This is killing me. But I LOVE it!
8 weeks down...4 to go!!!
8 weeks down...4 to go!!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
He is Worthy...
Spring is my favorite time of year - I love everything about it! It is warmer, it stays light outside longer, I can wear flip flops, sundresses, shorts (all of which I prefer over cold-weather clothes..), the flowers are pretty, everything is green, we can go to the park, hike, run, play tennis (anything outside!), things get exciting/crazy busy around the office as we enter the "ramp to camp" - so many fun things all in 3 months (or so..)! The one thing I love best about Spring, though, is Easter. Easter always has been my favorite holiday. I love Christmas because it is a fun time, an incredible celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and I LOVE Christmas music (year round...), but there is something about Easter that is so special to me...
It is a time to reflect on the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. If you are anything like me, you don't enjoy thinking about the crucifixion. It's pretty uncomfortable, actually. Recognizing the fact that Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, took the punishment of sin for ME. He was beaten, mocked, received a crown of thorn on his head, and forced to carry his own cross on which he was nailed - all for ME. All so that I can live eternally with my Father. But it doesn't end there, it gets better...three days later Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead! This is an incredible picture of the power of God! It demonstrates God's power to not only bring His Son back to life, but also to resurrect the bodies of believers into eternal life with Him when He returns. Yes, I said when He returns. That's the best news of it all - Jesus Christ is coming back! There will be a day when He returns and all believers on earth and those who have already passed, will receive new, glorified bodies and rise to Him, to sit at the feet of our Father, worshiping Him for eternity. No more pain, no more sorrow, no more worries, no more crime, no more hurt, no more poverty...imagine that. How worthy of praise He is!
You hear all of that and our human reaction is to think, "What do I have to DO to repay Him?" But the beauty of it all, is that we do not have to DO anything. It's not about what we DO. Think about it...do you think you could ever DO anything that would make up for the sacrifice that He made? I don't think so. The gift of eternal life is for all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is a commitment in which you acknowledge that you are a sinner and recognize the truth that there is nothing that you can do to change your ways without a Savior in Jesus Christ. You turn TO Him, AWAY from your sin - you repent. You believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead through God's power, which paid the full penalty of your sin. You surrender your life to Christ and put no one and nothing before Him - you accept Him as your Savior. There is no joy comparable to the joy that is found in Christ.
This past Friday, Graham and I went to Atlanta to visit some friends of ours and go to the Good Friday service at Passion City Church. Over the past years as we have been with Student Life, we have worked with many of the people involved with this church and developed relationships with them, so it was wonderful to see them, catch up, and witness their God-given abilities to communicate the love and Good News of Jesus Christ. Their Good Friday service was absolutely incredible. Chris Tomlin sang a song of his called, "I Will Rise." A perfect song for this past weekend as we celebrated Easter. The lyrics are below...
It is a time to reflect on the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. If you are anything like me, you don't enjoy thinking about the crucifixion. It's pretty uncomfortable, actually. Recognizing the fact that Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, took the punishment of sin for ME. He was beaten, mocked, received a crown of thorn on his head, and forced to carry his own cross on which he was nailed - all for ME. All so that I can live eternally with my Father. But it doesn't end there, it gets better...three days later Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead! This is an incredible picture of the power of God! It demonstrates God's power to not only bring His Son back to life, but also to resurrect the bodies of believers into eternal life with Him when He returns. Yes, I said when He returns. That's the best news of it all - Jesus Christ is coming back! There will be a day when He returns and all believers on earth and those who have already passed, will receive new, glorified bodies and rise to Him, to sit at the feet of our Father, worshiping Him for eternity. No more pain, no more sorrow, no more worries, no more crime, no more hurt, no more poverty...imagine that. How worthy of praise He is!
You hear all of that and our human reaction is to think, "What do I have to DO to repay Him?" But the beauty of it all, is that we do not have to DO anything. It's not about what we DO. Think about it...do you think you could ever DO anything that would make up for the sacrifice that He made? I don't think so. The gift of eternal life is for all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is a commitment in which you acknowledge that you are a sinner and recognize the truth that there is nothing that you can do to change your ways without a Savior in Jesus Christ. You turn TO Him, AWAY from your sin - you repent. You believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead through God's power, which paid the full penalty of your sin. You surrender your life to Christ and put no one and nothing before Him - you accept Him as your Savior. There is no joy comparable to the joy that is found in Christ.
This past Friday, Graham and I went to Atlanta to visit some friends of ours and go to the Good Friday service at Passion City Church. Over the past years as we have been with Student Life, we have worked with many of the people involved with this church and developed relationships with them, so it was wonderful to see them, catch up, and witness their God-given abilities to communicate the love and Good News of Jesus Christ. Their Good Friday service was absolutely incredible. Chris Tomlin sang a song of his called, "I Will Rise." A perfect song for this past weekend as we celebrated Easter. The lyrics are below...
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victor is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
There's a day that's drawing near
When the darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victor is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
There's a day that's drawing near
When the darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
I love this song - it is wonderful and full of truth!
