Transformed + set free

insignificant worthless speck.

2009-12-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVVvic8okho&feature=channel

1. watch that video.

2. So Dan Brown, the video guy, just pointed out to us how amazingly huge the universe is. If his video didn't make you say "wow!!!!" then watch it again and pay attention! Now, if God created all of this, imagine how much bigger He is! Ok? So God is HUGE. Dan makes an interesting point by calling us insignificant, worthless specks. I can totally see how he would think this, but I beg to differ. I know that God loves me and has a plan for me, an insignificant speck, to give His name glory. God loves us tiny, stupid specks enough to send His only son to die for us... to enter in a relationship with us... to give us an opportunity to join Him in heaven... to allow us to love Him back and even tell Him what we want and need!

I don't know... I was just watching random videos on youtube and had a "moment" and thought I would share since I haven't written in a while. =]

no sense!

2009-12-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

This past month or so I've really been struggling with prayer. It simply did not make sense. I know I've posted about this before... like, I didn't understand it then, but wanted to pray to talk to God. I still didn't understand it, but no longer wanted to pray about things. I prayed, but I never told God what I wanted or gave Him my requests. I didn't see how what I said could change God's mind or how asking for something would make Him give it to me. I knew that God has a plan for everything and I just couldn't see how my request would make Him change that plan and if it was already in His plan, then I didn't need to ask for it. So I didn't.

But it began to seriously bug me because every single time I heard somebody pray, they asked for things. People asked me to pray for them. I even asked people to pray for me. But I was in major doubt that prayer could affect anything.

After some research, there are a few verses that have helped me to understand.

Matthew 21:22 "If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer."

Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and God will give you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened. If you children ask for bread, which of you will give them a stone? Of if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!"

To complete my thoughts, I'm going to quote my diary:

"If don't think if I asked God for me to wake up tomorrow perfectly beautiful it would happen. But if I ask for the things God places in my heart, He will give it to me. If we're in love with God and really are in a relationship with Him - talking to Him, listening, etc. - then His desires become our desires. And when we ask for our desires (which are originally His), He gives them to us! All we have to do is ask! And WHY would God want to wait for me to ask? Because He loves me. And He wants me to see that. Like when Dad buys something for me after I ask, I feel loved. I think it's the same thing."

So I'm understanding it more. Now I am giving my requests to God. And for the first time, I think I'm praying expectantly. I know that God puts certain requests in my heart and I know that He's going to answer them.

what a weekend!

2009-11-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to the beach with a few amazing friends.

This weekend simply amazed me. We got there Friday morning at 2am, slept for about 3 - 4 hours, woke up at 7 and went to an absolutely gorgeous waterfall. It's called Cachoeira Paraiso... and for good reason. The water was crystal clear and kind of cold, but not freezing. It was beautiful. You could lay down on the rocks under the waterfall just the power of it. Then, we went to the beach. It was not what you think of when you think of a Brasilian beach. There were no vendors or crazy kids running everywhere or big buildings and hotels in the background. It was simply sand, big waves, mountains in the background, rocks that you could climb on, and maybe 3 other families. It was super super super nice. So we returned to the house, took showers, and hit the town for dinner. There was a parquinho like the kind in the Notebook. It was SO much fun! We rode a little kids ride and had a blast and then rode this other one that made you INSANELY dizzy.

However, this weekend was hard. It was super fun and possibly one of my favorite beach vacations ever, but it was hard. On Thursday, before we left, one of our hands-on guys had to leave unexpectantly because of some things back at home. Sean is a really really cool guy and while he was here, he really did teach me a lot of things. Saying goodbye to him was hard... goodbyes are a constant thing in my life and any goodbye is hard for me, but this one was especially hard. The cool thing was that God knew this goodbye was going to be very difficult and planned this beach trip in such a perfect way for me. He put the exact people I needed in the trip and did the exact things that I loved. This weekend was such a God-weekend... It's hard to describe. But, God really took care of me and gave me just what I needed. I remember saying various times to the people there, "guys... I'm so happy!" It's just and indescribable happiness. It's not like I just won a competition and I'm happy. It's not like it's my birthday and I'm happy. It's joy, I guess. Just knowing God loves me enough to plan a trip for me to get over a goodbye is awesome. This weekend could not have been more perfect and I can't thank God enough for the great friends He has given me and the love that He has for me.

=]

2009-10-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

You know when you think you've got it all figured out and then you suddenly realize that you don't have it all figured out? Well, yeah. Tonight, God really revealed more about Himself to me. And earlier I thought I knew a lot about Him! Like, His powerfulness and almightyness and awesomeness drew me to Him and just made me fall completely in love... yet somehow I got frustrated with that, and even a little bit bored. Because He is great, I wanted to be greater... like, greater as in a better person, you know? I'm the type of person who always strives for more... I want to be better and I am perfectionist in a lot of ways. And when I started to not meet these expectations that I had of myself, I put myself down and became a disappoint to me. And because I was a disappoint to myself, I thought my friends saw me that way and my family saw me that way, but worst of all, I thought God saw me as a disappointment. And that crushed me.

So, what did I do? I did what I grew up doing. I had my devotions before going to bed - but not because I wanted to or because I learned anything from them... I did it because that's what I thought I had to do. I did it because that's what a perfect Christian girl does. She reads her Bible, she prays, she writes in her journal, maybe listens to a couple of praise songs... and then falls asleep trying to pray for her family and friends. So that was my routine for a few weeks. And I didn't get any consolation from the Bible that lasted and I didn't learn anything that changed me or anything like that. But kept on doing it because that's what I had to do.

But tonight, I got on my iTunes and saw I had a new podcast from Francis Chan. I had nothing to do other than homework, but that's boring, so I decided to watch the podcast. 20 minutes in the sermon, I was getting bored and usually that's all I watch. Enough to get the message, but not enough to REALLY get the message. But, tonight, something compelled me to continue watching so I watched all the way through. And God just spoke to me. So much.

Before, God's might and power brought me to my knees, but now it's His humbleness, love, and daddy-ness He has that just makes me stand in awe and cry because I don't deserve any of it. God is so amazing. How cool is it just to simply be able to run to God's throne, sobbing and cry out "Daddy!!" because of a simple bad day or something? It doesn't matter when or where we are, God is our Father, He's Daddy and He loves us so so so much that He cares about our bad days and understands us more than anyone ever will! He lets us sit on His lap and hug Him, just talking about our life... and He's going to listen and care.

