check in... TAIWAN!!!

haha... so im sitting here in taiwan with my grandma... after a grueling 13hour flight.. only to face another 3 to 4 hour flight to the Philippines... how awesome and great the airlines are... NOT!!! haha... the seats were so close together i was begging God to allow our other seat-mate to not have shown up... but He works things out for His great will... we survived and now... i sit and wait to actually meet and bond with my biological Dad... haha sounds like a movie... well... be safe and be found praying... it looks like they're boarding for the next flight in a little bit!

our crutch...

sitting here waiting for some chicken to defrost... it's okay folks i washed my hands before handling the Macbook... salmonella!!! i'm actually at my buddy Daniel Bergquist's friendly home and am very weary from today's rather hectic festivities... from work to the death of a family member today was rather odd... for those of you who have gone through the heart breaking trama of dealing with people that have gone through disaster, you know it's no walk in the park... and even with Jesus the Christ on your side, the emotion can overwhelm and take control of you... i praise God that my heart has felt loss and known grief, because now i'm equipped to those who do hurt and feel absolute heartache... i pray no one has to deal with this aspect of life... but it is an everyday process that we face, it's all enveloped in the great rut we call our flesh...

the cries of 'why?'s and the desire for vengeance and justice to take place, it's all too heart breaking... i'd be a fool if i said i could cope with those super close that felt this pain... because as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 33, "He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works " and how true is it... since he's fashioned our hearts individually do we go through our own hurts and problems... but praise the Father we He finds us worthy of friendship and conversation... but as the Psalmist continues on we see our place in humanity... to not trust in the things that give us comfort or things we can boast in... but to show praise and honor to the one who fashioned this world to be His footstool... as God sees... He knows... He understands... He copes... He sympathizes... you mean to tell me the very same Father who knows the name for every star in the sky knows my name and is willing to have intimacy with me? psshh... what a blessing!

that means i don't have to go it alone... i don't have to curse my family or desire justice, because my faith and hope is in the one whose name can be defined as justice, God...

to the faint hearted... know Christ loves you and desires you to be humbled before Him, give Him your everything and allow Him to work in you... be blessed to know that God is for us... if we are on His side... pray for those going through the thick of it... and who are crying with everything they are 'help!' ... let your burdens be placed on Christ whom bore our sins already... and is willing to bare our burdens through life... allow God to be our crutch...

tears...

i heart God!

this weekend was sooo amazing... from amazing worship to amazing studies.... the Lord was in our presence this weekend... and i am more exhausted than i was after the high school retreat... probably cause i was in charge... haha... man!

these kids are hurting so much... they need a place of refuge... and what better place to flee this world than to retreat to the mountains to get some much needed R&R... but there is no rest for the weary! we did battle with the flesh and come sunday morning... the battle still raged until, victory in Christ... knowing that they are forgiven was such the biggest thing to these kids. the emotions that came from that simple sentenace, "your sins are forgiven" made kids instantly weep... if you've never seen the eyes of a child of God as they realize thier inheritance in the Father, i felt unworthy! i saw tears build at the edge of 'daughters of the Father's eyes, and tears built up in mine with the single thought... ' i belong here!' i need to end here... i dont have much else to say... be blessed!

grace & peace