So very thankful!

Finally the long awaited thanksgiving holiday and brief break from school arrived. Ah, it is just what I needed. I was exhausted, burnt out, overwhelmed, and simply not doing too well—I just needed to be home with my family! I needed my house, my large and deliciously feathery bed, my precious dogs, my pure mountain water, my warm, glowing fireplace. I just need some time to relax, spend time with the fam and with old friends, and gather my “bearings and headings.” What a blessing!

For all Shipley’s alike, Granma’s legendary butter-horn roles are the staple of every holiday feast. Without them, such a family gathering would not be the same. My uncle said that if the Shipleys were to have a family crest, there at the center of it would a butter-horn roll. They are the best thing that has ever happened to the Shipleys and to me. They are the most delicious, yummiest, most divine creations in all the earth. And I ate like a dozen at thanksgiving dinner .

I must tell you though that there is a lot of laborious work that goes into the aforementioned rolls. I documented the process from the rolling out of the dough, to they final product. It is an important thing to have on record. Course if you want the recipe you will have to beat it out of me! Or marry into the family! Or become my best friend and then I might, might share…To bad for most of you, eh? Haha! But you can just look upon them and wish that you could have one….muwahaha!

Invisible Children

Well, as many of you know, I have been leading a ministry at Westmont that seeks to to use our God-given time, talent, connections and resources to raise awareness about and bring an end to the atrocities taking place toward CHILDREN in Northern Uganda. We wish to gain a conviction of the things unseen and speak for those who don't have a voice.

I wanted to share with you the vision of our minsitry and why I am doing what I am doing!

We don’t get it. This isn’t what we set out to do—but it is what we choose. Thousands of children walk dusty streets every night, unknown to the rest of the world, refugees from even their families. The unlucky ones, the one ones who get caught, they live and die by a gun they never consented to.

We live 9,389 miles from this. So why bother? Well, we never want to be the kind of people who get around to believing that we can’t change the world. We are not the heroes. We are kids, limited by our primitive abilities; it is only by Him working through us. We are tired, too—but not like them. We have hope, a hope that is dead if it isn’t shared. A hope that is complete only as it is made known. We act out of the very strength and grace and mercy of Christ Jesus drawing on his promise to do a good work in us—and in this world.

So we claim this corner of the world, this remote Ugandan nightmare, as our Lord’s. We seek redemption, looking to today and to a century from today, and beyond…as we work for those who cannot speak for themselves.

[For more info about what is going on in Uganda, click Click Here]

Hope for a Higher Calling

Hope. Seems like such a simple word, eh? Yet, in the four letters lies an immensity of meaning and significance. It seems as if most everything in my life at this juncture centers around that word. God uses single words to teach me a lesson or to grow me in him. I guess they are my God-words or my life’s theme-words! Some other words? Belong. Beloved. Blessed. Grace. Peace. Joy. Humility. It is amazing how God speaks to me. My finite mind can only process one word at a time. Haha! And even then, I don’t seem to get it fully, and I never will. But I think that is the beauty of life. To see each day, each moment, each word as a way to be bless, be educated and be changed. And then so use each day, each moment, and each word to bless, to educate, and to change others. Oh, what a beautiful and empowering thing!

I find this word hope being woven into every aspect of my life, and it seemingly shows its face in each day. It means being able to find a glimmer of hope in someone, something, and most importantly myself, that I am worthy and am His beloved. It is finding validation and approval in the only being with a pure and perfect love: Jesus Christ. It is fully believing that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. What a powerful promise we have from our Lord. That no matter how discouraged, unworthy, and insignificant we feel, He will finish the work that He has started in us. It so easy to let the world and others stifle that hope! But the wonderful thing is that it can and will be restored! We can have hope in Christ. And not only that, but we have the power to empower and encourage one another. As my one of my communications professor said, “To commit to pursue the highest in each of us.” Simply, we are Christ’s beloved children and creation. We are the children of the Almighty God! We have a higher calling in him and in him we have our true identity. Let’s do that for each other and remind each other that we are His beloved; we are his creation; we are His. That is so simple, yet so hard for me to get my mind around. But when I do in even the slightest degree, I am in awe.

So I heard this song today as I was writing this:

Avalon - In A Different Light
Don't cry for me
No, I've never been one to shoulder the weight of the world
'Cause I believe
This is here and it's now, but it's not my home
There's a hope beyond what my eyes can see
And there's a place that He's preparing for me

CHORUS
Nothing's gonna keep us here
We'll go a different way
It'll be all right
From the other side we'll see it clear
On a different day
In a different light

Don't be afraid
Of the twists and the turns of the road that we're on, just
believe
There'll come a day
When our faith turns to sight, and we'll see His face
While we're here the heartache's hard to ignore
So for now, we'll keep our eyes on the Lord

Though for now, we see things dimly
There's a voice that speaks within me
Leading me to a different light
In a different way (in a different way)
In a different light

That is my prayer for me and for you...