After the service, we stayed in Atlanta that night and spent Saturday with our friends Brad and Brittany celebrating Brittany's birthday. What started as a day trip to Chattanooga, ended up as a road trip to Burnt Mountain, Amicalola Falls, and a really cute little town north of Atlanta. I can't remember the name...probably because all of these adventures were by accident. And by accident I mean that we just decided to drive and see what we ran into! It was a really fun day - so great to spend time with precious friends that we do not see nearly enough, and celebrate Brittany's birthday :)
Easter Sunday was great as well. I signed Graham up to help me in the nursery during the early service...he loved it. It was precious seeing all of the kids dressed up in their Easter clothes. One little girl, though, stole the show. She was the cutest of all....
This is a picture after church, but trust me - she was just as adorable at church that morning! Here she is holding her new Bible that she received for Easter - I pray that she will study this Book and hide it's truth in her heart. The outfit that she is wearing was my first Easter outfit as well...thanks Mom! (Mom made it...)
The weeks to come are busy as well - lots of weddings, traveling, and hopefully a lake trip here or there before heading out for the summer. I will update soon with pictures from Abby's baby dedication...I am officially her paparazzi :)
After the service, we stayed in Atlanta that night and spent Saturday with our friends Brad and Brittany celebrating Brittany's birthday. What started as a day trip to Chattanooga, ended up as a road trip to Burnt Mountain, Amicalola Falls, and a really cute little town north of Atlanta. I can't remember the name...probably because all of these adventures were by accident. And by accident I mean that we just decided to drive and see what we ran into! It was a really fun day - so great to spend time with precious friends that we do not see nearly enough, and celebrate Brittany's birthday :)
Easter Sunday was great as well. I signed Graham up to help me in the nursery during the early service...he loved it. It was precious seeing all of the kids dressed up in their Easter clothes. One little girl, though, stole the show. She was the cutest of all....
This is a picture after church, but trust me - she was just as adorable at church that morning! Here she is holding her new Bible that she received for Easter - I pray that she will study this Book and hide it's truth in her heart. The outfit that she is wearing was my first Easter outfit as well...thanks Mom! (Mom made it...)The weeks to come are busy as well - lots of weddings, traveling, and hopefully a lake trip here or there before heading out for the summer. I will update soon with pictures from Abby's baby dedication...I am officially her paparazzi :)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Precious...
No one can understand the joy that a niece or nephew can bring to your life until you experience it. Especially for those who do not have kids of their own quite yet. Graham and I have had a BLAST with Abby! She is almost 5 months old and gets more and more precious every day. I have LOVED watching her personality bloom - she is smiling, laughing, and talking so much recently! Above are a few of my favorite pictures of Abby. We went to the park with her this weekend so as soon as I get the pictures from my camera to my computer, I will put them up!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ohh Samford...
The weekend that we returned from Kenya, I had the most special treat ---- my friends from college came in town and stayed with me for the weekend! I cannot even begin to say how much fun we had and how great it was to see them! I miss these girls so much and although I'm thankful for phone calls, emails, facebook, etc. that help us stay in touch, nothing compares to spending face to face time with each other! We went to Gilchrist (our favorite lunch spot) in Mountain Brook, walked around Samford and visited the ADPi house, had dinner at Cocina..of course...went to Step Sing, talked about life, and laughed the entire time. So pretty much..we pretended like we were in college again! It was wonderful and such a reminder of how blessed I am with precious friends!
Overwhelmed...
One month later and here I am finally getting back to the blog. Needless to say, it's been a busy month! Kenya was an absolutely amazing trip. It was such a blessing to see the beautiful faces of the people we met last year, and just as great to meet new people. To explain the people of Kenya in just a few words is near impossible. They are the most gracious, beautiful, joyous people...in the midst of the most oppressive, dark, poverty-stricken circumstances. They are truly amazing.
I put together an album of pictures on facebook, but there are way too many to post on the blog. If you would like to see pictures, feel free to visit that album here.
Being honest, I struggled so much more in Kenya this year than I did last year. Everywhere you turn in Kenya there is poverty. Even on the cleanest of streets, it is dirty. Even in the most developed of areas, there is a slum on the borders. Now I realize that there are areas of Kenya that are not like this...but for the most part this is how it is. The emotional burden that I felt while I was there...and continue to feel right now...is so heavy. I felt overwhelmed the entire time I was there. Now don't get me wrong...I LOVED being there and cannot wait to return...I'm just being honest here. But I'll tell you what hit me the most while I was there. While I felt this heavy sense of sorrow and helplessness...the beautiful people of Kenya were smiling, happy, laughing, playing, holding my hands, playing with my hair, wanting their picture taken...this is all they know and they are thankful for the little that they have. Not thankful in the way that we as Americans are thankful; they are TRULY, TRULY thankful for EVERY little thing that they have. Nothing is taken for granted. I learn more from the 7 year olds I play with in Kenya than I almost ever do while sitting in Birmingham, Alabama.
God is doing mighty things through Compassion International - He is changing children, their families, their communities, and ultimately their countries. He is showing them that their hope does not lie in the slums in which they live, but their hope lies in the fact that they have a Lord and Savior in Jesus Christ who is passionate about the poor and who loves them immensely.
