O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

I find it challenging every Sunday to understand the sermon in Spanish. It is difficult to understand a different language when the person is not directly speaking to you or if they say something out of context. The speed, accent, and tone of voice all affect my ability to understand. My favorite part about the worship services here is the singing. It took a bit of time to learn the words, the meaning of the words, and the notes to the song, but now I enjoy it so much! If for some reason I don't know the tune, I am able to simply listen to the words and praise God in this manner. And, of course, it is always cool to have a song to sing that I learned in English first, for example, "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord". Because I am not able to worship in my first language weekly, I enjoy having sermons on cd. It is a bit after midnight and I have just finished listening to my pastor preach on Acts 6:1-7. I have a few sermons on cd by some "big name" preache...

Friday night the young adults from Shalom spent the night in Celestun, which is an hour and thirty minutes away from Merida. Ayve (my roommate) has an uncle who lives there. We packed our bags, grabbed our hammocks, and headed to the beach. You see, Mexicans usually don't bring sleeping bags and sheets with them when they go on a trip. There usually aren't beds in the houses, but there are always hooks for you to hang up a hammock. We spent our daytime on the beach. All of the group was huddled underneath the shade, while I was the gringa trying to get a tan. (They did tease me a bit, but it was all fun!) I really enjoyed getting to know the people of Shalom better and make new friends. One thing that I miss most from the states are my close friendships with women from the church. As my language improves, God is giving me more courage and opportunities to have closer friendships with the women in the church. Recently, a young woman's bible study has begun on Monday nights. ...

Dian, me, and Cynthia Yay! I FINALLY hit a pin! Alan and Dian me, Cynthia, Noah, Alan, Dian Cynthia and me

What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him for ever. I learned that I am to glorify God with my life at a very early age, but I never understood the true meaning of it until my college years. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). So, as a much younger person, I was thinking that I must be a super good person in order to glorify God. If I do wrong, I would not glorify God whatsoever. In a sense, that is correct, and I still agree with the younger version of myself. However, I accomplished being “good” by going to church, Bible study, EE, and being a good student. People saw these things as being a good Christian, but I lacked heart. I lacked the relationship with God and the enjoyment of God. While living in Mexico, I have learned the enjoyment of rising in the morning (although some mornings are tougher than others). This is the time with God that comes undisturbed by schedule and occurrences....