Tales of an (Un)Ordinary Girl

Can't Take it In

2012-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite songs right now.

Can't close my eyes
They're wide awake
Every hair on my body
has got a thing for this place
Oh empty my heart
I've got to make room for this feeling
so much bigger than me

It couldn't be any more beautiful - I can't take it in.

Weightless in love...unravelling
For all that's to come
and all that's ever been
We're back to the board
with every shade under the sun
Let's make it a good one

It couldn't be any more beautiful I can't take it in

It couldn't be any more beautiful I can't take it in.

All that I wanted. All that I ever needed.
All that I wonder. So beautiful.

Happy Valentines Day.

2012-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day to everyone! Sorry its late, but I have been crazy busy, (like normal huh?) Monday I went to a girl's study, which was about, guess what, Love. No kidding. :) It was a great talk and I got to meet a handful of beautiful Catholic girls, who really blessed me. Then Tuesday I had youth group. Now I'm in the middle of getting ready to help out at a Valentines dace. Go me!
You would think a girl who is a missionary would be really outgoing right? Not me. I hate to talk to people I don't know, calling people on the phone terrifies me, but here I go, off to be a waitress for the night. That's something I have to work on...anyhow I hope everyone has a blessed day.

Abi

New Name

2012-02-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

I changed the name of my blog. For a few reasons:
1. I didn't really like, "A Missionary Journal". It just didn't sound like I wanted it to be.
2. It didn't sound like me. The new title does.
3. I am changing, my life is changing. :)

Whimsy

2012-02-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

: whim, caprice

: the quality or state of being whimsical or fanciful whimsy>

: a fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation especially in writing or art

(Via)

Barefeet

Rain

Bubbles

Books

Water

Pictures

I love whimsical things. <3

The World? Or God?

2012-02-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

The World

Weep

Listless

Haunted

Broken

Shattered

Lost

God

Happy

Life

Free

Full

Whole

Found

Peace

2012-02-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Peace. Don't we all want it? Only God can give it.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as toconsole;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

~St. Francis

The Flower

2012-02-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

Its a small flower. And its all I have. Its me. I give it to the world and it tears my flower to pieces. And I have to start all over again. I give my flower to people and they do the same. I give my flower to everyone and everything I think of, till I'm so broken. I hurt. And I fall to my knees. Petals all around me, faded. And then someone starts to pick up the petals and put them back into a flower. A kind hand takes mine, and helps me up. Eyes so kind, so beautiful. I can't look away. He gives me back the flower.
"Take it. It's all I have." I say.

Jesus take all I am.

Be Happy

2012-01-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

I love this picture. I want to be just like that girl. I just want to sit and be happy. When I look at that picture, I think that girl is marveling at God's goodness. Someday the worries and the cares of the world overwhelm me. Those are the days that I need to be like this picture. To sit and think of all my Savior has done for me.

Thank you God for my family.
Thank you God for missions.
Thank you God for my life.
Thank you God for all my friends.

More pictures

2012-01-28T14:39:00.001-08:00

Pics of our time in Kansas

2012-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our time in Kansas. :)

Blessings,

Abi

Traveling

2012-01-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well, our time in Kansas has come to an end. And instead of going straight down to Big Woods, we are going to go see some friends in Wisconsin and in Ohio! All of us kids are very excited. :)

I'll post later with pics.

God Bless!

Abi

I haven't blogged in forever!!

2012-01-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

Well...MerryChrsitmasHappyNewYear!! And anything else I forgot. ;)
Our time in Kansas has been great, we had a beautiful and quite Christmas with our Grandparents, and now we are getting ready to head back down Big Woods. We are so blessed to be able to go to mass every day here. And we have adoration on Thursdays! I always enjoy being here.
Hopefully I post some more soon,

God Bless!
Abi

St. Nicholas Day

2011-12-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our St. Nicholas Day (on Dec 6). The night before all 16 of us kids left out our shoes for our parents to fill with candy. In the morning we woke up to chocolate, oranges and socks. :)

Waking up in the morning!

Peeking at the shoes. :)

Little Boys.

Shoes are full of candy.

Everyone

Isaac has new socks.

Us girls in the ''Hen House''.

Lots of chocolate!

Little Girls

Everyone got fuzzy Christmas socks. :)

God Bless!

Abi

Christmas in Kansas part 1

2011-12-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

My family has come up to Kansas for the holidays! So today we put up our Christmas tree, it looks so pretty! The only sad thing is its fake.

Yes, that's my brother. :)

Grandma, Peter and Ellie plotting.

First part done.

Second part!

Third part, now its looks like a tree...sorta. :)

Lights help.

Pretty huh?

Issac loves the glass balls. :)

He got bored soon.

Mia pretending to propose to me. :)

My siblings put Woody on the tree, mom made them take him off. lol

God Bless!

Abi

Life

2011-12-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

At Big Woods

2011-12-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well here I am. Back at Big Woods. And it is good to be back here. Although I can't help but say its funny to be back in warm(er) weather and have the problem of misquitoes in December. :) It has been a blessing to see this years Intake, it has just been so great to be back again.
I can't really even think of anything else to say other than, I'm glad to be back. I'll post agian later with some pics.

God Bless!
Abi

Going back to Big Woods

2011-11-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick update, I'll post more soon!

Wow, I can hardly believe it. The time for us to leave Oregon has come, we leave early Wednesday. The time we have spent back home has been absolutely wonderful, family and friends have changed so much! My whole heart breaks to be leaving my home, the faces, the hearts and hands are so familiar, so dear to me, and they always will be. But I am looking forward to the community of missionaries that await us in LA. I am looking forward to the praise and worship, to the laughter and friends that will be there. Life is full of changes, leavings and beginnings, we just have to accept God's will and go with what he says. Next stop: Big Woods

Things I love about the USA part 2

2011-10-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Before I continue to list things I love about being home I just wanted to tell y'all why I am doing this. Its not because missions is so hard and horrible, its because its so wonderful, that when you get back home you think about all the little things God has blessed you with. Little things like real milk, different meat, things you don't always think about. :) Here are some more things I am thankful for:

4. Hot water! I love having hot water in the shower.

5. Ovens that you don't have to light. ;)

6. Apples! In St. Lucia apples were so expensive, there is nothing I love more than to read a good book and eat an apple.

Things I love about the USA

2011-10-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

1. Milk. I love having milk that's not powdered and I don't even like milk that much.

2. Meat other chicken! LoL

3. Cold weather...I love warming up in a blanket! It doesn't look like this in Oregon yet, but it does when it snows. :)

I'll be adding to this list as I think of more wonderful things!

God Bless,

Abi

We are Home!

