Best read with coffee or tea...

I try to read Oswald's Chamber's Utmost for His Highest and the accompanying chapter from the Bible everyday.  For those unfamilar with Utmost for His Highest, Chamber's takes a verse from the Bible and expands on it.  I like to read the whole chapter that the verse is found in to get more context.  Many times when I read the chapter I find other verses or stories that are encouraging or thought provoking.  So, I wanted to share a few verses with you today.  Some are out of my reading and some are from a daily verse that is emailed to me.  It's simple, but will give you something to read and contemplate (all verses are from the Message version unless otherwise noted).  So, find ten to fifteen minutes, grab a cup of coffee and tea and read over these verses.  Let them sink in and consider how they apply to your day to day life.    

"The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead.  He puts a little of heaven in our hearts, so that we'll never settle for less." 2 Corinthians 5: 5-6

"Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions.  Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions" 2 Corinthians 5:9-10

"Christ love has moved me to such extremes.  His love has the first and last word in everything we do." 2 Corinthians 5:14

"We're Christ's representatives.  God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them.  We're speaking for Christ himself now:  Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.  How? you say. In Christ.  God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.  2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.  Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT Version

"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promises." Hebrews 10:23

*Photos are from a Picassa photo search under cross and love.

Photos, Photos, Photos

I dropped the Missouri State University team off at the airport this morning along with my friend Megan McFarlane.  This was a great team and I had a great time.  It was so much fun to have Megan join the team.  We hadn't hung out in two years, so it was fun to catch up in El Salvador.   The MSU team was lead by Carmen Boyd.  She is a Profesor of Dietics at MSU.  The team was academic and made up of dietatic students and one student who is getting her masters in Child and Family Development.  We did a tour of some of the Latin American Child Care schools as well as other organizations in the country that deal with nutrition.  Some of the places we visited were the World Food Program, USAID, Love Link, Libras de Amor and various other organizations.  Convoy of Hope's nutritionist in El Salvador, Winny Menendez, set up the majority of the meetings for the team.  She did a great job.  I really appreciate all that she did to make this team go a smoothly as it did.  So, I am tired because the days were long, but I feel good about the week.   I had a hard time choosing, which photos I wanted to share, so I have uploaded quite a few.  I couldn't get all the captions and pictures to format like I wanted, but you'll get the idea. Enjoy =)    

Feed My Starving Children product, dried peaches from Gleanings for the Hungry and a soup mix that we were able to distribute at a very poor public school in a rural area of El Salvador

Megan, Sarah and Krystle distributing food in Convoy of Hope bags

Boy in El Salvador with a toothbrush from the MSU team

Dollie giving a toothbrushing illustration

This is at the LACC school San Jose El Naranjo this is pasta with chicken in it for the students at the school. The pasta is part of the Convoy of Hope Nutrition program.

Krystle weighing one of the students in the Nutrition Program

Measuring for the part of the arm where we measure for the arm circumference

Winny Menendez, Convoy of Hope's Nutritionist in El Salvador, is recording the measurments the MSU students are taking.

A dentist in Springfield donated toothbrushes. In every school the students gave presentations on how and why to brush your teeth and wash your hands.

MSU students with the director of Love Link

At the World Food Program meeting

At the World Food Program.  I thought these were were pretty cool.

These little girl was at a home for children whose parents have HIV or AIDs.  Most of the children here have HIV or AIDS as well.

Sea Shells in El Salvador

Sunset in El Salvador.

A worker at CENTA, El Salvador's agricultural and nutrition center, demonstrating how grafting works with trees. 

Megan and I's feet after walking around CENTA - At least flip flops are cooler than tennis shoes =)

Megan and I at the beach - hangin by the Palm tree =)

An International Camping Trip

I am on a plane headed to El Salvador. Internet on planes is quite amazing - however sometime after crossing outside the US boundaries I will lose internet access. Hopefully not mid sentence =). My travel schedule these last few months has been unbelievable. Even the three weeks I spent in El Salvador was spent traversing the country visiting schools. The schedule has made my blogging sporadic. I will try to get it back on schedule.

My most recent trip was to Panama. It was a blast. I came back under the weather with a cold, sore throat and most recently a strange stomach. Despite that the trip was a bit refreshing. It was something different and didn’t have the same stresses as other parts of my job. It was a week spent camping with the Guayami Indians. The AG National Church of Panama organizes an annual Family Camp for this indigenous group. Some of the families walk for a week just to be there. One woman gave birth, while at camp. I would imagine for a woman to leave home that near to time of birth that the event must be really important to her.

In the mornings the National Church held devotionals for the Guayami Indians and every evening there was a service. In between there were classes, lunch and swimming in the river. I attended a couple of evening services and the other nights I helped with bagging the food that was going to be distributed at the end of the week. One evening it down poured. I was soaked to the bone after making sure all the food was covered up. It wasn't Missouri winter rain, but Panama dry season rain, so I survived and didn't die of frostbite =). On Friday the Panamanians from the cities, a church from Kansas, Bethany Thompson and I distributed the food and clothes to 1000 plus families. We had to leave for Panama City after the distribution, but after we left people were baptized in the river.

I hope all is well in your lives. I encourage you to be a light in the darkness today. Live free and live well. Live in forgiveness, love, mercy and grace!