Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good

Happy Thanksgiving all.  Thank you Lord...

-for my family

-for all my wonderful friends

-for a roof over my head

-for Torrey Academy

-for Starbucks

-for good music

-for blogs

-for your everlasting love

-for church and school

-for rain

...and for so many other things you have blessed me with, even though I deserve none of it.  

Rejoice!

Soundtrack to my Life-Part 6

Hello all!

I know you've missed these, haven't you?  How in the world did you survive two whole Thursdays without an update to this playlist?  Haha I hope you managed alright.  I shan't keep you in suspense any longer, so without further ado...

1) Breakdown-Jack Johnson...thank you and happy smiles to Cree for introducing me to this song...very fun sounding, makes me sorta happy meloncholyish to listen to.

2) Bueno Es Alabar-we sang this song more than anything else when we were in the Dominican Republic

3) Lovebug-Speechless...every time our missions group looked at our team t-shirts, the girls would all start singing ;)

4) Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2-another song introduced to me by a friend...beautiful beautiful beautiful.  Need I say more?

5) Feelin Groovy-Simon and Garfunkle...reminds me of Miss Romero :)  

Found Poetry

While hunting for a journal to take with me on my trip to the Dominican, I found two very happy surprises in the journal I ended up taking...poetry!!!  I don't remember how long ago I wrote it, but I do know that it was last summer (summer 2007) or later.  So have fun with this :)

This first one...I think I wrote it summer 2007 while in Big Bear scrapbooking with some girlfriends.  We stayed in my grandma's cabin in the middle of the woods...hence the natureish imagery.

Aviarium

Meandering among the lofty pines

Soars the one I long to follow

Soars the free, high flying swallow

But every day my soul remains

I must stay put, or lose my way

Among the woods, or flying high

Come too near to the sun and die

But on the ground I can not stay

Though I have lost my vision clear

And wander through the woods so brown

My spirit still pulls up not down

Though I know not that pull so dear

My true love still calls out to me

But I with wandering ears heed not

And lose my way midst piney knots

And brambles placed to ensnare me

My heart hears not the strains of Love

For it has left Love for another

But when the storms come, still seeks cover

From an umbrella from above

My soul, though tis unfaithful still

Dost sometimes strive to find true love

And finding, rests in nest of dove

While ceasing restless pulse of will

This second one, I remember vaguely it having some sort of back story...perhaps a dream, or an image that flashed into my head?  I don't know...the interesting thing though is to see how many similar strains I still see in poetry I wrote this summer.  I wonder if that means I haven't matured much in my writing since then?  Hmm, scary thought.

Mountain

The gulls cry, beckoning

Me upwards and onwards tonight

I dance in the waves on the seashore

Climbing up through the clear moonlight

Though twilight and starlight I run

Ever searching for that sound

For that voice which calls to me

The song in my head doth resound

A song of hope and of despair

A melody of joy but bought so dear

The price of joy, who can say

The search for that answer brings me here

And so I climb most carefully

Up the mountain to seek myself

And as myself the only question

More vital to me than wealth or health

But though I ask persistently

No answer doth to me come forth

and so I’m left alone again

In lack of love, to question worth

Who am I?  And do I matter?

Does my existence count at all?

I ponder these things, my heart is heavy

And stepping off the cliff, I fall

We're over here by Qwerty to talk about what we've learned today....

...and so what we have learned, applies to our lives to say, and God has a lot to say in His book!  We know that God's word is for everyone, and now that our song is done let's take a look.

:)  Fun stuff, right?  But I think Veggie Tales did get something right...it's important to step back and look at what we've learned after we've experienced something.  Especially in the case of something so busy as my missions trip, it's easy to get caught up in doing doing doing, which was what we were there to do, after all.  But now that I'm home and it's all over, now is a good time to look at a few of the things I've learned.

