Everlasting Melody

Flood my heart with the poetry of your love
Violins stringing eternal chords
Drumbeats flooding my soul with your passion
As I become lost in your melody

Tender raindrops landing on thirsty skin
Gentle breeze sweeps me closer
Deeper into the rhythm
As the harmony intertwines with my own heartbeat

I’m lost in the sound of love everlasting.

The Road Back To YOU

For the love of my life, Devon

Morning run through the hilly streets of Baguio
Sweet caresses, gentle love songs on bumpy roads in Aurora and Isabela
Sweet promises made on an air-con bus headed to Manila
Passion-filled kiss before boarding in Tokyo
Bittersweet embrace in Detroit

Scavenger hunts, birthday surprise, mammoth breakfast in Tulsa
Journey through the past on Claremore streets
Guitar serenades beside Oklahoma City lakes

Melted chocolate truffles, ebb and flow of Galveston waves
Sun-filled Sunday afternoon picnics, kisses after running through the Houston rain
Surrounded by 60,000 people at U2 but still solitary

Other roads were pointless, hollow, dead-end
My heart knew no other path
Then the one that led me back to YOU.

Perspective Shift

I’m seated next to one of my favorite places in Houston — the long, rectangular-shaped pond at Hermann Park. A few minutes ago, I was seated on the west side of the pond, which is almost completely shaded by magnificent oak trees.

Since it’s nearly 4:30 in the afternoon, the sun is now shining down upon the east side of the pond. So while I was sitting on the west side, I couldn’t actually see into the pond. To me, it simply appeared to be an opaque, green mystery.

But after a few minutes of sitting in the shade of an oak tree, I decided that some Vitamin D and sunshine would do this pale skin some good. So I ventured to the east side of the pond, which is facing the slowly descending sun.

Here, the sun shines upon every part of the pond, revealing that the pond is not 10 feet deep as one might guess from the other side. Rather, it is only about 6-9 inches deep, filled with little rocks on the bottom.

From either vantage point, I am still looking at the same pond. But when I switched sides, I switched perspectives. I gained a totally new understanding of how deep the pond is.

Sometimes in life, we are so focused on what we can’t see — what is unclear in the future. We get frustrated because we can’t see how deep the water we’re about to tread into is. At those times, perhaps we just need to ask God for a perspective shift. He may not change our “pond,” or present circumstances, but He will give us a clearer view of our situation.

Even if your current waters are murky and deep, you can know that even “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” Isaiah 43:2

Be encouraged today through a perspective shift!

One Word For The King

Oh, the prospect of worshiping You for all eternity captivates me –
That we will all be one, falling down before You,
Giving You these crowns that we held to so tightly…
One day they will be mere laurels to cast at Your feet.
Holy, holy, holy we will say for all eternity -
And in that solitary word,
Find endless reasons to adore You.

Embracing A Season Of Rest

Life is filled with so many twists and turns. One month we may be the busiest we’ve ever been, stressed to our limits, and the next month, we may be calm, cool, and collected, with everything perfectly in order.

The last month of my life has brought about so much change. Just a little over a month ago, I was still working as the online editor for a publishing company. But about two months ago, I accepted a job to teach English and journalism at a local high school starting in the fall. Most normal people would have just kept their jobs until the school year started, but I had it on my heart to go on missions this summer. Because I was going to be gone for a chunk of the summer, I prayerfully decided to quit my job before going on the trip.

So I went to the Philippines for two and a half weeks. And God did “more than my mind could conceive” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) in such a short period of time.

Me and Angel, my God-daughter in the Philippines

Edith and I led these beautiful teenagers to accept Jesus!

Now that I’m back from the trip and re-situated to life in America, I’ve been spending the last week and a half resting. I have not had a period of rest like this since 2006 when I returned from the Philippines and was searching for my first job out of college.

I’ll admit, this period of rest has been awkward at times. I forget what it’s like to just read a book while lounging on the couch, to run around a park without having to worry about my next scheduled activity, to sit at the mall and watch ice skaters while writing a blog entry.

I’m thankful for this season. God knows what His children need. He has calmed my spirit and allowed me this time of transition so that I can be fully focused on the next task — pouring into the teenagers I will see every day in my classes.

Off To The Philippines We Go!

June 23-July 9, I will be in the Philippines with my friends Devon Morris and Edith Colon, ministering with Coastland Mission Philippines. Back in 2005-2006, I lived over in the Philippines working with the same organization.

