it's more fun in the philippines, yall.

(click on all the photos to expand them!!)

my trip has come to an end.
as yall read in my initial post, i prayed about going on this trip for over a year & a half...to make sure it was where God wanted me to be, when He wanted me to be there--and that in whatever way, He would provide for me to get there. (and the prayers worked, people.)
i am so thankful i was that mentally & spiritually prepared for it. i have done a lot of mission work in the past, be it other mission trips, service projects, or even everything with Mission Church thus far. but everything has basically been work & service oriented. THIS trip, however, was strictly evangelical--which is why i felt more called to it. i wasn't as comfortable in the area of evangelizing.
i've never had a problem sharing MY faith, but sharing the Gospel--and knowing when to share it...i wasn't experienced in. so i knew this specific mission trip would stretch me spiritually, and BOY did it.
we went from school to school to school, preaching in each classroom...five days a week, for about twelve hours a day.
our team was made up of 60+ Americans paired with Filipino pastor-translators; and after five weeks, we were able to minister at 1,551 schools in the Philippines!!
699,751 people heard the Gospel...and out of those, 676,833 accepted Christ into their hearts right then & there!! it was so amazing. just to witness these children hearing the story of Jesus for the first time, seeing their excitement & joy from hearing how much God loves them, and then watching them fold their little hands and hear their precious prayers to ask Jesus into their hearts. it was so powerful.
something that really hit me hard when i was there was just how awesome God is--obviously...but that His story is simple enough for young children like these to grasp (even with the language barrier)--yet complex enough for scholars to study a lifetime.
and how no matter who we are, at whatever stage of life we're in...we still yearn to be loved--and loved unconditionally. it's universal because that's the way God created us to be.

one weekend we got to go to the organization's orphanage. leading up to the trip, this was definitely what i was looking forward to the most. the orphanage was founded in 1991, as a Christian home for orphaned Filipino children. some of these children (including infants) were picked up/dropped off here by either their parents or some form of social services because their families couldn't support them.
we had the privilege of playing with the children--and also interviewing them. i loved hearing how much they loved being at this orphanage. most of the new & young ones stated how their favorite part of being there was food...getting food (that could be both delicious & nutritious.) which was heartbreaking.
but all of the older ones who had been there most of their lives stated how their favorite part about being there was that the organization was centered around God. that really touched my heart...that at such a young age, after facing so much heartache--they still could have such perspective.

this child's name is dwayne. and he completely stole my heart.
the moment we got changed into our "play clothes", he just jumped on my back--no hesitation whatsoever--and followed me, or drug me around by the hand causing me to follow him the rest of the weekend.

the entire experience was more than amazing; i am just sooo blessed to have had this opportunity. the fact that Jesus could use me--this average, 24-year old girl, with no scholarly theological background, to tell His story to these precious children who might never hear it again...and get this many more souls into His Kingdom is beyond humbling, and really...just downright addicting.
every prayer since the trip, i have prayed--not only for all the children we spoke to--but that God would continue to use me to further this work according to His will--and somehow take me back there...and that through my experiences, i can encourage everybody i know to go on this trip. (haha...but seriously. everybody should go on this trip!!)

i want to thank everyone who encouraged me, prayed for me, and supported me along the way. i really cannot say thank you enough.
truly.
much love & God bless!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Mark 10:45 - Luke 10:2 - Matthew 28:19-20 -

needless to say...

it is exactly one week from today (well, technically yesterday now--this always happens,) that i will be on my way to the philippines.

- for the fourth, we had the whole foster-fam over to our house for burgers, croquet, and homemade ice cream. we took a trip to watch a fireworks show, went back to gramma & grampa's to shoot off some ourselves, and then the bros & i rounded out the day with a necessary viewing of sandlot.

- yesterday, i got to hang out with mom all day running errands for my trip, and she gifted me a new skirt i can wear over there. then i got to hang out as the fab-five last night to eat at a new restaurant and see lone ranger.

- tonight, my friends threw me a surprise going-away party (with letters for my trip, a devotional, lent skirts, and a metaphorical plant to boot.) ;)

and when i got home, my room was significantly picked up--thanks to mom.

needless to say, i am beyond blessed.

ridiculously blessed.

overwhelmingly blessed.

i was overwhelmingly overwhelmed...just with everything i still have left to do before i leave in six-days time, (i'll spare you the list,) and just with the trip in itself.

but coming home tonight...i just felt so overwhelmingly blessed. goodness.

in twelve days, i will be flyin to the philippines.

crazy.
seriously.
i've been officially nervous for the past two weeks now.
besides the fact i still have so much stuff i need to do and get before i go...i still feel unprepared--and i suppose i always will, and that's why i need to just go for it.
(sigh.) but seriously.
my devotions a couple nights ago::
"God asks us to go outside our comfort zones to do things for Him, to reach out in love and help others.
whether you're a missionary in a country far from home--or have a job at a local restaurant, God calls you to live out your salvation regardless of your circumstances. God also promises to give us the strength to do what he asks."
BOOM. how's that for a slap-in-the-face reality check...??
i think a big thing is that i haven't met any of the folks to know what their expectations really are...??
pray-pray-pray.
i hope (and pray) that everything just works out according to God's will. (sigh.)

scriptures/quotes that have kept my sanity as of late...encouraging me about this phase of my life and this upcoming trip::
proverbs 3:5-6.
joshua 1:9.
romans 8:28.
luke 10:2.
matthew 28:19-20. (of course.)
*and my "mantra" from the very beginning of this journey:: mark 10:45.
(i could go on.)