And, of course, I've heard this CONSTANTLY through my whole life. Recently, a friend explained this to me with the kind of passion that I now understand. I hope and pray that you understand how amazing this is too because it's so so awesome. How cool is it to be in love with the Creator and He's completely in love with us too? God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords loves me enough to hug me when I'm crying and love me more anything else.

great expectations

2009-10-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

gente, first off let me say sorry for not being a faithful blog-updater this semester! i would say i will try harder, but i'll probably forget about it and not try harder, so i'm not going to make any promises.

secondly, tonight i almost died. hahaha ok, maybe i'm being a

bit over-dramatic, but it was a big deal! you see, we were cooking dinner, but when the oven was turned on, we forgot to make sure the fire lit. it didn't. so the whole oven was filling up with tons of gas. uh-oh.

i was standing in front of the oven making the pizzas when leticia smelled gas. she went to the oven, turned it off and opened the oven. BAAAAAM!!! the door flew open, the oven flew away from the wall, the tea kettle fell behind the oven, and everything on top of the open literally flew all oven the kitchen. see the pics:

the gas could have blown up the whole house. any one of those things that flew off of the oven could have hit me or leticia and done some serious damage! i was scared to death after i heard the huge explosion behind me. i don't even know how i jumped out of the way in time!

but god really used this experience to teach me something. lately, i've been really expecting a lot of myself and it was killing me because i couldn't reach my own expectations. i felt like i was a disappointment to my friends, to my parents, and worst of all to god. but truth is, i was only disappointing myself.

as leticia and i were walking down to the guys' house to watch a movie, we could only talk about how incredible it was that god protected us and nobody was hurt! as i thought more about this, i realized that god doesn't need us to bring him glory. through this scary event that happened tonight, he brought himself glory. it wasn't anything that we did! sure, he uses us, and wants our lives to shout his name, but he's going to make that happen. he's going to use our lives in his timing to make his name great. he doesn't expect us to be perfect or to know all the answers. he doesn't expect us to always have courage or be strong. he's going to bring glory to himself when only he can be blamed for it and when we can't steal his glory.

as much as i want to bring god glory and to be a super spiritual leader and just be... awesome in god's eyes and in man's eyes, it's okay to learn and to grow. i'm not all that i'm going to be. god will build me up into the person he wants me to be and he's going to help me do whatever i need to do to be that person.

as usual, i'm not sure that any of this made any sense or anything, but i'm just writing what i feel and hoping it all comes together some way!

-- rachel

tell me what i wanna hear

2009-09-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I was a kind of down because I was in an awkward situation that requires A LOT of patience and really has no solution. I was talking to a really good friend of mine about it and we talked about the situation and decided that there was nothing to do except wait and see what would happen. I felt a bit better after talking about it, but I was still kind of frustrated about it.

Then, I was about to go to bed when I found a note from that friend that said that she was thinking about it and God wants to be in control of ALL situations, including the one I was in (which, really isn't a BIG thing. It's actually kind of stupid if you stop to think about it). But, she was totally right! She told me that we didn't have to just wait. Instead, we should pray. So I did. And I realized how sometimes I'm so dishonest with God and I say what I think He wants me to say. But, I think He wants us to be honest with Him and tell Him what's really on our hearts. I mean, He already knows, so what's the shame in telling Him?

So I told God what I wanted and if it wasn't His plan for me to get what I want then to make me stop wanting it and change my heart. I told Him how stressed I was and even blamed a lot of the stress on Him. I was completely honest with Him and even though it didn't resolve anything, I guess I started seeing God more as a friend than just God or just my Saviour. God is so many different things and He's always teaching me more about who He is. He's holy and great and majestic. He's in control and mighty. He's loving and merciful and ruler of the universe, but He's also my friend. He listens when I have a lot to say and holds me when I cry. He loves me and wants to spend time with me. He thinks I'm pretty cool and wants me to tell Him what's going on and what I'm feeling.

It's something I've always known about God, but I feel like I'm now truly discovering it. And it's still kind of a weird concept for me to grasp. I only know about 1% of how holy and great God is and when I really get to thinking about how huge God is, I'm totally in awe. But that God is SO awesome is my friend. I mean, try to wrap your mind around that. God thinks the world of me and wants me to talk to Him and wants to talk to me too!

Coolness. =]]

coragem!

2009-09-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

so... sorry i haven't written in a long while. :P

i've been reading a lot in acts lately... i've never really read through it until this past month. i'm still only on chapter 14 i think, but it's sooo amazing! the disciples all have so much courage! it really amazes me... in every chapter i always notice their courage. but one example that just continually wows me is in chapter 11. peter is alone and God gives him a vision. there's a large sheet being lowered from heaven. in the sheet there are a ton of different types of animals in it. there's a voice that say "get up, peter; kill and eat!" peter refuses and says "no, lord! for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!" and the

voice answered "what god has made clean, you must not call common." this happened 3 times and then the sheet was drawn back up into heaven. weird vision, right?

well this happened right before a couple of guys came to pick peter up to go to and god told peter to go with them so he did. peter later goes on to explain his vision that the gospel isn't just for the jews, but for everyone. what god said to peter changed everything and the fact that peter was not embarrassed or afraid to share it changed a whole lot more. and then tipo, if you go on to chapter 12 (go read it! it's awesome!!) it describes how peter broke out of prison miraculously! it's just so cool!

so basically, there are 2 things i want to say right now.

1. if god tells you to do something or lays something on your heart that you need to share or whatever, don't hesitate. god doesn't make mistakes and even if you what you have to say is small, you never know who is listening and what impact it might make on someone.

2. if god can let peter just walk out of jail can he not get me through my day? this past month i've been super stressed with hard classes, difficulties at work, college apps, etc, etc, etc..... and there are some things that i would like to be able to do... weaknesses that i see in myself, i guess, that i would like to improve. but, it's hard because the things that i would like to do require confidence in god and courage to take the first step. but if god can have an angel just walk peter out of jail like it was nothing, then why am i afraid to take those first steps??

anywayyy, since brasil is soooo awesome and has the best soccer players in the world, here are some pics of me and some friends watching the brasil x argentina game last week at pacaembu :]

tricolor!!

2009-08-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

so this weekend, I went to my first soccer game!

Sao Paulo played against Goias, and of course, Sao Paulo won!

Going to a game is something I've always wanted to do since I got into soccer a couple of years ago, but never really had the chance to. But it was super super super fun and I can't wait to go to another one!!

look up.

2009-08-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

I think the stars are amazing. If you live in São Paulo, then you understand what I mean when I say that I miss the stars. I'll never forget in 8th grade, we went on a trip to this place called Peraltas where we got to look through big telescopes and I was absolutely amazed! We went to a planetarium there and it was just all so cool! But even without all the telescopes and planetariums and presentations, I would have still been in awe by simply looking at the night sky! There were SO many stars. You could see the milky way and... ah, it was just so pretty.

Another night I'll never ever forget was my second night in Kenya. We went camping in the middle of the wild so there were no lights anywhere and you just looked up and WOW!! There was like no black in the sky because there were SO SO SOOOOO many stars. I saw several shooting stars and just couldn't pull my eyes away from the sky! It was so beautiful.

And if you look at some of the pictures of outer space... wow wow wow! It's so incredible! And just to think that we're serving the God who made all of it and more? We haven't even seen half of the universe and I'm just utterly amazed! God could have just created our galaxy or even our solar system and I would have still been amazed, but no, He decided to create a whole universe! How awesome and powerful and wonderful is He?? He's just so cool!

Thinking about the universe makes me feel so incredibly small, and sometimes it's good for me to look at the big picture this way. I'm small. God is huge. I let tiny things get in my way and bring me down, but when I remember how huge God really is, a lot of my problems seem absolutely pointless to worry about. So, look up and remember the God who created the universe we live in.

i am blessed.