2011-09-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, we arrived almost a week ago Tuesday. We are so happy to be home again after almost two years. Today we were blessed to have some fellow missionaries visit us at our home. We had an awesome time talking about St. Lucia, the blessings, challenges and mission work there. I am so glad to be back home!
God bless you're week!
Abi

Helping the Poor in Spirit

2011-09-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

One day when we were riding the bus down from the mountains back to Castries I saw a young girl, perhaps 18 at the oldest, walking the streets. She was a very pretty girl, with long silky black hair, and beautiful eyes, however, her clothes were typical ghetto clothes. Not really ratty, but skimpy kinda like a designer copy. She had a young baby on her hip, when we caught each other’s eyes, even for those few seconds, what I saw in her eyes tore my heart. I have never seen so much despair; she looked like she didn’t hope anymore. When we passed her I wished with all my heart that I could have got off the bus and talked to her. I don’t know why she looked that way, that might not have been what she felt like, but somehow when I saw her, I knew that’s how she felt. Days after she still haunted me, I wonder what I would have done, could I have talked to her, I’m a shy person; I don’t like talking to people. Would I have had the courage to stop her? Would I have been able to help? I would like to say I said a prayer for her, but I didn’t think about that till much later.

The poor here are different than the poor that we found in Mexico, they don’t just need food, clothes, houses, they do sometimes need that, but their needs are something much deeper. It’s spiritual. Its like that girl, she probably has a house, a boyfriend, some sort of a job, but she still had that hopeless look. Why? It’s a deep longing that they, as we all do, try to fill with what the world offers. Drugs, sex, money, power. But let’s face it; those don’t fill that hole, that longing. Only God can. Now that might sound easy, well then we just tell them about God and bang! Everything is better. Unfortunately the real world isn’t that easy, because we are a fallen humanity. What would you do if something like this happened to you? Would you be able to stop and help? Would you be able to pray for the person? I hope that God will be able to send me people like this to help.

Asking for prayers is hard.

2011-09-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was thinking about something, and that is asking for prayers is sometimes hard. It takes humility to say "I'm not perfect and I want you to help me by praying for me." This reminds me of a something that happened to me in Mexico. One afternoon both my parents where out at the Ranchos, (small villages) and I was left in charge of all the kids save Issac. We had just finished a rosary with some of ladies, it was a Marian feast, I can't remember exactly what it was. Anyway Miss Genie, Susanna and some of us kids had like 10 minutes to get ready and head out to another Rancho. As all older children know, getting 8 kids ready is not easy. Shoes, coats ect... had to be found and children had to be taken to the bathroom and then loaded in the car. I was getting really frustrated and everyone kept saying,

"Come on y'all we need to hurry!" Muttering to myself I hurried the kids only 3/4 ready into the car, I sat down with them and was really annoyed. Miss Genie asks,

"Who is going to share tonight?" (Every time we go to the ranchos different members of the team get to share a personal testimony of faith, or something the Lord has done for them. )

No one said anything, Miss Genie looks behind to us in the backseat and said,

"Why don't you do it Abi?" Things had just gone from bad to worse, I had nothing that I wanted to share, I didn't even want to be there! But I said yes. I tried to clear my mind, but all I could think of was how mad I was and how I just wanted to sit down and cry. The car parked and everyone loaded out, Miss Genie gave some of the kids orders. Meanwhile I pulled Susanna aside and asked,

"Susanna, I'm really upset right now. Can you please pray for me?" Believe me asking that when I was mad and didn't want prayer was hard, but I knew that if I was going to get up and talk I had to let the Holy Spirit work through me. And the only way I could do that was if I wasn't angry.

"Sure Abi." She pulled aside two of my sisters and they prayed for me. I felt all the anger and tears melt away, and I walked into the small chapel, I was ready. When I stood up to talk about my reversion I didn't say exactly what I thought I was going to say, but one of the missionaries told me as we left,

"You did a good job Abi, I saw some ladies crying." That blessed me so much that I was able to bless them, I didn't know them, or see them, or even speak Spanish, (miss Genie translated) but I was able to bless them.

This event taught me that asking for prayer is very important. If I had not humbled myself in that moment I know that I could not have given my testimony. God gave me the grace to ask for help, and through me he touched someones heart.

Many blessings!

Abi

Leaving St. Lucia

2011-09-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

Its official, we are leaving St. Lucia. On the 20th of Sep, it will be 8 months of living in missions. We are so excited to be going home, we have not been to our home town for almost 2 years! There will be so many new babies in the family, so many people we have not seen in so long! Our life here in missions has been so blessed, I know this is God's will for out family. While we are home we will be praying about our new mission post. That is also exciting, when you are abandoned to God's will you realize that the whole world is open to you. Two years ago I had never heard of St. Lucia, and even if I had I would never have dreamed that some day I would be leaving here. God is so good!

These last weeks are going to be very busy, we have so much to do. I'll try to post more this month. :)

Blessings,

Abi

Happy 16 to me.

2011-08-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

:) This is just a short post to say I did change my age on purpose. My birthday was last week, I was just too sick to post anything. I am now 16 years of age, an age that no matter how old it looks is not all that old. I remember being 7 and thinking how old 16 would be, now I find myself there and feeling that it is not that old. :P Such is the lot of life.

God Bless,

Abi

Friends and Goodbyes.

2011-08-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

This week has been busy, well the past FEW weeks have been busy. One of our friends, a young girl Jessica is going to be leaving St. Lucia at the end of this month. She wants to give her entire life to God by becoming a sister. She will be going to Jamaica to join Fr. Ho Lung's Missionaries of the Poor sisters. Needless to say I'm going to miss her. She has been such a blessing in the whole family. My little sisters adore her and scream her name when ever she comes over, covering her with hugs. She has also been a good witness to my sisters and I, especially the three of my sisters who are praying about Religious Life. Jessica has been trying to raise money to go, but its going to cost a lot. She told us a beautiful story that happened while she was at mass. She felt like God was asking her to do a special devotion to him, God says that when you say this devotion many graces and blessing will be poured out open the person. She agreed to say and did it, after mass a lady she did not know came up to her and told her that she had heard Jessica wanted to go to Jamaica. Then the lady asked her how much it would cost. Jessica told her and the lady then said she would pay for the entire ticket! We all praised God to hear about how he cares for the people he loves.

One of the other things that we are doing to help Jessica is with our Youth Group. We are putting on a production with little skits and music, we are going to ask people to donate money.

The other reason why this week has been busy is that my brother Peter was complaining of stomach pains. We soon guessed that it was his appendix. One of the sisters here, Sister Rosemary is studying to be a doctor. We asked her to come look at him and she confirmed our guess. My parents took him to the hospital where his appendix was removed. He spent two and a half days there before he was able to come home. He is now on the mend. We praise God that nothing bad happened and that the surgery went well.