This trip will undoubtedly be life-changing for me, my team members, and the precious people of the Philippines. I’m so privileged to return to team up with Vincent and Delia Padupad, powerful Filipino missionaries who travel to the unreached tribes in the Philippines. While we’re there, we’ll be working in medical clinics, conducting church services in villages, playing with kids, and more.

Please keep us in your prayers! God is going to move in a mighty way!

Me chillin' with the kiddos in the Philippines in 2006

The Paper Sack Lunch

Today at work, I ate a delicious lunch that I had prepared for myself this morning. Everything was perfect — a turkey, cheddar, lettuce and tomato sandwich, a peach, and some chips. Everything was there, except for one critical element: the napkin.

Every week day of my life from age 4-17, I always had a napkin in my brown paper sack lunch. Sue Goodier carefully prepared my lunch each morning, and always remembered to include a napkin so that my hands or face wouldn’t be grubby. And sometimes, she even placed a sweet note in my lunch sack: “Praying for you!” “Do well on your Algebra test!” etc.

I always had my paper sack lunch. And the napkin was always there. I was always taken care of.

That napkin got to me today while I was eating my grown-up girl lunch without a napkin. If there’s anything my parents gave me, it’s the gift of consistency.

Our society is one where parents are often literally absent, or absent in mind and spirit. I’m directing and performing in a play at church this week in which the dad is so wrapped up in the NBA finals and the mom is so consumed with bills that they don’t have time to play with their daughters. Sadly, many parents today forget that their children are a precious gift from God — and they only have about 18 years to train them up in the way they should go.

Back to the napkin. My parents gave me consistency. I always made it to school, and made it there on time. I was always at church on Sunday morning; there was no other option. I was raised with faithful, consistent parents, and for that, I am immensely grateful.

I look forward to the day when I can put napkins in my children’s lunch sacks — when I can fill them with sticker-clad notes about how much I love them and how proud I am of them. For now, I am allowing God to build consistency and overflowing love inside of me. For when my day to have a family comes, I don’t want to miss a single opportunity to give love and consistency.

Love the new ‘Night At The Museum!’

Kelly, Tim and I headed to the Memorial City theater Saturday night and laughed our heads off while watching “Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian.”

I love almost every movie Ben Stiller is in, and I find it highly amusing that he almost always acts alongside Owen Wilson and Hank Azaria. To make the cast even better, Amy Adams (from one of my favorites, “Enchanted”) plays the moxacious Amelia Earhart. One of the highlights of the movie for me was the 1900’s lingo that Amelia Earhart delivered — “Looks like we’re jimmyjacked!” and such comical phrases that you only hear uttered from the lips of great-grandmothers.

The film is a great example of a movie made for both kids and adults. Kids will laugh and learn through all the historical characters, and adults will love the humor and inside jokes that comedians Stiller, Wilson, and Azaria develop.

Go see it! You will leave the theater feeling happier!

Coffee Break Spanish Works For Me!

It’s been a couple years since I listened to a Coffee Break Spanish podcast and I forgot how great they are! Mark Pentleton teaches Kara Nisbet Spanish, both the European Spanish and Latin American pronunciations. Mark and Kara are Scottish, so just hearing them speak English is adorable! I love Scottish accents!

Their grammar lessons are a bit difficult to pick up on (at least for me, I need to visualize grammar in order to grasp it), but the vocabulary lessons are great! More language lessons need to be audio-based, in my opinion. And Coffee Break Spanish is great because you can do it anywhere — in your car, at home, while you’re running, while you’re at the washateria…

Haiku And Other Deep Thoughts

Recently I’ve had a little more time than usual to reflect on life. Here are a few haiku I wrote in the Japanese Gardens the other day.

Your smile remains
Do you remember my face?
Remnant of the past.

Gentle as a stream
Violent as a waterfall
Is my soul within.

Dancing like a child
Frightened like a refugee
Thoughts ever-changing.

In a separate series of “deep thoughts,” this morning, I had a great time in the “Living Beyond Yourself” Bible study by Beth Moore. She pointed out how in Matthew 27:34, 48, Jesus rejected the vinegar drink they gave those who were crucified to dull the pain.

And if you take a look at Hebrews 2:9, it points out that Christ chose to “taste death in every way.” He sacrificed everything for us, and chose to experience the pain to its fullest.

Broken beyond rejection,
Refusing the drink that would ease the pain.
Instead, drinking death
To its fullest
As You poured out Your life for me.