Looking to the Future

I have a tendency to get very excited about new things.  This can be good, no one can ever accuse me of being apathetic, but often times this sets me up for disappointment.  Recently, I have been planning for the future, for when I go back to the good old U.S. of A.  I've always wanted to do youth ministry and have been able to do a lot here in Peru with some of the missionaries daughters and more recently with some of the girls from Arevalo Church (I've been hesitant to work with them because of my limited Spanish but have just decided I'd rather make a fool of myself than miss this opportunity).  But last week I decided to take a few steps in looking for a job in the US.  I e-mailed Kelly (one of my old girls youth directors) and asked her where she'd found Cornerstone.  Though she said she could not remember, she did give me an awesome website where I could look at ads from churches for ministry opportunities.  I do my first search, only limiting it to the U.S. and start scanning through the list of ads.  The ones in Houston and Katy of course catch my attention first, and on the second page my eyes land on a church that looks familiar.  I click on the link and sure enough, it's one of the churches in my hometown.  I know the assistant pastor and the current youth director and they are looking for a girls youth minister.

Needless to say I got really excited.  There was skipping involved.

After e-mailing said youth director (via facebook, which has been rather weird lately, at least for me) he e-mails me back confirming my question and offering to send an application if I'll send my e-mail address.  Perfect.  The clouds opened up and the angels sang.  Now it's just a waiting game, not to mention one where God is teaching me to trust and to wait patiently.  At this point there is nothing I can do but pray, and if He wants me in this job, then there will be nothing to stop that.  But I WORRY!  I'm in Peru and might not get back until July.  Will this 'perfect job' wait for that?  What if facebook, which won't let me reply to messages at the moment, dropped the one I was able to send and the guy never got it?  What if I just plain don't get it?  It's so perfect!  It's close to my family (something I've really been missing here), it's something I've always wanted to do, and I know people at the church.  Needless to say, the past four or five days have made me a bit nervous.  However, I'm reminded of God's promise to Abraham.  He said that even in his old age, Abraham would have a child through Sarah who was barren.  Though my situation is not nearly as astronomically important as Abraham's, it is still important to me and Abraham's story reminds me that God's plan is perfect, and that all I have to do is trust.  Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God."  I need to learn to simply be still, and that no matter what happens, His plans are for the best.

Praying for the President

"Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.  So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgement on themselves."  Romans 12:16

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  Matthew 22:21

With the inauguration today, my brain has been on the state of our country, of our newly elected president, of FOCA, and most importantly, God's hand in our lives.  I've heard Christians talk about how they believe that Obama is the antichrist, some think he really will do good for the country, and others are simply apathetic.  Now, I don't know if I believe that Obama is the antichrist or an antichrist or anything like that, but I do know what scripture says about our leaders.  They had been put in place by God and we should give them the respect that comes with their office.  More importantly, we should be praying for them.  Being the president, being a leader of any kind, is not an easy job, not on the one leading nor on his family.  So though I do not agree with Obama on the majority of the issues, I will be praying for his salvation, I will be praying that he will make wise decisions, and I will be praying for his family.  This doesn't mean that I won't be praying that some of his decisions (like his promise to deregulate the abortion system) will be stopped, but it does mean that I will honor the man God has put in place just as I tried to honor Bush before him.  It's not an easy thing, but nothing right ever is.  

On another note, a few weeks ago our pastor at Arevalo gave a sermon on Matthew 22.  He paralleled that verse with Genesis 1:27 (God created man in His own image).  He used this parallel to show how as Christians we have the mark of God on us and that as we are to give our taxes to the one whose face is on the coin, we are to also give our lives to the one in whose image we were created.  

Equally Skilled

This is kind of a lazy post today, but this song always gets me, makes me stop and want to worship the God of the universe, who condescended to lower Himself to our level, walk around on this earth for a few years, and then suffer death for us.  It reminds me of how unworthy I am and how great He is.  

Equally Skilled, Jon Foreman

How miserable I am

I feel like a fruit picker who arrived here 

after the harvest

There's nothing here at all

There's nothing at all here that could placate my hunger

The godly people are all gone

There's not one honest soul left alive here on this planet

We're all murderers and thieves

Setting traps here for even our brothers

And both of our hands 

Are equally skilled

At doing evil

Equally skilled

At perverting justice

Both of our hands

Both of our hands

The day of justice comes

And is even now swiftly arriving

Don't trust anyone at all

Not your best friend or even your wife

For the son hates the father

The daughter despises even the mother

Look! Your enemies are right

Right in the room of your very household

And both of their hands are equally skilled

Equally skilled

No, don't gloat over me

For though I fall, though I fall

I will rise again

Though I sit here in darkness

The Lord, the Lord alone

He will be my light.