God blesses his children in so many ways, He is so good to us.

Blessings,

Abi

This song touches my heart.

2011-07-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Tim Hughes: God Of Justice Lyrics

God of Justice, Savior to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward, keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in every way
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward, keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go

Fill us up and send us out, fill us up and send us out
Fill us up, send us out Lord
Fill us up and send us out, fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

Fill us up and send us out, fill us up and send us out
Fill us up, send us out Lord
Fill us up, send us out, You fill us up and You send us out
Fill us up, send us out Lord, yeah

Acting justly, loving mercy
We must go, we must go
To the broken and the hurting
We must go, we must go

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward, keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go, must go

Fill us up and You send us out, yeah
Heaven open

Picture Post part 3

2011-07-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Issac being carried on James's shoulders. :D

Walking to church.

Missionaries Chillin'.

Issac with Gabe.

Studying the bible at lunch.

Yay cute kids!

More talk pics.

More talks.

Giving talks!

Picture Post part 2

2011-07-08T11:50:00.001-07:00

Another picture post!

James talking to some teens.

My dad giving a talk.

More rally pics.

Playin' the bongos. :D

The School where the rally was.

Another pic of us before the rally.

We had a rally.

Praying over people. We do that a lot too. We pray about EVERYTHING. :D

There is some of the group after visiting the elderly.

At the Marian Home

We did lots of guitar practicing.

At Dinner

Our parish church

Two of the girls chatting.

Singing! We do a lot of that.

And they are gone...

2011-07-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yes the end of SSME is come and all of our missionary friends are gone, the last of them left around noon. It has been such a blessing for them to have come and been with us. You don't realize how much you love living in a community until you leave one. There is something so wonderful about living in a place with like-minded people, people and friends who call you on to holiness.

I was so blessed to have SSME with us. Having the group with us called me deeper into holiness, strengthened my call to missionary life and filled me with fire again. Two of the participants are going to be serving FMC as full time missionaries now. I ask that you keep them in your prayers as it is still two months till their training. We are all very excited to see who the new missionaries will be and where they will be placed.

Oh a note on Faith Camp, we were not able to raise enough money for us to go. I guess the Lord has something better in mind for me. And His will is so much better than mine. I am sad, I would have loved to go and be renewed, but God wants me here. So His will be done.

Blessings to all,

Abi

Picture Post part 1

2011-07-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Painting.

Awe cute. :)

THE BEACH!

The group standing in awe of God's work.

Prayed, sung and chilled with lots of elderly. Such a blessing.

We fit 24 people in a 12 passenger van. Missionaries are the best!

Sid (our mission partner) and a cat. :)

We had a Eucharistic procession.

Lot's of talks!!

James got squished onto the car...just kidding.

Rachel being goofy. :)

Okay another picture post coming soon!

Blessings Abi

All Things New

2011-07-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last year for Faith Camp the theme was "All Things New." That theme has stuck to me and stayed with me all through the year, sometimes popping up in random places. But this month with SSME it has shown itself quite a lot. Is God trying to say something to me?? I think so. I think its a call for me to make all things new in my life. Because no matter how holy we might seem God is always calling us to something deeper, something newer, something closer to himself. Its not enough for us just to be 'good." Why? Because God is a loving God, a God of passion. He takes one look at us and he is amazed. And so he wants us to come even closer to himself. To his heart. Because the closer we are, the holier we become, the better chance we have of getting to heaven and living with God for eternity. And I don't know about you, but I want be with God forever.

So moral of the story is, I need to make All Things New in my life. :)

Blessings,

Abi

Quick Shout out.

2011-06-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we went to the beach, here are some pics of the last time. :)

Where has this month gone?!

2011-06-22T04:50:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that it is the 22nd. Its mind blowing how fast this month has slid out of my fingers and ran away. I guess we have just been so busy with the group that I lost track of time. Speaking of the group, I still need to post pictures. Maybe this week?? Or it might have to wait till after the group leaves when we will have much more time to do things.

Yesterday we went to the BEACH! It was so much fun. Usually on the Caribbean side the waves are super tiny. But yesterday God had a surprise for us. The waves where HUGE. It was so much fun, we bodysurfed for a long time.

Today some of the group will be going on homevisits. (Which means to go to visit elderly or sick who are stuck at home. We pray with them, sing and read God's word.) And the other group will be going to a home for the elderly. After that I'm not sure what we are going to be doing. But its going to be great whatever it is!

Have a wonderful and blessed day,

Abi

Fire in my heart

2011-06-18T11:16:00.001-07:00

I have this prayer that had been on my heart for about a week now. And it is that God would set my heart on fire. Sometimes I take a step back and look at my life, and my relationship with God and I realize how sinful I am, and how much I fail at being holy. I want my heart to burn with love for him. I can't describe what I want, and how bad I want it. I know that God will answer my prayer in his timing, sometimes its just so hard to wait.

Faith Camp

2011-06-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last year in July I went to a camp, that changed my life. Here is the post that tells about what happened. I really don't think I would be what I am today without that camp. My life as a Christian before that was bad. I hated God, I was angry and hurt. But God touched my life, he turned my life upside down and put my heart on fire for him. Now my family is in missions, and its been almost a year since then. Wow, time goes by fast. I'm talking about this right now because I want to go back to that camp. Its an amazing place, where you can be put on fire and serve God and each other. Here is a link to the website. My family has been praying, it going to take a lot of money to send me and three of my siblings. Its going to take almost $3,000 to get us there. My family doesn't have that money. So I'm asking, if you fill God stirring in your heart to donate to us, please do. This is in God's hands, if he wants me and my siblings to go, he will send the money. If he doesn't, the money won't come.

May God Bless all of you,

Abi

Quick Post

2011-06-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to say that SSME starts tomorrow! I'm so excited about it. :D All but two of the participants are here, they come tonight at 10:00 ish. This month is going to be so packed! But amazing. Its great to see the senior missionaries again, and meet a new little one. Next time I post I'll try to post pics. :D
Blessings,
Abi

Quotes

2011-06-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Rejoice!

2011-06-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

This morning in our morning prayers there was a line that particularly stuck out to me. Here it is from Psalm 63: In the shadow of your wings I rejoice.

I guess it was just a reminder to me, God is always there for me and for you. He hides us in the shadow of his wings. And we should rejoice because of that fact. There was another line in Psalm 63 that says, For you love is better than life. Wow. That strikes hard. Better than life? Better than my parents? My siblings? My friends? Yes. God's love is bigger and better than all of those put together! God is amazing. Period. :D

So will you rejoice with me?