2009-07-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

well, for starters let me just say that this week has been suckish. Like, for real. A lot of things happened at the beginning of the week that were hard to deal with and I just felt really lost. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm totally over it and I'm all better because I'm not. I'm still really sad about some things and super frustrated over other things, but I'm dealing with it better, and with time I'll be fine.

One of the things that I got really frustrated about was being an MK. Like, I don't know. I've honestly always loved being an MK - I mean, who else gets to say they grew up in Brasil and can speak Portuguese fluently. I've met so many people by simply being an MK and I know a lot more about the world than some people do. I have the best friends in the whole world and they literally live all over the world. I mean, for real... I have an awesome life as an MK!

But... for the first time ever, I really really really hated it. While there are so many good things about being an MK, there are also some bad things and I'm really struggling with it. I don't know exactly how to describe what I'm feeling, but being an MK does have its downsides and I'm really feeling it.

And I can be honest enough to say that I'm still grieving some very hard goodbyes I had to make this week and I'm still feeling a bit out of it. But I can also say that I'm very, extremely blessed. God has been so good to me this week and I can't thank Him enough! He's given me absolutely INCREDIBLE friends who have helped me through this week and a family that is awesome enough to give me the space that I needed but also the love that I needed this week. And more than that, He's definitely given me enough strength to make it through each day. God says not to worry about tomorrow... but to simply concentrate on today and that's exactly what God did. He wouldn't give me the strength I needed for tomorrow, but only gave me enough strength I needed for today and at night, I would rest in Him and trust that in the morning He would again give me enough strength to make it through the day. And while this week has been hard, it's also been very cool because I couldn't rely on my own strength... I really had to rely on God. Without Him, this week would've been impossible. Fortunately, though, God was with me every single second of each day.

mk camp!

2009-07-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a while... and this is why: MK CAMP!!! :D

it really was awesome. I didn't have high expectations going there, but God proved me wrong. I learned so much about myself, and God, and others. I plan on talking about some stuff I learned later. I made new friends and had the time of my life!

We went to TGIF one night and the pizzaria on another night. Saturday we had the all-nighter... super awesome! For the talent show, Allie, Anna, Katelyn, Kayla, and I presented the MK Boy of the Year Award. Curtis won followed by Andy, Naaman, Wes, and Seth. =]]

MK Camp was super fun! The aftermath isn't so great,though. I'm really sick, have 6 bruises from bloody wink-'ems, and miss everyone more than I missed them every year before this one. But it's totally worth it. Thanks to Bob, Bobby, Gary, Amy, Michelle, Yvette, Ariel, Caitlin, Katelyn, Andrew, and all the wonderful MK's for an awesome week!!!

naked.

2009-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

One of the things I just love about God is something that I used to hate about him. Tonight, though, I realized how much I adore it! I simply love how God knows us inside and out. He knows our fears, our dreams, our thought patterns. He knows our feelings and he knows more about ourselves than our best friends know, than our parents know, and even what we know about ourselves. He knows our deepest, darkest secrets that we can't possibly tell anyone. We are naked in front of him and there's no way to hide anything. He knows what we've done and what we've thought about doing. He knows what will do. He knows what we most deeply desire and what we most desperately need. God knows us completely.

That thought definitely scares me quite a bit, but at the same time it gives me so much relief and peace. Wednesday was a really really difficult day for me. I was overflowed with all sorts of emotions. Mainly, I was just angry at some situations and stressed out because there was a ton going on. I just felt so full of anger, hate, and helplessness and I didn't know what to do with it all. I asked for help from some people, but they didn't have a clue of what to do and there was no one to turn to and nothing to do! Normally, writing in my journal helps or taking a nice hot shower with some loud music helps. But there was nothing I could do to get these emotions out of me! I tried painting and punching the life out of my body pillow... but I just continued to be full of anger and hatred but I didn't really know why.

I can't tell you exactly how or when these emotions went away, but I guess I just prayed that God would take them away. I laid them in his hands and overnight he took them, I guess. But that's not the point. The point is that tonight I realized something that I wish I had realized on Wednesday. God knows exactly what I'm feeling. I didn't even know what I was feeling, but God did. God knew why and God knew what I needed. I didn't have a clue... but maybe if I had stopped to think about God knowing then maybe it wouldn't have had been such a hard day.

Sometimes just having someone know what I'm feeling or what I'm going through makes everything better even if they can't help out. And sometimes, I want someone to know these things, but at the same time I don't want anyone to know. And that's so cool about God because even if I don't want him to know anything about what I'm feeling, he already knows. I'm naked and I can't hide anything from him. Which is indeed a scary thought! But I just love how he knows me better than I know myself. And he knows what I'm going to accomplish, what I'm capable of accomplishing, and how I'm going to grow. I don't know these things, but God does because he knows everything there is to know about me.

2009-06-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

heyheyy :]]

i'm not really even sure what i want to write right now. i just know that there's a lot of things i've been learning about god and what my role is in his story and stuff. but, i dont know exactly where this blog post is going, so we'll see...

tonight at zoe, we talked about the parable of the 2 men who built houses. (matt 7:24-29) the first one built his house on a rock and the winds blew and the rain poured and the waves crashed but the house didnt fall. the second guy built his house on the sand and the winds blew and the rain poured and the waves crashed and the house fell down. when i heard this parable as a kid, i always thought "well okay. i just have to build my house on a rock. great. foundations are important. life application: have the right foundation.

awesome." i had no idea what it meant, but now i understand it better.

these verses today give me so much hope and strength really. because i know that God is my rock. he's my foundation and my life is completely based around him right now. the winds will blow, the rain will pour and the waves will indeed crash, but my house is on the rock and no matter how bad the storm, my house will not fall.

and another thing God is showing me is that i'm not useless. i've always felt so insignificant. i mean, really. i'm 17 and there are people here that can do pretty much anything that i can, so why am i a part of it? like why does god want me here? so a while ago i just really began

searching for my part and praying very very hard for a purpose and for me to find my place and stuff like that and i still felt useless, but continued searching. i just, idk, tonight god showed me i'm not useless and even without me realizing it, he's using me. and i couldn't be more thankful that i asked god to use me. it took a while for him to teach me things that i needed to know before he started really using me and it took a while for me to see how he could use me, but now he is using me and it's so cool! even though it took a while for my prayers to be answered (in my eyes, i guess) it's so so worth it. i'm SO excited to be part of god's story! to be part of his plan! to be used by him... it's awesome!!

and theeen!! hahah, sorry, it's been a while and i'm very excited about everything god is doing in my life. really, this is the last random topic. i'm starting to see god more. every week at zoe we have a question: where did you see god this week? and we share

stories from how god cured our grandfather of cancer or how you found something that you lost in the trash. like, we just talk about seeing god in the big things and the small things. it doesn't have to be a miracle - it can be in the tiniest things! god is everywhere!! but, one thing i often fail to see god in is in the bad things. lately, god is showing me that he is there too even when we can't see it. in my journal i like to write where i see god everyday. sometimes it takes more than a page bc god is EVERYWHERE, but when something bad happens i can't explain how god was in the situation but i'm so sure that he's in control of what is happening, i can't help but to put it on the list. i can't explain where god is in the situation or what he's doing, but i know that he's in control and even in the bad situations, god is there. maybe i can't see him just yet, but in the end, when i look back on the situation,

i'm sure i'll see him. if we really look, God is eeeeverywhere! he wants to be involved in our lives and he is! without him, gosh. our lives would be really really stupid.