I will be patient as the Lord

Punishes me for the wrongs I've done against Him

After that He'll take my case

Bringing me to light and to justice

For all I have suffered

And both of His hands 

Are equally skilled

At ruining evil

Equally skilled

At judging the judges

Equally skilled 

At administering justice

Both of His hands

Both of His hands

Are equally skilled

At showing mercy

Equally skilled

At loving the loveless

Equally skilled

At administering justice

Both of His hands

Both of His hands

Peruvian Food Part 2

So I made the palta rellena on Friday, but forgot to take my computer home so I didn't get any pictures.  It was fabulous, though I forgot to cook the carrots and peas... ok, I'll be honest, I wasn't sure I needed to.  It ended up making way more than needed (three avocados makes a ton of food) so next time hopefully it will be better.  I will try and make it again so I can get pictures, but it wasn't very pretty =D

Beach Day

Cebiche - fish soaked in lime and awesomeness.

Me, Gillian, and Rebeca

Julie, Heather, Elva, Rebeca, and Me

Rebeca, Julie, and Heather

Julie

Heather

Patty

Me

From left to right: Nathan, Patty, Rebeca, Me, and Richard.  Huanchaco, Peru.

Peruvian Food Part 1

When I went home over break, my mother asked me to make some Peruvian food.  Unfortunately, I could not as I had never tried making any while I was here.  So my "New Years Resolution" (I don't really believe in those, they never work) is to start learning to make Peruvian food.  Now some of these will be difficult as in the state I don't think we have any aji (and amazing spice the Peruvians use for everything) but I will at least be able to make some version of it with the help of Noemi, Pastor Eduardo's wife and my Spanish teacher:

So tonight, I am attempting Palta Rellena (stuffed avocado).  It's the simplest recipe I could think of, which is good as I am starting on my own.  After my attempt I will show you pictures of my creation.

Ingredients:

- 1 papa (potato)

- zanahoria (carrot) 

-arvejas (green beans)

-mayonesa (mayo)

Instructions (pending, after I actually make it I'll let you know what worked)

Crazy

There comes a point in blog slacking when you realize that it just cannot go on any longer, and tonight was one of those points.  So much went on just last weekend that I am overwhelmed by the amount of things I need to talk about to my three readers.  So I suppose I will start there, the beginning is as good a place to start as any.  

Friday, January 2, 3009, I left the Houston airport for Canada around 8 A.M.  Yes, I went to Canada in order to get to Lima.  Believe it or not, flying to Lima via Canada is a lot less expensive than flying through Atlanta.  Search me.  The flight would have been great, I had a great book to read, a non-smelly person sitting next to me, and a lovely snack of tomato juice, but the flight sort of... got to me.  For those of you at home with weak stomach you will either appreciate this next part or will want to skip it.  I started to feel sick about halfway through the flight and promptly went to the bathroom.  There was little to no color in my face but I could not get my body to 'give up' whatever was in it that was making it feel bad so I went back to my seat, grabbing the trusty barf bag, just in case.  After another ten or so minutes of feeling truly miserable and being unable to focus on my book, I realized, or rather my body realized, that it was time to evacuate.  Desperately, I tried to get out of my seat and make it to the bathroom... wasn't gonna happen.  Thankfully I did have the little bag, and it received into it's arms the tomato juice I had just ingested.    After apologizing to the other passengers I was able to make it to the back and dispose of the said bag and then the nice stewardess gave me some ginger ale.  I felt much better and had no more episodes on that front.

The flight from Canada to Lima was uneventful but nice.  I had both seats to myself, finished my novel that I had bought in the Houston airport (Shameless plug: Harlan Coben, No Second Chances, couldn't put it down), watched an episode of Pushing Daisies (moment of silence for its cancelation), and took a little nap.  My next problem came and baggage claim.  The problem?  No baggage.  I filled out a report with many shed tears (those of you who know me will understand that I unfortunately cry about everything, a habit I'm praying desperately about) and went on to my hotel.  The next day I met up with the team that was coming to visit and put on a camp for the children in Trujillo, got a ride with them to the market, and then went on to the Lima airport to head to Trujillo.  Once in Trujillo I realized that I had no keys and so went to the nearest mall to get on the internet.  I ended up having to buy some clothes (I foolishly had packed no overnight bag) and stayed with a missionary family.  To make a long story short I finally got my bags back on Tuesday (the heavens open and the angels sing) and the rest of the week was uneventful.  I have a three classes (basic conversation, basic 5, and intermediate 6) and I really like the way things are going so far.  God has blessed me this month with sweet students.

