Gloriously Ruined

Thank you all for your prayers and support the past three weeks as I served in Uganda. I am safely home and gloriously ruined for the continent of Africa. Every year that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to serve Him overseas, I come home safe but ruined. I can no longer look at life through the same two eyes. I can close my eyes to the things I don’t want to see, but I can’t close my heart to the things I don’t want to feel. I feel different. As I sit here on my couch in Orange County eating Pringles (at 8:00 in the morning J) I feel overwhelmed with blessing. How can I honestly have so much stuff? I have watched kids play with cars made out of juice boxes. I have watched kids play with a plastic bag that ripped in half (throwing it up in the air and chasing it). The sound of their pure joy with these most simple things is echoing in my head.

How can I have so much stuff? I am in the process of de-crapping my room and I am deeply saddened by all that I own. I find things I haven’t touched in years. Dust covers things that were once “necessary” purchases. DUST. I am ashamed by that thin layer of gray that reminds me that I have so much STUFF… so much that some of it goes untouched.

I thank God so much for His immense blessing on my life. But I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand why.

Our team did a devotion on the sand along the Nile River. We were “ported” between a wealthy sailing club and a poor fishing village. First we read Mark 1:16-18, where Jesus calls the first disciples. Fishermen. Poor Fishermen. At once they dropped their nets (ie everything they own) and followed. Then we read Mark 10:17-23, the account of the Rich Man coming to Jesus seeking eternal life. Jesus notes, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” Reading these scriptures, looking at the communities on either side of me, I realized something simple and obvious. I am the Rich Man. I am blessed. Because of all the STUFF we have, it is harder for us to just drop everything and follow. Simply follow.

This convicting enlightenment has led to the simplifying of a very cluttered life. It comes as no surprise to me that this process will be lengthy, full of tears and overwhelming sights. I have seen a land of poverty; wealthy in their love for one another and more generous than anyone I’ve ever met. When you’re heart is full, you always have something to give.

Lord, teach me how to give.

Team Uganda: May 3-24

Pray for my team of 10 as we travel and serve in Uganda the next three weeks. We will be serving in a Children's Home and in some of the villages doing VBS (crafts, sports, games, songs, etc.) and most importantly sharing the love of Christ.

Pray that we can empty ourselves to fully serve and that we do not have too much homesickness. Pray for health and safety while we travel on some long flights!

I am so thankful to all of you that helped support me financially and in prayer for this trip. It means the world to me.

It is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I am leaving tomorrow, but it is starting to sink in. I know I will miss my family, friends, and Luis so much but I also know that the Lord has something great for me to learn and experience in Africa this summer.

If you would like to look at team updates (for any International Service Projects Team from CBU) go to:

www. calbaptist.edu/goisp

Click on the "Team Updates" Link on the left

Click on Uganda: Children

(should be updated around every three days)

Thank you so much for your prayers... they are needed and appreciated.

In Christ alone,

Kristina

The wonders of Mefloquine

Nothing like Malaria Medicine to really shake up your last few days in America...

The following words (found on the Medication Guide: Mefloquine Hydrochloride Tablets) would pretty much sum up my roller coster of emotions the past few days...

What this list doesn't include (but is found on an additional symptoms list later in the novel of a guide) is vivid or bad dreams...

"What does this imply?" you ask!... Well... being chased by an army of pokemon characters, escaping a burglary via flying away holding onto an umbrella, and so much more...

Nothing like paying $30 for serious mental problems. haha

Take 5....

As this semester is magically already coming to a close, I call for a moment of childhood simplicity. So turn on The Shins, grab a coloring book, plop on the floor, and dump out your 16-pack of Crayola Crayons. What a shame it would be to graduate from college and become an official real world adult without taking some time to embrace your youth! For all you normal 20-something year olds who don’t own a coloring book, come borrow a page of mine J If coloring sounds more painful than relaxing, go play tag on the front lawn with a group of friends or play a board game.

Point is… take a break. Relax. All the billion things that clutter our to-do lists will get done.

If I Ran the Circus

Two girls. One top hat. The CBU Library.

I was surprised to see people actually in the library on a beautiful Friday such as this (or any Friday for that matter). Nonetheless, Jessica and I proceeded to quietly sneak around taking pictures amidst the rows of books. Quiet might not be the right word on second thought. You never know how loud your camera’s shutter is until you are surrounded by a bunch of studious college aged kids who are inside the library instead of outside soaking up the sun. Judging eyes. All judgments aside, it was quite a pleasant afternoon.

Always a new adventure just waiting for us at CBU; luckily,

Jess always enjoys a good expedition J

Seasons of Love

It’s always strange to stop and remember being a wide-eyed sixth grader, new to middle school, unaware of my goals, dreams, convictions, beliefs and where I would be as a 21-year-old woman. It was the year I met (or, rather, stalked would be a better term) Luis Mancilla. He was an eighth grader who did the morning announcements on the TV for the Peer Assistance Leadership events. Cool in every way J I was smitten at once and so, in sixth grade girl fashion, my friends and I would follow him around and bug him. We looked him up in the yearbook and discovered his real name is Jose. We sure had a field day with that. We started a Jose Luis fan club. He remembers being annoyed with me, but I bet he never would’ve guessed that nine years later I would still be following him around annoying him. Haha.

In life, the person who becomes your ultimate confidant starts out as a stranger, so it could’ve been anyone. I think of all the random events in my life that led me to Bernice Ayer Middle School in 2000 to meet the man who I want to spend the rest of my life with; it leaves me speechless and praising God for his planning. There is no perfect guidebook to dating or learning how to love someone. We thank God that his Word directs us on many issues and gives us a picture of love through Christ and the Church. Through arguments, miscommunications, and breaks we have learned that when we rely on each other too much, that is when we fall. When our emotions are dependent upon our standing with one another we lose sight of all that God has for us. As we have matured individually in our walks with the Lord, we are finally understanding how great of a blessing relationships can be. I am thankful that the Lord has been patient with us and given us so many chances to change our affections towards Him. Lately, more than ever, I have been blessed by the man that Luis is; how he leads me towards Christ more every day, how he loves my family, his prayers and encouragement to be a Godly woman, the way he makes me laugh and cares so much for me. I am thankful for this season of life that we have together to enjoy each other and I am hopeful for what the future holds.

New Obsessions

I gave the UPS man quite a scare as I flew the door open and ripped the package out of his hand. I only had to wait two days for the glorious arrival of my newest obsession but it felt like years as I waited quite impatiently to read this children’s book. A simplistic joy. One of those things you stumble upon and it grasps the center of your attention. Shaun Tan got me when he wrote and illustrated “Tales from Outer Suburbia.” This book contains lighthearted stories that will keep you thinking for hours. All the things you wish were different about life in Suburbia become reality in this collection of stories.

Buy it. Borrow it. Read it. Love it.

The Temper Trap needs no justification as to why they are a new obsession. They escort me as I walk to class, soak up the sun on the front lawn of CBU, or go for a night drive.

A companion one must not leave home without.