unashamed tour

Last night, Mikey and I went with a couple of our friends...Jacoby and Kyle, two interns with our church's youth ministry...to a concert in Florence.  The show was a part of the unashamed tour put on by Reach Records.  It was so amazing!  All of the artists were so talented, and not only were they excellent performers, they were also very sincere and eloquent in sharing their faith.  It was awesome to see the huge diversity of people at the show...all ages, races, and backgrounds.  And it was great to hear some of what these artists had to say.  One illustration I particularly loved was shared by Tedashi:


A little girl in the fourth grade got a little snake for her birthday.  She always wanted a snake, and her parents finally agree to let her have one.  She loved it so much that she took really good care of it, always feeding it and cleaning its cage.  It even slept curled up next to her at night.  Cute, right? ;)  Well, after she had the snake for a while, it stopped eating the food she normally gave it, so she tried a new kind of food.  He wouldn't eat that either.  Not only did his eating habits change; he also stopped curling up at night.  He started stretching out long-ways next to her.  After a while of this, the little girl got worried, so she took it to the vet and explained the situation.  The vet listened carefully and then looked worried by the time she was finished.  He told her she needed to come home and kill that snake immediately.  The little girl was stricken. She really loved her snake, and she wouldn't agree to this until the doctor explained why.  The vet explained that the snake was not eating because it was starving itself.  And it wasn't curling up, and was instead stretching out next to her, because it wanted to measure itself against her...you see, the snake was preparing himself to eat the little girl whole.  He wanted to starve himself so he would be able to, and he was waiting until he was big enough to do it. 


That snake is like sin.  At first, it may seem harmless.  We find ourselves defending it, feeding it, caring for it as it grows in our lives...still seeming tame.  But it's important to not forget that it is still a snake.  And that snake can grow and can devour us.  It is not enough to think about changing our lives...we need to go home and kill our snakes.  Whatever they may be.  Because those snakes can kill us, can steal our life.


And THAT is just one little piece of the night! It was amazing!!!


Here are a few pics and videos from the concert:

 Trip Lee

 Lecrae

Mikey and I after the concert :)

All of the artists CDs are on itunes, and you can go to reachrecords.com to check out more!

Medical Mission Trip

"Missions is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there" -The Velvet Elvis

In the past week, I have heard about, prayed about, talked about, and decided to attend (God-willing) a medical mission trip to India.   The medical clinic that I have been volunteering at for the past (almost) year is taking a team to Durgapur, India to help in a clinic that was established there in the past year.  Dr. Sabback, a retired surgeon who is one of the medical directors of the Dream Center Clinic and who has been on many medical mission trips, went there a couple of years ago and has been a part of getting the clinic started, funded, and now, occupied.  A local team of doctors and nurses staff the clinic most of the year, but extra help is always appreciated!

Those of you who know me well or have been reading my blog know that I have a passion for medicine and for reaching out to people in need, especially physical need!  There are so many people in the world suffering from diseases that are curable and injuries that are fixable.  I have been wanting to go on a medical mission trip ever since I decided I wanted to go into medicine in high school.  Now that I have some training, my EMT certification, and a smidgeon of experience under my belt, I think I actually might be able to be of some service to the people in need in this area of India.  Dr. Sabback assured me (after a timid email asking if I'd just be in the way, as I am not yet IN medical school, nor am I a nurse) that medical mission trips are the perfect place to learn more and do more!  And so...I'm now attempting to get together the necessary funds and paperwork to make this long dreamed-of trip a reality.  

The trip is January 13-22, 2011, which is just two months away.  There is a lot ahead of me between now and then...finishing up finals, graduating from undergrad, raising money for this trip, and getting a visa for India.  If you have any fund-raising tips, please let me know!  I would really appreciate your prayers and any advice from those of you who have travelled to India before.  Pray that our team would be effective in caring for these people's physical needs, as well as their spiritual ones.  Pray that we will have the tools, medicines, and knowledge available to us to make a true impact.  Pray that the planning and pre-work all gets done in time for take-off on January 13!  And most of all, pray that God's will will be done, one way or another, regarding this trip!

shutterfly me to the moon

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have already begun my search for this year's Christmas Cards! Since Mikey and I got married, I have loved searching online for cute cards to send out to close friends and family.  Every year I have a hard time deciding, but especially this year because I found so many cute ones at Shutterfly!  These are a few of my favorites:

Retro Kaleidoscope

I really love the colors of this one!  

I think it's so interesting and fresh looking, but still festive with green, red, and white :)

Cranberry Damask

Damask is always pretty, and this cranberry color is especially perfect for Christmas time!

I also like how elegant "Merry Christmas" looks on this one.

Sage Snowflakes

Brown and green are a great color combo, and I really like the "love, joy, peace" on this card!

Go check out shutterfly to browse through all of the great cards yourself! They're even doing an awesome promotion where you get 50 free cards for sharing shutterfly with your friends on your blog! :) 

Go to this site to sign up:  http://bit.ly/sfly2010