Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Back With Mi Gente
I was sitting in a church service a few nights back, when a small child ran up to me and buried her head in my lap.
It was Raquelita, my "adopted niece"!!!! I nearly cried, I was so glad to see her! And she had recognized me from across the room and had ran over to sit in my lap... (':
God knows JUST when to send a hug our way.
*sighs*
After her mother left her, asleep and alone in the house, Raquelita had such a sadness come over her. (who wouldn't?) Her eyes were always melancholy and prone to tear-up and she became very thin. Now, she's neeeeeeearly on the chubby side and the sparkle is back in her eyes and her giggle is IRRESISTIBLE! ^_^
I can hardly believe she's already 3!!!!!!
=O
Kids grow up so fast..
TOO fast, sometimes.
Amilcar came by the house a few nights back. He didn't know I was back from the USA.
He was drunk nearly every day of his life for I THINK 28 years. He's had an ulcer on his leg ever since I met him, and for a while I thought he was going to lose his leg. I scrubbed and bandaged and cared for his leg for like 3 weeks straight, trying to save him from having to have it amputated. He lived on our porch for roughly 3 weeks, and I became his personal (*sad face* and sometimes unwilling) nurse. He manage to stay away from the bottle for most of that time. I introduced him to hot tea. "Te caliente" is what he would call it.
After many months of prayers, from lots of people, (thank you, to those friends who prayed for him!!) Amilcar allowed God to change his life. He no longer drank, and would preach to his friends. I could hear him coming down the street because he would always sing a hymn, VERY loud, as he walked.
But the other evening when he came by...he was drunk.
After stayin dry for 5 years, he is drinkin again. Just like before.
I was in the kitchen, cooking supper, when I heard his voice in the doorway.
I marched over to him and demanded to know whether he was drinking or not. He denied it, in a very slurred voice, and then staggered back. I could smell the beer on him from where I was standing--a good three meters away. I told him that it made me very sad to see him drunk. And I think I told him not to come back is he was drunk. *winces*
I went back to the kitchen.
I didn't want to see him or speak to him.
I was very hurt and angry.
After staying sober for so long...and his leg was nearly healed when I left for the USA..
I heard Amilcar talking to Paul, my younger brother.
Amilcar was crying, "I didn't think she would ever come back. I thought she was gone. I didn't know she was here...she saw me like this! I made her sad. I'm going to kill myself. I didn't want her to see me like this. I didn't think she was coming back."
I felt bad for being angry. I wanted to go back out and offer him a cup of hot tea, but he had already left.
I hope he comes back.
I'd scrub his leg every day for three weeks again, if it meant 5 more sober years for him..
My sister April and I went with a bus-load of people from the Reformed Church for a baptism this morning.
13 people were baptized! Praise Jesus! (:
We met some new "young people" and I discovered that my skills at eating with a tortilla (instead of a fork) are a teeny bit rusty. ^_^
Someone had brought along two guitars and we had lots of fun "jamming" and singing whatever popped into our heads to sing.
Most of the youth from the church sat in the back of the bus, and the two guitarists got everyone singing at the top of our lungs to praise and worship songs ALL the way back to the church.
Today is also the anniversary of the death of Ricardo and Rosi's baby, Sandra Marisela.
April and I went to the cemetery with Rosi and a few others and then they came to our house to see the video I made of the pictures and video clips I took the day of the funeral.
I made it the day after the funeral, but I hadn't shown it to them before today because I was afraid it would be too hard for them to watch.
It WAS hard to watch..but they liked it and were glad to get to see the pictures of their beautiful baby.
A lot of their family came over to see it too. There was quite a crowd gathered around our computer, watching the video and passing around the toilet paper to dry the tears.
Once the movie was over, a few of the children stayed behind to drink coffee and color pictures at the table with Matthew and Hannah.
All of them gave me a tight hug and a teary smile as they filed out the door.
I didn't realize JUST how much I missed mi gente...or how much they missed me (':
It was Raquelita, my "adopted niece"!!!! I nearly cried, I was so glad to see her! And she had recognized me from across the room and had ran over to sit in my lap... (':
God knows JUST when to send a hug our way.
*sighs*
After her mother left her, asleep and alone in the house, Raquelita had such a sadness come over her. (who wouldn't?) Her eyes were always melancholy and prone to tear-up and she became very thin. Now, she's neeeeeeearly on the chubby side and the sparkle is back in her eyes and her giggle is IRRESISTIBLE! ^_^
I can hardly believe she's already 3!!!!!!
=O
Kids grow up so fast..
TOO fast, sometimes.
Amilcar came by the house a few nights back. He didn't know I was back from the USA.
