The Long-Expected Update

First, let me apologize for my extreme rudeness! After begging repeatedly for your prayers, I didn't post one update the whole time I was gone, and I'm sorry. But here I am to make all things right. Let's hope I do a fair (and not too tedious) job of it.

We had a good (albeit squished) trip down, and Friday night saw us snuggled in our beds in the parsonage, ready for whatever adventure the Lord brought our way. The next day, and really the whole week, featured a lot of knocking on doors and handing out flyers for VBS. We were able to make a lot of new connections that way, and found treasure troves of kids! It was pretty fantastic.

Sunday morning the three girls of the team (Kim, Gennie, and myself) taught the younger Sunday School class, and later Gennie and I taught an unplanned Children's Church while Kim and Christian watched the little ones. It went well, and like the last trip, it served as a good introduction to the week to come.

Before I go any further, I should probably introduce our team to you:

Aaron & Rachel Sutton -
Our fearless leaders, and the Mom & Dad of the trip. Aaron preached on Sundays and taught the VBS lessons. Rachel kept everything everywhere running smoothly.

Rick Clausel -
The Music Man. He led worship on Sundays, worked with some of the young men in the church who can play instruments, and taught a music class during VBS that I hear was incredible. I wasn't ever able to sit in on one, but the singing I heard coming out was great. :)

Billy Jackson -
Fellow veteran of the last trip, mastermind of recreation, bus driver, and photojournalist extraordinaire. If you've been reading my blog, you must know a little bit about him already. Check out his blog for more information.

Kim Lee -
Expert child tamer. My almost lifelong friend and the daughter of my pastor took a week off of work at a daycare to teach kids around the same age in a much less structured setting. And she was really, really good at it. It was also nice to have her there as a companion. I love that girl!

Blake Pollock -
Wisconsin gentleman. One of the three people I met for the first time on the way down, Blake helped lead recreation, and was really good at swinging kids around in circles.

Craig Kopp -
That Guy. He's the second of my three new friends, and is very good at coming up with songs on the spot. If you want a pretty good description of Craig, you should check out his post on Billy's blog. Besides providing comedic relief, he also helped lead recreation.

Christian Brandon -
The athletic drummer. Christian both helped lead recreation and helped Rick work with the drummer in the church. I met him on the trip down, too. I knew he had to be cool, because he was reading a book by Tolkien, and procrastinating in his math homework. He was a guest blogger on Billy's blog. You should check it out.

Gennie Jackson -
Miss Amazing. She's Billy's little sister, my sister's best friend, a really good friend of mine, and she pretty much rocks. Gennie did most of the teaching for the little ones, which was a special challenge, since many of them don't speak English yet, or have a lot of trouble sitting still and listening. Like her brother, she works great with kids, and like Kim it was such a blessing to have her around!

Olivia Sutton -
Aaron & Rachel's four-year-old daughter. She's adorable, and like a little sister to me. She also knows waaaaay more Spanish than I do.

And then there was me, but you already know that. This post has already gotten rather long, so I think I might end here and pick up later with the rest of the week. If you just can't wait, I highly recommend checking out Billy's blog. Specifically, you should read the post I helped write.

Thank you all for your prayers! Please continue to pray for Iglesia Bautista Cristo El Rey, and for the team, even though we're home. Some of us really want to go back soon, and some of us are making big decisions. Prayers for guidance, wisdom, and clarity are very much appreciated!

Love & Peace,
Sarita

Ready to Go! Like, Now!

Today is the day! I'm so excited! I have a feeling this is going to feel like the longest work day I've ever had.

First, a digression from the main point of this post:

Last night I went to the theater to see The Lorax with my sister, and there were several parts that have stuck in my mind. Personally, I loved the movie, but then I really love environmentalist propaganda (no really, I do). I thought The Lorax did a very good job of trying not to be pure big business-hating, earth-worshiping, brain-washing stuff. There were very good lessons to be learned, such as the wisdom of elders, the danger of not thinking a plan through, and the wisdom of conservation vs. annihilation. More importantly, I also took several spiritual lessons out of it. Unfortunately, I'm having a very hard time describing them without giving away the entire plot. If you go to watch the film (or wait for it to come out on DVD), try to think of Thneedville as the city of Destruction, and the truffula seed as the Gospel, and you'll get what I'm saying. Oh! And think of the young Once-ler as unregenerate man. Maybe it's a little Armenian, but it's still good stuff. ;)

But I didn't get on here to tell you about a cute Dr. Seuss movie! I came to ask once again for your prayers. Specifically, I would love it if you'd pray that I would gain much clarity and wisdom about the language school while I'm away. I'd really love to come back knowing for certain if I'm going or not. I realize that very, very often in my life God chooses to increase my faith by not allowing me to plan things so far in advance, but whether He makes it clear on this trip or no, at least pray that I would have much peace about it.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Egads, I'm so excited!!!