anyway, those are my ramblings of today and since i'm being so random, here's a pic of my awesome cousin who came to visit me for a few weeks :D

forgetful me

2009-06-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

i kind of always forget that i'm only human. i fail to recognize that god's knowledge and power is so much bigger than mine. i'm not everything God made me to be yet - He's still teaching me and helping to grow. i still have so so so much to learn and so much growing to do. it's hard for me to step back and realize that

A. i'm a work in progress. i'm not finished yet

B. god knows what he's doing

and finally

C. i don't see the big picture and i don't know what god's doing.

there are several things i feel like god is calling me to do. i feel like i need to step up my game. i feel like i can do so much more than i am doing right now and i feel like god has prepared me to step up now. i'm... nervous to say the least. i don't know what to expect or anything. i'm not even sure of the details that he has for me in game-step-upping, but i know i'm supposed to be doing more than i am right now and i know how to do more.

tonight i watched the veggietales of the story of Gideon and Gideon didn't feel like he was ready to do what god was calling him to do. i think the same. i'm thinking, "god? hello? i'm only 17. like... seriously?? you want ME to be a part of your great plan?" but okay. He knows what He's doing. He doesn't make mistakes.

i cant see the whole picture. i don't know what god's planning and i don't know how exactly i'm going to fit into his plan, but i'm trusting him. and i'm going to step up my game and start really trying to do everything i can to live for him.

i dont see the whole picture and sometimes i really wish i did, but i dont. god does though and he knows what he's putting me through and he has plans for me. i may not be a totally spiritually-mature person and i may be only 17, but god can and will use me if only i trust him and do what he says. great things could happen. it's worth the risk.

nevertheless

2009-05-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

so my new favorite word is nevertheless. why? well.... David inspired me.

2 Samuel 5:6-7 says in The Message,

"David and his men immediately set out for Jerusalem to take on the Jebusites, who lived in that country. But they said, "You might as well go home! Even the blind and the lame could keep you out. You can't get in here!" They had convinced themselves that David couldn't break through. But David went right ahead and captured the fortress of Zion, known ever since as the City of David."

So basically the people in Jerusalem taunted David and told him there was NO WAY he could possibly capture their city and claim it as his own. However, David didn't listen to them. He didn't care.

In NIV, the verses say, "The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, "You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off." They thought, "David cannot get in here." Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David."

David did not listen. He trusted God knew what He was doing. A lot of the time, I trust people soooo very much. When they tell me I can't do something, I won't try my hardest. I don't mean to listen to things like that, but it just kinda sticks. David hear the voices. They told him there was no way he could take those walls down. In David's own power he probably couldn't. Nevertheless, David did capture the fortress of Zion. Nevertheless, God stepped in.

The world said the wall was too high and you can't get to the other side. Nevertheless, a tunnel was built and you were on the other side. When God steps in, it's not always in the way we expect. When we see a huge wall, God will build a tunnel to go under it.

This week a ton of stuff has gone on! My emotions are everywhereeee (seriously, in one day I went from the high of meeting someone famous to the low of saying goodbye to a very good friend and then to the high of picking up family at the airport... all in like 10 mins. Major emotional roller coaster going on! haha) and then, like, ah, there's just a lot going on! And I'm exhaustedddd. Trying to finish up school and work and teams and.. just a lot of stuff. Nevertheless, God provided me with strength when I needed it. Nevertheless, I haven't broken down and cried at the wrong times because I'm trying to deal with 89 different emotions at the same time. Nevertheless, I'm totally fine. God knew this would all happen and God knew how to handle it for me.

I love nevertheless moments. There may be no possible way in any human being's mind for something to work out. Nevertheless, God stood back, said "watch this" and made it happen. Don't focus on what you can and cannot do. Don't think about what the obvious, but impossible solution to your problem is. Don't let the world tell you that you're too young, too stupid, or too weak to do something. Ask God what his plan is and you'll probably see a nevertheless moment.

Sometimes I feel like I'm too young to do stuff. Nevertheless, God proves me wrong... all the time. I just have to tune out some people's voices - including my own - and listen up (and obey) God's "nevertheless" plan

...that's all I am

2009-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bands, Tenth Avenue North, says in their song, Hold My Heart:

One tear in the dropping rain,

One voice in the sea of pain

Could the maker of the stars

Hear the sound of my breakin' heart?

One life, that's all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If You're everything You say You are

Won't You come close and hold my heart

This just got me thinking like, how I'm only one person. My life is so short. Before I know it, it's gonna be gone. One life, that's all I am. I don't want this life to go to waste. It could be over tomorrow. And I hear this ALL the time, "live everyday like it's your last" but that always meant to me to say that I love my mom (which I do... a lot) or to say sorry after a fight or whatever. But now it means to me something different. I just want my life to have purpose. I want to get to heaven and when Jesus asks me what I did with my time He gave to me, I want to be able to answer Him and have no regrets about what I did.

I want my life to have a purpose. And I want to live each day purposefully. I don't want to sit back and watch my life pass before my eyes. I don't want any regrets and I don't want to hold back. I want to be able to go to sleep at night and think that it wasn't just another wasted day.

And the coolest thing? I have that kind of purpose. I have something to live for. I have something to be passionate about and it involves every aspect of my life. I have Jesus and that's all I need to wake up in the morning and think about how He's going to use me today. I do love sleeping in, but at the same time I can't wait to go to work and let God use me. I have a purpose and I love it. I'm just one life, but I'm going to use this one life for whatever God wants me to do. I'm taking every day and using it for Him.

I'm not going to let opportunities slip through my fingers, rather I'm asking God for courage to take the best out of every open door He gives me. I'm not just along for the ride - I want God to use me in every possible way. I don't want to be useless and with God, I'm not. With Jesus, my life takes a dramatic 180 and I go from useless to purposeful and I can't wait to see what He has in store for me. One life, that's all I am and I'm gonna make the best of it.

Prayer

2009-05-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

I had been questioning for a while the power of prayer. Does prayer really have any effect on God? Like, honestly, who are we to pray for God to change something or intervene? Is His plan not set already? Will me asking Him for something really change His mind??

I just didn't get it. And guess what I did? Pray about it. Haha.

God just really laid on my heart the story of the adoption of my little brother. The whole story revolves around so many people praying! Like, so so so many people! Would Michael have been adopted if so many people weren't praying? Would he be here, in our home, today if nobody prayed for him? I don't know the answer to these questions. I don't know that much about prayer and what affect it has.

I don't know why God wants us to pray - does He not already know the thoughts that we have? Does He not already know if we have sinned and if we are sorry? Does He not already know how mighty and awesome He is? And does He not already know what we need and what we want?

But then I realized what a privilege and an honor it is to talk to the creator of the whole freakin universe! How awesome is that?? And not only are we allowed to talk to Him, but He wants us to! He wants to know about our day and He wants to know what's in our hearts and on our minds. He wants us to tell Him our every thought and want and need. He wants us to tell Him how great He is and He wants us to lay out our every mistake and failure for Him.

