So I feel like there are so many little things to update you on starting with yesterday.
Just to update some fun things from yesterday. I think most of you saw the pictures but just in case you didn't, 2 of my classmates took me to North Shore which is the northwest point of the island. We got to a certain point where most people stop but we went off roading slash 4 wheeling. It was sooo much fun, I had never done that before. We got to the point and we literally were able to see all of the west shore of the island and the north shore... it was gorgeous. Then as we were driving back, we stopped at this little cove and the water was sooo clear we ended up going snorkeling. My first time snorkeling thank you very much and it was super fun. So that was yesterday.
Now today was filled with really great classes on small groups and sharing the gospel. We learned a lot of great methods to small group and how a healthy group should look like. Part of our assignment was to pick a movie and relate it to our human desire for something more. I was super excited about the assignment cause if you know me, I love movie references and relating it to what Jesus is teaching me... especially Disney references.
So I thought it would be fun to share what I came up with on here.
Naturally I picked a Disney movie... A Bugs Life to be exact.
In A Bug’s Life, Flick is part of an ant colony who have been brought up thinking that there whole world is only within ant island and whatever they perceive is only what they can see. They want more in life but don’t think its possible. They are controlled by an evil force (the grasshoppers) who are making sure that they are distracted from their full potential and purpose in life. We also have a group of "circus" bugs who are being controlled by their boss who happens to be a flea. Both groups are searching for something more in life. They don't seem happy and satisfied in life. Its not until Flick goes out of his comfort zone and finds warrior bugs (who are really the circus bugs) that help him and his colony fight evil and realize what they were made to do. Its like that with God. He has given us a purpose in life and we may not be able to see it at first and we may have other forces distracting us, but there really is a purpose for each and every one of us and its not until we take that leap of faith and go out of our comfort zone that God will open our eyes to what he has planned for us.
Anyways, Im excitd about tomorrow. We have an amazing speaker coming to speak for the net couple of days. Steven Mansfield will be here from Nashville so hopefully Ill have some good things to report tomorrow.
Have a great evening everyone!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
on fire
ok this is gonna be a short one cause Im up WAYYY past my bedtime but I couldn't go to sleep without posting this.
So first of all, we had another great day learning about missions and people's worldview. It was really intriguing. I'm excited to read and learn more about it! We also had a good time reflecting on the week. I'm really just started to love our group of 9 in the class. Its just amazing to see 9 completely different people all come together.
Anyways, tonight I went to youth service. I went last week but honestly didn't pay that much attention cause I went right after landing and was super tired. This week though was just amazing. The youth at this church are truly on fire! Not just within the 4 walls of the building but in their schools and homes. Its amazing to hear this young kids being persistent and praying for their generation. Also, looking out and seeing hundreds of high schoolers and middle school teens jumping up and down, throwing their hands in the air, and completely worshipping Jesus... man, I was just in awe of how amazing God truly is. Tomorrow I have the day off so im gonna work out, do a little homework, and maybe hang with some friends. Im excited to rest a little though. Its definitely been a long but GRAND week.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Like, I said before, God has already been doing amazing things since I've been here and it wouldn't have happened without you guys!
Love you and good night!
P.S. here is my random food comment that seem to be more of a regular thing. haha
One of the guys Shawn Silva... oh man, his mama made the most heavenly cornbread my mouth has ever tasted. I think the clouds parted when I bit into it. I was joking that I could preach on the amazing taste of this cornbread but Billy said I should just write it on here so I did. haha
ok, I'm officially done now. Hope you all have an amazing weekend.
So first of all, we had another great day learning about missions and people's worldview. It was really intriguing. I'm excited to read and learn more about it! We also had a good time reflecting on the week. I'm really just started to love our group of 9 in the class. Its just amazing to see 9 completely different people all come together.
