I'M GRADUATING!!!

I am finally graduating from seminary with my Master of Arts in Missiology (study of missions)! It has only taken me 6 years in which I have moved from Texas to Syracuse, Syracuse to Texas, worked as a campus minister, got married, and then moved from Fort Worth to South Carolina, South Carolina to Dallas and Dallas to Oswego, NY!! WOW!! I just finished my thesis this week and found out today that I passed. I will go to Texas in May to graduate along with my bro and sis in law, Jeff and Audrea Medina, and on the 100th year celebration of the seminary. The sun is shining, it is 70 something degrees in NY and I feel a huge sigh of relief!! Thanks for celebrating with me and for all who were praying and helped me get here (including my hubby, Audrea for editing, and my father in law Dr. Vann for his help!) But thanks mostly to God who has taught me so many spiritual lessons through this process and has helped me in my darkest times of it all! I love my Jesus!! YAYYY!!!!

Please Pray for Baby Ethan

Hello Friends and Family who read this. I have a friend from college who needs prayers for her 12 week old baby who is very sick with a rare form of leukemia. You can read more and pray for her and her family. Some of you may know Kasey "McMillan" Krawiec from DBU. I'm just passing it on!!!

This is the new shampoo that I have been trying recently. I have the most trouble finding one that doesn't make my hair to "greasy" looking at the roots and too dry and frizzy at the bottom. My hairdresser always gets on to me for not using professional shampoo and conditioner because apparently the other kind are "bad" for your hair. So I stumbled onto Organix Shampoo's and conditioners at Walmart the other day and I noticed that some of them had a full rebate for either the conditioner or the shampoo. They were normally almost $6 for a bottle and for me that is more than I would want to pay for something that I didn't even know worked. I figured that even the cheap stuff is around $3 for each so if I got one free, then no harm done! I tried it and I have had the best hair days ever! They have organic ingredients and no sulfates to dry your hair out. My hair smells so fresh even after drying it and stays fresh smelling and looking a day or so after! I tried the coconut milk shampoo and the tea tree mint conditioner. You can check out their website here. I haven't received my rebate just yet, but already it was money well spent. Check Walmart and Target to see if this special rebate is still going on. I know alot for just some shampoo, but I love it when I find a good beauty product I can share!!

The Call to Army Chaplaincy

I thought it was so great when I ran across this video today as I was doing some more research for my thesis. God broke my heart once again for our future call to serve Him in the Army as Austin becomes a chaplain. This video depicts what PBS likes to call Army Chaplaincy "boot camp". Austin took part in the completion of this very training this time last year! One of his friends from the first part of the training, David Dice, is on this video. I cried as I watched, for it is very close to my heart, but was also so proud of all of those who risk their lives and sacrifice so much for us and the world! I am proud that my husband is willing to do the same! This video shows how you can pray for the things that chaplains are challenged with especially during war time. They are faced with suffering that is more than most of us will ever see and religious pluralism, but they are allowed to share their faith as they share their lives with these soldiers. What an amazing opportunity they have to be a light in darkness! Thanks for your prayers and enjoy the video! Click here for the link. I couldn't get it to save on here as a video!!

The Mundanes of Life

Do you ever just long to be able to shirk the mundane tasks of life such as taking a shower, fixing your hair, doing the dishes, etc. and just walk with Jesus. I guess I am feeling that way this morning as we try to catch up in life being gone from home the last two weekends. Sometimes I just long to sit all morning with my Savior and read and pray and enjoy, but then I feel like I must get going and not be lazy or the "getting ready" of life just distracts me. I started to wonder about life in the Garden of Eden. Did Eve have to worry about being clean or cleaning up the garden floor? It seems that they were not distracted my mundane life and that there "perfect" bodies may have been self-cleaning. I know this is a weird thought, and Austin chuckled at me as I asked what he thought about this--theologically speaking. Of course, all of this is speculation, so don't think me a heretic. I just would long to have a week of walking perfectly with God...but I guess that is a desire that we all have...a longing that will only be fulfilled at the culmination of time as we will once again walk with our Savior undistracted. For those who have children, I know this is probably even more of a desire! I pray for all of us that we will have a moment in our day where we get to truly walk in the garden with Jesus.

An Encouragement for the Weary and Those Who Are Mourning

Austin's grandfather, Daddy Dick, just passed away this week and I have been talking with others who have lost someone close to them or are struggling with death. As I was reading in Isaiah today, I was so encouraged by this passage of a New Heaven and New Earth in Isaiah 65. I hope it will encourage any who might read this or you might be able to use it to encourage someone else. My thoughts and prayers are with Austin's family during this time.

17 "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

20 "Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach [a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.

21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the works of their hands.

23 They will not toil in vain
or bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,"
says the LORD.