Sunday, January 21, 2007
training time back in Germany...
it's been a wonderful january training so far. we are small in numbers, but strong. with so few people on this campus of Covenant Players right now, there is a strong sense of unity, community, interdependence, and reliance on the Lord for His direction. there is a great yearning for the Lord's will and obedience to follow Him, no matter the cost. several people have expressed a renewal of commitment to the ministry. i, too, feel a strong sense of conviction that this is indeed the Lord's call for me-- to be here in the European ministry of Covenant Players.
last week, we enjoyed our annual Banquet (and "Pre-Banquet") ceremonies. These go on for hours and hours-- a time of recognizing individuals within the ministry for their victories -- be it in craft, discipleship, or perhaps personal struggles they were going through. it's a wonderful time of celebrating with one another, God's faithfulness and we hear testimonies of this one after another.
the unit i was on last mission, the Clovis Unit ( missioning in Southern France, Switzerland, and Spain) received a first-ever award called the Unit Crystal-- crystal because of how each person on the unit really shone and sparkled in different ways/facets. what an honor this was to receive this newly created award. it was very very humbling.
this coming monday, we'll be meeting our new recruits. i'll also be finding out on monday or tuesday who my unit will be. i'm very excited about this. it's several days earlier than when we normally find out-- a new way of doing things so that we can be better prepared. i appreciate our leaders very much for their openness to change and for their willingness to try new things out in order to sharpen our ministry.
it's been a wonderful january training so far. we are small in numbers, but strong. with so few people on this campus of Covenant Players right now, there is a strong sense of unity, community, interdependence, and reliance on the Lord for His direction. there is a great yearning for the Lord's will and obedience to follow Him, no matter the cost. several people have expressed a renewal of commitment to the ministry. i, too, feel a strong sense of conviction that this is indeed the Lord's call for me-- to be here in the European ministry of Covenant Players.
last week, we enjoyed our annual Banquet (and "Pre-Banquet") ceremonies. These go on for hours and hours-- a time of recognizing individuals within the ministry for their victories -- be it in craft, discipleship, or perhaps personal struggles they were going through. it's a wonderful time of celebrating with one another, God's faithfulness and we hear testimonies of this one after another.
the unit i was on last mission, the Clovis Unit ( missioning in Southern France, Switzerland, and Spain) received a first-ever award called the Unit Crystal-- crystal because of how each person on the unit really shone and sparkled in different ways/facets. what an honor this was to receive this newly created award. it was very very humbling.
this coming monday, we'll be meeting our new recruits. i'll also be finding out on monday or tuesday who my unit will be. i'm very excited about this. it's several days earlier than when we normally find out-- a new way of doing things so that we can be better prepared. i appreciate our leaders very much for their openness to change and for their willingness to try new things out in order to sharpen our ministry.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
goodbye, sunny L.A!
what a nice way to end my time back home in L.A.... beautiful blue sky (--not even that smoggy today!) and 83F weather! suzanne and i also got to met up w/ Lisa Chen and Emily Wang (whom I haven't seen for years) at Tea Station. while, there we also ran into other friends we hadn't seen in eons. bonds in the Lord stay strong, i tell you. although life situations and many other things have changed, being able to talk to each other and pour out our hearts hasn't. that's how my time w/danette, debbie, and hannah was last week, too. thank God for really good friends.
i'm also blessed w/such a loving family. i was crying when i had to say bye to my little nephew. he's a special one, that's for darn sure.
well, i still have a lot of packing to do before i'll be ready to leave the house (at 5:45am), so i'd better get to it. i'd love to write out all the names of wonderful people i've had the opportunity to spend time with this break but i'm afraid i'll leave something out. suffice it to say that if i spent more than 5minutes with you during this break, i was probably really really blessed.
what a nice way to end my time back home in L.A.... beautiful blue sky (--not even that smoggy today!) and 83F weather! suzanne and i also got to met up w/ Lisa Chen and Emily Wang (whom I haven't seen for years) at Tea Station. while, there we also ran into other friends we hadn't seen in eons. bonds in the Lord stay strong, i tell you. although life situations and many other things have changed, being able to talk to each other and pour out our hearts hasn't. that's how my time w/danette, debbie, and hannah was last week, too. thank God for really good friends.
i'm also blessed w/such a loving family. i was crying when i had to say bye to my little nephew. he's a special one, that's for darn sure.
well, i still have a lot of packing to do before i'll be ready to leave the house (at 5:45am), so i'd better get to it. i'd love to write out all the names of wonderful people i've had the opportunity to spend time with this break but i'm afraid i'll leave something out. suffice it to say that if i spent more than 5minutes with you during this break, i was probably really really blessed.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
just to decrease the shock value...
i'm warning you now, i've cut my hair so don't freak out when you see me. i had 16 inches chopped off. it was actually less than i was initially going to have cut. i was going to have it cut chin-length but i eventually decided against it (the hairdresser was in accord) b/c i realized that my face shape has changed! it's alot rounder than it was several years ago when i had it cut chin-length. i don't think i can pull it off anymore-- it would just make my cheeks and jaw-line look huge.
anyway, i like my new hair cut. it's a bit shorter than shoulder-length but longer than chin-length. it feels so much lighter and freer than my previous length (-- the longest layers reached my waist). it feels great! now i get to experiment w/all kinds of different looks and play around w/all kinds of styling products! whoo-hoo! and yes, i will see about getting a picture here sometime soon.
ah, and the other plus of having my hair cut... instant weight loss! i think that mass of hair i chopped off weighed close to 2 lbs!
i'm warning you now, i've cut my hair so don't freak out when you see me. i had 16 inches chopped off. it was actually less than i was initially going to have cut. i was going to have it cut chin-length but i eventually decided against it (the hairdresser was in accord) b/c i realized that my face shape has changed! it's alot rounder than it was several years ago when i had it cut chin-length. i don't think i can pull it off anymore-- it would just make my cheeks and jaw-line look huge.
anyway, i like my new hair cut. it's a bit shorter than shoulder-length but longer than chin-length. it feels so much lighter and freer than my previous length (-- the longest layers reached my waist). it feels great! now i get to experiment w/all kinds of different looks and play around w/all kinds of styling products! whoo-hoo! and yes, i will see about getting a picture here sometime soon.
ah, and the other plus of having my hair cut... instant weight loss! i think that mass of hair i chopped off weighed close to 2 lbs!
Monday, January 01, 2007
last blog of the year...
no time to write much... just wanted to squeeze one more in before it turned 2007! :)
december's flown by so quickly. in just three weeks i went from france to germany to los angeles to new orleans (louisiana) to a cruise w/my family to the west carribean (coast of mexico, belize and guatemala)...and finally, back home again. it's been crazy but it's been good. especially good to spend some time w/family again and see friends back in this area.
and now we're off to dinner w/family (-- ah, earlier this afternoon i finally met my cousin clarice's very adorable baby jackson)...and later tonight, "forced fun" at victor and karena's annual new year's eve get-together! yea!
gotta go! see ya next year!
no time to write much... just wanted to squeeze one more in before it turned 2007! :)
december's flown by so quickly. in just three weeks i went from france to germany to los angeles to new orleans (louisiana) to a cruise w/my family to the west carribean (coast of mexico, belize and guatemala)...and finally, back home again. it's been crazy but it's been good. especially good to spend some time w/family again and see friends back in this area.
and now we're off to dinner w/family (-- ah, earlier this afternoon i finally met my cousin clarice's very adorable baby jackson)...and later tonight, "forced fun" at victor and karena's annual new year's eve get-together! yea!
gotta go! see ya next year!
