Nacho Libro

pre-blog reading, please listen to Yearn by Shane & Shane.. the song is incredible.

I am eternally GRATEFUL that the Lord drew me to Himself at such a young age, 7. I am eternally grateful that my parents woke me up every single Sunday morning that I can remember. I am eternally grateful that my God is so good to look upon me, regardless of my mistakes and entirely imperfect living. I am also overwhelmingly burdened. I am so burdened for the family members of mine who don't know Jesus (I don't want to say names but those close to me know that I am praying for one specific person daily). My heart hurts for the children in my school, the precious 6th, 7th and 8th graders that I have absolutely fallen in love with, who don't know Jesus. I am burdened for people who will hear the gospel for the first time this year, but will still reject it. But I am so so burdened for people who will never even hear the name of Jesus in their lifetime. wow. Just typing this makes me cry.

My God is so big, and I am so small. Incomparably small. Insignificant. Cursed and damned apart from His amazing grace. How am I making a difference for His kingdom? My heart hurts for people who don't know Jesus, and we have got to get the gospel, the LIVING Word of God, to all of the people that He created. Not just those in the Bible belt, or those in my neighborhood, but everywhere. By rejecting this task, I would pretty much be saying this is my book, not yours, or nacho libro (spanish for book, hah).

I want this book (that I'm holding.. NIV translation), to belong to more than just me. I want to get it out as fast and far as I can. Continue praying with me this week about where the Lord will send us. We are His vessels.

How can they call on him unless they believe in him? How can they believe in him unless thy hear about him? How can they hear about him unless someone preaches to them? And how can anyone preach without being sent?

Romans 10:14-15

I'm with Paul on this one.. Let's pray, in faith, just like Paul- Romans 10:1:

"...the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel [and Peruvian villagers and Mali, Africans...etc] to be saved."

This is my prayer this week. Let it be yours too. Let's see what God will do when we pray in faith and beg Him to come save this lost world!

Thank you Lord for being more consistent than Texas weather :)

Well, today is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! How in the world do we go from 20's to 70's to 20's to 60's all in a four-day span? Well, it's beyond me as well (and don't say global warming.. Gore is a nutcase.. sorry if you like him)

I was doing some reading this morning (before my first day of work.. WHOOP) and came across this:

"I am the LORD (Yahweh), and I do not change..." Malachi 4:6

That's so awesome, is it not?

EVERYTHING about our world changes.. weather changes, culture changes, world powers change, (unfortunately) economy changes, ... etc, etc. EVERY single thing changes, but the one thing, the greatest thing ever, is that our God is NEVER-changing. He is constant and steady.

This makes me think about my poor Joseph The Second.. my car. My first vehicle was Joseph, so this one is the second. Anyways, Joseph II is having some real issues.. and home girl isn't able to fix them until paycheck number one comes in.. hopefully not too much longer. But we'll be on the freeway (Joseph II and I) and all of a sudden, the car starts shaking. Not just a little shake, but my hands tickle from holding the steering wheel because my alignment is off. It just stinks, but it's a great analogy for the point I'm trying to make :) Everything unexpectedly changes in the blink of an eye but we have a GOD ALMIGHTY who is NEVER EVER going to change. He will always love us abundantly, regardless of what life brings. He will always have his arms wide open, just like the story of the Prodigal Son (refer to Luke 15:11-32). That is just the most amazing thing to me. God created me (and you), and two. that He will love me the same, forever. His love is constant, so our hope should be abundant!! :D It's so easy to get distracted by day-to-day situations, but I (and maybe you) need to constantly remind myself of the ABUNDANT and EXTRAVAGANT love that my Father has for ME!

I am blessed; why me?

I just have to share these thoughts this morning..

I woke up literally sweating because my mind was running with all of these thoughts about how much I have, and how blessed I am, but why me?

I have:

a loving family: a mom, dad and entire slew of siblings whom I absolutely adore!

a home- not just one that just gets me by, but one that holds the tons and tons of clothes that I have, one that holds all of my furniture, which holds my macbook that I'm typing on at this very moment.

food- not just food, but food of my choice, as much of it as I could ever want. I have enough for seconds, and thirds.

good health- I am not sick, nor is anyone in my family at this time, thank you Lord.

...the list goes on and on and on...

I have SO much; I am SO blessed; but why me? Why was I born in the US, where I could have everything I could ever want, way more than I could ever need, while there are other people across the world who barely even have the bare necessities; in fact there are millions who won't even be eating today. That makes my heart so sad.

The conclusion I've come to this morning, is that the Lord has blessed me with this life so that I can GO and TELL and bring resources with me. What I mean by that is that resources are my segway into foreign countries. If we go to other countries where Christianity is forbidden with the Good News, and no resources, heck they're not going to let us in, but the Lord has blessed us with more than we could ever imagine.

Now what? I am praying about where the Lord is going to send me next. Join me in a 7 day journey of prayer to see where the Lord is calling you to go. My prayer is this: "Lord help me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am"-- David Platt. :D God is good, just and worthy of our hearts, souls and minds.

Matthew 28:18

"Make disciples of all nations..."