As if that weren't cool enough, God hears every one of our prayers. I don't know the mind of God - I don't know if we pray hard enough, He'll change His mind about something or if a million people pray about something, He'll make something happen, but I do know He does hear our prayers. And when we pray our relationship with God gets better. It's surreal.

God teaches me so much in my prayers... When I open up and talk to Him, I feel closer to Him and He helps me realize things. And then, He answers my prayers and again, my relationship with Him deepens.

For example, I had been praying for a while for something and tonight, that something happened. And it wasn't anything I really needed, but I just really really wanted it and kept asking God for it. And He gave it to me - not in the way I imagined at all. It was totally different than what I had in mind as I was praying, but it was totally what I wanted. God knew what I REALLY wanted and He gave it to me and even as I sit here thinking about it, I can only thank God for what He did! It brought me so much closer to God because I prayed. If I hadn't prayed, I wouldn't be so happy about it! If I hadn't prayed about it would it still have happened? I don't know!

I don't know how my prayers effect God, but I know they effect me and I know they effect my relationship with God and I know that God wants us to pray... so why wouldn't I?

butterflies and friendships

2009-05-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

To be quite honest, this weekend was kind of rough for me. I was struggling because I didn't feel like I had anything constant in my life. Teams coming and going, best friends moving, and my brother going to college. I was dealing with it really well, but it just got to me on Saturday and I don't know why, but I was really really down.

Sunday I was still down about it, but coping a little bit better until I went to bed and I starting praying and I really just let it all out to God and I didn't feel better about it like I thought I would. I got it all out there, but I still felt really down.

Anyway, today I went to work and in my preschool class, we have a jar with several caterpillars in it. Three of the caterpillars had formed cocoons and when I looked in the jar, one cocoon was black... I had no idea what it meant - I figured maybe it was a different kind of butterfly or something. So I continued on with preparing the classroom for the kids and didn't think twice about it. When most of my class had gotten there (which is REALLY unusual for my class to all get there on time), one little girl was looking at the jar and shouted "Teacher!! The butterfly is coming!!!!!" So we all ran over there and looked in the jar, and sure enough, the butterfly was coming out of the cocoon. It was so cool! Haha.

A couple of hours later, the butterfly was ready to fly, so we took it to the playground and let it go. It was all too perfect for it not to be God trying to tell me something. I mean, think about it, for one of the first times EVER, most of my kids were on time. The butterfly came out of the cocoon when most of the kids were there. It's a Monday - the butterfly had Saturday and Sunday to come out of the cocoon... but chose Monday. The butterfly was ready to fly when we were about to go to playground - not during music class - so all the kids could watch it. And there are like 3 other reasons why it was just SO perfect. Being an obvious God thing, I started praying about it and God really spoke to me.

It's kind of corny, but bear with me. The butterfly was totally worth it. It wasn't easy to take care of the caterpillar - I had to find it, feed it, clean the jar, make sure the kids didn't kill it, etc. But, it was worth it. We even had to let the butterfly go - but it was okay. It would have been cool to keep it, but we had to let it go. So, even though it was a lot of work and we had to release it, my kids (and I!) learned SO MUCH about caterpillars and butterflies! I was so proud of some of my students who barely speak English because they could tell me all about caterpillars and butterflies.

So, the butterfly, I guess is like a friendship. And this is something I've struggled with for a while. Like, I have a hard time with goodbyes and sometimes I don't want to say hello so that I don't have to say goodbye, but I'm continually learning that the friendship is worth it. Even if you say goodbye within the weeks, a few months, or a few years, it's worth it. God has something to teach me with every relationship I have. It's not easy to say goodbye - at all. I really really hate goodbye, but saying goodbye is a constant thing for me and it doesn't get easier. But, God is amazingly patient and teaching me that the relationship is totally worth it in the end. Yes, goodbyes hurt, but it's the relationships that I've had that have made the person I am today and they are 100% worth it.

Oh and hey! Happy Belated Mother's Day to my BEAUTIFUL madre and my AWESOME grandmadre!!!! I love y'all!!

exactly what I need

2009-05-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

matthew 25:15 says, "To one he gave 5 talents of money, to another 2 talents, and to another 1 talent each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." This is Jesus telling a parable about how a guy was going on a journey and left so much money to each of his servants, trusted them with it and expected them to do great things with what he gave them. The part that i love about this verse, though, is "each according to his ability." I've heard so many lessons drawn from this parable, but these 5 words are speaking volumes to me right now.

God has opened many doors recently for me. I've been praying for them to open, but now that they're open I actually have to do more than sit around and pray for them to open. The ball is in my court. I want to go through these open doors with no mistakes and I just don't want to mess these opportunities up. But, God opened these doors because he knew I could do it. He wouldn't open these doors if He wasn't sure I was capable of doing what He wants with them. He opened the doors according to my own ability.

If you know the parable, I could be like the last servant who hid his one talent, but I don't want to be scared like that. I know that I can go through the open doors with confidence and I'm not going to stare at them too afraid to move. God knows what I'm capable of doing and I'm going to trust Him. I'm going to take advantage of the opportunities He created for me and be like the first or second servant who multiplied what God gave them.

I have no reason to be afraid... God gave me exactly what I need.

Forgiven...?

2009-04-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Grace just amazes me. I thought I knew what it meant... like, I've been a Christian since forever, but only now am I really learning what grace means.

On Thursday, I did something that I shouldn't have done. And it wasn't like I murdered anybody and I had done this thing before, but it just... ah! I was just SO full of guilt. All I wanted to do was admit my wrong doing to the people that needed to know, but I couldn't because we had some friends over. Seriously, I was feeling so horrible I was THIIIIIIIS close to crying in a card game.... hahaha. (not about the game though haha)

But, as soon as our friends left, I told all the people involved in the situation and expected to be grounded and to have horrible punishments and everythiiiing, but the people were just like "okay... just don't do it again." So everything was fine with the people.

That just left me to admit it to God and that was hard. Like, I had been so amazed at His love for me, and then for me to just forget about it and sin against Him, like... gosh. How stupid of me. How inconsiderate. I felt absolutely disgusted with myself.

But, I apologized to God and I cried out to Him, but I never felt really forgiven. I couldn't think of myself as worthy to be in His presence or read the Bible or even pray. I just thought of myself as disgusting and couldn't see how God wanted me to talk to Him or anything.

Making a long story short, Friday came and God kept showing me in different ways how He loved me and had forgiven me and finally I accepted His forgiveness and forgave myself. Then, today I was studying chemistry and in my lessons, my teacher always posts a verse and a cool quote. I normally don't read either, but today I decided to and the quote was really awesome and I wanted to share it with you! :]

"Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin, nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences himself. God's holiness is honored. Our sin is punished... and we are redeemed. God does what we cannot do so we can be what we dare not dream: perfect before God." - Max Lucado

I think I get it now... this whole grace thing. God doesn't overlook our sin, but because of Jesus, we can now enter God's presence. I mean, I knew this all along, but just now it's started to click. :]

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.