Abi

June

2011-06-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

June is going to be a busy but fun filled month. Today our missionary partner Sid is going down to pick up some more missionaries!! I can't remember if I told y'all or not so I tell you again. This month we are having a group down and with them we are doing SSME. Its a month long school where you learn head on what missionary life is like. We are all very excited about it, there will be four missionaries who help to lead it, James among them. Then next week the participants will come and then it starts.

More updates soon!

Abi

Cute article that I found...

2011-05-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Date a girl who reads {Rosemary Urquico}
(I got the images from this blog)

Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Happy Easter and Mothers day and oh Gosh

2011-05-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't even stop by to say Happy Easter, thank God I'm Catholic and get to celebrate Easter for 50 days! And I didn't say Happy Mother's day either. Happy Mother's day. And today is my parents 17th wedding aniversary, but I didn't forget it. ;) Tonight my parents are going to a movie here at the cinnima. My dad keeps telling people they haven't gone to the movies just the two of them in almost 10 years. So that should be fun for them. Tomorrow myself and some of my siblings and our mission partner are going to a Vocations Fair. Basically you get to hang out with nuns and priests all day. I think it will be a lot of fun, even though I'm pretty sure I'm called to the married life. :) Anway there is a short update post!

May God Bless you.

Missions is a great life

2011-04-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading another missionary's blog, she lives in the Philippines, her name is Susanna. Some of you may know this but some of you may not, after I graduate from High School I want to go to the Philippines and train to be a midwife. Every time I read about what Susanna and her mission partner are doing, or any of the other missionary blogs for that matter, I feel a burning desire to be with them in the Philippines. I am so happy for being in missions. Life in St. Lucia is amazing, I am so blessed, and it feels like home. But I want to be there so bad.

Thinking about this I thought about missions. What a blessed life it is. It made me think about this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. 2/3 of the world has not been evangelized! And by right of baptism we are called to spread the Word of God! Why aren't we doing it? This is what I want to do with the rest of my life, if I get marrried or not, I want to serve God by bringing others to him.

Here is a link to an article I wrote in our missionary news letter SERVE about missions.

http://fmcmissions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SERVE-Winter-2010.pdf Its on page 6

May all of you have a blessed Easter!

Holy Week

2011-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

I just found out that I am going to have wake up at 3:30 in the MORNING tomorrow for the Way of the Cross. As exciting as that sounds I am not very happy about waking up at that outlandish time. I'm pretty sure that I am going to be brain dead all day tomorrow. Then Saturday we have mass at 10 pm which lasts at least three hours. :P One more reason to look forward to easter: More sleep! Anyway, I shouldn't be complaining. This is going to be on very interesting adventure!!

People of St. Lucia

2011-04-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

In one of my posts I shared some things we do here in St. Lucia. Today I'm going to talk about some people we know.

At this point in our life we have three boys that come over at night, sometimes up to five. Their ages range from 12 to 17. They come and spend some time, eat supper and then say our night prayers with us. Its a lot of fun having them over, they play with the little kids, do some school and just kind of hang out.

We also have some girls that come over on Sundays and others days durring the week. Their names are Jessica and Ericka, and are 21 and 23. Jessica is praying about being a nun in Italy, we are all very excited about that. Ericka is the older sister, right now she is in the hospital because she has sickle cell. Please pray for her! They are both a lot of fun, and I know that I am very glad for their friendship as I know very few girls my age. :D

On Sundays we have something of a Sunday School in which over 50 kids come. One boy, age 9 is the son of Jessica and Erick's friend. He is very funny and has an adorable smile. When I went to a Karaoke night at our parish I learned that he can't raise his eyebrows one at a time. So now when ever I see him I'll raise one eyebrow and smile, he will grin back and try to raise his eyebrow too. When he finally gives up we will burst into a fit of laughter.

Here at our house we live underneath 5 nuns. All of them are wonderful women of God, but my favorite has to be Sister Rosemary. She is training to be a doctor and has come to St. Lucia from Tanzania. She loves Issac!! Its so cute to see her playing with him. Now that he is walking she bought him some shoes. :D

These are just a few of the friends we have here. God has blessed us so much!

Perfect Through Suffering

2011-04-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Today in our morning prayers the reading was from Hebrews 2: 9-10. And the last three words in the reading said,

"Perfect through suffering." Those three words really stuck out to me, and I just kept thinking about that. It is so ironic, everything about those words go against modern thought. Which says that suffering is bad, it means something is wrong in your life, you don't want to suffer. But Christ says that if we suffer for him then we are gaining treasure in heaven, that suffering can be a good thing.

This got me thinking about suffering in my life, I have a wonderful life. I have a great family, three meals a day, nice bed and clothes. What are my sufferings? Sometimes suffering isn't big things, like having a cancer, or being blind, sometimes suffering is just little things that humble us.

Like going up to read at morning mass and finding out you have white powder on your shirt. (Don't ask me what it was I have no idea.)

Or not being able to understand everything that people say to you and having to ask them to repeat it over and over again.

Sometimes sufferings can be not having little comforts, or not having many friends. But what ever it is, know that if you offer it up for God's glory or for someone else than you are gaining treasure in heaven

Blessings,

Abi

Some stories and pics!

2011-03-26T09:38:00.001-07:00

Some cuties from the preschool. :)

Ocean view

The Cathedral

Issac being cute on the front porch

This is the basketball court we have in our back yard.

View from the court

(I'm not sure where this is.)

This past week has been busy! Our missionary friend James left us, to the sorrow of all. My little sisters even suggested that he ''give up going to Big Woods for lent." :) I can't remember if I told y'all yet, but one of the many things that happens over here is two young boys come over and we help them with school. At ages 15 and 14 they are a mixture of fun and trouble. The little kids like having two more older siblings, and Peter is enjoying more boys.

Another thing that we do here is give away food. The parish priest has been very generous and has helped us out with food. Giving us huge bags of rice, boxes of beans and such stuff. Seeing so much food, and so much need around us we came to the conclusion that God must want us to share! Right now we are preparing a couple for marriage, and the woman is about 8 1/2 months pregnant with a old year old. (Stuff like this happens a lot) She often stands all day in line at a government program to get some extra food, and often returns home empty handed. We have been overjoyed to help her out.

On Mondays, Wendsay and Fridays we go to the Parish Office to offer counseling, from 9:00 to 12:00. A lot of the times no one comes until the last hour. It is sometimes frustrating, to have people come within the last hour and not being able to spend more time with them. But God is calling us to be faithful not always successful. Something that has been on the hearts of my parents is to help start a Crisis Pregnancy Center. So many young women are left with little children with no help at all! It really is sad.

We are so blessed to have a chaple right on premise. One of the things we prayed for durring out Intake was for a chaple or church to be near by. God has blessed us SO much, and we get to have mass every morning. Life could not be better here.

