A Song.

I Bring It To You

by Avalon from The Creed album

All of these words on paper

All of these thoughts in my head

The times I feel out of favor

The fear that sleeps in my bed

All of these stones in my pocket

My dreams that crashed on the shore

Faith when I thought I lost it

I lay it all at Your door

I bring it to You

There's wonder in all that You do

I bring You the scraps that make up my soul

You make me whole, I'm gold

I bring it to You

Songs I've shouted to heaven

The grace I've never deserved

All these gifts I've been given

The life that I find in Your word

I bring it to You

There's wonder in all that You do

I bring You the scraps that make up my soul

You make me whole, I'm gold

I bring it to You

I give You the glory

And I praise Your holy name

But more than anything

I bring You love

I bring You love

I bring it to You

There's wonder in all that You do

I bring You the scraps that make up my soul

You make me whole, I'm gold

I bring it to You I bring it to You

There's wonder in all that You do

I bring You the scraps that make up my soul

You make me whole, I'm gold

I bring it to You

I will have to admit, when I usually listen to a song on the radio or cd, I mostly listen to how it sounds more than what they are saying. I usually can sing along with it, but not computing what it is saying. Am I the only one that does that? Anyway, that wasn't my point. I wanted to share this song because it's has been a source of encouragement and hope for me. I love the part where it says "I bring You the scraps that make up my soul. You make me whole, I'm gold." Yeah. I've cried to this song. I've belted it out in my car, not thinking about who's around me. I've put it on repeat over and over again. This is a song that is a representation of my life right now.

Instead of prayer requests, I wanted to share this with you. Hopefully it can encourage you the same way it has for me.

Do you have an incredible song that has just touched your life? If so, please share!

News Flash!

It's been 13 days since I wrote my last entry! I didn't realize that it's been that long! Well, I guess I haven't felt inspired to write lately. But for those who check everyday, thank you for being faithful. Hopefully, you are still checking and this will be a surprise to you!

This past weekend I saw my lovely friend, Zoey. Zoey and I go to the same hair dresser, Mae. So, when I saw her, she told me how upset Mae was with me because I had dyed my hair black by another hair dresser. You see, Mae would never dye anyone's hair black! And when I went to the other hair dresser, I didn't ask to have my hair dyed black. It just turned out that way. At first I was shocked because it was suppose to be a dark brown, but it turned out jet black. It looked really weird, but I started to really like it because that's my NATURAL HAIR COLOR. Anyway, the funny part out of that conversation Mae had with Zoey was that Mae says I look ETHNIC! Hmmmm.....really? For crying out loud, Mae is asian herself. So, I guess just as long as you don't have jet black hair, you will never look ethnic. So, news flash! In case you didn't know, I'm ethnic. I'm shocked. How about you?

Before I end this entry, do you have any prayer request(s)? If so, let me know by Monday night and I will post them so that our prayer warrior friends can pray for them!

I love you all!

Grace

Some Thoughts From Me.

Well, no one responded to my blog with prayer requests, so I'm going to share my thoughts with you. =) Could it get better than this? It's your lucky day!

Recently, I came across II Peter 3:8-9 and the passage just stuck with me. It has become my favorite! It says: "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

What I love most about the verse is when it says "The Lord is not SLOW in keeping his promise...He is PATIENT with you..." These two phrase really hit me and caught me off guard for a minute. I mean, here I am thinking and constantly asking God to hurry up with His guidance for my life. And there it is in the WORD saying that He is not SLOW and He is PATIENT with me. It REALLY shocked me.

I've been waiting for Him and telling Him that I'm ready to move on with the next step in life and all He want is for me to live and enjoy the moment and to live a life of purity, holiness, and righteousness. And now, I'm just getting it.