2009-04-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

heyheyy!!!

well, tonight at ZOE (our house church) we had the Lord's Supper and God really spoke to me and I wanted to share with y'all!

I never really thought about what Jesus dying on the cross meant for me... like, personally. I know that He saved the world and now, because of Him, we can get to heaven. I know it shows us just how much God loves us and He washed away my sins, but, i don't know. Something clicked tonight.

Before we went outside to do the Lord's Supper, one of my friends shared a bit about her life and what Jesus dying on the cross meant to her. She talked about how Jesus came to the earth to die for us and then she said, "was I worth it?" Am I worth dying for? Why should Christ have to die for me so I can go to heaven with Him? I'm nothing in His eyes. I want to be worth it, I really try, but in reality I will never be worth it.

Theeeen, we went outside and did the Lord's Supper a bit differently. First, you got everything in order between you and God and let go of anything that was in the way of your relationship with Him... you wrote it down and tossed in the fire symbolizing you gave it up.

Then, there were two benches. One had bread and the other had grape juice. I went to the first bench and my friend's words, "am I worth it?", just kept coming to my mind. Over and over and over and over again. And I asked God if I was worth it and basically He was like, "look, Rachel. I know it's hard for you to think that I would die for you, but I did. Eat this bread and remember it. I love you and I want you to accept my gift." Talk about LOVE!! I don't know, I guess it just clicked how much God dying on the cross, despite all my sins, demonstrates really how much He is in love with me.

Then, I went to the second bench with the grape juice. The verse on the bench said "And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." His blood forgave me. There were no exceptions, ifs, buts, nothing. I was simply forgiven. I accepted His loving gift and now because of His blood, I am forgiven.

I still can't wrap my brain around why such an awesome and powerful God would love me enough to die for me. And not just die, but die on a cross for me. I can't understand why He thinks I'm worth it - I am a sinner and do not deserve this kind of love and grace, but He gave it to me. God loves me and that radically blows my mind.

- rachel in sampa.

Sorry!!

2009-04-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry the blog is a bit messed up and has Spanish in it!

ummm... basically, we're going to spice it up and make it all cool! But, in the meantime, it's um, just going to have to be a little bit messed up.

Thanks for your patience! :)

Rachel and Kati (both in Sampa!)

When the weak become strong.

2009-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I'll explain why later, but here's what's been on my mind lately (well, there's SO much God's been teaching me lately, but here's one of the many things He's taught me... I'll share some more later though!):

I forget sometimes that God doesn't always expect me to be strong. He doesn't always expect me to always have the answers or not to have moments of weakness.

A lot of the time I feel like I have to be brave and strong. But, not only for myself, but for my friends and family also. If they're going through a tough time

I really empathize with them and go through their hard time with them. I always feel like I have to be strong and I have to be brave and I have to know the right words to say.

But God knows that I don't always have those perfect words and He knows how scared I get and that at times I am very weak. And the cool thing is, He's fine with that! In fact, He uses those times that I feel like I'm falling to draw me closer to Him. It's in those times that I really have to rely on Him and place all my hope in Him

One of my good friends and I were chatting a couple of week ago. I asked how she was and her response was, "I'm okay... but my just okay is awesome!!! Because it's in those times that I'm just okay when God is so evident in my life and I have to lean

on Him. That's why I'm not just oaky, but I'm awesome!!!"

I love life when it's awesome. I love when all my relationships are goo and when school's good, when work's going good. I love when everything has just fallen into place. I also love life, though, when it's not perfect. I love life when it's not perfect because that when God wraps His arms around me and is strong for me. I don't have to be strong all the time and it's perfectly fine to fall into God's arms and let Him take care of me.

It's definitely in those times where I feel like I can't accomplish anything and am too low to do anything where God gives me His strength. If I were strong all the time, I wouldn't be able to see that I need God. That is why I'm not only grateful for times when everything's perfect, but I'm also grateful for those times when nothing is perfect

and nothing is working out. I know that God will take care of me and He gives me strength to carry on.

-Rach.

(yes, btw, that is another random picture... it's ethan, me, and kati at a concert a couple of nights ago :D )

Enthralled With Your Beauty.

2009-03-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

I was going to share this in my last post, Joy in a Cutter's Life, but for some reason I decided not to. Um, when I used to cut, I also battled with bulimia. It wasn't a severe case at all, but if I hadn't decided to change, it would have turned into a bad case. I wouldn't eat at school because I considered myself to be the fattest person in the whole entire world and thought that when I ate, people would stare at me and think,

"gosh, can that cow eat any more? No wonder she's so fat!" I know now that's not true, but at the time I thought it was. But when I came home from school I was hungry! So I ate EVERYTHING! And then I felt really guilty about it, so I went to the bathroom and puked most of it out. I didn't do this everyday - maybe a couple times a week for about 3 months. My mom started getting on my case and realized what was happening, so I stopped because I was afraid my parents would put me on a plane and ship me to the States so I could see a shrink. When I stopped puking, I didn't stop eating though until I found some pro-anorexia sites that helped people who were anorexic to stay anorexic. They provided support, tips and tricks, excuses for not eating, and a ton of other stuff! It just makes my heart break to think about it. Anyway, I would go on these sites and be encouraged to starve myself

so I ate little as I could for people not to accuse me of anything. Luckily, God stepped in a didn't let this go too far either. It was also at the Passion Conference where I gave up my eating disorder. I'm not saying some days I don't want to eat or when I eat too much I don't think about how easy it would be to puke it all up. But I have to remember what God thinks about me - not what I think about myself.

Sometimes I don't even want to go out of the house because I have too many zits, I'm too fat, I'm too ugly, my hair is weird, etc, etc. I can always find some reason not to like myself, but we have stop looking for our faults! We can never be pleased with how we look if we're tying to find something wrong with us.

God taught me recently that I'm beautiful. There's no doubt in my mind that He made me the way I am. Psalm 45:11 says "The King is enthralled with your beauty; honor him for he is your lord." The King is enthralled with my beauty! Enthralled with MY beauty! How cool is that? How beautiful does that make you feel to know that the King of Kings is enthralled with YOUR beauty?

And to think that God knew exactly how He wanted your hair, and your eye color, and your body shape.. to think that He specifically chose each and every one of your features... just to know that I was specifically made the way I was because GOD thinks it's beautiful and perfect.. I mean, wow, that just makes me feel like the prettiest, most beautiful princess ever.

I'm not saying that we can't wear make up, straighten our hair, or go on diets, but you should know that God thinks you are AMAZING looking. (and seriously? isn't His opinion the one you should trust the most?) You don't need to change to be pretty - you already are gorgeous. And it doesn't matter if you're not a size 0 or have that perfect tan. The King is enthralled with your beauty... He's enthralled with you just the way you are.

-Rach.

