JESUS,
i am a humble, lowly
servant woman. take
me… all of me. add any-
thing, take anything away.
at any cost. with any price.

make me yours completely… wholly.
may I not be remembered for the
way i wear my hair, or the shape of
my face, or the people i know or
the crowds i’ve addressed. May i
be known for loving You… for carrying
a dream… for building bridges to
the hurt and broken and lost in the
world. Make me what You would be if
you lived in person where i do. May
everything accomplished through my
simple life bring honor and glory to
You.

take my human flaws and
failures and use them to remind
those who know me that only
You are God and i will
always just be me.

amen
&
amen

Yesterday afternoon while I was cooking up a yummy batch of butternut squash soup, I clicked on this to watch. I had no idea what I was in for.

Very Young Girls

Very Young Girls is a documentary about the sexual exploitation of very young girls in New York City. The average age that a girl enters into “the life” is 13. THIRTEEN. Heart breaking…no…heart WRENCHING. These vulnerable girls are picked up by men who promise to love them, care for them, and be their “daddy.”

The whole time I was watching it, I kept thinking about how the Bible tells us that we can call our Heavenly Father, “Daddy.” HE is our true Abba. We did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ABBA! FATHER!” Or as the message tells us: “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”

These girls have lost all of their child-like wonder. They have lost all of their spark and fervor for life.

But the worst part about it…this is happening every day, all over the world to 30 million people.

Visit http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/ to find out more about the global problem and see what you can do to get involved.

Flag of Slovenia

I don’t think I had heard much of anything about Slovenia until we started praying for them 2 nights ago! Or how about these guys?

The Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands…we prayed for them last night.

I’ve been shocked at my lack of knowledge about the world that God created! I know nothing about world geography or the other people with whom I share this planet.

Using Operation World for our prayer times has been great for D and I. Since the beginning of our marriage we’ve struggled to make family devotions “work.” But now that we have a plan and a book to help guide us, family devotions are something that D and I actually look forward to. PTL! We want to have a family that consistently prays together, and we want to have a family that is focused on the global church and the great commission. We want to see us and our family truly live out the call to make disciples of all nations.

Did you know that there are 1,420.2 MILLION people in SOUTH ASIA ALONE who have never heard of our savior, Jesus? There are 225.5 MILLION people in the Arab world who have never heard. Less that 0.05 % of Afghan people are Christians. In Turkey, the number drops to 0.01 %.

Sobering, huh? D and I have been really sobered by reading through Operation World. Pick up a copy. It might change your prayer life, and heck…God might just use it to change your life. I encourage you to begin praying for the world, especially for those who have never heard. When God’s people pray, God makes things happen.

I struggle with body image issues. I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t. That’s why I love the True Campaign….because the write articles like this that help me to remember that I’m not the clothes I wear, the size I buy, or what the number on the scale says. I’m a child of the king of the universe. That’s good enough for me…

Check out the post over at the True Campaign. The article reminds me of my sister in law (check out her yummy blog)…whenever anyone says something bad about themselves in her presence, she requires them to say 10 nice things about myself instead. She’s on to something, just like the people over at the True Campaign.

Image from:http://www.aicr.org/new/images/photos/200px%20wide/200×133/ScaleDial.jpg

W-H-O-A. .

I don’t work at Starbucks anymore. In November, I was hired at a nonprofit here in Orlando, and worked for them until the Lord moved me in a totally different direction in march– to seminary to study for a Masters in Counseling. I started the program in June!

The Lord has been working in our lives in amazing ways lately….and we are grateful for the opportunity to study together.

So that’s where we are…2 seminary students attempting to do life, school, marriage, church, and all of the other stuff that comes with it together. We stumble and fall, and we get back up again, knowing that by the grace of God go we.

We started a tradition last year of making anniversary resolutions instead of New Year’s resolutions…last year it was to take more pictures. We didn’t get very far considering not long after our anniversary, we discovered that both of our cameras were broken! Now, we have a hand me down camera from D’s mom. Yay! We can finally get started on last year’s resolution!

This year’s resolution is to work on the Radical Experiment from David Platt’s book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. It has been an incredible book to read, and this year we’re embarking on something that has already proved to be an amazing way for God to work in or lives.