Anyways, tonight I went to youth service. I went last week but honestly didn't pay that much attention cause I went right after landing and was super tired. This week though was just amazing. The youth at this church are truly on fire! Not just within the 4 walls of the building but in their schools and homes. Its amazing to hear this young kids being persistent and praying for their generation. Also, looking out and seeing hundreds of high schoolers and middle school teens jumping up and down, throwing their hands in the air, and completely worshipping Jesus... man, I was just in awe of how amazing God truly is. Tomorrow I have the day off so im gonna work out, do a little homework, and maybe hang with some friends. Im excited to rest a little though. Its definitely been a long but GRAND week.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Like, I said before, God has already been doing amazing things since I've been here and it wouldn't have happened without you guys!
Love you and good night!
P.S. here is my random food comment that seem to be more of a regular thing. haha
One of the guys Shawn Silva... oh man, his mama made the most heavenly cornbread my mouth has ever tasted. I think the clouds parted when I bit into it. I was joking that I could preach on the amazing taste of this cornbread but Billy said I should just write it on here so I did. haha
ok, I'm officially done now. Hope you all have an amazing weekend.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
today's random thoughts
so my first week is almost over and I am just filled with every time of emotion you can think of.
I have feelings of relief, overwhelming feelings, grateful ones, scared ones... and probably more. haha.
Today class was an amazing one, we focused on relationships and leadership. How to we maintain boundaries, how to handle healthy confrontations with people, and how to have people in your life that will truly mirror who you are (basically meaning someone who will tell you the truth and not sugar coat who you are). We had some great discussions and I learned so much. God definitely used today to truly shed light on a lot of my insecurities, fear of rejection, and people pleasing. I also realized that I have a tendency of not finishing everything that I start and if I do finish things... sometimes I don't finish strong. I made a commitment today to change that. I truly want to spend this net season of my life disciplining my body physically and spiritually. I want to run this race with no regrets. And with all that Im going to be learning, I want to be able to truly take it and apply it to my life without any weak areas preventing me from doing so.
So I'm counting on all of you to keep me accountable. haha.
Also, we spent time in our discussion talking about the one person that had the most influence in bringing us to this school of ministry. I wanted to take a moment and honor my person on here.
I actually couldn't just pick one cause there were 2 names that instantly popped out. Kim Ortiz and Blanca Ma. Since the first day I met both of these women I have had so much respect for them. They made my move to L.A. so easy. They are woman of grace and patience and wisdom. Both of these women have helped me in my entire journey/ adventure I've taken this past year and when my youth pastor (Kim's husband) approached me about coming to Hawaii, both of these women gave me such encouragement and wisdom to go. I look up to them so much and I just feel so honored to be able to call them my best friends.
So thank you Kim and Blanca for all that you do!
thats all folks! Until next time.
P.S. I posted a few pictures from my run on facebook. I didn't bring my camera cause I was an idiot but I attempted to capture the beauty from my phone. Seriously though, its just like the stories you hear about a hard journey but the reward being worth it. Well let me tell you, running 30 min up a steep hill is torture but the view is probably the most breathtaking views Ive ever seen. Totally worth every pain I experienced getting there.
Love you guys!
I have feelings of relief, overwhelming feelings, grateful ones, scared ones... and probably more. haha.
Today class was an amazing one, we focused on relationships and leadership. How to we maintain boundaries, how to handle healthy confrontations with people, and how to have people in your life that will truly mirror who you are (basically meaning someone who will tell you the truth and not sugar coat who you are). We had some great discussions and I learned so much. God definitely used today to truly shed light on a lot of my insecurities, fear of rejection, and people pleasing. I also realized that I have a tendency of not finishing everything that I start and if I do finish things... sometimes I don't finish strong. I made a commitment today to change that. I truly want to spend this net season of my life disciplining my body physically and spiritually. I want to run this race with no regrets. And with all that Im going to be learning, I want to be able to truly take it and apply it to my life without any weak areas preventing me from doing so.
So I'm counting on all of you to keep me accountable. haha.
Also, we spent time in our discussion talking about the one person that had the most influence in bringing us to this school of ministry. I wanted to take a moment and honor my person on here.