He was drunk nearly every day of his life for I THINK 28 years. He's had an ulcer on his leg ever since I met him, and for a while I thought he was going to lose his leg. I scrubbed and bandaged and cared for his leg for like 3 weeks straight, trying to save him from having to have it amputated. He lived on our porch for roughly 3 weeks, and I became his personal (*sad face* and sometimes unwilling) nurse. He manage to stay away from the bottle for most of that time. I introduced him to hot tea. "Te caliente" is what he would call it.
After many months of prayers, from lots of people, (thank you, to those friends who prayed for him!!) Amilcar allowed God to change his life. He no longer drank, and would preach to his friends. I could hear him coming down the street because he would always sing a hymn, VERY loud, as he walked.
But the other evening when he came by...he was drunk.
After stayin dry for 5 years, he is drinkin again. Just like before.
I was in the kitchen, cooking supper, when I heard his voice in the doorway.
I marched over to him and demanded to know whether he was drinking or not. He denied it, in a very slurred voice, and then staggered back. I could smell the beer on him from where I was standing--a good three meters away. I told him that it made me very sad to see him drunk. And I think I told him not to come back is he was drunk. *winces*
I went back to the kitchen.
I didn't want to see him or speak to him.
I was very hurt and angry.
After staying sober for so long...and his leg was nearly healed when I left for the USA..
I heard Amilcar talking to Paul, my younger brother.
Amilcar was crying, "I didn't think she would ever come back. I thought she was gone. I didn't know she was here...she saw me like this! I made her sad. I'm going to kill myself. I didn't want her to see me like this. I didn't think she was coming back."
I felt bad for being angry. I wanted to go back out and offer him a cup of hot tea, but he had already left.
I hope he comes back.
I'd scrub his leg every day for three weeks again, if it meant 5 more sober years for him..
My sister April and I went with a bus-load of people from the Reformed Church for a baptism this morning.
13 people were baptized! Praise Jesus! (:
We met some new "young people" and I discovered that my skills at eating with a tortilla (instead of a fork) are a teeny bit rusty. ^_^
Someone had brought along two guitars and we had lots of fun "jamming" and singing whatever popped into our heads to sing.
Most of the youth from the church sat in the back of the bus, and the two guitarists got everyone singing at the top of our lungs to praise and worship songs ALL the way back to the church.
Today is also the anniversary of the death of Ricardo and Rosi's baby, Sandra Marisela.
April and I went to the cemetery with Rosi and a few others and then they came to our house to see the video I made of the pictures and video clips I took the day of the funeral.
I made it the day after the funeral, but I hadn't shown it to them before today because I was afraid it would be too hard for them to watch.
(Here's the link to the video: http://sandralapreciosa.blogspot.com/ )
I'm glad I waited til today..It WAS hard to watch..but they liked it and were glad to get to see the pictures of their beautiful baby.
A lot of their family came over to see it too. There was quite a crowd gathered around our computer, watching the video and passing around the toilet paper to dry the tears.
Once the movie was over, a few of the children stayed behind to drink coffee and color pictures at the table with Matthew and Hannah.
All of them gave me a tight hug and a teary smile as they filed out the door.
I didn't realize JUST how much I missed mi gente...or how much they missed me (':
Thoughts On Ordinary Dreams
My castle has a living room and a wrap-around porch
With rockin chairs and screened-in doors
My knight-in-shining-armor's wearin boots an' blue jeans
All my fairytales are just ordinary dreams
Do I have to be a princess in a tower?
Can't I just be a girl in a pair of blue jeans?
Can't I have just ordinary dreams?
~A.Rose
With rockin chairs and screened-in doors
My knight-in-shining-armor's wearin boots an' blue jeans
All my fairytales are just ordinary dreams
Do I have to be a princess in a tower?
Can't I just be a girl in a pair of blue jeans?
Can't I have just ordinary dreams?
~A.Rose
Friday, November 26, 2010
Making An Extremely Detailed Story VERY Short..
I'm back in Honduras once again ^_^
(did I say VERY short?)
(did I say VERY short?)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Amanda NOT Mara :)
I wondered.......
wether God hears me. Does He really listen?
Better said, I know He hears...but does He "pay attention" to me?
I wanted to pound my fists agaisnt the sky and scream, "Do You hear me? Do You even care? Hear me!!!! God, answer! Heeeeeeaaaaaar meeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!"
I read in different places in the Bible where God answered the prayers of His children. It says in James, "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years."
And I wondered why prayers were not availing as much.
I am promised, "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful adn effective"
Am I not made righteous in Christ?
And I wondered if He was just testing me. Making me wait on Him.
And then, one day while fasting and praying and (haha) reading Lamentations (you can see where my thoughts were :) I found this verse:
(Lamentations 3:26)
"It is GOOD to WAIT quietly for the salvation of The Lord."WOW.