Crusades and Youth Group

2011-03-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last night we were invited to the first night of a crusade. For those of you who don't know what that is, its basically were you get together with a group of people and preach, this crusade is going on for 4 weeks. As some of the other family members had already committed to other stuff, in the end only James (a missionary friend who had come down to check things out for a mission school we want to host) and I went. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great night. It started out with some singing, after that they had two speakers say a prayer and welcome everyone. Then they had the main speaker talk on what it means to be Catholic. It was really inspiring, the speaker was on fire, and I could really feel the Holy Spirit there with us. They ended with a little Adoration time, and I think that was what blessed me the most. I could feel God giving me peace and love, and my mother can tell you I was all smiles when I got home. James was very excited about it, and I'm pretty sure our mission team will do one of our own when his group comes down.

On Sunday the Youth Group at the parish we attend was having a movie night, we watched The Passion. The last time I was that movie I remember thinking it was a really gory movie that I never wanted to watch again. This time it was really powerful. Most of you know that I attended a summer camp that changed my life. I knew this time that all of Jesus' suffering was really and truly for me. I cried most of the movie.

Its hard to believe that I've only been in San Lucia for for two months come the 19th!

Wanted

2011-03-09T07:24:00.001-08:00

There's a song with words that go something like this:
"When all you wanted is to be wanted."
Today I was thinking about this and how true it is. Every girl has that desire, to be wanted. Sure we have our families, and wonderful friends and some of us even have a boyfriend, but that desire is still there. Sometimes this desire gets so strong it makes us search in all the wrong places. I'm certainly not an exception to this desire, I think about it a lot. And every time I do I always come to the same conclusion. There is only one person who can fully meet this need. Actually he really isn't a somebody, he's God. How awesome is that?
I can be lazy and not pray every day, I can be mean and yell at my siblings for nothing, I can do everything all wrong. And yet God is still there, he waiting for me at every corner begging me to pay attention to him again. To come and talk to him. To just spend time with him. To say I'm sorry and try again. Writing this makes me think of another song, its called A little Longer. I love the part when God says,
"You don't have to do a thing for me, just simply be with me, and let those things go. Just wait another minute wait this moment is too sweet please stay here here with me. And love on me a little longer, Cause I’m in love with you. "
God is ten times better than every single person who loves us, because he will always give us another chance, he will always be there for us, he will always forgive us.

Siblings names and ages. :)

2011-02-12T07:47:00.001-08:00

So one of my followers asked about names and ages of my siblings, since she was getting confused. I don't blame her I get confused to! :) Okay so after me is:

Ellie age 14, she has her own blog right here.

Mia age 12 (almost 13!)

Peter age 11

Esther age 9 (she's almost 10)

Rachel age 8

Anne age 5 (going to be 6!)

Bridget age 4

Rebecka (Chiara) age 2

and little Issac age 9 months. There ya go!

Service

2011-02-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

As I'm sitting here, doing school. I watch as my sister Esther gently spoons hot tea to Rachel. Praise God Rachel slept all night. She is still feeling sick, but I think she is on the mend. The sickness is a bit strange. High fever and headache and a feeling of being very weak. Esther has been an absolute angle to Rachel, reading to her, giving her tea and making her comfortable. I could certainly learn a thing or two from her!
I have to do a picture post!
Blessings,
Abi

Sickness strikes again!

2011-02-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

While Esther feels much better, she even played soccer with us today, now Rachel (the 8 year old) is in bed with a dreadful headache. Again I ask for all of your prayers! As far as I know it is not much more than a headache, but I worry that it will turn into more. All is in God's hands!

Blessings,

Abi

Thanks!

2011-02-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the prayers! Esther is doing a lot better. This morning she said the morning prayers with us and even had some crackers. :)

Esther

2011-02-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I just want to post and ask for your prayers. This morning Esther came down with a fever, last I heard it was 100.5. She has been resting in bed all day. Thanks for the prayers! I'm sure she will fine in a few days, I just hope it isn't catching. I would hate for the little kids to get sick.

Blessings,

Abi

Saint Agatha

2011-02-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of Saint Agatha, but it is also the day we remember our little baby in heaven. Since she (we don't know what sex the baby was. We just that it was a girl) went to heaven this day, we names her Agatha. She would be 8 years old today. I'm glad to have a little angle in heaven praying for us, but it also makes me sad. So here is a little bit about Saint Agatha and a prayer.

Saint Agatha was very beautiful. People looked at her and said "Oh, she is the fairest girl alive." But Agatha was also very pure and good. She loved Jesus Christ very much. She promised God she would never marry. "All my love is Yours," she said. "I will live and die for You."

Now it happened that the Governor of Sicily where Agatha lived heard of her beauty. So he sent for her. Soldiers came and arrested her. "You are a Christian," they said. "So you must go to jail." "Dear Lord Jesus," she prayed, "I belong to You. Do not let this tyrant have power over me." He made love to her. But she refused him. So he threw her into prison.

The governor was sure Agatha would be so afraid of prison that she would consent to love him. Instead, she made the wicked woman who was her jailer love God too. So the Governor ordered her to be tortured. She was not afraid. Then he ordered her to be beaten. "Dear Jesus," she cried, "come and take me." And Jesus came and took her home to heaven. Her Feast is on February 5th. (I got this off of google since the book I had didn't have her in it.)

Now here is the prayer:

Lord, let your forgiveness be won for us by the pleading of Saint Agatha, who found favor with you by her chastity and by her courage in suffering death for the Holy Gospel. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Name change?

2011-02-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

Some of you might be wondering at the name change, instead of Elizabeth it now says Abigail. Well that's because its been changed to my real name. One, now that I'm no longer living in America Dad does not see it as a big problem to put my real name out on the Internet. And the other reason now my blog is linked to the FMC website, I would rather not confuse people about my name.

Hope that clears things up!

Abi (my nickname)

Life.

2011-01-24T07:40:00.001-08:00

Today I went to the home for the elderly right across from us, I was surprised there to find that my little sister, age 9 (almost 10! yikes!) was quite a favorite. A lot of the old ladies asked,

"Where is Esther?" "When is Esther coming to see me?"

On questioning her further I found out she goes there nearly every day! I so surprised and blessed by this.

Another surprise was meeting some Sisters of Charity (the order founded by Mother Theresa) they looked so beautiful and happy as they walked in to talk to some of the ladies. They where happy to meet us, telling us that the bishop told them about the family with 10 kids. :)

The San Lucians have been so welcoming, our new parish, the Church of the Sacred Heart, have been very glad to have us. Every day we seem to have a visitor. Just today we meet a lady who is a relative of one of our old ladies. She hugged all of us kids and kept saying
"Such beautiful kids!" She wants us all to come to her house.

So far I have been blessed beyond anything that I could imagine. God is so good!

