Way up, way up, in the middle of the air!

Dad and I on the ski lift at Taos Ski Valley, NM

Over Spring Break, I was given the opportunity and blessing to ski with Mom and Dad. Mom and I drove up to Taos Ski Valley, together, on Sunday, as Saturday, I chose to run a 10-mile trail race. You can read about the race here. I enjoyed spending the time with Mom, Hugo, and Lois. Hugo and Lois are some very special sock monkeys, for the Gaudet Reunion 2010! We had fun taking pictures in Roswell, NM, with the aliens! :) Our drive was elongated by some crazy snow conditions on the drive up, but God is good, and kept us safe.

During our ski trip we took one day to hike. And then Mom and Dad indulged my desire to go to the Earthship homes. I'm not a particularly green person, I was just curious. I think Dad enjoyed the interesting building materials as well.

Mom and I outside of the a Earthship home.

Me inside of an Earthship home--notice the inside flower garden.

This is the gnarly stuff they make the homes out of--tires, beer cans, pop cans, beer bottles, dirt, interesting stuff.

I had a blast during the week! To my surprise, some friends from church, Trent and Henry Timberlake, also came up to Taos Ski Valley. Henry and I went out for a couple beers at Eske's, the evening Trent and Henry arrived. Eske's has some pretty cool local brews. The next evening, the guys joined my family for burgers at the condo. Dad, Henry, and I skied the following day--I'm pretty sure Henry liked skiing fast with Dad! Henry convinced me to try a couple of the ski jumps. I jumped slowly the first time and landed alright, but the second time, I got some air, and then enjoyed a crash. Oh well, it was a fun learning experience. I also tried a box for the first time. Not my cup of tea.

One of those random joy moments for me is when I catch a little air--and then going through my head is always "Way up, way up, in the middle of the air! Ezekiel saw a wheel..." Always brings a huge smile to my face.

Dad and I on the lift!

Another thing that brings me a huge smile to my face are my friends Fares and James. I am pictured below with the guys. They keep us inline, and keep our stuff safely stowed away, when not in use.

James, Faith, Fares

I'm wet, too

A friend of mine recently shared her testimony on facebook, I told her that I loved her analogy and wanted to share her testimony on my blog, and Julie said that it would be alright. Please note, there is a little tongue in cheek humour in here. :) This has a fabulous modern day parable--and I too, like Julie, am wet! Sharing your testimony is easy; getting your testimony is the challenge. God has already won the battle and He will be victorious!

When I was three, I stole a jar of candy from a kiosk. Sticking my hand in the glass shaped heaven; a childish greed took over and I took off. When I was six, I joined a wannabe soccer team. I mentioned early morning runs to my mom, who thought a crowd of kids jogging at five thirty was a horrible idea. I snuck out and ran anyway. When I was nine, I recruited my Indonesian friend to help fix a spelling test. I listened—her accent meant she sounded words out—and wrote. When I was eleven, I walked out to a crazy friend’s party. It was 11:30 at night, and would run late, of course. There I didn’t ask permission—I went out.

If you think about it, I wasn’t murdering people. I wasn’t stealing cars. I wasn’t being cruel to anyone. But, I knew, because I’m a missionary kid, that stealing, lying and whatever else, was wrong on the Jesus stick. I was sticking pins in the water balloon of sin, rather than a knife, maybe. But I was still getting wet.

Sometime during all of this, I went forward at a church alter call. Essentially, I prayed Jesus would keep me good, and send me to Heaven in the end. I didn’t understand the implications of a relationship with an invisible, distant but close being. Anywho, I continued to act up, a bit, but didn’t link myself to the evil crowd my dad preached to. He said evil people were hell-bound—because I wasn’t worried about my behavior, my life stayed the same.

Age twelve I realized there should be something more. Emotion struck, tears flowed, knees bent and I walked out of church with something new. It’s like something clicked about my behavior, like I understood the water balloon thing. A thing is a thing, no matter how small.

I’m seventeen now, and a lot has changed. If you know me, you know how much.

By that, I mean a lot.

Did I say a lot? Yes, a lot. I’m like a playdoh sculpture; shaped all the time. Basic form is static, but every friend, every party and every weekend in Bali changes a little something. No hyperwise conclusion here, just stating I’m the same as I was back in ’99. A little good, a little bad. A little candy kiosking, a little moralizing. End.