I also have been thinking a lot about the last 5 months and how much I've grown. Not physically, but spiritually. I think that leaving my past employment was REALLY good for me. I wasn't growing at all while working there. I based and compromised my walk with the Lord on the fact that I was working for a church and that should be enough. But after leaving the job, I realized how little growth I've made. I actually think it got worse. Sad, I know. But that's the truth.

I believe that God was patiently waiting for me to get out of the situation to make me realize that I needed to "re-organize" my priority. And that I did. A few people have been amazed at how I've dealt with the whole situation. I just tell them that God knew I was miserable and He knew that I wasn't going to get out of it, so He pulled me out instead. It's the best thing that has happened in my life! Through it all, I know He has something great and better that He's preparing me for. I may be in a hurry and think that I'm ready, but I find comfort in the verse and I feel a whole lot better.

Hope you've enjoy these thoughts from me.

Please continue to pray for:

*Laurie, Danny and Liam Hawley.

*Gina and Paul Reeves.

*Me!

*Praise God that Nate finished his oral exam with EXCELLENCE!

It's That Time Again.

Prayer Requests? Praises? Updates? Let us know! It will be posted by Tuesday morning!

Thank you for your participation. =)

Ummmmm...The Random Blog Entry.

Hi.

So, I FINALLY watched Pride and Prejudice, the A&E version, with Colin Firth. I've attempted to watch it once about two years ago, but fell asleep within the first 1/2 hour, so I decided it was too boring for me. Then my friend, Elaine, told me that I needed to watch it with her and that she will help me get through the first 1/2 hour. We started the movie two weeks ago. We were only able to make it through 2 hours of it and I had to go home and go to bed for work the next day. We just finished the last 2.5 hours of it yesterday night. Although the second half was a little better, I still didn't enjoy it as much as I should. I think I need to watch it when I have a lot of energy. Every time I've watched it, it's been after a long day at work. That doesn't mix too well. But I loved the customs and music! Does that count? And no, I haven't read the book either. So, I need to get on that.

Don't you ever feel that TIME is just flying by? Can you believe that it's May? I mean, half of the year is almost gone! Where has the time gone? I feel like LIFE happened without me knowing it half of the time! I remember when I was young and how time went by SO SLOW! A minute felt like ETERNITY. Now, I want to enjoy THAT minute. Why is time going by fast? I feel like there are days where I'm just going and going and I have to remind myself to breathe, eat and drink (water). How did life get so busy?

A group of us will be meeting this Saturday for our first book club meeting. I will be leading the discussion on the book "The Dream Giver" by Bruce Wilkinson. If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. It's very short and fast read. So, I'm just curious...What is YOUR dream? What's one thing you have a passion or desire to do? I would love to hear from you, so don't be shy to comment!

Hope to hear from each of you soon!

Prayer Requests.

"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, 4 and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. 5 In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary - we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!"
Romans 5:3-5 (The Message)

Here are the prayer requests for this week.

Taylor University: Continue to pray for the friends and families affected by the fatal crash last week. For more information, please read the blog entry below.

The Hawleys: Pray for their new baby, Liam. Pray for Laurie and Danny as they enter this exciting new adventure of being parents. Pray for strength and wisdom as they learn how to take care of Liam, who has down syndrome.

Brandy: Pray for wisdom in the raising and teaching of my children. I have times where I feel like there is something lacking, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. I am in one of those times now. I am reminded that God promises that if we lack wisdom and ask Him for it, He will give it to us. I really need wisdom in regards to raising these babies!

Gina: Please pray for continued endurance for Paul as he waits to hear from LBPD. Also, that we would continue to hope and trust no matter the outcome.

Kristie: Pray for Nate's Oral Exam, which is THURSDAY, MAY 4th! Also, pray for a new mentoring ministry we're starting at my church. My role is to help with written materials-pray that my written words will reflect the right goals and the heart of this ministry. And praise God that I get to be a part of something I'm excited about! Thanks!

Abby: Please pray for my trip coming up in July, that everything goes smoothly at the tradeshow & I am able to understand & perform all my duties.