This is it.

2011-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

We are here. I am sitting in our great dinning room in San Lucia! The plane trip was smooth and littles where amazing. :) Last night we had dinner with our Archbishop (the food was really good!) and then came back home to get to bed. We arrived at 4 ish (if I remember correctly) and got to our home around 6 (?) As you can tell the lack of sleep is still affecting me.

Last night as I got into bed I really started missing everyone, so I talked to my mother and prayed. The frogs here making a lot of noise, so that and the sound of cars driving by sung me to sleep.

This morning we got more of a look around. The sisters thought of everything and our pantry and fridge is well stocked for the moment.

So that's all for the moment. Pics will be coming soon!

The love of God for me

2011-01-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

This is a song that is a song by Misty Edwards. Today I listened to for the first time since Mexico. The reason why I wanted to share this is because of how much it meant to me on that day. Isn't it funny how you always know that God loves you and then some days it just hits you. I had one of the those days, today and that Desert Day in Mexico. Sometimes you just have to have those moments to get you through hard times. God is really a lover.

Here is the song.

I'm in love with a Man I'm in love with a Stranger
I'm in love with my Maker whom I have never seen
I'm in love with the Lamb I'm in love with the Lion
I'm in love with my Savior whom I have yet to know

O won't You let me love You more, this is all that I desire
Won't You let me love You more this is all that I require
Won't You let me love You more this is my deepest heart's desire
Won't You let me love You more still more and more

You could give to me the gift of walking on water
Maybe I will raise the dead
I have one life to live all I have to give to You is love
I have one life to live all I have to give to You is love

If I never walk on water if I never see the miracles
If I never hear your voice so loud
Just knowing that You love me is enough to keep me here
Just hearing those words is enough is enough to satisfy
You do You do You satisfy I couldn't leave even if a tried
I must have You I must have You

When it's been said and when it's all been done
When the race is run it all comes to love

Only 10 days left!

2011-01-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, only 10 days left till my family leaves for our first mission post. I think its finally sinking in that we are leaving! Slowly but steadily we are getting rid of extra clothing and toys, (we will each have one backpacks each) Anywho tonight is Desert night, every Sunday we have the missionaries over for desserts. :) Tonight we are having home popped pop-corn!

Blessings Lizzy.

Homevisits = Happy Day!

2010-12-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

Nothing like good ol' homevisits to make you happy! Today my dad and sister Marianne worked with a group called The Simple House. With them we did something very similar to homevisits. We had a bag of pineapple and other goodies, we knocked on the doors and gave to the person who answerd, we asked if they wanted prayer, stuff like that. It was so good to be doing it again! I was really thankful thought that I could understand everyone. That being the only drawback to Mexico, I couldn't understand anything! :)
The people where so happy to get the bag, and they where so happy to see us. Their joy was infectious! It wasn't hard to smile brightly when they opened up the door.
Merry Christmas!!!!
Lizzy

You know that you've been to Mexico when...

2010-12-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

When you little sister, age 2, is singing worship songs in Spanish. Granted that she doesn't know all the words, nor I dare say the meaning. But its still cute. :)

Mission post!

2010-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

We got the news! The bishop of San Lucia wants us to come! We are all so excited.
San Lucia is an island in the Caribbean, so your probably thinking. "Oh that's a great mission post. Lets go to a paradise!"
Yes, it will be a sort of paradise, God makes many beautiful places. But that's not why we are being called there. We are being called to re-evangelise catholics. Did you know 70% of children are born out of wedlock! That's a lot. And what better a witness than to come with our 10 kids. :)

Blessings,
Lizzy.
P.S I will post more later!

More on Mexico

2010-12-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

I think my favorite thing that we did in mexico was the home visits. Which is where we go and visit the elderly and the sick. The mission girls often drove but when we went we walked. Which was really cool, because you got to see what General was like. One of the home visits that I most remember is the when we to visit this old lady who only has one leg. She had lost it to gangrene, and her big toe is now infected. She will probably never walk again. After our leader, (Bree) had talked to the lady for awhile (the rest of us can't speak Spanish) and after reading the bible we prayed with her. Bree asked her if she had anything that she wanted to pray for, she said:

"I want to pray for peace in world."

Is that not beautiful? This poor old women may never walk again, she is in pain and she prays for peace!? As on of the other girls said,

"She is praying for a world that could care less, that has already forgotten her."

Belated Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I'm back to wish you all a very belated Thanksgiving. I would have posted sooner but these past few days have been very busy. But its now all finished, for awhile that is. We had a wedding Saturday, a very beautiful and blessed wedding. Two of our beloved missionaries got married. We are all so happy and excited for them!

Awesome prayer

2010-11-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a great prayer for Christ the King! Which is today.

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before you. We are yours, and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your Most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known you; many, too, despising your precepts, have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your Sacred Heart. Be King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their Father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and the unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. Grant, O Lord, to your Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give tranquility of order to all nations; make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever. Amen.

Back in America!

2010-11-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

So in mexico they have a different sewer system than us. You can NOT flush any toilet paper, at all. This was told to the little children many times, as it would cause the toilet to clog up and its suspensive to fix. This conversation was between my sister Bridgett, age 4, and a missionary Sunny while in the Chick-fil-A bathroom.

"Where is the trash can! I can't find it!"

*Sunny starts cracking up*

"Its okay Bridgett, we are in America now, you can flush it."

Yes we are now back in America. More later!

Leaving, and a promise.

2010-11-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, tomorrow we will be leaving Mexico. I can't wait to get back home, but I really hate to leave. But once I'm home then I will be able to ''really'' post about my time.

Mexico!

2010-11-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

Yes I'm sorry that I have not posted in quite some time, its just that I have been in Mexico! But its late at night so this will only be a short post for now. I have two things to say:
1.The people here are so amazing, today we wet on home visits and I met an amazing lady.
2. I promise you that if you come to the mission house you will get fat. Marta, the cook for Intake is amazing! The food is so good.
Blessings, Lizzy

Nanowrimo!

2010-11-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

The madness has started, needless to say I was super excited. I'm already ahead of my

daily wordcount, which makes me even more excited. 2018 words is the wordcount for Day 1!

And we leave for Mexico on Wednesday!

New Name

2010-10-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

As my family is getting ready to out into missions, I thought that I should change the name of my blog. It is now going to be called A Missionary Journal. Also, I'm going to change the header, just as soon as I get a good picture. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

Blessings,

Lizzy

Prayers about Missions

2010-10-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

As the ending of Intake draws near, we are starting to really pray about where the Lord will send us. So far our leaders have been thinking "some place hot." The three places that where named were in Mexico and South America. I want to ask you all to pray that the Lord will guide us, and that he will provide for our needs, and that he would begin to prepare the hearts of the people that we will go to.