I actually couldn't just pick one cause there were 2 names that instantly popped out. Kim Ortiz and Blanca Ma. Since the first day I met both of these women I have had so much respect for them. They made my move to L.A. so easy. They are woman of grace and patience and wisdom. Both of these women have helped me in my entire journey/ adventure I've taken this past year and when my youth pastor (Kim's husband) approached me about coming to Hawaii, both of these women gave me such encouragement and wisdom to go. I look up to them so much and I just feel so honored to be able to call them my best friends.
So thank you Kim and Blanca for all that you do!
thats all folks! Until next time.
P.S. I posted a few pictures from my run on facebook. I didn't bring my camera cause I was an idiot but I attempted to capture the beauty from my phone. Seriously though, its just like the stories you hear about a hard journey but the reward being worth it. Well let me tell you, running 30 min up a steep hill is torture but the view is probably the most breathtaking views Ive ever seen. Totally worth every pain I experienced getting there.
Love you guys!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
sushi and mountain conquering
Day 2 completed and man was it filled with a lot of information.
First of all, I will proudly say that I woke up early and conquered the hill I live on during my workout... the view at the top was gorgeous and I think i might bring my camera one of these days. I also conquered my first sushi experience. I had salmon and some other sort of raw fish but it actually wasn't that bad. I finished 3 out of 5 different kinds so go me. hahaha...
but anyways, back to todays class.
Today we spent the entire day talking about the fundamentals of Leadership; the foundations of character, the task and challenge of leadership, executing the leadership process, and teamwork. I really loved every aspect of it. It was definitely a challenging topic cause it broke every worldly idea of leadership in the sense that whatever position we are in, its Gods. And in order to grow to a higher place you need to focus on your foundations. Part of breaking and making foundations is shedding light on our weaknesses. One of my favorite quotes from today is that God will privately process our soul before he publicly platforms our gifts. I was definitely aware of mine and loved how we were able to process and start working through some of the areas.
We also focused on the idea of servanthood. I love this idea. I think its so true how a leader should serve not be serve. We shouldn't have the mindset of entitlement, leadership is rooted in servanthood.
First of all, I will proudly say that I woke up early and conquered the hill I live on during my workout... the view at the top was gorgeous and I think i might bring my camera one of these days. I also conquered my first sushi experience. I had salmon and some other sort of raw fish but it actually wasn't that bad. I finished 3 out of 5 different kinds so go me. hahaha...
but anyways, back to todays class.
Today we spent the entire day talking about the fundamentals of Leadership; the foundations of character, the task and challenge of leadership, executing the leadership process, and teamwork. I really loved every aspect of it. It was definitely a challenging topic cause it broke every worldly idea of leadership in the sense that whatever position we are in, its Gods. And in order to grow to a higher place you need to focus on your foundations. Part of breaking and making foundations is shedding light on our weaknesses. One of my favorite quotes from today is that God will privately process our soul before he publicly platforms our gifts. I was definitely aware of mine and loved how we were able to process and start working through some of the areas.
We also focused on the idea of servanthood. I love this idea. I think its so true how a leader should serve not be serve. We shouldn't have the mindset of entitlement, leadership is rooted in servanthood.
First day
so today was our official first day of the school of ministry.
Man, God did soooo much already in just one day. We basically just jumped right in after a quick orientation of what the semester will look like. We started with an appropriate topic; time management skills. Definitely something I need improving on but the class actually helps. We learned how to prioritize everything and organize all our obligations in a manner that actually works. We also spent a good chunk of time talking about setting goals. I was pretty excited about this part. I have been really praying lately for God to give me a specific goal of what he wants me to do with the passions that I have and today, we took the time to write out 3 long term goals and 3 short term goal with each long term one. It was actually pretty amazing how quickly and clearly God showed me what specific areas he wanted me to focus on.