Grace: Pray for continue guidance of my future. I feel like I'm almost getting to where God wants me to be, but you just never know when He's going to shut that door and lead you to another. So, pray for patience and peace. I've experienced a lot these last few months and I have no doubt that He is in control.
Pray for the North Koreans. May they feel the presence of God's comfort and love. Pray for the believers that are there to keep seeing hope in the difficult situation. **If you are interested, I believe you can rent Seoul Train. Well at least on Netflix you can!**

**If you didn't email me your requests, don't fret! There's still time! Just send me an email and I'll post them as they come in! Love ya!**

You Just NEVER Know....

Kristie sent this over to me and thought it was a good idea to post it on my blog so we can all pray for the people that was killed and the families that are involved.

Students, Staff Involved in Fatal Crash
April 26, 2006
Updated: 8:15 a.m., Thursday, April 27

Taylor University officials report that a van carrying professional staff and students was involved in a collision with a semitrailer on Interstate 69 near Highway 18.

Four students and one employee were killed in the accident, including:
Whitney E. Cerak, freshman
Laurel E. Erb, junior
Bradley J. Larson, senior
Elizabeth A. Smith, senior
Monica Felver, Creative Dining Services employee

One student and three employees were injured in the accident, including:
Laura J. VanRyn, senior
Vickie Rhodes, Creative Dining Services employee
Connie Magers, Creative Dining Services employee
Michelle Miller, Creative Dining Services employee

------------------------------------------------

Please send me your prayer requests for next week by Monday! I will post them by Tuesday morning! Thank you!

Meet Paq.

I would like to introduce you to the newest edition to my family, Paq. Paq was brought home yesterday approximately at 10:20AM. Paq weighs virtually nothing (well compared to the last one) and will not die on me when working on a project. It will not decide to black out or quit on me. It will not burn my leg when sitting on it for a period of time. I can count on Paq to get my work done without any dysfuctional interruptions. Paq will last approximately 4 hours between feedings. So far I'm quite happy with Paq.

For those of you that's trying to figure out what the heck I'm talking about, Paq is short for Compaq, the computer. =)

"Have faith in God, " Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw ourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you sk for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything aainst anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. " Mark 11:22-25

Prayer Requests:

Laurie and Danny Hawley welcomes baby

Liam Thomas Hawley
Born 1:22 AM on Monday, April 24th
3 lbs 2 ounces and 17 inches long
Baby and Mom are both doing well. Despite being premature (born at 33 weeks), Liam is both breathing and eating on his own. Liam has Down Syndrome so we are waiting for some test results to tell us the health of his heart. Please keep the health of our little guy in your prayers.

Kristie: Pray for Nate's Oral Exam, which is May 4th-- a week from Thursday! Also, pray for a new mentoring ministry we're starting at my church. My role is to help with written materials-pray that my written words will reflect the right goals and the heart of this ministry. And praise God that I get to be a part of something I'm excited about! Thanks!

Grace: Continue to pray for God's path for my life.

This whole week is North Korea Freedom week. A group of people consisting Open Doors President, media crew and advocacy representatives are in DC this whole week attending receptions, rallies, prayer vigils, etc. This Friday, there will be a prayer vigil at the Chinese Embassy in LA. Pray for all the events and that God's presence will be evident. For more information you can check out www.seoultrain.com.

**If you would like to post a request or two, please let me know! Don't be shy!**

Prayer Requests.

If you have any, please let me know. I will post them on Tuesday. Thanks.

A Sad Night.

It doesn't seem right for me to share my fun and wild weekend after watching a documentary on North Korea. It's called "Seoul Train." I am fairly disturbed and very angry. I cannot even begin to tell you how I feel about this whole situation. I hate getting myself so wrapped up in these documentaries because I want to help them all but I can't. All I can really do at this point is to raise awareness to my friends, family and others. To constantly pray for these people. To do all that I can to help these causes. That's really all I can do.