Just like Julie, I know that my sins are wrong on the Jesus stick, I even know when I'm sticking pins in the water balloon, and going back to my prior post, it feels pretty good at the time. Really...what's a little water? But Julie is right in her analogy, I'm still getting wet, even if I'm not sticking a knife in the world of sin.

Confession. I am wet!

GPS and God: how are they alike

This article was posted in First Press, the bi-monthly newsletter of First Presbyterian Church, and gave no author. I thought it was a good analogy.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System, which is now available in cars to guide you to your selected destination. You enter an address and GPS will instruct you on each turn necessary for you to reach your desired destination beginning from your present location as the starting point.

Let's say you get in your car with GPS, but you don't turn it on. How can it help you?

Now if you don't have a relationship with our Lord Jesus, how can He give you guidance?

Okay, so you turn on the GPS and enter your destination. Now you turn up the radio and don't pay any attention to the GPS when it is giving you instructions to turn right. You decide to turn left. GPS now has to re-compute the instructions to get you back on course and to your destination. The penalty is that it will take longer to arrive and you may miss a critical appointment.

Now, if you have a relationship with Jesus, when He tries to tell you the path you should take, if you decide to go your own way; you may be led down a path of sin. You may also pay a penalty by ending in a place you shouldn't be. You are not available to do the work God had planned for you and you will need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Then you need new directions to get back on the right path...

I think all too often, I have the radio of life turned up, and I'm not paying attention to GPS Jesus, giving me instructions. Other times, I hear Him, plain as day, but as a sinner, I decide to turn the opposite way. It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time, right?!

My Dad and I were listening to some old Rich Kannwischer sermons, and in one of them he made the following statement...

When David had Uriah killed, he felt like a powerful King, not a sinner
When David slept with Bathseba, he felt like a lover, not a sinner

Feelings can be deceiving.

10 mile trail race

I decided that for my first race, since all of these medical fiascoes, I would run the Prickly Pear 10 mile trail race. After reading Ann's blog, and being totally interested in her thoughts as she completed her last race, I decided that I too should share what went through my head during the 10 mile trail race.

Upon waking up, my adrenaline was pumping, but in a good way. This was both odd and scary; a new feeling for me, in the past 9 months. It's exciting when your adrenaline pumps in good ways, and not over the top for no apparent reason. I do not know if God has chosen to heal me permanently or temporarily, but what I do know, is I have been feeling fabulous and I will bask in the glorious days He has given me!

Race: Prickly Pear 50k and 10 mile trail runs
Distance: 10 miles
Goal Time: 120 minutes (12:00 min/mi)
Actual Time: 1:51:16 (11:08 min/mi)

I started near the back, as I am not fast, and my goal was to finish in two hours or less--12 minute miles. I felt that was a good goal for my first race since May, and since I became "healthy." I looked around to see if anybody I knew was there, but I did not see any familiar faces.

I completed the first three miles, relatively easily, in thirty minutes, following a lady, who I deemed my personal pace setter. During our first water break, around mile 3, she stopped and drank the Gatorade, and so did I. I had read on some running sites that people that are not super serious about there time should stop and drink, and then throw away their cup, as you really are not going to lose that much time. I like to do that.

The two of us continue, myself, directly behind this woman. I did not want to pass her, just to keep up with her. Sadly, she tripped and fell at some point, but yay, she was okay, and got up and kept going. I continued to follow her, passing people as she passed them, but then she fell again. This time a little harder. It was at this point that she chose to slow down more, and I chose to pass her. I'm glad she was okay, but I am sad that she fell! She was such a good pace setter, oh well!

Around mile 5 or 6, I found a new pace setter for a couple miles. Until this point I thought two things primarily:

• Wow I cannot believe how easy this run is
• Thank you Lord for giving me a hedge of protection and keeping me from biting the dust!
  

My new pace setter was fabulous until she too, bit the dust. Thank God she was okay, as well, but like many, a little shaken and chose to slow down.

Somewhere around miles 6 to 8 was my personal challenge. I was done, this was getting almost boring, something had to change. Lo and behold, I found a new pace setter, an older man, and I followed him until he decided he was tired and started walking.

For my last two miles, I was by myself. The people in front of me were far enough in front that I did not want to sprint up just to run side by side them, and the people behind me stayed pretty far behind me. A lady came up on behind me for a couple minutes, she too bit the dust. And she too was okay. I am blown away at how many people took some pretty ugly spills and am thankful that God kept me safe! :) Thank you Jesus for the hedge of protection and a fabulous run this morning!