Next, we talked about missions, more specifically we talked about reaching a certain people group. I really enjoyed this section. We learned about how each of us, depending on what we want to do, have a different area of focus in reaching a certain people group. I, for example, realized that I want to focus more on lower income hispanic youth. Obviously, I wont only reach that group of people but since that has been my background growing up and since most of the Los Angeles area is made up of hispanics, I'm thinking that might be where I should focus.
Tomorrow is another long day and Im excited to just continue diving in on every opportunity that will be presented here.
Off to sleep.
Thanks again for all your support and prayers!
P.S. So, apparently there are a ton of foods Ive never eaten before so the guys are making a list of foods I have to try before I leave. Tomorrow is sushi day so for all my Morning Star people who have been judging me with my lack of sushi experience... tomorrow is the day! haha. Ill try and update the different foods Ive eaten on here too. Hey! YA! That would be kind of fun I think.
ok. Good night again.
Man, God did soooo much already in just one day. We basically just jumped right in after a quick orientation of what the semester will look like. We started with an appropriate topic; time management skills. Definitely something I need improving on but the class actually helps. We learned how to prioritize everything and organize all our obligations in a manner that actually works. We also spent a good chunk of time talking about setting goals. I was pretty excited about this part. I have been really praying lately for God to give me a specific goal of what he wants me to do with the passions that I have and today, we took the time to write out 3 long term goals and 3 short term goal with each long term one. It was actually pretty amazing how quickly and clearly God showed me what specific areas he wanted me to focus on.
Next, we talked about missions, more specifically we talked about reaching a certain people group. I really enjoyed this section. We learned about how each of us, depending on what we want to do, have a different area of focus in reaching a certain people group. I, for example, realized that I want to focus more on lower income hispanic youth. Obviously, I wont only reach that group of people but since that has been my background growing up and since most of the Los Angeles area is made up of hispanics, I'm thinking that might be where I should focus.
Tomorrow is another long day and Im excited to just continue diving in on every opportunity that will be presented here.
Off to sleep.
Thanks again for all your support and prayers!
P.S. So, apparently there are a ton of foods Ive never eaten before so the guys are making a list of foods I have to try before I leave. Tomorrow is sushi day so for all my Morning Star people who have been judging me with my lack of sushi experience... tomorrow is the day! haha. Ill try and update the different foods Ive eaten on here too. Hey! YA! That would be kind of fun I think.
ok. Good night again.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Welcome Party
so tonight was the welcome party and it was pretty spectacular. We had some good Hawaiian BBQ, played wii, and just hung out. It was great getting to fellowship with everyone and spending time with my classmates. I posted a few pictures on facebook if you want to check them out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237830&id=515516054&saved#!/album.php?aid=237830&id=515516054&ref=mf
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237830&id=515516054&saved#!/album.php?aid=237830&id=515516054&ref=mf
Monday, August 2, 2010
a random blog...
soo, i decided that my blog will and can be whatever I want it to be and since there is nothing too big to update for today, I found this old facebook questionnaire thingy about myself that I did several years ago that I thought would be fun for you to read. Some things on here haven't changed... actually most haven't.
But, just a little update first... yesterday I attended the morning service and evening college service. It was pretty spectacular. I also was able to meet the other students that will be in my class. Apparently its like all guys and just one other girl so that will be interesting. haha. Tonight is the welcome party/ get together then class officially starts tomorrow.
1) According to my sister I have an overly dramatic laugh and no matter how funny something is, I laugh my dramatic laugh and freak some people out.
2) I am like freakishly scared of certain types of doorknobs. Like sometimes, I have to leave doors open or have someone else open hem for me cause I'm scared they might shatter or be extremely hot.
3) Whenever I can, I still try to watch Arthur everyday at 4:00 on PBS. By far one of the best shows ever! Everyday when your walking down the street.... oh man, good times with that aardvark!
4) When I was little I was told that I was singing songs (mostly Raffi) before I could talk. I think thats why I love music and musicals so much.
5) I took ballet for like 5 min but when I found out that I would have to be a reindeer I got scared and ran away.
