facebook wall, and the minds and hearts of all my faithful blog readers. All two of you.

For one thing, I don't have internet. That makes blogging kind of difficult.

Also, life has been busy.

Each semester for the past 13 months I've been taking 12-13 hours of grad school, as well as working about 25-30 hours a week. Now, in college that would have been an overabundant load of work, but seminary is a different ballgame. 9 hours is considered "full time", and I understand completely why. It's quite a challenge staying on top of things!

Also, I have a boyfriend. :)

His name is Matt, he's from Georgia, he used to live in Nepal (during the same time that I was in Spain), and he likes sports and Coca-Cola a lot.

I'm rather fond of him. Tee hee.

So that's another reason for my mysterious absence from the blogging world. Too much time studying, working, and attempting to date my boyfriend.

We've been dating 7 1/2 months now. WOW! I can hardly believe it!

You may be wondering where I've been working: Pappadeaux!! Google it. It's tasty. If there's one in your area, you should go there for dinner tonight. It's a Cajun seafood restaurant, and while a little bit pricey (I may work there, but I can't quite afford to eat there...), it's definitely worth it if you can squeeze it into your budget every now and then.

You may be wondering what I'm studying: Jesus! Well, sort of. I'm getting a Master of Divinity (mDiv) at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's been a GREAT (but challenging) experience so far. I'm learning so much, and really enjoy my classes, professors, and classmates.

To give you an idea of what kinds of classes I take at seminary, here's what last year looked like:

Fall:
Church History 1 (33AD-crusades)
Elementary Greek 1
Old Testament 1 (Genesis-Esther)
Hermeneutics (interpretation)
Spiritual Formation (chapel, Scripture memory, Spiritual disciplines, etc)

Spring:
Church History 2 (Reformation-current)
Elementary Greek 2
Old Testament 2
Spiritual Formation

Fall (right now):
Missiology (the study of missions)
Systematic Theology 1
New Testament Greek 1 (we're translating Colossians!)
Ishmael/Arabs in Biblical History

It's been quite an experience!

I also have the greatest roommate of all time.

Her name is Emily, and she was a journeyman in Spain, also. She lived in the Canary Islands and we met in Seville, became friends in the Algarve (Portugal), and hung out lots and lots in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Frankfurt, and Munich. Now we live together! She's been one of the greatest blessings to me. I was so lonely before she came, and having her as a friend and roommate has turned everything around. We cry together, laugh together, sing together, make crazy noises together, live, work, study, and go to church together...you would think we'd get sick of each other, but instead, it's quite the opposite! I can't get enough of her!

Surely you're getting bored now.

Now that both of my faithful readers know that I still exist, I can get back to blogging as usual.

Come back soon!

Bruner

Growing Up

Today was full of responsible, adult-like activities.

I opened a new bank account, bought a mattress, began applying for a job for which I need a Ft. Worth phone number, so I then set up an 817 phone number through Skype and had all calls forwarded to my non-817 cell phone, and I began packing to move in to my first apartment that I personally will pay for, with no help from my mother and no company to pay for it.

Starting last month I began paying for my own car insurance, choosing health insurance, paying my own rent and bills, and generally partaking in responsible, adult-like activities.

It's not that I didn't do any of those things in Spain, but it was so much easier there. I walked into a job situation in which my health insurance, housing, and travel was all provided for me. I had no car, so I didn't have to worry about car insurance, gas, repairs, etc. Now, after a little help from my family who got me set up (thank you!!), I'm a responsible, independent, single adult.

It feels...

exciting.

terrifying.

exhilarating.

overwhelming.

empowering.

This is my first time being an adult, so I'm still trying to figure it all out.

I think I like it. But it scares me. Suddenly there's so much...

responsibility.

That's a big word.

Yet I'm not worried. Scared, yes, but worried, no. :)

Last semester God provided for all of my needs.

Sometimes it was "natural" - through my savings, a little help from my mom, a few babysitting gigs - and sometimes it was "supernatural" - somebody offering a rent-free living situation, a man at church who felt he needed to give me some cash, a fellow student who did the same, $5 in the mail from a friend, an invitation to dinner; God provided through both expected and unexpected means.

I never went hungry - in fact, I ate quite nicely.

When my shoes fell apart (literally), I had money to buy new ones.

I even had the funds for a few clothing splurges (I may be on a budget, but I'm still a girl!).

I have no doubt that God will provide abundantly this Spring as well.

So join me on my blog as I begin this new adventure in life called "adulthood," full of responsibility, adventure and bills.

Still Single

My six year old nephew just told me, "You need to find someone to get married with."

From the mouths of babes, right?