Red Envelope Day

2009-03-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
I told you I would do better and post something sooner than last time. HAHA
I found out about an event that is happening in Washington D.C. on March 31st. It is called Red Envelope Day. On that day, with your help, thousands of red envelopes will be sent to The White House, telling President Obama that Abortion is wrong. These envelopes will arrive empty and on the back it says "This Envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."
Red? To represent the blood that has been shed by murdering millions of people through abortion.
I know a lot of our followers are in Brazil but don't despair! because if you go online to the website www.redenvelopeday.com and buy online for only $1.10 (a small price to pay for a big cause) and it will be shipped on March 31st.
Life begins at conception. We've been waiting too long to take a stand against abortion. It's time to stop the murdering of babies! God can use this event to save lives and draw people close to Him! We need to take a stand against abortion!
Psalm 135:14-16

Strength

2009-03-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Guys, I am so sorry for not posting in such a long time! I promise to do better this week! I pray this is encouraging to you!
Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles: they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."
I don't think I need to go any further that than verse. I think that covers it....haha but I will go further....
I love this verse. It is my favorite verse in the whole Bible because of the promise that it gives. I think I will take it one verse at a time and talk about it that way.
Verse 29 says "He gives strength the weary and increases the power of the weak." How awesome is that? It says that God, the MOST-HIGH God is going to give strength to us when we are weary! That He cares that much for us to give us strength when we are tired of running this race of life!
Verse 30 says "Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;" Even when the people that you least expect to stumble; will stumble. How many times have you seen good christian people fall in their walk with the Lord. But it comes with a promise after that.....Verse 31 says "BUT (!!) those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint" Oh this verse fills me with hope! Keep running the race! Run hard and don't stop! GOD WILL UPHOLD YOU! When you start to feel down and discouraged like you can't go anymore, turn to your almighty Savior. The one who loves you no matter what!

I pray for all of you who follow our blog that you lean on your almighty Savior that upholds you when you need it! Lean on Him and you WILL NOT FAIL!
-Kati in PoA!

Joy in a Cutter's Life

2009-03-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

Heyy!!

So just to share a bit about myself... About a year ago, I got in the habit of cutting myself. I don't know why, I just did. I was absolutely miserable all the time and I guess that's just how I dealt with it. I believed in God, I just didn't really realize who He really is. And I'm a MK, right? I'm supposed to know all about this God stuff and be filled with the joy and peace that can only come from him, but I just wasn't. I cussed, lied about EVERYTHING, cheated on tests and homework, I was close to drinking and drugs (but thank God I didn't!!!)... I was just... stupid basically.

Then in May of 2008 God met me right where I was. I didn't do anything - I wasn't seeking Him. He came for me. I didn't want happiness or joy - I thought I was totally fine the way I was, but God knew otherwise. He somehow brought me to a Passion Conference in Sao Paulo. (I wouldn't have gone, but my dad got a VIP ticket and could bring a guest and we had a team down here, so I decided to go.. everything was just perfect!) It was on the second night of the conference that life as I knew it was over. The speaker, Francis Chan, talked about Revelation 4. That chapter is a description of Jesus on His throne in heaven. Read it - several times. Stop and vision it in your head! Take it literally and just think about what power and glory Jesus has just by sitting on that throne!

I think, as Christians, we often forget who exactly God is and we get comfortable with Him. We forget how to love, fear, and respect Him. Revelation 4 woke me up, gave me joy, and I can proudly say I haven't cut since that night.

I'm just going to quickly describe the scene that Revelation 4 sets up. There's a man with an appearance of jasper and carnelian sitting on a throne with lightning and thunder coming out of it. The throne is encircled by a rainbow resembling emeralds and surrounding the throne there's 24 other thrones that belong to 24 elders

who are on their knees saying, "You are worth, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for y

ou created all things, and by your they were created and have our being." Then, in the middle of this amazing room, there are 4 amazing creatures that if you saw them, you wouldn't be focused on how cool God made them, you might worship them as gods! But, they are constantly taking their own glory and giving it to God by saying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come" nonstop. Just imagine this place. Go read Revelation for yourself and think about how awesome is this place.

How... breathtaking. And how mighty and powerful is the Lord who sits on that throne!

God lets us walk in His presence. He wants us to be there - in front of His throne. Who has the right to sit in that throne? None other than Jesus! Doesn't that just physically bring you to your knees? To know that every single time you pray, that's who you're praying to?! When you open your Bible and see those red letters, isn't it humbling to know that THAT'S the guy who said those things? Doesn't it make you feel incredibly loved to know that THE King gave up His life for us? There is no greater love than this. I am worthless, stupid,

and arrogant. But, He, the beautiful King sitting on that incredible throne... THAT King loves me. That brings me to my knees and gives me pure joy - the kind only God can give.

Every time you pray, each time you even open you Bible, remember who you're talking to! Spend 30 seconds before you pray trying to envision who you're approaching. It gets my blood pumping and sometimes I just literally fall to my knees crying just thinking about it.

Sorry this was so long!

Love you all,

Rachel

[p.s. the pic is from passion... pretty self explanatory if you read what's on the screen :D ]

In the Name of Jesus

2009-03-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

The other day my friend posted a note about her friend that had a brain tumor...for the third time. The doctors said she probably wouldn't make it this time because it was just wrapping around her brain but they would do all they could to save her. So, the day of the surgery came and a group of ladies from their church went to pray over her. My friend said they could feel the presence of God there! She said, " We went BELIEVING that GOD was going to HEAL her of this tumor." The doctors went in to do surgery to remove the tumor after months of telling her it was growing, it was wrapping around the brain and all of this other “bad” stuff….the doctors cut her precious head and what do they see…….NO TUMOR!!!! NOTHING!!! The only thing they found was some old scare tissue from the previous surgeries. They could have easily detected that before, but BEFORE there was a tumor….and GOD…..JESUS….decided to show OUT!!!

Now tell me that OUR GOD doesn't do miracles! When we pray in the name of Jesus we'd better be expecting something big to happen. Have you ever realized how powerful our Jesus and even just His name is?
Matthew 17 talks about the disciples that had so little faith. They tried to drive a demon out of a boy and couldn't so the boys parents took the boy to Jesus and told him that His disciples weren't able to caste out the demon. Jesus replied like this, ***my own paraphrase here*** OH you people ! Why do you not believe yet? Have you not seen what I can do? Am I suppose to stay with with y'all forever? Just bring the boy to me! After Jesus drove out the demon the disciples asked why they couldn't drive out the demon. Jesus' reply was, **His actual words here** "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing is impossible for you." THE SIZE OF A MUSTARD SEED! Do you know how little a mustard seed is?? It is tiny! Anyway, with this story I ask, Why do we doubt that our God; who is mighty, powerful, faithful; can't do what we ask according to His will? Just His name, just His son's name should make us shake and fall to our knees and worship Him! But we don't. We use His name so flippantly!

Alright, I am going to give you guys another challenge. Can you tell I like challenges?? hehe. Try to take this week and think about the name of Jesus. Think about how holy and mighty it is. Every time you hear the name of God this week just worship Him. However you want to worship Him. You can say a silent prayer or you can fall to your knees whatever you decide. But just think about His name and don't take it for granted that our God is Mighty and still does miracles!

Kati in PoA

6,470,818,671.