6) When I was little me and my friend would pretend to switch siblings because she had a brother and I had a sister and I always wanted to have a brother and she always wanted to have a sister.
7) I have never been able to finish the movie Fantasia, that last segment freaks me out.
8) I've been to 14 different states and 2 different countries
9) One of my favorite things to do is go into random places, like bathrooms, with friends and eavesdrop on their spanish conversations and listen to most of them making fun of other people.
10) I love to cook. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a chef and even though I'm teaching now, I would still like to go to culinary school and be a chef on the weekends or something.
11) When I was in sixth grade I was in a acting/modeling school and was discovered by someone and was asked if I wanted to move to L.A. I politely replied "no", and that was the end of my acting career... it was so random.
12) I am in love with all things Disney and I don't care what anyone says, Disneyland truly is the happiest place on Earth. Oh man, just thinking about it makes me happy.
13) When it comes to music and movies, I am a pretty easy person to please. I pretty much like anything and sometimes that annoys people.
14) When I was in like 4th grade I won a goldfish from the fair and didn't have a fish bowl to put it in so I placed it in a cup and my mom accidently drank it.
15) The song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" when sung by Judy Garland is by far the best christmas song ever! I listen to it year round and every time it gives me goosebumps.
16) One night in like forever ago a had the most random dream ever. I dreamt the song "There's a Hole in my Bucket" and I was liza and I had suspenders on and this other random guy was henry and we were in like some hut in a jungle talking southern and singing this ridiculously boring song to each other.
But, just a little update first... yesterday I attended the morning service and evening college service. It was pretty spectacular. I also was able to meet the other students that will be in my class. Apparently its like all guys and just one other girl so that will be interesting. haha. Tonight is the welcome party/ get together then class officially starts tomorrow.
1) According to my sister I have an overly dramatic laugh and no matter how funny something is, I laugh my dramatic laugh and freak some people out.
2) I am like freakishly scared of certain types of doorknobs. Like sometimes, I have to leave doors open or have someone else open hem for me cause I'm scared they might shatter or be extremely hot.
3) Whenever I can, I still try to watch Arthur everyday at 4:00 on PBS. By far one of the best shows ever! Everyday when your walking down the street.... oh man, good times with that aardvark!
4) When I was little I was told that I was singing songs (mostly Raffi) before I could talk. I think thats why I love music and musicals so much.
5) I took ballet for like 5 min but when I found out that I would have to be a reindeer I got scared and ran away.
6) When I was little me and my friend would pretend to switch siblings because she had a brother and I had a sister and I always wanted to have a brother and she always wanted to have a sister.
7) I have never been able to finish the movie Fantasia, that last segment freaks me out.
8) I've been to 14 different states and 2 different countries
9) One of my favorite things to do is go into random places, like bathrooms, with friends and eavesdrop on their spanish conversations and listen to most of them making fun of other people.
10) I love to cook. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a chef and even though I'm teaching now, I would still like to go to culinary school and be a chef on the weekends or something.
11) When I was in sixth grade I was in a acting/modeling school and was discovered by someone and was asked if I wanted to move to L.A. I politely replied "no", and that was the end of my acting career... it was so random.
12) I am in love with all things Disney and I don't care what anyone says, Disneyland truly is the happiest place on Earth. Oh man, just thinking about it makes me happy.
13) When it comes to music and movies, I am a pretty easy person to please. I pretty much like anything and sometimes that annoys people.
14) When I was in like 4th grade I won a goldfish from the fair and didn't have a fish bowl to put it in so I placed it in a cup and my mom accidently drank it.
15) The song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" when sung by Judy Garland is by far the best christmas song ever! I listen to it year round and every time it gives me goosebumps.
16) One night in like forever ago a had the most random dream ever. I dreamt the song "There's a Hole in my Bucket" and I was liza and I had suspenders on and this other random guy was henry and we were in like some hut in a jungle talking southern and singing this ridiculously boring song to each other.
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