I feel so silly to think that my life is so hard when compared to these people I have it good. I live in a country where I don't have to worry about being persecuted for my faith. I don't have to plan out an escape route and risk my life for a better life. I don't have to worry about being publicly executed for wanting a better life. I don't have to worry about not having food to eat, a bed to sleep in, a car to drive, a job, etc... I have it all. How silly am I to think that I'm going through tough times when there are obviously people out there suffering more than me? I'm so disgusted with myself.

My roommate asked me what I was watching and I told her. She said that she always try to avoid things like this so that she won't have to think or worry about it. That really disappointed me that people have that kind of attitude and mentality. I mean it's one thing if you never hear about it and another if you are making a decision to avoid it.

Anyway, that's me on my little soapbox.

Here's what I did on Saturday. I got all dressed up and wore long, big earrings. We went to LA to hear a band play at a bar then headed off to another bar/club for dancing.

Can You Believe It? I Can't!

This past Saturday I did something I'd never thought I would do in my whole entire life! I mean, there was never a desire to do it or even a slight wish to do it. But I did it. All from peer pressure. Well, I couldn't voice my opinions all that much since I wasn't driving. Anyway, I just can't believe I did it and I had such a great time. I'd probably wouldn't do this every weekend, but once in awhile would be fun. Wanna know what it is? Well, first take a guess and then I'll tell ya! I know, I'm sooooooooooooo mean! But it's so fun!

So, take a wild guess. I'll have the answer by Thursday! Have fun!

NPR & Peeps!

Hello friends! My roommate, Shannon has got me hooked on NPR (National Public Radio). For those in Orange County, you can hear it on FM 89.3 or 89.9. For those outside of Orange County, click on the link above to find a station. It's quite good. Lots of interesting talks and shows. Anyway, today, we heard a whole segment on Peeps. They were talking about how people are so fascinated by Peeps and how it's become part of our culture. Below are some links you can check out to see how the length that people go to for Peeps. This will definitely help you start off your week right!

• Peeps Recipes
• Lord of the Peeps
• Peeps and Library Usage
• Peep Research
• Peep Smoking & Alcohol
• Ban Peep Research!

Oh, we were cracking up looking through these! Seriously, who has the time to do all this?

Hope you had a good time going through these links! If you know of any more links on Peeps, please share them with us!

Oh yeah, Happy Easter!

One Of Those Days.

I'm having one of those days where enough caffeine cannot help. I can have a IV tube in my arm, pumping caffeine, and that will not be enough to wake me up! Why am I so tired! Maybe it's because my work really doesn't require a lot of thinking. Anyway, it's such a beautiful day and I'm stuck inside. So sad!

We are going to have a company Easter potluck in 45 minutes. I'm ready to have some yummy food and discuss about Lost. It should be fun. I like the people I'm working with and looking forward to getting to know them better over food!

Okay, that's it for now! Love ya!

People Who Can Make Me Laugh...

I love them! There's nothing better than being able to laugh with someone in the midst of all the crap that's going on. Last Saturday, which I won't go into details, my friends and I had a horrible experience (and I mean HORRIBLE) at Tortilla Joe's in Downtown Disney. Well, let's just say, our conversation with the Manager and waiter included the lines "Put the puppy in the bucket,""the puppy is out of the bucket and will need to be put back," "the puppy is not in the bucket" etc....Oh, it was hilarious. I wish we had it on tape. The poor manager and waiter was probably all confused and thought we were weird, but hey, we got 60% off of our meal!

Then at work, there's a guy that comes in to work after school everyday. His computer is next to mine and we just can't stop laughing at one another. He makes me laugh so much. He told me his name is "Dig" past tense. Yeah, I laughed at that and I still do whenever I think about it! Anyway, the third guy that shares the office with us, I think we annoy him because we just can't stop laughing!

Anyway, just wanted to share that with you guys. It's so nice to have people in your life that can make you REALLY laugh.