2009-03-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

In January I spent a month in Kenya and while I was there, I learned a lot about people. A guy there talked about how God put us in this place with these certain people. Why? There are 6 billion other people in the world and God put us in this specific place with these specific people. Your classmates, family, church friends, whoever. Your stories crossed - but why? One Tree Hill said, "At this moment, there are six billion, four hundred seventy million, eight hundred eighteen thousand, six hundred seventy one people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just not facing the truth. Some are evil men, at war with good. And some are good struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world, six billion souls. And sometimes all you need is one." If you think about it - 6 billion people in the world! 6 billion!! Why did God give you the family you have or the friends you have? Why did you order McDonald's from that one girl? If there are 6 billion people in the world why has your story intertwined with these specific people?

Maybe it's to make a difference in their life. To show them God's love. To encourage them.

When you're in a room with what seems like a random person, it's not a coincidence. God made your stories cross paths for a reason. I'm learning that you should treat everyone -- eeeeveryone like someone super special. Like a child of the King.

While we were at the beach in Kenya, two people came to our house that we were staying at. They were.. interesting to say the least. They were dressed in the the most inappropriate bathing suits and were just... not the type of people I would normally talk to. They freaked me out, to be honest. But Linda, the lady I was staying with, invited them in and talked to them like they were normal, cool people. She didn't judge them or anything! That's when it really hit me. That's what it meant to treat people like they walked into your life for a reason - to love them no matter what!

I still haven't put that into total practice, but I'm trying. It's not easy to not judge anyone for any reason. It takes a lot of humility and patience to love every single person that you talk to and lay eyes on. With God's help, thought, He will help you treat everyone the way that He told us to treat them. He called us to love and to be a servant to everyone. He called us to love and to be a servant to everyone. He called us to be humble and put everyone before. It's not easy, but He'll help us. :)

More later,

Rachel :D

(oh hey hey, that's just a random pic of me and brother Wes... just cuz i felt like it :P )

New Year's Resolutions

2009-02-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions!

Ok, I know it is not New Years anymore but….it is not too late!

Recently I heard of a challenge called ‘The Little Word.’ It helps you to make a change that you want or hope for in your life. Sounds like a New Year’s Resolution, right? Well, this is what you do… Pick a word or a few words that you want to describe you. Not that already describes you but something that you want people to see when they look at you. When people describe you, you want them to say, “That person is…blah, blah, blah….” Write it down. Put it somewhere that you see all the time, maybe a bathroom mirror, your desk….whatever. And pray about it. Every time you see it or think about it, pray about it. Pray God gives you that quality and works within you to make you that person you want to be. The point is to be able to look back over your year, in this case 2009, and say, “WOW, I really see a difference in my life.”

Well, the word I chose was “Love.” The reason being that I know about love, I feel love everyday. I have grown up in a house with more love than I know what to do with. I love my family, I love my friends. I know how to love….so you ask why did I chose this word? Well, it is hard for me to love during the hard times or if a person is ugly or poorer than me. It is hard for me to love the beggars at the stop lights that ask for money. I want to love them, I truly do, but that kind of love is not in me...yet. That kind of love only God can give me. So, as I see the people I want to love or I try to love my little brothers when they are being annoying, hehe, I pray, “God help me to love them just as you love them, just as you love me!” It is still a work in progress, but I can already tell a difference in the past month that I have been doing this challenge.

Are you up for the challenge? Are you ready to change? Are you ready to be the person you want to be? Better yet, are you ready to be the person that God wants you to be?

Daughter of the King,
Kati in PoA

Comfortable and normal.

2009-02-23T15:04:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, I was watching a video and it asked the question, "what in your life requires faith?" That really bugged me. Like, it was just like an itch on that one part of my back that I couldn't reach. I mean, if I look at the big picture, I'm an MK. I live in Brasil. My parents have started a house church and several on campus small groups... what's not faithful about that? But I don't really feel like a huge part of their ministry. Sure, I go to the house church, but it doesn't require much faith for me to walk downstairs and join everybody in our living room. I had become comfortable with my faith, with my life. I wake up at 6, get ready for work, and at 7 I go to work. I teach 3-yr-olds until 1:30 and then come home. I then work out and do school until about 6. Then, I eat dinner, maybe call a couple of friend, do some more school or watch a movie or something. I take a shower, read a bit, and then go to bed. Nothing in my life requires me to have great faith in God. I'm not saying I have the perfect life and I don't have any worries, but I'm never completely vulnerable. I'm not doing anything that makes me hold onto God and trust in Him 100%. I was just... comfortable. I wasn't doing anything that really made me a salt and light in this world. I was pretty much... normal.

I felt absolutely useless. I asked, no, I begged Go to give me opportunities to live for Him. To bring glory to His name. The next day I started seeing opportunities that were already there. I just had to open my eyes. Once I began looking for God, He showed up in unexpected places. The thing that really struck me though, was that He didn't say "oh, Rachel wants to live for me, so I will give her opportunities to step out of comfort zone and bring glory to My name." Those opportunities were already there! All I had to do was look.

If you want to shine for God, you have to be a light. You can't expect the light to turn on if you don't flip the switch. If you're not shining for God, then you need to turn your light on. Ask Him to open your eyes and I promise that if you're really looking, you'll be amazed at everything God shows you and all the opportunities He gives you.

Well.. yah. So that's my thought of the day :)

see ya later!

Rach

Heyheyy!

2009-02-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all!!

My name is Rachel and I'm 17... I've lived in Sao Paulo for 7 years and have lived in Brasil for 14 years. I've believed in God for as long as I can remember, but I really started living for Him in May of 2008. My only goal in life is to live it for Him and make His name greater everywhere I go.

I hope this blog challenges you and encourages you in your walk with God. I'm super pumped to get this blog going! It was a struggle to finally get it going, but it's here now and I couldn't be more thankful. God is really working in my life and I want to share it with you in the hope it will bless you and get you thinking more about who God is and who He wants you to be.

Anyway, some random facts about me... um, I love photography! I'm addicted to facebook -- add me! I also have orkut, so add me there also if you have one. My favorite colors are black and white. My favorite word is risk. I'm a hopeless romantic and love reading romantic books and watching romantic comedies -- but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm looking for a relationship right now. Oh, and my absolute favorite movie\soundtrack\book\story is Sweeney Todd! (I swear I'm not morbid.. I just really like it! hahaha)

I'll post more soon!

=]]

Beginnings

2009-02-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,
Well, we have had a rough time with the start of this blog. We jumped too fast and started the blog and then God said, "Nope, You have to give it to me!" So we deleted the first blog, prayed, and started this one.
The point in this blog is to encourage and strengthen teenage Christians in their walk with the Lord. We aren't perfect by any means but we listen to our Father and He leads us.
Let me tell you a bit about me, I am 14 years old. I live in Porto Alegre, Brasil, with my family, as Missionaries and have lived here since February 26, 2008. Almost one year!! WOW! I was saved when I was really young, but God really became evident in my life when I was about 10. This past year in Brasil has been an amazing time of growth for me. God has taught me things that I never could have imagined.
I like photography and love to take pictures of my 3 younger brothers. I like school. My facorite subjects are History and English. I love my best friend Rachel and talk to her almost everyday even though she lives in a city far, far away. hehe. I guess that is about it. I look foward to making this blog all that God wants it to be. I pray that this blog helps and encourages you on your walk with the Lord.

Love,
Kati in PoA (PoA means Porto Alegre)
P.S. I am horrible at typos so please forgive me!