Andy Blanks, who went on the trip with us, kept up with his blog while we were in Kenya and seeing that he is a writer, he articulated everything beautifully while we were there....If you would like to read more details about our trip, please visit his blog...http://andyblanks.com/...even if you're not interested in our trip to Kenya, his blog is worth visiting!
Here are just a few pictures from our time there...
I put together an album of pictures on facebook, but there are way too many to post on the blog. If you would like to see pictures, feel free to visit that album here.
Being honest, I struggled so much more in Kenya this year than I did last year. Everywhere you turn in Kenya there is poverty. Even on the cleanest of streets, it is dirty. Even in the most developed of areas, there is a slum on the borders. Now I realize that there are areas of Kenya that are not like this...but for the most part this is how it is. The emotional burden that I felt while I was there...and continue to feel right now...is so heavy. I felt overwhelmed the entire time I was there. Now don't get me wrong...I LOVED being there and cannot wait to return...I'm just being honest here. But I'll tell you what hit me the most while I was there. While I felt this heavy sense of sorrow and helplessness...the beautiful people of Kenya were smiling, happy, laughing, playing, holding my hands, playing with my hair, wanting their picture taken...this is all they know and they are thankful for the little that they have. Not thankful in the way that we as Americans are thankful; they are TRULY, TRULY thankful for EVERY little thing that they have. Nothing is taken for granted. I learn more from the 7 year olds I play with in Kenya than I almost ever do while sitting in Birmingham, Alabama.
God is doing mighty things through Compassion International - He is changing children, their families, their communities, and ultimately their countries. He is showing them that their hope does not lie in the slums in which they live, but their hope lies in the fact that they have a Lord and Savior in Jesus Christ who is passionate about the poor and who loves them immensely.
Andy Blanks, who went on the trip with us, kept up with his blog while we were in Kenya and seeing that he is a writer, he articulated everything beautifully while we were there....If you would like to read more details about our trip, please visit his blog...http://andyblanks.com/...even if you're not interested in our trip to Kenya, his blog is worth visiting!
Here are just a few pictures from our time there...
Monday, February 1, 2010
TOMORROW!
Graham and I leave for Kenya tomorrow with Student Life and Compassion International. There are 16 people from Student Life going and 2 from Compassion - we will be gone for 9 days...and I cannot wait!!!
These are the precious faces that I get to see...
These are the heart-wrenching sights that I will see...
And this precious little girl - I cannot wait to hold her! This is Esther - the adorable 4 year old that Melanie and Reynolds sponsor through Compassion International. We got to meet Esther last year and it was one of the most special moments of my life! Mel, Reynolds and Abby have packed a bag full of goodies for us to take her - SO excited!!
Mike and Mary (Graham's mom and stepdad) also sponsor a 6 year old little girl, Dorcas, in Kenya. I cannot wait to meet her for the first time and take her a bag full of surprises from the Hinkles! Don't worry...we will take lots of pictures!
Now with all of the excitement that comes with this trip, I have to be honest and admit that there is a little bit of anxiety as well. I know that I handled 18 hours on an airplane last year...but I cannot for the life of me imagine doing that again!! I know it will be okay, but for some reason I am so nervous about that this time around! Also, Graham and I have both been sick for the past few days - and although our doctor nursed us up pretty good today, please pray that we will feel much better when we wake up in the morning! The most anxiety, though, comes from knowing some of the sights that I am about to see. Knowing the extreme poverty that I am about to walk through and experience and observe children and babies living in...it is so overwhelming. Please pray that God will shine through each of us and that His presence will be felt by all that we come in contact with. God is doing an amazing work through Compassion by providing children and ultimately their families and their communities with HOPE - praise Him for that!
Pictures to come when we return!
These are the precious faces that I get to see...
These are the heart-wrenching sights that I will see...
And this precious little girl - I cannot wait to hold her! This is Esther - the adorable 4 year old that Melanie and Reynolds sponsor through Compassion International. We got to meet Esther last year and it was one of the most special moments of my life! Mel, Reynolds and Abby have packed a bag full of goodies for us to take her - SO excited!!
Mike and Mary (Graham's mom and stepdad) also sponsor a 6 year old little girl, Dorcas, in Kenya. I cannot wait to meet her for the first time and take her a bag full of surprises from the Hinkles! Don't worry...we will take lots of pictures!
Now with all of the excitement that comes with this trip, I have to be honest and admit that there is a little bit of anxiety as well. I know that I handled 18 hours on an airplane last year...but I cannot for the life of me imagine doing that again!! I know it will be okay, but for some reason I am so nervous about that this time around! Also, Graham and I have both been sick for the past few days - and although our doctor nursed us up pretty good today, please pray that we will feel much better when we wake up in the morning! The most anxiety, though, comes from knowing some of the sights that I am about to see. Knowing the extreme poverty that I am about to walk through and experience and observe children and babies living in...it is so overwhelming. Please pray that God will shine through each of us and that His presence will be felt by all that we come in contact with. God is doing an amazing work through Compassion by providing children and ultimately their families and their communities with HOPE - praise Him for that!
Pictures to come when we return!
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