1) One of the biggest things I learned is to just let go and let God be in control of everything.  Partly because of oldest child syndrome, partly just because it's my nature, I feel a big need to be personally responsible for a lot of people, to be personally responsible that everything runs smoothly.  For the most part, I knew on a big trip like this I couldn't have everything under control...but I made it an especial point to watch out for a few close friends.  Well, Tuesday night as many of you may know, 7 girls came down with stomach flu related illnesses and had to go to the hospital, one of my best friends Amy among them.  I had done my best to look out for her during the trip...but when she got sick, I just couldn't handle it.  Someone I loved was in pain and there was nothing I could do.  Looking back on it though, I think that God was saying "Let go of the reins Elizabeth.  Everything is in my hands, you don't have to be responsible for it all."  It was a hard lesson to learn...but a very crucial one as well.

2) Prayer. Is. Powerful.  This was a time when we needed prayer desperately...and it came.  There were so many instances where we prayed and I could see God working...so I'll just share two.  First, one of the girls in our group who went to the hospital, Alli, was really sick still the next morning when we needed to come home, and the doctor said she wouldn't come out of the hospital to come home with us.  One of the men in the church who runs the orphanage and school came and prayed for her...said "She's coming home today" and just poured out his heart to God...and she came home with us and is perfectly fine now.  Amazing.  The other thing...Tuesday night when everyone was getting really sick was really stressful for all of us...I was really exhausted and upset, breaking down sobbing, and for those of you who know me...I never cry.  Ever.  So it was a big deal.  I got home, and one of my friends told me, "You know, I just felt the need to pray for you on Tuesday night, I don't know why but I did."  Amazing once again, how he felt the need to pray just when I, and the group needed it most.

So much more that i could tell you about, but don't have time or room.  It was an absolute amazing trip, God did miraculous things.  If you want pretty pictures... Dominican Pictures are here :)  Check them out, leave happy comments :)  

Under the mercy,

Elizabeth

Dominican Trip

For the past several weeks, as many of you may know, I have been frantically scurrying around preparing for an upcoming missions trip to the Dominican Republic.  Well, finally the day has arrived!!!!  Tonight, at around 10PM, a group of 18 youth and 7 adults from my church, including my mother and myself, will be leaving on a plane for Monte Plata, in the Dominican Republic.  

Rebekah Holbrook, the sister of our high school pastor, has been a missionary with Kids Alive in Monte Plata for the past two years, so we'll be working with her over the next week.  She is heavily involved not only with an orphanage which she runs, but also the school and church in the town, so we'll be doing a lot of work with all three: orphanage, school, and church.  While there, we have planned...one day VBS program, Speechless presentation (in Spanish), door-to-door outreach, kids/youth outreach, work projects, Date Nights for house parents in the orphanage, church involvement, school involvement, and more.  So as you can see, it will be a extremely busy week.

I would greatly appreciate your prayers as we prepare to serve the Lord through loving others.  If you would pray that...

-our team would draw closer together and show that we are Christians by our love for each other

-the flights would go smoothly and no luggage would be lost (we're bringing 15 extra suitcases with food and props/costumes)

-the Lord would give us the strength to fight the spiritual darkness

-each of us would grow spiritually

-that we would share the love of Christ with others by developing relationships with them

I will be sure to give an update (complete with pictures!!!) when I return home.  While I am gone, though, you can check out our group blog www.dominicanupdates.blogspot.com as well as Rebekah's blog www.web.mac.com/tiarivka/Site/Blog/blog.html 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support!

Under the mercy,

Elizabeth 

Baptism

Exciting times!!!  Last night, my dad, mom, brother, and I were baptized...in our jacuzzi in our back yard.  Probably one of the most unorthodox baptisms I've ever heard of, but it was an amazing experience.  Pictures will be coming shortly, as soon as I can get them here on the laptop.  But here's a little something I wrote in my journal this morning...:)

"Baptism...last night, in obedience to the commands of Christ, Mom, Dad, Josh, and I were baptized.  It's weird though, how dunking someone underwater can come to be such a profound symbol of the Christian faith.  IT's as if, when we go under the water, we're dying and being buried with Christ, and then being resurrected again, as he was.  Not only that, but our old natures, full of sin and pride, are dying and we are raised again new creatures.  New creatures with new hearts.  And this is what I want.  Through my baptism, I want to publicly declare that "I once was lost but now am found."  I am a fully committed, born again believer.  I know, that I can not be righteous by my own works.  And so, I want to give my life anew to Christ.  Not my will but HIs be done in my life.  Here I stand, so help me God.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost,

Amen."