Nothing Wasted

I think most of you know that I consider myself a "Bad Missionary." The semester after I graduated from college (H-S ... H-S ... U-U!), I spent three months in Guadalajara, Mexico. I cried almost every day I was there and felt like a horrible failure when I returned. I refused to leave the country for the next three years. In fact, I didn't even leave the state of Texas! After 10 days in Morelia, Mexico summer before last and two weeks in Central Asia last summer, I have come to understand that God can use even me on the mission field if I'm obedient to His call, but I've always felt like that trip to Guadalajara was so bad. This morning, my dad called. His Uncle Terry is having a birthday party this weekend, and he had called Aunt Margie to find out where to send a card. In course of conversation, they exchanged information about "the kids." Daddy told her how I was set to graduate from seminary this Spring, and he mentioned how much my cousins and I had enjoyed our visit to see her and Uncle Terry a few years ago (the Christmas after I returned from Guaddy). Aunt Margie got excited when he mentioned that and told him that her daughter, Maddie (who was in middle school back then) had gone on a mission trip to Mexico last summer. Aunt Margie said it changed Maddie's life. She came back so excited and talking about the people and very passionate about her relationship with Christ. When she signed up for classes in school, they told her not to take Spanish 4 unless she was a native speaker, but she told her mom, "Kristen did it." She passed that and is taking Spanish 5 this year. She still has her pictures up in her room from her trip, talks about taking more trips, and has dedicated her life to serving the Lord. Aunt Margie told my dad she really believes a seed was planted more than four years ago when my cousins and I spent the weekend with them. As my dad finished filling me in on Aunt Margie, Uncle Terry, and Maddie, he said, "Kristi, that trip that you thought was such a disaster planted a seed that is still bearing fruit." And, in my heart I heard a very clear Voice saying to me, "I do not waste a thing."

Jeremiah 32:27, "I am the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?"

This is Kimbo.

This is Kimbo. Sunday was her birthday. I didn't forget. I just thought it would be more fun to celebrate her like this. Kimbo and I met in high school. She was the first person I ever saw God really take control over and transform in front of my very eyes. When she decided to follow Christ, there was no turning back, and thousands of children will never be the same because of it. Not to mention her husband, her beautiful boys, or those of us who get to be her friends! When we were still in high school, Kimbo gave me a gift -- a set of charms to go on my bracelet. One was a pair of hands clasped in friendship, the other was a small icthus, representing Christ. The two together represented what made our sisterhood so special. It was founded and grounded in Him. A lot has changed since high school. We grew up a little. Went to college. Kimbo married the boy she met her freshman year at DBU. They had sons -- two of them. Beautiful boys. They worked in a church in Texas. Now, they live and work at a church in Alabama. We don't get to see one another or talk often, but two things stand out to me when I think about this special woman. 1. Every time I hear her name, I smile. 2. Every time I think about her life, I'm drawn closer to the Lord and reminded of what His power at work in a life looks like.

A Pink and Purple House

This last year has begun a new era in my walk with the Lord. He's been communicating with me in a new way. It took me a while to know what to make of it, but I'm getting used to the ways He paints pictures in my head to help me see where we're at or where we're going. It started with last January when I first started praying about going to Central Asia in the summer. I kept telling Him there were too many obstacles. That's when the picture in my head was a long race track with a bunch of hurdles labeled with all of the reasons I didn't think I could go. I was standing at the start line, and my friend was standing at the other end, with a large map of her country and her people behind her. As I began moving forward on the track, a large Hand would come down and literally hurl the hurdles out of my way. I never had to "jump" a single one. And, in so many ways that is exactly how that trip came about. In the Fall, when Pappy was diagnosed with cancer and so many other things in life felt so hard, the picture was of a long, dark tunnel. I could feel that we were moving forward, but there was no light just yet, and I knew that God was the conductor, in control, and we would eventually see daylight. Most recently, as I begin to move past that dark tunnel in my life, but still feel the effects of those difficult days, the picture in my head is of a concrete slab. Cold, dull, gray, lifeless, square, boring ... but a foundation, absolutely necessary for building anything that can last. When the Lord revealed this one to me, I laughed out loud and asked Him, "Hey God, remember when I was a little girl and we lived in the barrio in South Texas? Remember how I always wanted a pink and purple house like my friends down the street? Yeah, that was cool." I hope that whenever God gets ready to paint whatever it is He's building in my life, He makes it bright and colorful.

Hook 'Em

I've never been so proud to be wearing burnt orange in my entire life. :-) What a game! Hope you were able to see every last second. That was fun!

Let It Be Said Of Us

I moved into a new room this week, and as part of the moving process, I have been going through old papers and trying to throw stuff away. Today, I came across these lyrics. It's an older song, I think. I printed them early last year and carried them in my notebook, so I'd look at them each day. Someone once said, "Live life with the end in view." Here it goes!

Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion,
That with gladness we bore ev'ry cross we were given;

That we fought the good fight, that we finished the course,
Knowing within us the pow'r of the risen Lord.

Let the cross be our glory, and the Lord be our song,
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong.
Let the cross be our glory, and the Lord be our song,
'Til the likeness of Jesus be through us made known;
Let the cross be our glory, and the Lord be our song.

Let it be said of us we were marked by forgiveness,
We were known by our love, and delighted in meekness.

We were ruled by His peace, heeding unity's call;
Joined as one body, that Christ would be seen by all.

Let the cross be our glory, and the Lord be our song,
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong.
Let the cross be our glory, and the Lord be our song,
'Til the likeness of Jesus be through us made known.

Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song.

When I look back over last year, the only question that really matters to me is: Do I look more like Jesus now than I did then?

January 1

Anybody else holiday and reflectioned out? I am just tired today, and as much as I want to say something meaningful about the past year or something hopeful about the coming year, I really prefer to lay on the couch and check my myspace for new friends every couple of hours. :-) Happy New Year everyone! -- Kristen