On Our Way to a Young Adult's Retreat....

With some young poeple in our church, we stopped at the Crayola factory in Pennsylvania.

 It was so much fun to watch all the little children run around this bright, fun, hands on museum!

 This is the crayon Mr. Roger's made!

 Carissa painting with melted crayon wax.

 Some of the first crayons.... we've come a long way.

 Having some fun....

It's my favorite color!

posted by: Caroline

All Around the World His Kindom Cry Resounds

It has been amazing through LIFT be a part of mission trips and see kingdom work going on outside of my own country. Our second semester trip was to Ecador.

One of my LIFT sisters (above) was born in Ecuador so this was like going home for her.

Whenever we went anywhere we rented out touring buses and the 23 of us would travel around like one big happy family..... of course, in Christ that's exactly what we are!

Our first stop was outside of Quito at a camp named El Refugio, or The Refuge. This camp's focus is to raise up young people of the community to be leaders. They use their grounds of retreats and discipleship programs a lot like LIFT.

                                     

With El Refugio was our base, we to a city called Choco, but first we stopped in at local land fill where there is a daycare for all the children who's parents are picking though the garbage. We were able to put on a skit, play with the kids, and encourage the workers.

 At Choco we were able to help the church with some prodjects (like demolishing a building!), play soccer all night with community people and church members, and talk with the young people. These young people are looking to be leaders in their church just like us.

The next village we travilled to was called Oyacachi. The christians here are artisans. Here's a little of their amazing work! The village of Oyacachi was all christian until a road that was built brought in more people and media. We were reminded by the pastor that coruption is already in the heart. The things the road brought in just make this coruption more odvious.

 

Our last night in Ecuador we spent in Quito. It was a wonderful and sad evening. Wonderful because we knew God had acomplished something through us, but sad because we, or at least I, did not want it to end!

Maybe one day God will lead me back to Ecuador. I hope He does.

posted by:

 Caroline

Musing

"I have nothing to say against recreation in its proper place. Certain forms of recreation are needful and useful; but it is a wretched thing when amusement becomes a vocation.

Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man. From early morning till late at night some spend their time in a round of frivolities, or else their very work is simply carried on to furnish them funds for their pleasures.

This is vicious. Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling.

Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle." ~Charles Spurgeon

posted by Lydia

Chocolaty Goodness

Pinterest has been feeding my smoothie obsession of late. Given my ravenous sweet tooth, this one has become a definite favorite. And the super cool thing about smoothies is that you can sneak in little tasteless doo-dads with some pretty fantastic health qualities (chia seeds, anyone?).

The frozen banana in this smoothie gives it the smooth texture of a milkshake without all the sugar and calories.

Smooth chocolateness - mass amounts of calories = happiness

The math is simple.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

~2Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
~2Tbs peanut butter

~1 frozen banana

~1 cup milk

~If you want it to be more of a frozen, eat-with-a-spoon sort of dessert, add some ice to the mix.

Getting a "not bad" from some of my toughest critics: priceless.

Mmmm, chocolate.

posted by Lydia

Musing

Self-protecting strategies may have made life seem more livable (for the short haul), but they never bring true joy. Joy is only found in the abandonment of self-focused agendas and demands the relinquishing of each one to Him.

Those imaginary fiberglass walls we've built to insulate ourselves from disturbing truths are, in reality, the walls of a coffin, a place where faith, hope, and joy molder.

~Elyse Fitzpatrick in Helper by Design

posted by Lydia

Pulses

My day starts with an age-old fight- leaving the warm blankets behind for the cold air outside.
Often, it starts with seeing a much later time on the clock than before anticipated.

And so it begins.

Another day of a job to be done, a clock to keep up with, words to be spoken.

Running late for an appointment. A forgotten task, long overdue. Heart aching over a suffering relationship.

Gray mornings, bleary eyes, and a soul longing for beauty and perfection.

It's hard to believe in grace, in an underlying pulse of glory upon my life on mornings such as these. It's hard to believe that the heart of God is beating out the rhythm of my very existence.

William Shakespeare wrote,

"Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale

Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."

This is the side of myself that I hide from the world. I hide the fact that my soul is dry and shriveled up. The fact that it's a Jesus-loves-you, but-stay-out-of-my-way sort of day.

Pulses.

I catch a glimmer of grace when I look outside of myself; beyond the mundane, the ache of my circumstances.

Like the sun hitting a shiny object in the corner of my eye, glory lines the edges of my life.

The fact of the matter is this: my dullness does not over-rule the glory. My emotional instability, my raw nerves, my dry spirituality does not mean that God is working anything less fantastic, less exciting, or less extraordinary for His glory today than He was yesterday. That, in itself, is the beauty of this day.

This is the beauty that permeates all of existence, whether my blinded, bleary, sleep-deprived eyes choose to recognize it or not.

Borrowing from John Piper, "Do not settle for wimpy theology. It is beneath you. God is too great. Christ is too glorious. [You] were made for the glory of Jesus Christ."

Good morning.

Bring on that glory.

posted by Lydia