Saturday we went to Huanchaco, the local beach.  I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged and really, really long) and got super sunburned.  No shock there.  I did use sunscreen but unfortunately did not reapply on my back.  We ended the day with cebiche and ice cream and then I went back to SALI to finish lesson planning for the week.  A rather anticlimactic ending to a fun day.

Well, that's it for the update for now!  And for those of you who were wondering, I was in College Station for only a few hours and unfortunately got to see no one!  Missed you Fergusons!   

Blog Slacker

So over my break I did no blogging whatsoever, so this post is merely to say that I will give a full review in the very near future for those of you who have no lives and actually read my blog ;-).  But for now, a quick overview of my two weeks in the U.S. and my trip back to Peru:

1. Lots of amazing food
2. Wonderful family and catching up with friends
3. Twilight three times (yes, I am pathetic)
4. Shopping
5. Surprise Christmas presents
6. Two trips to College Station
7. Harlan Coben - if you like reading and murder mysteries he's fabulous
8. Watching old movies with the fam.
9. Getting sick on the way to Toronto
10. Air Canada losing my bags
11. Air Canada finding my bags!
12. And a partridge in a pair tree...

Obviously the last one was added for effect.  A more thorough post will come.  But for now I have to lesson plan.  It was so good to see those of you I got to see over Christmas and hope to see the rest when I come back!

Adventures in Traveling

Now that I am safely back home in the good old U.S. of A, I can look back at my travels to get here and laugh.  At the time most of the things that happened were not funny, but now, especially with a much clearer head, I can definitely chuckle.  

It actually started out Tuesday morning when I woke up with a sore throat.  At first I thought that it was just allergies so when I got to SALI I took some allergy medicine and hoped for the best.  Unfortunately, as the day progressed I started feeling worse, but of course I needed to head out, so I tried to ignore it.  Things came to a head when I reached the Lima airport and stood in line for at least 45 minutes in the line to check my bags.  I was starting to feel dizzy and was having more and more trouble swallowing.  By the time I got through customs I was hot and cold and having an extremely hard time thinking, much less speaking in Spanish or English for that matter.  When I couldn't find my gate I asked for help, or rather, signed that I needed help.  The woman, who thankfully spoke English, became instantly worried, got me to buy some water, and then took me to an airport employee.  Almost immediately, he called the airport doctor.  After checking me over and discovering that, big surprise, I had a fever and (I think) strep, told me that I needed an antibiotic and that unfortunately all they had was a shot, no pills.  Furthermore, they needed to give me the shot in the butt.  Yeah, I wasn't exactly cool with that, but they told me I might not be let on the plane.  So after finding a female employee who would go with me, I went to the bathroom and got my first ever shot in the butt... in the Lima airport...

Amazingly, a few hours later I could actually swallow and the fever had gone away.  I was so relieved that the fact that I couldn't really sleep on the plane didn't bother me.  After that the trip was fairly uneventful and I finally made it to Texas to enjoy a glass of wine and hot wings (great combo believe it or not) with my Dad.  

I'm so thankful to be back for a while and that I got sick while I was traveling and not working.  God is so good and I'm so thankful for His love and protection.  He was just reminding me of how He is in control and that no matter how bad things seem at the time He can take me through it.  

Thanksgiving... Finally

It has been a few weeks since Thanksgiving and I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post.  Needless to say I've been a blog slacker lately.  So though it is a little late I figured it would be better to post the things I'm thankful for before Christmas actually came around.  Because I have so many things to be thankful for, I decided that narrowing the list would be the best option.  Here are six things that I am thankful for.

Number one: My U.S. friends.  A huge influence on my life from High School to College.  They've made me happy, frustrated me, co

nvicted me, been there for me, and have always loved me even when I'm frustrating them.  I am so thankful that God has put them in my life and that we've stayed in touch while I've been here in Peru.

Number two: My Peru friends.  Through all of my homesickness and the like, Heather, Julie, Gillian, Sarah, and Hamilton have been there for me.  Whether it was showing me around town,

listening to me when I was blubbering at midnight, or giving me directions to the post office,these girls have been Christ to me for the last four months.  I'll really miss Sara and Hamilton next year but I look forward to welcoming the new girl who comes and helping her out the way these girls have helped me.

Number three: My family.  Always, always there for me no matter how

 much of a pain I am.  I'm thankful for my Dad who is about as emotional as I am and is willing (and excited) to watch The Incredibles a thousand times with me.  I'm thankful for my mom who talks to me on Skype every day and helps me to realize when I'm being irrational.  And I'm thankful for Thomas, who though often times gets on my last nerve ;-) is the best younger brother in the world and is willing to play the movie game for hours on end.

