Florida, Spring Break 2010

This Spring Break I was blessed to be able to spend 10 days in Florida with my mom and dad and we had a LOT of fun! We went to the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and then we ended in Orlando and went to Disney World for two days! It was a lot of fun and I went to a lot of places that I have never been before! It was great!

It was windy and cloudy our first day there but that was okay because it was still warmer than Oregon weather! The everglades were pretty cool we saw lost of alligators and birds and turtles and we even saw a crocodile but no panthers. It was quite exciting! The entire time though we were afraid that we would have a run in with a burmese python or a monator lizard which are alien species in Florida and they have run-ins with humans which I was not excited about but, praise the Lord, we never saw one!

We went on an airboat ride and I got to drive... that was interesting I managed to spin us around 360 degrees hahaha cause I'm an awesome driver like that ;) Our captain, Captain Jearl (funny name huh?) fed an alligator from the side of the boat, that was scary! The gator was jumping up trying to get fish out of his hand... not something you get to see every day in the wild! It was a lot of fun!

After the everglades we went to the Florida Keys which was sunny and beachy and I really enjoyed it! I didn't particularly enjoy Key West (on Duvall Stree) simply because there was a lot of drinking and partying and just lots of immoral things and that was unfortunate but we took a day trip to Dry Tortugas and that was a lot of fun! (Can you tell I had fun?!) We toured the giant fort which is the second largest brick structure in the world,  second behind the Great Wall of China.

After the Keys we drove back up and stayed in Miami for a night before going to Orlando. In Miami my dad got in trouble, by my mom, for draving like a mad man! haha That was funny... It was a short stay and then we went to Disney World!

I was excited for Disney World because we were staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! My mom got a really discounted price otherwise there is no way we would ever be able to afford to stay there... It's African themed and we were lucky enough to have a free upgrade to a Savannah view where we could watch the animals roaming around from our hotel room! I thoroughly enjoyed that! Nothing like waking up and looking at Giraffes and antelopes!

Our last night in Florida the thunderstorms started rolling in and while my family and I were making our way from the park to our car aboard the ferry the rain started pouring down! Then the wind picked up, the lightning flashed across the sky and our ferry almost tipped over. I didn't know that until later my dad told me how close we were to capsizing, I was too enthralled with a large group of band kids who were at the park (I think there was a competition going on somewhere because there were TONS of high school bands roaming around). At this particular moment they all started dramatically screaming and, no joke, it was like the scene right out of "War of the Worlds" when everyone is panicking on the ferry boat! It amused me. Unfortunately it was raining super hard and within seconds of running towards our car we were drenched. It was a memorable moment though and luckily the next day the storm had ceased and our flight home was wonderfully smooth (I hate flying so that was good).

For a long time before I left on my Spring Break vacation I had been praying about my fear of flying. I know that fear is not from God and I also knew that if I asked and believed that God could take away that fear. It was really cool because I just felt at ease on the flight to Florida and I knew that God had calmed my nerves! On the way back I had started to worry again and it was awesome because I was trying to calm myself and then the Lord brought this verse to my mind Matthew 6:27 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" That was exactly what I needed at the moment in time and I am so greatful for that!

Why do we worry?! It's so pointless! God has a plan for us and nothing is out of His control and if we trust Him then we shouldn't worry because we know that we're safe in His arms (like the Phil Wickham song! -- You can bet I listened to that a couple of times on the flight) the other verse that kept coming to my mind Psalm 139:7-10 "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." There is no place we can go where God isn't there! That was so comforting to me!

I also found comfort in the Evan Wickham song, "Heavenlies"  because it made me remember that there is no reason for me to worry because even if the plane happened to crash and I burned I'd be going to see Jesus and as the songs chorus goes "I'm living for the Heavenlies when all of you is all I see" that's what Im living for! No need to worry! :)

During my vacation I also meditated on the verse from 1 Peter 5:10 "And the God of all grace, who called you to eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." This was a particularly impacting verse because it's important to remember that even amidst suffering God is still with us! He is waiting and after a little while He Himself will restore us! It's so comforting to remember when you're going through trials! Praise Jesus!

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New Beginning

I started up again cause Alexis and Eva have blogs and I decided that I should continue mine! :)

I have LOTS I could write about but alas Im heading off to Florida very soon so I will save that for later. I guess now I'll just say Im digging this song right now:

I guess also a topic I feel led to write about is prayer. What about prayer?! Do you pray?! Do you know the power that you have with prayer?!... What do you pray about?!

The other day I was reading through my missions book and I came upon a passage that really stuck out to me. It was discussing Nehemiah and his passion for prayer it said:

"The passion of his [Nehemiah's] prayer is even more important than his petition. Three aspects of his passion in prayer worth noting are:

• Zeal for the glory of God
• love for his people
• counting his own life as nothing

Nehemiah reminded God of His promise to gather His people from all over the world to worship His name openly (Nehemiah 1:8-9). Zeal for the glory and name of Jesus should also be our motivation. For how many of us is this true? Do we pray for the glory of God's name, or do we pray only for ourselves?"


I was super convicted when I read the last part of this passage because I realized that a lot of times my prayers are so self-centered! I'm always asking God for direction in my life, for the furtherance of my dreams and my desires and my passions but I forget sometimes to think about God and His dreams and His passions and His desires! I want my life to glorify God and I always ask God for that when I pray but even amongst that I feel that I could definitely pray more for God's glory.

I have had a strong desire placed on my heart to pray for the glory of God's name! What does that look like? I'm not 100% sure but I know that a way to start is by setting aside prayer times to pray for the furtherance of God's kingdom in the city I live in, on the college campus in my town, in the hearts of the believers at my church, for Christian organizations who're being the hands and feet of Jesus, for missionaries throughout the world who are working for God's kingdom and sacrificing their lives for God's name every day! There are lots of things that you can pray for when you start to look on a larger scale rather than me, myself and I.

Maybe the reason why I don't pray that often on a bigger scale for God's name to be glorified is because it's so hard to grasp just how effective our prayers are! Prayer is so powerful and it is so important to be constantly covering people in prayer believing that your prayers will be answered! Not just praying for yourself but for people around you! Your brothers and sisters in Christ! Your elders, pastors, leaders, friends! Even your enemies and adversaries! Whoever it might be praying for others and for the glory of God's name is a wonderful thing! It's amazing to see the fruit of those prayers as well. You may not think that your prayers are really helping, but they are. You never know when someone is in desperate need of a touch from the Father and maybe your asking is just the thing that gives the answer they so desire.

On this note, if you feel like praying for an organization I would recommend the Options Pregnancy Resource Centers. A couple of weeks back I got a flier in my church bulletin for this organization.

"Every pregnant teen, every unborn child, every broken woman with an abortion in her past, every frightened kid who finds out he's a father is loved by the Creator. Each one has inestimable value and needs to know the love and mercy of Jesus Christ."

Options Pregnancy Resource Centers 
"our desire is to be His [Jesus'] hands and feet to all who come through our doors. We reach out to those in need offering free pregnancy test and ultrasounds. We provide accurate information about pregnancy options, support and community referrals."

The man who talked about this organization said that covering the center in prayer is very important especially for the interactions at the counseling sessions. Pray for the counselors who are speaking with the women and also for the women who are getting counseling. Pray in the power that Jesus gives us knowing that when we ask in his name it will be answered. Maybe even now for five minutes (or more if you want) pray selflessly for the glory of God's name and for anyone else that God may put on your mind! :)