Thank you all in advance,

May God bless you,

Lizzy

I wish I knew what to post about...

2010-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Gosh why is it so hard to post??? So many things have happened this week.

I do have a question though, its actually for myself. Why am I so addicted to wrimoing? For those of you who don't know that means: Writing Month. :P Okay gotta go!

Blessings,

Lizzy

A few pics that I forgot

2010-09-26T11:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics that I thought y'all would enjoy, but I forgot to put them on my first post.

Two cute boys!

The homework of Intake...

The baby in Susanna's arms is my brother, and the other one is the baby of our other missionary family. Both so cute!

Ice cream!!

Blessings,

Lizzy

A Birthday!

2010-09-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

On the 22 of September, the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo, my little sister Rosie also had a birthday!

She turned 4. Every time I listen to my sister I am reminded of Bonnie from Toy Story 3. She has such an a imagination. And she loves Toy Story. All she wanted for her birthday this year was a "Rex", she was so happy to get it. :) I love you Rosie!!

Blessings,

Lizzy

Missionary days

2010-09-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! Here is a long post of pictures for you!

The little kids get lots of love!

Sid being...Sid

Now Sid is a horsie!

Funny pic

We are supposed to be sleeping, Chiara didn't get that.

My mom and dad!

Me and my friends

A beautiful sunset

lol notice how the kids are all on one side, the girls didn't like the dead alligator.

Lots of fun!

My brother and my missionary brother ;)

Marianne and Isaac

A missionary and Rosie!

The guys love all the little kids!

Blessings,

Lizzy

If I am gone...

2010-09-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Tis because of Intake! Alas, I will not be here as often. See me on Sundays gentle readers!

Blessings till then,

Lizzy

Intake!!

2010-09-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is when Intake starts!!! I am so excited I can hardly wait. Today the new missionaries will arrive! I will post again with pictures.

Um...

2010-09-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

I just looked and saw that this will be my 151st post! Hooray for me!

Lizzy

Rainy day

2010-09-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today is a very rainy day. Looking out the window makes me glad that I'm safe and dry inside.

Home is so nice! Rainy days are so inspirational. I look out side at the tempest and my muse starts working. But there is only one thing bad about this! We where going to go swimming!

Blessings

Lizzy

Pics

2010-09-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

So here are the pics from mission formation: The first few are us girls cooking Indian food with Susanna!

This is Susanna!

Me :D

Isn't he cute?

One of the missionaries holding Isaac.

There you go!

Blessings Lizzy

Food for thought

2010-09-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

Psalm 119:19-20

I am a pilgrim on earth;

show me your commands.

My soul is ever consumed

as I long for your decrees

Blessings,

Lizzy

Jumping up and Down!

2010-08-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

So yes I am very pleased to say that I finished my novel The Princess and The Stable Boy today!

I didn't think that I would make it by the end of August, but I DID! I am so happy!!!!!!!

Final Word count:21,821 words. I am very pleased with it! Now its going to be edited.

And for September I'm going to finish Streets Lined with Gold.

Blessings,

Lizzy

Music

2010-08-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Right now I am listing to the Soundtrack to Little Woman, and a thought popped into my mind. Music, how beautiful it is. All of my life, till about a year or two ago, all I listened to was Classical music, and Worship music. And the reason I love classical music so much is its beauty. Music is like a story, moving you to tears or joy. When I hear music, I wish that I was more talented at playing it, but it gives me joy to be able appreciate it so much. It makes me sad, the type of music people listing to these days. Not say that some of it is good, but where is the beauty in "Heavy Metal" or the other types of music. Sometimes I hear some rap and think, "How is that worth listing to?" I think music gives God joy, it gives God glory.

Blessings,

Lizzy

P.S Now I'm listing to the soundtrack to Emma 2009!

When School turns into an adventure

2010-08-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, such things are possible. When at Big Woods one never knows what things will happen. It started like this. Marianne, Theresa and I where sitting at the computers taking tests, when Marianne says, "Um...Is that the horses!" (We have five horses at Big Woods. I think...)

Sure enough when Theresa and I look out there they are.

"Oh no, we have to tell someone." So I go and tell Mr.Frank. He jumps up and calls us out along with Suz, one of our missionaries. About this time the brilliant dogs go to chase the horses, sending them down the road. He places us around the yard then gets into his car and drives down the road. Soon two other missionaries come running and they also jump in their cars and drive off. Slowly, they herd the horses back. *Sigh* Yes now they are back and shut tightly in their pasture. Praise God!

So the moral of this story is: You never know what will happen when you are doing your school.

Lizzy

I am on a mission...literally

2010-08-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

:D I like titles! They can be so funny, and interesting. But anyway, to be back on topic, tomorrow is Mission Formation!!! I love mission formation. And this time, I will take pictures for everyone to see. I would have put an exclamation point there, but I use so many!

That and italics are my thing now. I think it has something to do with being 15. Because in Emily Climbs, she uses a lot of italics around the age 14-15. So I must really work hard on not using them as much. (!) :D

Blessings,

Lizzy

Jesus Fixes you

2010-08-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

He does! I remember before I had my reversion I fought with my Mom every single day, sometimes twice or three times a day. It was horrible. I was always angry. And I took it out on my siblings. The end result was all of my siblings basically hated me. I felt awful about it, but it had gotten so bad that they didn't care anymore.

Today I was thinking that, my Mom and I don't argue as much. I mean like never! It is so awesome! And I am steadily patching things up with my siblings. We still fight, but not like we used to. My life is so much happier, I can live my life without the ugly feeling of anger and guilt. Jesus fixes you. I'm not perfect, I still have to work to that. But I am so much better!!

I love you Jesus!!!!

Blessings,

Lizzy

Missions

2010-08-21T08:21:00.001-07:00

As I realize that there is less than a month till Intake I feel myself getting excited. When I first came to Big Woods, I really didn't like the Charismatic feeling everything had. Now I can see why we share on Bible readings, I see why we sing before every meal, why Jesus Christ is the center of everything we do! And it is so exciting! I heard the other day, if this other family comes we will have 28 people coming to Intake this year!!!! That's the most FMC has ever had. God has blessed us so much this year. He has been calling us to grow. This year JP (the founder's son) is starting a Youth part of out missions. You can not believe how exciting that is!!!! The more I think about it, the more excited I become. :D

Blessings,

Lizzy

Its been awhile...

2010-08-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Since I did a tag so here is a fun one. Its a writing tag!

What do you write your stories on?
Usually on a Word Doc, but I keep a notebook on hand all the time.

What is your favorite kind of character?
One that I can relate to. Someone kind, but not afraid to go and kill some bad guys!