Number four: Skype.  Allowing me to connect with my family back in the states.  I really don't

know what on earth I would do without it.  I love my family and hope that I'll talk to them everyday until we're old and gray.

Number five: Peru mission.  Frustrating, sometimes lonely, amazing, and of course a learning experience.  I know that God has sent me here for a reason and I am so glad that He is in control and not me.  I'm learning Spanish, gaining ministry experience, meeting awesome people and hopeful

ly spreading His love to the people I meet.  Though I've missed everyone in the states I've gained a new family here and they've helped me through the hard times.  I look forward to seeing God's kingdom advance while I am here.

Number six: Jesus Christ.  I know that sounds like a church answer but I couldn't write this list without Him.  Even in times when I feel I have no one, when I can't hug my mom or dad or my friends from back home, when I feel directionless and maybe even a little unloved I know that He will always be faithful, He will always love me, He will never let me down.  He is my Lord and Savior, my Life and Light.  I am so thankful that God the Father came down as God the Son to live a perfect life and die with my sins on Him, and then to rise again conquering death.  I can only hope to serve Him the way He deserved, but I rest on the fact that though I may stumble He will never love me any less than He already does.

My Students

Well, some of them.  These are two of my basic 9 students.  I've had them for about four months and they have improved so much!  It's really exciting to see them understanding more and more each month we go.  Now if only I could remind myself to speak a little more slowly.

Hard and work... because I told them to pretend to work on their work books...

They'd kill me if they knew I put this one up...

The one in blue is Roseangel (she and her husband are expecting their second child!  Yay!) and the one on the left is Susana.  Keep them in your prayers.

Blog Tag!

So, I was just tagged by my friend Mari.  Thought it might be fun to play along!

The Rules::*Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.  *Share seven facts about yourself on your blog.*  Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.  *Let them know they are

 being tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fact 1: I am currently working as a missionary in Trujillo, Peru teaching English to Peruvians. 

 I miss my family bunches but am enjoying the opportunity to serve here.

Fact 2: One of my favorite things in the world to do is write.  I have currently written about four and a half novels (not very good ones I can assure you) and I am currently trying to finish the half and praying for inspiration for a novel that will, in fact, alter the universe.

Fact 3:  I'm a little obsessed with working out.  I love the way I feel afterwards and it's an incredible stress buster.  Currently my vice is jump roping as it is a little easier on the knees and safer to do in Trujillo as I can do it in the comfort of my own house while I watch a movie or listen to music.  

Fact 4:  I play guitar... kind of.  I also had the best teacher ever, who will be tagged once I'm done putting up ridiculous facts about myself.

Fact 5:  This is making me feel rather narcissistic... does that count as a fact?

Fact 6:  Some of my favorite movies are the Pixar Movies.  Not only are they clean, but they are incredibly clever not to mention adorable.  My father and I bond over movies and one of our favorites to watch together is The Incredibles.  It surprisingly has a lot of good insights into life.

Fact 7:  My dream job would be being a stay at home mother who writes world changing novels on the side... of course God likes to have His own plans which in the end are normally way better than what I planned so we'll see what happens in the future.

Tagging:

 Kiki: My amazing former girls youth director and current awesome mom/writer.

Kelly:  My other amazing, awesome former girls youth director, currently and awesome mom.

Hamilton: Awesome roomie here in Peru.

Jessica:  Awesome friend from high school.

Julie:  Yet another amazing room mate in Peru

Gillian: A very cool lady living with me in Peru, answering my many questions

The Krajca Family:  A second family to me while I was living in College Station

Prayers For SALI

So, for those of you keeping up, I've just finished my fourth month at SALI.  Things went well this past month, my students have improved a lot which is awesome, but they need work on grammar (as do I =P).  Yesterday (the last day of class for the month) I went out with my Basic 8 class for Cebiche, it was fabulous and though we spoke Spanish pretty much the entire time the little English they did speak was so much improved!  I have two of the same classes next month and a new class.  It's going to be a little crazy teaching three grammar classes but I've already taught one of the courses so it shouldn't be too bad.  Just a TON of grading.

Now, prayers for this month:

• SALI has to move.  The details are sketchy and confusing but the bottom line is we have to move before January.  We had thought about closing SALI for December as it would be very busy trying to move and teach but we would not be able to pay our bills if we closed to that idea got panned.  The big problem right now is finding a place.  As of now I don't think we have anything.
• The girls have to move.  Despite our contract with the man who is in charge of our apartment the guys who owns the building wants to move into our specific apartment by January and in the spirit of avoiding unnecessary confrontation it was decided that we should leave.  I'm not going to lie, I'm not real excited as I have moved about 7 times in the last six months, so the prayer is that I will be thankful that God is the one in control and that this is somehow the best.  So pray for sanity with all this moving and that our students won't suffer.
• That despite all the craziness please pray that God will show His love and patience through me and that I will have a thankful spirit rather than a complaining one.  

Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for me and keeping up with my blog.  I hope to see as many of you as possible when I come home for Christmas!  God bless!

Time for a Random Post

Every morning I make oatmeal for breakfast with a little peanut butter.  It's tasty, pretty healthy, and it keeps me full until my midmorning snack.  However, this morning when I was making it things did not go so well.  Yesterday one of our friends from church came over to make ceviche and some other fish dish (I could never figure out the name).  Ceviche is fish that has been prepared with lemon and aji (not a clue if I spelled that one right) which is a spice they use here.  The acid in the lemon makes it safe to eat without cooking (I realize that I may have people correcting me on this and corrections are appreciated =P).  The other dish was incredibly spicy and sooo good.  Unfortunately, they used the little pot that I use for my oatmeal.  I smell the spiciness this morning and had second thoughts about using it, but then decided to try.  Mistake.  My oatmeal was spicy and disgusting.  I felt pretty silly.  Needless to say, tomorrow I will be using another pot!

Christmas Comes Early in Peru

So because Peruvians do not celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously) the super early Christmas celebrating comes even earlier than it does in the states.  Though I know many people in Texas who will put up lights the day after Thanksgiving, our cleaning lady and secretary are already putting up a Christmas tree.  No joke.  But that's alright with me.  Christmas is my favorite time of year, family getting together, friends reuniting, giving presents, good food, and most importantly celebrating the birth of Christ.  So here are a few pictures to enjoy though it is a bit early:

"Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  Luke 12:15

Today, I left my back pack in the trunk of a taxi.  Not only was my credit card in it, but also my driver's license, keys, journal, and bible.  The card, easily canceled, the driver's license, easily replaced along with my keys, but the things I wrote in my bible and journal are a little harder to let go.  Hopefully, those lessons are still in my heart and the writing still in my head.  But I have so much to be thankful for!  Most of the time I leave my passport in that bag.  Thankfully, we are taking care of my visa at the moment so the missionaries have that.  Thankfully, the only money I lost was sixty soles and a missionary family let me use their Vonage phone to call my credit card company and cancel it.  Thankfully, they understand that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and they loaned me a little money.  Thankfully, though I now can't get into my cabinet at SALI, my students have a listening exam this week... MOVIE DAY!  

I have been very upset all day.  I won't lie and say that I've taken this as well as I should have, but I've been shown so much support and generosity and I know God will help me through it.  However, your prayers are greatly appreciated.  Pray that I'll have peace, pray that my new credit card will get to me soon, and pray that I won't be in anyway bitter about losing my stuff.  Because in reality, it isn't my stuff at all, it belongs to God.

A Word From a Pretty Smart Guy

  "Would you think I was joking if I said that you can put a clock back, and that if the clock is wrong it is often a very sensible thing to do?  But I would rather get away from the whole idea of clocks.  We all want progress.  But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be.  And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer.  If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest it the most progressive man."  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

I felt this quote appropriate, especially with all this talk of change and progress, and though I don't have too much to say about it, I hope that whatever the change may be that Christians would simply pray one thing "Lord, you will, not mine, be done."

Blog Change

Well, unless you're blind you noticed the change.  Why you ask?  I was bored with the old lay out and this one is much brighter and prettier.  Enjoy =D

Bye Caleb!

Last Saturday we went to Moche.  I enjoyed duck for the first time and must say I liked it very much.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and there was dancing and as always lots of food.  That night we went to the bus station to bid our fearless leader, Caleb Sutton, farewell.  We'll miss his bad jokes, amazing grasp of the Spanish language, leadership, and daily hugs (enforced by Hamilton, Sarah, and myself).  Bye Ca-leb!  You'll be always in our prayers!

Where's Your Trust

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  Psalm 20:7

Though I am not particularly happy about the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election, I am at peace.  Despite the fact that I believe Obama will do terrible things, I do not trust in presidents or kings, I trust in the Lord of all creation, the Holy One who came down to us, walked in our skin, and took on our punishment to satisfy God's holy and just wrath.  I trust in my savior, because He is all powerful, all knowing, holy, and perfect.  Unlike either presidential candidate He is perfectly good and works all things for good.  

So though I will be praying for the new president, I will not be putting my trust in him, I'll be putting my trust in my eternal King.