"it takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. but there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. there is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement--there is life, and in change--there is power."
- alan cohen.

"people look at our lives and hear us say we're Christians...but then see very little difference in us that would make them want the supposed hope & joy we have.
it's not that we're trying to impress people with how great we are; it's that we're trying to impress on people how great JESUS is.
we've got the greatest message in the world; let's not make it harder than it has to be for people to realize how great it is." (mmm. amen.)
- steven furtick.

"trust in HIS timing; rely on HIS promises; wait for HIS answers; believe in HIS miracles; rejoice in HIS goodness; relax in HIS presence."
closing with...james 4:8:
"come near to God, and He will come near to you."

those rare Christians
whose very presence incites others to be better Christians.
i want to be that rare Christian.
- a.w. tozer.

what's for DINNER?!?

for mother's day every year, the whole big family gets together to celebrate gramma and each of the moms/aunts altogether.

since all of the grandkids are getting older now, the idea for the kids to make their moms desserts was thrown out there this year.

mom's not a huge dessert person...she likes vegetables.

but she does like herself some blackberry cobbler. so i acquiesced to her request. (even though i'm not the biggest pie/cobbler fan. it was for her after all!!)

-paired it with blue bell's homemade vanilla, and it turned out to be a big hit amongst the mothers.

BLACKBERRY COBBLER!!

(makes about nine-ten servings.)

this recipe calls for:

- 4 c blackberries

- 3/4 c sugar

- 1/4 c flour

- 2 tbsp butter

- 4-5 tsp lemon juice

(this time around, i just used two pillsbury pie crusts...instead of homemade. don't judge me.)

directions:

- toss flour & 1/2 c sugar with berries.

- pour mixture into pan with bottom crust.

- drizzle lemon juice evenly over mixture.

- pour 1/4 c sugar evenly over mixture.

- dot with butter (cut into small pieces).

- cover with top crust.

- sprinkle sugar evenly over top crust.

- bake at 350F for about 45 minutes, or until lightly browned.

*make sure the top crust has some sort of slits/cuts/openings to allow steam to escape. (i went for a woven lattice-look for fun. if i'm not going to looove eating it, i might as well make it look pretty. but i will admit, this recipe is one of the better cobblers i've had.)

growing up, i had to have an "i don't care what you think of me" attitude...because i knew i was a good kid, with good intentions & actions & thoughts. and even so, people have always thought whatever they wanted about me.

i have had multiple people who are my friends now say when they first met me, they thought i was completely opposite than how i really am.

i have had rumors spread around school about me that were completely (completely) untrue. (with not even a possibility that someone could have been even remotely correct or even misunderstood. they had just made them up.)
and so at one point in my life, i would have described myself as insensitive...
-in the way that...i am sarcastic; i don't take myself--or statements others would say too seriously.
i also grew up in a simultaneously loving yet sarcastic environment. (my immediate family, and both sides of extended.) so i was not as keen to other people's perceptions of what i say because i knew i wasn't serious anyway.
i had to learn what this quote meant before it was ever written::
"don't take anything personally. nothing others do is because of you. what others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. when you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering."
- miguel angel ruiz.
obviously, i have learned to absorb the criticisms, ridicule, and "incite" others present to an extent...while, at some point, ridding my being of the needless negativity. and certain relationships along the way have opened my eyes to how "sensitive" a person can be. (and since i don't want to make anyone upset, i have appropriately adhered...in a way to better understand, empathize, and considerately care for people.)

however...i came across this quote today...and it is like describing me. to a t. in every respect.
(so perhaps proclaiming insensitivity was entirely wrong.)::
"the highly sensitive tend to be philosophical or spiritual in their orientation, rather than materialistic or hedonistic. they dislike small talk. they often describe themselves as creative or intuitive. they dream vividly, and can often recall their dreams the next day. they love music, nature, art, physical beauty. they feel exceptionally strong emotions--sometimes acute bouts of joy, but also sorrow, melancholy, and fear. highly sensitive people also process information about their environments--both physical and emotional--unusually deeply. they tend to notice subtleties that others miss--another person's shift in mood, say, or a lightbulb burning a touch too brightly."
- susan cain.

dear, blogging community.

to all those who read; to all those who care...

iMISSblogging.
ugh.
i cannot wait till the week is over, and then i can start back up again...i already have four great posts lined up. (unfortunately my ocd with photo-editing/copy editing prolongs this process.)
not one, not two, but three 'what's for dinners'...and one 'thrifty thursday' comin atcha.
get your party pants on.