The last mile took me by surprise. All of a sudden I saw a sign that said, 100 meters to race finish. Oh, wow! I was finished and by the end of the race, I felt great. I knew I could've gone further, and I knew I had finished in under 2 hours! I completed the race in less than goal time. Yay!

Props to Andrew Kahn, who from his great ingeniousness has learned that phones can have problems if they get too wet from sweat...so before I put my phone in my back pocket, I put it in a ziplock snack bag. Worked like a charm! Thanks, Andrew for your great intelligence. I even noticed other women freaking out because their phones were soaked. Ewww! :)

Only in Texas do you finish a race, and eat fajitas! Yes, we had fabulous, oranges, bananas (this monkey ate 2), tortillas, beef fajitas, chicken fajitas, pico de gallo, black beans, borracho beans, and rice. And of course their was lots of bottled water and Gatorade. There was plently of beer as well, for the connoisseurs.

Overall, I had a blast running this race, and I am looking forward to my next race. A nice and easy 5k. My next 10-miler will be on Mother's Day...the Fort Sam Houston Army 10-miler. It will be my second time to run the FSH Army 10-miler.

On a side note...the Redbud is beautiful in bloom! :)

So are the Bluebonnets...they are just opening. In Texas, we have March flowers...forget May flowers. :)

Among the heartache is hope

A fellow Mission Society Missionary, Angela, posted parts of this on her blog, and I found it so incredibly encouraging. This past year has been challenging--spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Read on!

Among the heartache is hope, amidst the suffering is grace, behind the ambiguity is a divine plan, and I am created in the image of God.

You will find God to be more faithful than you ever dreamed He could be, but you will also learn that He is more unpredictable than you wish He was. You will discover that His grace indeed is sufficient, but His ways are so much higher than your own that you cannot even imagine what the next step will look like. Your faith will be tested as you wonder if a good God would place a precious soul inside of a broken body.

You will discover, as you allow God to give you strength, that God is indeed very good. As you learn to love more and more, you'll understand more and more about God's love for broken and imperfect people. Temporal things will lose value and you will learn what is really important. Your heart will burst with joy and pride as you see small victories in life.

You'll appreciate more the fact that in heaven there will be no bad news, no pain, no suffering and no tears. You will wake up every morning aware of your need for a gracious and loving God. That is the greatest gift of all. We all desperately need Him, we just tend to become self sufficient and forget. It's not a road you would choose, but one day you will look back and you wouldn't trade that road for anything in the world.........

The Lord said to Gideon, "Go in the strength that you have......I will be with you". My advise would be...get out of bed every morning and put one foot in front of the other in the strength that you have. God will be with you every step that you take and His grace and strength will be more than enough!

Press on!

Positive and Negative consequences

Before I started my quiet time the other morning, I was thinking about positive and negative consequences...more specifically the positive consequences. I was thinking about the good things that happen when we do what we are supposed to, when we are supposed to. I was remembering how sweet it is to receive those blessings from God when we are in His will. And then, when I pulled out First Cup--one of our readings was from Deuteronomy 28.

If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today...all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God. Fear the honoured and awesome name, the Lord your God.
The Lord your God will (not He might, or if He feels like it, He will!):

• Delight over you to prosper you, and multiply you--Yes God takes pleasure in us, He is gratified in us, He cheers for us!
  
• Set you high above all the nations of the earth
• Blessed shall you be in the city
• Blessed shall you be in the country
• Blessed shall be the offspring of your body
• Blessed shall be the produce of your ground
• Blessed shall be the offspring of your beasts
• Your heard shall increase
• Your young flock shall increase
• Blessed shall be your basket
• Blessed shall be your kneading bowl
• Blessed shall you be when you come in
• Blessed shall you be when you go out
• The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you
• The Lord will command the blessing upon you
• The Lord will command the blessing in all that you put your hand to (I especially like this!)
  
• He will bless you in the land which He gives you

And as great as all of this is...I struggle with the questions of, "Will God do this for me?" Which brings me back once again to Psalm 126:2-3. "The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord will do great things for me. I am glad!"

On the contrary, there are promises of curses for those who do NOT obey God--i.e. negative consequences. Take the opposite of the positive consequences and you have the curses. It continues with, "all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed." Why? "Because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statues which He commanded you."