Love ya!

Taking a Break.

For this week, there will be no prayer requests posted. Posting will start up again next week. But if you have any prayer requests, feel free to post them as a comment. Thank you.

Put the Puppy in the Bucket!

To my readers: I'm so sorry that I couldn't get this posted earlier today. But my computer decided to have a "moment" or two. It was being very disobedient. But, don't you worry, here it is! Enjoy!

You're probably thinking "What?!" to my title. It really doesn't mean anything. This morning, I was listening to KROQ on my way to work, and they were interviewing this guy. They were talking about how Larry the Cable Guy came up with a phrase and turned it into a 13 million dollar empire by selling it on t-shirts, mugs, etc. So, on the morning show, they decided that they were going to try to come up with a phrase and make it popular! So, that's where the title comes from. Every time I think about it, I would laugh to myself. All of a sudden, I would just start chuckling. I don't know why, but it's such a funny phrase to me! I actually used it in an email today too. I just busted up writing that email and just now when I wrote it on the subject line. My co-worker even made a comment about how I like to laugh by myself. =)

Well, this weekend was so much fun! I had a great time watching four episodes of Band of Brothers with my new friend Elaine. I really like her and we have so much fun together. The first time I had her over, she wrote me the day after how I was to be her encourager and motivator to live out life. It was so sweet. We both felt that God has brought us together at the right time. Also, she makes the best, and I mean the best, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. We had leftovers and I hid it so my roommates won't find it and eat it. It's all mine! It's amazing! Now I just need ice cream and it will be perfect!

Then on Sunday, I hung out with Dana and Josh at Disneyland. We had so much fun. Josh was being "Ansel Adam" with the camera. We got on 3 rides during the 7 hours that we were there. We walked a lot! But the company was great and we laughed a lot! Those are the best times, you know. We saw a lot of girls wearing lingerie and really short shorts. We saw butt cracks and spewing of the boobs. Overall, it was a fun day.

Okay, now enough about me, let's get on with the prayer requests!

The Vencels: I feel we have so many praises! Si has a new job that he loves, things are going well at home so far without him here all the time, and both the kids are well at the same time for the first time in almost four months. My prayer requests would be for two events we are having at our home as part of our ministry. The first is on Friday night. It is called a PigFest and the purpose is to help members of our ministry learn to think through some cultural issues so that they will be better prepared to explain the faith to people they meet throughout their days (coworkers, etc.) So far, the signups are kind of low. Si had high hopes for this event! The second event is a women's fellowship I am planning to have at the house on Wednesday the 12th. We have had a lot of new couples join the ministry, so this will be a mixing of worlds--women who have been there for three years meeting with women who are brand new in the last few months. Pray that there will be an absence of cliques--and that there won't be any discipline problems with the children that come along.

Kim: Continue to pray for my job next year. They are revamping the entire special ed. program which means I can be placed at any of the 42 schools in the district. Please pray that I will feel confident wherever I am and that God will continue to use me in the lives of these hurting children.

Rahime: Here's an update: My friend has started working with me. She's great. We can keep praying that we find a few more students for her. I talked to Lauren, and she's doing well too. She got a job at a law office that basically fell into her lap. Praise God! Pray that it'll help build her confidence.

Kristie: Pray for Nate. He is studying for his Oral Exam, which he will take the first week of May. Pray that God will reward all his hard effort and that I would be a supportive wife through this final push. Thanks!

Gina: Things are starting to move along with the LBPD. Last week, they started their background check with neighbors, co-workers, friends and family. Pray for continue guidance with the whole process.

Grace: Pray for wisdom, guidance and strength.

Pray for for my friends, the Zahrndts. They just became foster parents to two teenage kids. One has really bad health problems and needs a lot of attention. They also have 3 kids of their own. They are such courageous people and felt that God has opened this opportunity up to them. Pray for their transition and guidance during this time.