The radical experiment consists of 5 different things: 1. Read through the entire word (which we’re modifying to doing our church’s bible reading plan with the rest of our church family), 2. Pray for the world (we’re using the Operation World book as soon as the new one comes out– hopefully by October 29) 3. Sacrifice your $$ for a specific purpose (yet to be decided…), 4. Spend 2% of your time in another context (also yet to be decided), and 5. Commit your life to a multiplying community (which we’re doing as a part of CITYchurch Orlando.

So– the goal is to use this blog to chronicle our year as we work through the Radical Experiment together. Would you pray for us as we embark on this journey? We are already praising God for the ways he has worked in our hearts just in the last week or two… How might God work in yours?

I’ve fallen into a crazy busy world of working crazy hours at Starbucks (4:30 AM? Really?! Yes.), and just trying to keep up with life.

Stay tuned for an oh so fabulous update on the trip Dan surprised me with for our first anniversary!

But for now, Stephanie over at Keeper of the Home has really been encouraging me lately (She’s also doing a great contest for a stellar food dehydrator that I would be THRILLED to win). I want my home to be a happy, healthy place that is a respite from the world. Stephanie has some great tips for doing so, and for rejoicing in being able to do so. While we don’t necessarily see eye to eye on everything, Stephanie has made a great contribution to my life and my ways of thinking. Check her out!

Stay tuned…I’m off to lunch with my sweet friend Christie at Ethos, a vegan place here in Orlando that I’ve been dying to try!

And at least 27 million people are enslaved today.

We can not stand still; we can not sit back and allow this to happen all around us (yes, in Florida– http://www.palmbeachpost.com/moderndayslavery/content/moderndayslavery/), and all over the world.

November 14 is the beginning of the end of modern day slavery. Join me to screen a documentary by the International Justice Mission and to learn how we can support IJM in their mission to end slavery. 

This is my prayer for the 27 million slaves in our world today…Insert “slaves” or “slavery” whenever it says “zion,” “Jerusalem,” or “you.”

62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, [1]
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, [2]
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, [3]
and your land Married; [4]
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
take no rest,
7 and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give your grain
to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink your wine
for which you have labored;
9 but those who garner it shall eat it
and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.” [5]

10 Go through, go through the gates;
prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
lift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
12 And they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.

I cannot keep silent. I will announce a time/date for the screening very soon….stay tuned…

If you cannot join me at a screening in Orlando, find one near you at  http://attheendofslavery.com/gmaps.php

Paradise

It’s paradise. Glistening pool, perfect landscaping, that resort-type feel….But it’s not just any place, it belongs to a friend of ours. Well, technically it belongs to a very generous couple in Winter Park that allows our friend to live in their pool house,(Hence the 3 place settings). We had a great dinner of Chicken Teriyaki, Rice,Cranberry Sauce, and an Asian Salad. We had stimulating conversation, good wine,  and the weather was PERFECT. 80 degrees and no humidity. I am so thankful for our friends that we have made here. Better than I could have even imagined. 

Could this night get better? YES! Because after our fantastic dinner, and bites of avocado cake from yesterday, we had THIS:

Italian ice layered with soft serve ice cream, (not my picture, it’s from flikr). It was so good, that I completely forgot to take a picture! Notice to my out of town friends– we will go to Jeremiah’s when you come visit me….(ahem, Leslie, Blake, Sarah, Ginger, Jenni, Lindsay, Casey).

I hope your Mondays were all as paradise-ical as mine.

Avocado cake

are for baking.

This lovely green-frosted confection is a  Vegan Avocado cake. Yes, you heard read me, vegan avocado cake a-la Joy the Baker. Since I started reading her blog this summer, I’ve grown to adore her writings, and trust her recipes. Joy definitely knows what she’s doing. But, honestly, I didn’t trust her 100% on this one. The look on my husbands face was horrified when I told him my fabulous plan to bake said cake . Fair enough…but about an hour later, voila! 

It. Was. Good. Dense, chewy, chocolately, green goodness. 

And healthy to boot! (My husband’s words “Well, it’s the best healthy cake I’ve ever had.”). So– if you have the courage, and some avocados laying around, try this one out. You will NOT be disappointed*. Promise. 

*Make sure you let the cake cool completely. The taste of the avocado is still detectable if the cake is warm.