God gives us awesome responsibilities, with spiritual and physical consequences, both positive and negative. This is a great privilege! What are you going to do with your life? What choices will you make today? Are you going to obey God, or choose the path of curses? Everyday is a new day, so maybe yesterday disobedience was chosen, but today, we can start fresh and choose to be obedient.

Humour me, please! :)

A friend shared some funnies compiled from teachers. These are some of my favourite!

This one was shared by Jessica, a fellow teacher.

Isn't it romantic?

Zoo

Mondays through Thursdays I go to the zoo to practice my monkey skills! :) Okay, really, I help kids with their homework (primarily tutoring math) and then when we are finished we play outside on the monkey bars, assuming weather is nice! I have taught the monkettes how to flip and we are having lots of fun! Today was beautiful and sunny, 80F so I took the camera out!

May I be so bold as to say...

May I be so bold as to say...If my pain and suffering is for the glorification of Godhead--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, then it is my privilege to serve and glorify my Lord and Saviour in this manner.

Jeremiah 29:12-14
Then (Faith) will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to her. (Faith) will seek Me and find Me when she searches for Me with all of her heart. I will be found by (Faith) declares the Lord.

As I teach in the book of Mark, I am blown away by the number of times that Jesus calls out the individual. Our memory verse this past week was Mark 5:36, "But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, do not be afraid any longer, only believe." I love that Jesus pulled out the individual man and spoke to him directly, after only overhearing what others were saying. He gets to the point and addresses the issue at hand. Just like Jesus cares for the synagogue official, He cares for me and you. He speaks to each of us. What is Jesus saying to you?

Isaiah 55:12
(Faith) will go out with joy and be led forth with peace

Psalm 126:2-3
The Lord has done great things for them; the Lord will do great things for (Faith). (Faith) is glad.

Bluegrass math

Fabulous live bluegrass (Native Texans)

+



delicious food (Scenic Loop Cafe)

=


awesome!

New friends! :)

Zeynab Mursal, her daughter, and myself

Fatuma Abdi, myself, and her two children, also Zeynab Mursal's daughter

I have new Somalian friends! The women are such a pleasure to spend time with and the children are a blast to play with!






The kids are intrigued by everything, and the mothers are very welcoming of any love showered upon their kids. I love watching the women join in and play with their children.









In the past couple weeks I have been able to play Twister, Connect 4, and colour!

Misc...

I thought these were cool billboards:

• Have you read my best seller, it's quite challenging. --God
• In my opinion, you are the most beautiful creature in the world. Okay, I'm biased. --God
• With pleasure I will carry your cross, come. --God
• You are not alone; You have me; Trust in me. --God
• Put yourself in my hands and watch. --God

This song was sang at Upgrade, the Wesley college group at UTSA. I find these words extremely comforting during this time of upheaval in my life.

When you could just be silent and leave us here to die;
still you sent your Son to us. You are on our side.

How cool is that? God is on my side. He really does care for me.

And lastly, some thoughts and questions to reflect upon:

• Are you excited about Jesus in your life and sharing that love, joy, and excitement with others?
• It was the will of the LORD. God is in control, even in the dark. God provides reconciliation through Jesus.
• I deserve to die in my sin. It's not up for debate and scriptures are clear. Hearts change; repentance occurs. We need to constantly renew our faith. We can live a life of victory through Jesus Christ. We are called to repentance. Use these forty days of lent to lean on God and reflects what God is calling you to do in this time.
• The important part of Ash Wednesday is that our hearts are torn from our sins. We should grieve over our sins--they tear us from God and each other. We must recognize that we are sinful and need to return to God.
• Be honest about who you are and how you're doing. Set your hope on grace. Where is your hope-beauty, connections, wealth, pedigogy, zip code, intellect, career, etc. Trust that JC is already putting us back together. I am totally accepted and forgiven and there is nothing that I can do to change that.
• When the hand of God writes, it's powerful. What are you going to give up to God? What's troubling you the most? Help us repent God, so that we can live with clean hands. God wants obedience.
• We will die; we will not live forever. The glory and triumph will crack and fade. What would be different if I lived in the mortality of my own life? How would my priorities change?
  

Monkey Skills

I have rediscovered my monkey skills! I successfully cross the monkey bars at the playground. I also hang upside down like a pro! I love bananas, especially when they are slightly green. Come visit me at the zoo, anytime.

Levi and I hanging out!

This is a picture of my Mom...I am proud to say that I take after her! :)