When you're asked what your story is about, what is your usual reaction?
Um...Don't you know your not supposed to ask a writer that? Either you will get to much information or none at all. Sorry. I freak out, unless its a writing friend who asks. Then I know just what to say.

What is your biggest writing pet peeve?
Writer's Block. I hate those things. I have fought many a battle with that foe.

What is the biggest turn-off for you when reading a book?
Bad language, or questionable scenes. And a boring story. If it doesn't interest me I stop.

Your favorite era in history?
WW2, no question about that!

How many words on average do you punch out in one sitting?
If I am really interested in it, 100 to 200.

Are you a fast typist?
I'm good.

What do you do for inspiration?
Anything! Music, read or just force myself to write something.

The truest writing quote you've ever heard
This one: One ought only to write when one leaves a piece of one's own flesh in the inkpot, each time one dips one's pen. ~Leo Tolstoy

Or this one: A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author. ~G.K. Chesterton

What's your favorite genre to write?
Fantasy or Historical Fiction.

Favorite font to write with?
Anything.

Least-favorite writing prompt you've ever recieved?
I can't answer this one. It brings back to many horrible memories. :P

What do you like better: Pens or Pencils?
PENS!!!

Blessings,
Lizzy

Today

2010-08-10T06:57:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday!!!!! I am 15 years old today. 15 Wow. Do you want to know something wired? I don't feel 15. It seems strange to me. :D Yesterday I was thinking, next year I will be 16. Believe it or not that makes me smile. Me? 16? You have got to be kidding me.

Time flies far to fast. But I think that is a good thing, I haven't completely lost my childhood yet. And I don't plan to.

Blessings,

Lizzy

What am I going to do with myself?

2010-08-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is going to be interesting.

Reason why I'm crazy:
1. I forgot how to tell time. My mom asked me what time it was, so I walked over to the clock and stared. And stared, and stared. Then I said, "Uh mom, give me a sec." And I stared some more. Finally I came up with this answer, "Its almost 9." It was 8:45, close enough.

2. I forgot that I'm still 14. Today I remembered that I am still 14! Not 15, like I had been saying for almost a month.

3. I forgot that it was summer still. At the end of July I started to prepare for Nano. And I got so into that November mindset that I forgot about summer! I don't know what month I thought it was, but it wasn't August.

Yes, this is why I am certain that I am crazy.
Blessings,
Lizzy

Oh!

2010-07-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey!
Today I realized that I have had my blog for a year! I started Tales of a Godly Maiden 6/11/09!
Thanks to all who follow me, I love having my blog, and I love writing to all of you!
Blessings,
Lizzy

My story

2010-07-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

I come from a very strong Catholic family, and I considered myself a strong Catholic too. I prayed with my family and went to mass every Sunday. Then I slowly drifted away. I still continued to go to mass with my family but, I no longer payed attention. I cut myself off form God.
It wasn't until last year that I realized this. All of the sudden I was hopelessly lost. All of my faith had finally left me, and I was scared and angry. There were many nights that I cried myself to sleep because I felt so alone. It's hard to explain what happened in side of my mind. For all of my angry and sadness I crept hidden deep inside, I was afraid that if my parents knew about my struggle I would be forced to learn more about my faith. It wasn't that I didn't want to, I did desperately, but I wanted to do it myself. So in my pride I struggled.
The ability to discern if my actions where right or wrong got harder and harder. Yet still I wanted help myself, God (if he was out there) didn't need to help me, I didn't need him. Finally I gave up. I gave up caring whether I was a good person or not. I just didn't care. Thankfully I didn't see that as a reason to sin more, I just didn't do anything. Good or bad.
Around the same time that I had started to struggle my parents felt the call to missions. I was the only one in the family who was against leaving. But I kept it to myself. In May we moved down to Louisiana, where the mission base is. Still unhappy I started to wonder if I could really help myself. Something started to change in me then, but I didn't do anything.
Why I didn't do anything confuses me, so it will probably sound confusing to you too.
On my top 10 hate list, I absolutely hate hypocrites. So even though I wanted to believe in God, I did not want to be a hypocrite. So I stayed in my land of confused darkness. What finaly made me take that flying leap of faith was not the actual camp but the staff retreat. For Faith Camp I was a part of staff, and a month before all the staff got together.
I was standing in the semi-darkness, it was Praise and Worship time. All the songs seemed to be centered around forgiveness and God's love (imagine that.) All of the sudden I felt pulled to my knees. Down there I finally said it, I said "Jesus I don't care about me any more. I give myself to you. Me, worthless, dirty and sinful. I give you my life, my body and soul."
I said that over and over again, then this wonderful peace came over me. And I was so happy!
It wasn't really Faith Camp that changed me, although Faith Camp has built me up greatly. But if I had not been on staff, I would not be sharing this story with you.

Pics are coming soon!
~Lizzy

So?

2010-07-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Does it look better? I'm not sure if I like the look, we will stick with it for awhile.
Anyway I'm working on my Faith Camp post! I'm waiting for pics right now.
Blessings,
Lizzy

:P

2010-07-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

If my blog looks different, or wired or anything, don't worry I'm redoing it. So bare with me please.
I'll try and get it looking nice as soon as possible. Thanks!
Lizzy

On my other blog...

2010-07-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

(that I do not post on much) is something to think on.
http://schoolofthelittleway.blogspot.com/2010/07/annes-house-of-dreams.html

Hello All!

2010-07-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I am back! Faith Camp was unbelievably amazing! I believe that my sisters also had a great time.

So this is just a short post to say that I am back. I will tell you more about it later. Right now I just want to rest!

Few things

2010-07-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

First things first. Today is Independence day!!!!! Three cheers! Hip Hip Huzzah! Hip Hip Huzzah! Hip Hip Huzzah! Very good, very good. (Lol) No really this is an amazing day! But anyway, this is going to be just a short post to tell you I am probably going to be gone for two weeks starting Monday. The count down to Faith Camp has begun!
Blessings,
Lizzy

Prayers

2010-06-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!!
Today during our family prayer time I felt the Lord put on my heart the desire to go on the August mission trip. After thinking about it and talking to my Mom about it I realized that this was going to harder than I thought. You see it would be during my birthday, and I would be away from my family for about a month and a half! So please pray that if this is God's will that he would help and my mom and family to reach this step with peace.
Blessings,
Lizzy

'Tis been rather a long time..

2010-06-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

I know it has been FOREVER! But with the Come and See and every thing else I really didn't feel like posting. But now Come and See is over and I'll try to get back to posting.
As I look at our schedule I see that it is going to be a very busy month! *Sigh*
Blessings, Lizzy

A giveaway!

2010-06-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

A fellow writer and blogger is having a giveaway! Check out the blog Vividry if you would like to enter! Here are two of the lovely items, the third is a necklace.