If you have any updates or additions, please let me know! Have a great week!

What Should This Title Be?

Once again, I've fallen behind in asking for prayer requests! Sorry. So, if you could, please send your requests/updates in by Monday night so that I can post them by Tuesday morning!

Well, I've noticed that I hardly post anything about myself or my thoughts anymore. It's mostly prayer request reminders and prayer requests. I'm sorry and I will try to do better. :) But for now, I have to run. My friend Elaine is coming over and we are going to watch Band of Brothers! I'm so excited because she's a new friend and we're going to watch one of my all time favorite mini-series! Couldn't get better than this on a cold and rainy day!

One Down, One More To Go.

Thank you for all your prayers about the Open Doors job. They told me today that I can start tomorrow. Yippee! They are totally understanding about me pursuing another job too. It's a great situation! So, once again, thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Requests :)

First of all, I just want to say that I'm so proud that I have a group of friends that are willing to commit in prayer for one another. It is so powerful and I'm so grateful for each one of you. Secondly, it's so awesome to see how prayers are being answered and God's work in all the situations. I just want to say that I have amazing friends.

This week, I want to encourage you again to pick a time to fast. If you need instructions, please click on this past post.

So, here are the prayer requests for this week:

Kim: You can continue to pray for my job next year. They are revamping the entire special ed. program which means I can be placed at any of the 42 schools in the district. Please pray that I will feel confident wherever I am and that God will continue to use me in the lives of these hurting children.

Rahime: Here's an update: My friend has started working with me. She's great. We can keep praying that we find a few more students for her. I talked to Lauren, and she's doing well too. She got a job at a law office that basically fell into her lap. Praise God! Pray that it'll help build her confidence.

Brandy: Our nephew, M., came out of surgery on Friday. The next 10 days are critical for his recovery and the whole family's sanity. M. is VERY MAD that his feet are in casts. He also is being fed through his stomach tube rather than his mouth (to let it heal), and this also ticks him off! He is one MAD little boy. =) But he must not be in too much pain if he has the energy to complain about things. On Monday, he will have some stitches removed, and then on Friday they will fix one of the tubes in his ears (it filled with fluid and he can't hear out of it until they fix it). I think that is all I know for now...Keep praying for them!

Pray for Si, he's official first day at the new job is on Monday, so prayers for our transition would be much appreciated.

Abby: Praise God. Had her 3-months interview on Friday and it went really well!

Kristie: Pray for Nate. He is studying for his Oral Exam, which he will take the first week of May. Pray that God will reward all his hard effort and that I would be a supportive wife through this final push. Thanks!

Gina: Things are starting to move along with the LBPD. Last week, they started their background check with neighbors, co-workers, friends and family. Pray for continue guidance with the whole process.

Grace: Most of you know that I've been volunteering at Open Doors and last week, one of the lady told me they are trying to make it into a paid position for me. So, right now, they are just waiting to see if they have the money in the budget for it. It would be a temp job for right now. So, pray that they are able to find the money and hire me on for the time being. I'm also in the process, well, waiting to be exact, for a position that I've applied for weeks ago. I just found out that they aren't starting the hiring process till April. Just pray for me as I continue to wait and for strength. I'm just so tired of waiting!

For for my friends, the Zahrndts. They just became foster parents to two teenage kids. One has really bad health problems and needs a lot of attention. They also have 3 kids of their own. They are such courageous people and felt that God has opened this opportunity up to them. Pray for their transition and guidance during this time.

Invisible Children: Pray for the Invisible Children Project. Pray for their upcoming project in the US, Global Night Commute on April 29th. This is a gathering where people can experience what thousands of children in Uganda experience each night: they leave their homes out of fear of abduction and walk miles into town to sleep. Pray that the people organizing this event and those who are participating.

**Once again, if you haven't seen the documentary, please find a screening and go to it. OR buy the DVD and host a house party. They have kits to help you host a house party on their website.**