Love and Peace,
Sarah

Hallelu-Hallelu-Hallelu-Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord!

God is amazing!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I realize that fact more than others, and it floors me.

I mean, God's self-sufficiency, omniscience, faithfulness, justice, love, and all of His other attributes should have us on our faces in worship constantly, but He gives us even more reasons to praise Him and ways to know Him better!

Today, for example.
I woke up (woo-hoo!) on time, got dressed in clean, nice clothes, was blessed with an AMAZING cup of Italian Roast coffee via French Press (seriously, God's common grace bestowed through Starbucks sometimes chokes me up; not only did He give us taste buds, but He gave us delicious coffee for them! How incredibly generous is that???). Then I actually had enough time to eat and get all of my Bible reading read before I went out to a reliable, gas-filled car and a pleasant and uneventful drive to work (accompanied by Andrew Peterson and Shai Linne via my phone and a radio adapter). When I got to work, He gave me strength and joy to do it well. My finger that I lacerated on Thursday was finally healed enough today that I was able to wash dishes (which I have to do a lot of). I found out that I'm leaving on a perfect week - I'm easily replaced because someone else is on Spring Break next week! The weather was gorgeous, customers were happy, I didn't do anything stupid, and I discovered that we sell the best cottage cheese I've ever tasted. I got my paycheck, AND it was a really good tip day, which means I'll get to enjoy Thai food with my sister tomorrow! After work, I had a safe and pleasant drive home, and my brother is here, so I'm not all alone.

Add to all of that the prayers that God has been answering regarding the trip (that begins in two days!!!). For one, He's provided us with a much larger team. For another, we were given some of the scholarship we applied for! Which leads me to the third answered prayer: at least as far as I'm concerned, God has abundantly provided all that I needed to be able to go on this trip! Through the generosity of His people, my grandma, the scholarship, and tips, every penny of what I needed has been supplied. Besides being fantastic, this also means that the money I was going to have to spend on it all can now replenish what I spent on my passport, and pay my bills (which is kinda important) without dipping into my savings. Is that amazing or what???

I'm so thankful for this time that He's given me where I can more clearly see what a faithful Provider I serve. I have a feeling I'm going to need to remember this next week.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I'm so psyched to see what God's going to do! But now I guess I should go finish packing...

Love and Peace,
Sarita

P.S. Please forgive me for the way this post sort of trips over itself in happy chaos. It accurately conveys my thought process, but I realize that it is also very difficult to read.

Here's the mail it never fails it makes me wanna wag my tail. When it comes I wanna wail: MAILTIME!!!

Not long ago I stepped outside into a downpour to feel the cold splash of reality and the rawness of Creation. It was fantastic. Then, just as I began spinning around in a circle like a little girl, I was klunked in the head by a pea-sized piece of hail.

That put an end to my soaking, but as I watched the rain from my front step, I saw the mail lady coming, and what she brought prompted me to type up this post!

This is not my passport, my hand, nor my photo.

It came! And I applied for it less than a month ago! Praise God!

Its presence makes me even more excited about the upcoming trip to Mission, and reminds me that I need to update ye readers who may not know much about it. 

There isn't much to tell, I suppose. We're going back down to do VBS again, only this time with less chaos and more learning, Deo volente! We'll be going down during Spring Break, so we can spend more time with the kids. Plus, we want to help the church as much as we can.

I'm excited to see what God is going to do on this trip. Our team is much, much bigger than last time, which seems like a recipe for order and productivity, but I'm learning that God often chooses to glorify Himself through apparent chaos. Who knows, maybe we'll have so many kids that we will be even more understaffed than in January! 

Whatever happens, it is a joy and a comfort to know that it will be the best thing that could possibly happen. We serve a sovereign, perfect God who doesn't allow any harm or discomfort or irritation that will not bring forth perfect fruit.

