I come in peace...

I have heard the phrase " I come in peace" everyday now for the last 6 school days. I work with children with special needs and sometimes they say the darndest things. I work in a lifeskills class that teaches these precious kids how to do basic tasks but also how to function properly in social situations. Everyday we have a time of the day known as morning message. The kids all take turns "greeting one another" and then introducing themselves; ex: " Good Morning, my name is Bobby." and then stating what school they are at and if they are happy, sad or mad. We have one precious girl that apparently is a huge sci-fi fan because she has yet managed to do her greeting without adding... I come in peace.... That in itself is just funny to me ...

This afternoon we had a mandatory meeting afterschool. We had one of the superintendants of our district there to address all the teachers about expectations for the new school year, etc.. He began his greeting with , "Hello, my name is Dr. ___ and I come in peace." It took everything I had to not bust out laughing at this because here we were trying to teach our children the "appropriate" way to greet their peers and then the superintendant greeted us in this manner. He meant his comically to kind of break the ice with the teachers but maybe that's what our little girl was doing to. She in essence has been drawing on something that she knows to "break the ice" with her new teachers and peers. Humor.... you find it sometimes in funny places. Can you imagine the ramifications if we all "came in peace" instead of throwing up our guard all the time? What a different world it would or could be... by the way... not only do I come in peace but I have peace in my life because of Jesus. Would you like a piece of this peace? Follow Jesus... the puzzle of life starts with Him....

Things worth cheering about...

Well...tommorow will be a week since me and our wonderful team returned from our mission trip. It took me several days to make sense out of what it was that I had just experienced. This mission trip was unlike ANY trip I had been on yet and I think that is why it captured my heart the way it did. The thought of going to Massachusetts didn't initially seem too exciting or interesting but boy was I wrong... I had personally never been to a place that was so beautiful but unattractive at the same time. Let me explain... The cities that I visited were emaculate and very pretty, quaint even, however; there was a definite darkness , a stark constrast to this seemingly cozy place. It didn't really even take very long to realize what it was that was different but it seemed to me just plain weird..



There seemed to be very few people in New England that know about Jesus let alone put their hope and faith in Him. In Texas where I live, you don't have to go far to see evidence of faith in Christ everywhere. Everywhere you look you see adults,teens and children wearing T-shirts emblazened with His image or some other religious saying on it. You can often walk into a public store and it will be playing christian music over the intercom. There is more than one christian radio station to choose from on the radio and there would appear that there is a church on every corner. This is NOT the case in New England. I sensed the difference in the people right away. They were missing something... Something that is normally everywhere around me.. The thing they were missing was Joy. There is a certain Joy that comes with being a christian but a greater Joy comes from having a personal relationship with Christ. We are His joy and He delights in us. I felt so sorry for these people... They don't even KNOW what they are missing. Although the region is by far very unreligious, I was fortunate to be on mission working with a small but great congregation of wonderful, God-loving Christians.



Our mission last week was to bring the Joy that we know and are assured of through Christ's love for us to another group of believers. The act itself was not hard, emotional at times but not really difficult for me since I am a people person and love to be around others. The thing that amazed me though when I returned home and started reflecting on my time there with these precious people was that even though my purpose was to spread joy, they in turn blessed me beyond words and brought me so much more joy than I could imagine that I brought to them. God's love is funny that way... Just when we think we have things figured out, He shifts gears on us. I guess it is a good thing that I depend on God to be in charge of the wheel and I try real hard not to be a backseat driver. Some of the things that I brought back from my trip:

• God's grace is sufficient for us all even when we try to sell Him short.


• Working as a body is not always easy but it is what we are called to do.


• Love CAN conquer all things, even really difficult things.


• People the world over have the same kinds of needs, fears, hopes and dreams


• Hope might be better than a lifevest when we feel like we are drowning in despair.

My hope is that All people will someday realize their need for Jesus and that they will come to Him, eager to fall into His loving arms and rest there for eternity..That's where my hope and faith is...in Jesus!!

Changing for the world...

Have you ever thought about what you could do to affect change? I mean real , honest and meaningful change... It could be something small or something grand.. Jesus was always about affecting change in the lives of people that he encountered. He fed them, healed them, talked with them but most importantly loved them. He didn't care about outward appearances unlike most people today.

Sometimes making a difference could be as small as smiling at someone and brightening their day.It could be that you offer a random act of kindness... Have you ever bought the coffee of the person standing behind you in line at the donut shop? Why not? Are we as a generation afraid of "laying ourselves out there" ? Do you think that the person that you just bought coffee for will reject you.... Of course not! They will probably be surprised at the gesture.. And possibly..... Return the act of kindness to someone else...

What if we could ask for anything with the hope that someone will fulfill the wish? There is a website that has only been up for about 3 months called Askwish.com that is already affecting change in the lives of the people that have signed up. The site is awesome and the concept itself novel. I plan on trying to help others on the site when I am able but there is another hope that we so often overlook. That hope is in Jesus Christ. He has given us a way to change the world..
We can live in a world of light instead of darkness because of his love for us. God has the ability to fulfill our hopes, dreams and wishes.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE WORLD TODAY????

Inspiration on the internet, are you kidding me??

I know it seems a bizarre concept to say the least, however; it is true.... there are actually (brace yourselves) inspirational stories on the world wide web (who would have ever imagined it?)...Today...day 14 post surgery, I was having yet another mundane day in the midst of the world without cable or satelite TV and decided to "see" what I could find that had any type of moral value on the computer. I decided to watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. This man captured my heart in his ability to accept the things that God has presented him with and instead of standing around waiting for "his fate" he is instead ...embracing life!!!

Come to think of it... maybe....could it be that this is the way that God would have us all to live our lives? Jesus did... although he knew from birth his eternal purpose he also embraced life and lived his 33 years on this earth to the fullest.

Why is it that the average person is afraid to LIVE their lives with careless abandon? Why do we run away from challenges instead of embracing life? Why do we spend our lives burying our hopes, dreams, fears ,and abilities deep within our selves only to have them die long before our body ever gives out?

I am determined to live my life ... maybe not with reckless abandon...but I will live it as God directs me and I will choose to EMBRACE every day just like Randy is doing...just like Jesus did.
What about you...When life hands you lemons...make lemonade and share a glass with a friend !