11/23/09

two years? really???

i arrived in latvia on november 11th, 2007.

it is now november 23rd, 2009.

it is hard for me to believe that even as i write it. the last two years have literally flowwwwwn by!

since time here is rushed and it is easy to lose sight of God in the busyness of life, i thought it would be cool to pause and reflect on God's faithfulness over the past two years... this is like a sneak peak into my journal (haha)... and since it is close to turkey day, i thought it would be cool to share a FEW of the things that i am thankful for over the past two years...
  • amazing friends & family on both sides of the atlantic
  • a wonderfully loving & supportive team on both sides of the ocean (THANK YOU for your many prayers!!!)
  • seeing God's faithfulness in a very tangible way on a daily basis (THANK YOU financial supporters!)
  • seeing how God is continuing to pave the way for me in latvia and how i am perfect for what He has me there to do
  • finally getting to do with my life what i should have been doing all along!
  • seeing my weakness and utter dependence on Christ and the immense freedom i can experience through that
  • experiencing and practicing sabbath
  • learning to pray continuously
  • growing in my understanding of who the Holy Spirit is & what His role is in my life
  • experiencing God as my Father and the joy of being His son
  • understanding a lot of verses in the Bible in a practical sense rather than just theoretically
  • getting to hand over all of my relationships in the states to God and trusting Him with them... and seeing how He has blessed them!
  • living a simpler life
  • having "visitors" in latvia, and being able to see my two "worlds" collide in some very cool ways
  • coming to the end of my first two years and being sad to leave latvia, but excited to be back in the states! and on the flip side, being sad to leave the states but being excited to be back in latvia! (a huge victory)
  • being able to see God use me! (a miracle)
  • good health and a new appreciation for the sun and warmth :)
it would do me little good to only recognize the blessings in my life and stop at that. it is another thing to recognize these things and to turn and thank the Person from Whom all good things come. i can see now more clearly than ever in my life, that all of the good things in my life have come from God's hand! He is my Father and on thanksgiving i am most thankful for Him and the love He has shown me over the last two years! He is GOOD!!!

youtube of the month: november

a collection of ridiculous dunks (that you need to watch in slow motion to realize what you just saw)


(the other players reactions are almost as good as the dunk!)






and i had to throw at least one dunk FAIL in there too...

11/2/09

HOME

it feels good to be home again!!!

had dinner with the family last night and then came home and feel asleep. woke up at 9am this morning. hoping to get on US time schedule quickly.