That being said, He uses our prayers, so here are a few for your list:

1. Pray for us as we prepare to go

As we plan and pack and study, pray that we will make the wisest decisions, and that God will begin preparing our hearts for the work that lies ahead. 

Also, money is scarce and travel is expensive. Pray that God will abundantly supply all needed funds.

2. Pray for those we will come in contact with

While you're praying for our hearts to be prepared, pray for those we will be meeting with. Pray that God will soften the hearts of unbelievers, and encourage His children.

3. Pray for us as we travel

Three by train, and I think eight by van. I don't expect there to be any difficulties, but it is a rather long trip, in rather confined areas. Pray that our love for each other would abound more and more, and that it would manifest itself in patience with each other. 

Also, gas is much more expensive than it was when this trip was budgeted. Pray that when we need to refuel, there will be cheap gas nearby. How awesome would that be?!

4. Pray that the trip would be blessed

Pray that the lessons that will be taught would be clear to the children, and that God would use them. More than that, pray that the way we live our lives (both while in Texas and always) would point to the greatness of Christ. Pray that we would be a help and encouragement to the saints, and never a burden to anyone.

Also, pray that God would use this trip to give much clarity for the future.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I will do my best to keep this blog updated while we're gone. If you would like to get a better feel for the area we will be visiting, I encourage you to watch this video that Billy put together.

Love and Peace,

Sarita

Redeemed Dust

He is risen!

Lent has been difficult for me this year, and it's only been four days! In the past, I just fasted on my own, because I really like that brothers and sisters all over the world have set apart this time to reflect and draw closer to God. I like that we're all fasting at the same time, it's sort of heaven-like. I didn't do it last year because it would've been works: mostly tradition and very little God.

This year, however, has been different. I've been doing more research, and trying to figure out what is biblical, what is purely tradition, what is worthwhile, and what is distracting. God has led me to give up a lot more than usual, and has been using my struggling to blatantly show me how much I need Him (which is the point!).

One thing I've been particularly struggling with has been whether or not to tell people I'm observing Lent. I realize, of course, that posting this means that I'm telling anyone who wishes to read it, but this isn't exactly what I mean. For example, if I'm continually offered something that I'm fasting from to the point of annoyance, do I tell the person in question that I'm fasting? Is that being like the Pharisees? I'm still not sure. Plus, Lent is a touchy issue for some people, and I really don't want to be offensive. I don't know how to handle this, but I'm sure that in the next 36 days God will make it clear!

In other news, as I've been picking apart the tradition, I came across this not-fasting-on-Sunday thing. I knew about it before, but ignored it, because I generally don't pay much attention to Catholic holy days. I thought it was an excuse to break fast like eating fish on Friday, but I never looked into the matter to see if I was right.

This morning, however, when I went to read my little lenten Bible reading plan, it had a note that said that Sunday is usually skipped because it's like a mini Easter. I'm sure this isn't news to any of ye, but I was a little surprised when I looked into it. I hadn't thought about the fact that every Sunday should be Easter Sunday for the believer. Really, every day should be lived as a celebration of Christ's Resurrection, but especially Sunday. I knew that, but I hadn't thought about it in relation to Lent.

I really struggled with knowing how to approach this. I don't want to be quick to toss aside self-denial when I get the opportunity, but if there's a good reason to break fast on Sunday, then just like the other traditions, I'll go for it. Today I did, and I feel completely at peace. I also wasn't put in many positions to break the fast anyway, so it won't be as difficult to go back tomorrow.

This morning we shared the Lord's Supper, and it really was almost like Easter, or at least Good Friday. I'm beginning to understand why certain branches of the Church have observed Lent for so long. Sure, it can easily be turned into an issue of attempting to gain righteousness through works and self-denial. But it can also be something beautiful that points to the cross and Christ and the incomprehensible mercy and glory of God! Yes, it's difficult, but really in the end it's only zooming in on the daily difficulty of the Christian life (John Piper had a fantastic post on this subject yesterday. You can read it HERE).

Hopefully this has been beneficial to you in some way. It's strange knowing that there are people reading this blog now. I feel like every post is inadequate. But if it glorifies God somehow, it'll do.

Love and Peace,
Sarah

P.S. I'll probably be bugging you with another Texas-related post soon. I get to go back soon! Huzzah!