the journey continues!

About a month ago, I wrote about my frustration in choosing a college. Well, since then, so much has happened! I am so happy to say that I have decided to attend Northwest Christian University next year. It's a really great school, and I am looking forward to it so much! Just a few days ago I sent in my form of intent and a deposit on my tuition, so I'd consider it pretty official :) In the meantime, I have been applying for lots of scholarships. Can be tedious, but definitely worth it in the end.

BUT, I get a little break from school in three weeks (!!!) when I go to Thailand and Cambodia! Whaaat?! Three weeks. I can taste it. I'll be going with my parents and six other people from our church, as a mission trip/sight-seeing adventure. Please pray for us as we finish up our preparations for this amazing adventure!

True Love

Today, I am celebrating the One who loves me no matter what. The One who will never let me down. The One who gave up the most precious thing he had in order to save all of us. And I hope that you are too.

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." 
-Ephesians 3:16-19

Why did I not know this before?

I absolutely love flour tortillas. The best ones I have ever had were homemade in Honduras. YUM. So thick and delicious. They hardly even compare to the store bought ones.

So... for my first cooking challenge, I decided to make tortillas! I found this recipe by doing a google search for "easy tortilla recipe" (or something along those lines). Even though I have been wanting to do this for a while, I finally got up the courage yesterday. The results... success!

Not only are they delicious, they are so simple and fast! There are only four ingredients--flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water. Basic things, but they come together in a beautiful way.

Note: You will have to experiment with different thicknesses, but I found that I like them fairly thin. Not paper thin, but most of mine I made too thick and then under-cooked a little due to lack of patience. However, even slightly underdone, I would still highly recommend them.

Widows in their distress

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress..." -James 1:27

I was listening to a podcast one day when this verse came up in the discussion. The host mentioned that we, as Christians, really love this verse, especially the part about orphans. We sponsor starving children from third-world countries, we help out at fundraisers and events to raise money for orphanages, and some people even go to the point of adopting these children and providing them with a safe and loving home. While all of this is wonderful, we do not do very much to care for the widows. Why is that? I have a few ideas, but I am not entirely sure. What I do know is that they do not have easy lives. Think about your great-grandmother (or grandfather, or an elderly person in your church, or the next-door neighbor...). What are a few little things that would make a big difference to this person? It may be as simple as just sitting down and talking with them. Having a simple conversation, listening to their concerns, desires, feelings, etc. and offering some of your own. Or playing a game of cards. Or delivering some groceries. These are not hard things, so why aren't we doing them?

Check out this video, which inspired this post. The Seales are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. As part of the adoption process, they participated in a Both Hands Project and made the day of a widow in their community. So cool.

A Few Updates

Hello! Happy February! :)

Starting this past Sunday (January 29) I have been taking a break from facebook. It completely eats up my time and I don't like that at all. There are so many other things I could be doing. So I made a plan. For seven days, I would not go on facebook or twitter. We're coming to the close of day five and it's gone really well! I am proud to say that I have not logged into either of those sites since Saturday evening.

In the meantime, I've been spending more time on pinterest (follow me here) and reading other blogs. To find inspiration, I looked at my sister's blog and the ones that she follows, and discovered a few that look really interesting! Maybe I'll share some favorites at a later date, after I've read more. If you have a blog, hit me up with the link! I'd love to read your thoughts.

Also, I am planning to start my cooking challenge this weekend, so keep an eye out for that!