I read the rest of the "passage" there too, it says,
"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and
let him be filled with disgrace.
For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief,
he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love."
wow. In the middle of lamentations there is a ray of hope!
And THEN I was reminded of Naomi. In the book of Ruth, Naomi tells her friends that they shouldn't call her Naomi. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life bitter."
Mara means bitter.
I wanted to change my name to Mara when I read that!
BUT then I read on....
In the Old Testament, a kinsman cuold help members of the family who became poor. For instance, he could pay their debts and buy back lost properties. When he did that, he became a "kinsman-redeemer".
HALLELUYAH
Jesus Christ is my "kinsman-redeemer"!!!!!!!!
He paid my debt!!
AAAAAaaaaaaand He's restored to me what I had lost!!!!!!
What a Savior!
And He promises me
(Isaiah 42:3)
"A bruised reed He will NOT break.
And a smoldering wick He will NOT snuff out."
"I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you."
After that, I couldnt escape Hid promises!! : )
Jeremiah 29:12-14
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity..."
Jeremiah 31:35
"He who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:"
Ecclesiastes 5:2
"Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and
you are on earth,
so let your words be few."
taken from Isaiah 40
"The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soaron wings like eagles;
they will run
and not grow weary,
they will walk
and not be faint."
Isaiah 64:8
"...O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay,
you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand."
Isaiah 61:3
"...bestow on them
a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair...for the display of his splendor."
from Isaiah 12
"I will praise you, O LORD...
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust
and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD,
for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world..."
I know God hears and listens to me. He has showed me in many MANY different ways!
From kind words, to text messages, to HIS WORD, His creation....
He "pays attention" to me.
He loves me.
And He calls me His own!
I am His!
I BELONG to Him!!!
I am fufilled in Him
I can lay all I have and all I am before Him and I can give myself up to His mercy
and He will love me.
He will not reject me.
He does not reject me.
He loves me.
He wants me.
Wow.
"Thank you, God." Is NOT enough. Not at all....
wether God hears me. Does He really listen?
Better said, I know He hears...but does He "pay attention" to me?
I wanted to pound my fists agaisnt the sky and scream, "Do You hear me? Do You even care? Hear me!!!! God, answer! Heeeeeeaaaaaar meeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!"
I read in different places in the Bible where God answered the prayers of His children. It says in James, "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years."
And I wondered why prayers were not availing as much.
I am promised, "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful adn effective"
Am I not made righteous in Christ?
And I wondered if He was just testing me. Making me wait on Him.
And then, one day while fasting and praying and (haha) reading Lamentations (you can see where my thoughts were :) I found this verse:
(Lamentations 3:26)
"It is GOOD to WAIT quietly for the salvation of The Lord."WOW.
I read the rest of the "passage" there too, it says,
"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and
let him be filled with disgrace.
For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief,
he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love."
wow. In the middle of lamentations there is a ray of hope!
And THEN I was reminded of Naomi. In the book of Ruth, Naomi tells her friends that they shouldn't call her Naomi. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life bitter."
Mara means bitter.
I wanted to change my name to Mara when I read that!
BUT then I read on....
In the Old Testament, a kinsman cuold help members of the family who became poor. For instance, he could pay their debts and buy back lost properties. When he did that, he became a "kinsman-redeemer".
HALLELUYAH
Jesus Christ is my "kinsman-redeemer"!!!!!!!!
He paid my debt!!
AAAAAaaaaaaand He's restored to me what I had lost!!!!!!
What a Savior!
And He promises me
(Isaiah 42:3)
"A bruised reed He will NOT break.
And a smoldering wick He will NOT snuff out."
"I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you."
After that, I couldnt escape Hid promises!! : )
Jeremiah 29:12-14
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity..."
Jeremiah 31:35
"He who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:"
Ecclesiastes 5:2
"Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and
you are on earth,
so let your words be few."
taken from Isaiah 40
"The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soaron wings like eagles;
they will run
and not grow weary,
they will walk
and not be faint."
Isaiah 64:8
"...O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay,
you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand."
Isaiah 61:3
"...bestow on them
a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair...for the display of his splendor."
from Isaiah 12
"I will praise you, O LORD...
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust
and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD,
for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world..."
I know God hears and listens to me. He has showed me in many MANY different ways!
From kind words, to text messages, to HIS WORD, His creation....
He "pays attention" to me.
He loves me.
And He calls me His own!
I am His!
I BELONG to Him!!!
I am fufilled in Him
I can lay all I have and all I am before Him and I can give myself up to His mercy
and He will love me.
He will not reject me.
He does not reject me.
He loves me.
He wants me.
Wow.
"Thank you, God." Is NOT enough. Not at all....
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