Honduras Pics

Well, Jared went off to camp with his computer this week, which happens to be where all of our Honduras pictures are. So, here are a few that I just happen to have. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way...Has anyone else heard about the military coup that began in Honduras the WEEK after we left?! The US State Department is now recommending U.S. citizens avoid traveling to Honduras. WOW! Looks like we got back just in time!

Be praying for our hispanic pastor and his son. We left them behind in Honduras visiting their family, so hopefully they will have no problem getting home next week!

On with the pics!

This is the front of the house we stayed in. Jared got kind of artsy with this pic. The house was basically cinder block with a tin roof.
This is my bed for the week. Can I just say, I recommend taking a mosquito net with you to any foreign country in which you travel. It was wonderful! You should have seen some of the things me and Rachel pulled off of our nets. Thank you Jason for letting me have your net!


This is the teeeny tiny oven Rachel and I cooked meals on for 22 people. All I have to say is "Fish and Loaves" because that's about the miracle we had every night!

One of the things we were able to do was put up 2 basketball goals. 1 at the school and 1 up by the pastor's house. The kids had never played basketball, but they loved it...and were really good! So, in 15 years if you hear of this amazing basketball player that came from an obscure village in Honduras, you'll know who gave him his first basketball goal.

Jared got to preach the revival one night. This was his first time speaking with an interpreter...difficult. But he did great!

Another thing we did was a women's Bible Study. One of the girls who went last year really felt like we needed to speak to the young girls in the village about abstinence, since many of the girls have children out of wedlock by age 16. So we spent the first day just speaking about salvation and leading others to Christ; the second day we talked about spiritual disciplines; and the third day Hannah spoke about abstinence and I spoke about God's forgiveness and healing and the ability to "start over" on a commitment to abstinence. The first day we had about 15, the second day we had about 25-30. The third day we had 76! God knew what he was doing (as usual!).

And, this is Jenny. Is she not the most beautiful little girl? All of the kids this week were so sweet and just loved being around us. Jenny spent a lot of time in this tree outside of our house.

So that's all for now. Hopefully I will get more posted soon!

We made it back!

Well, we made it safely back from Honduras. We have so much to tell you about our trip and all of the amazing things that happened while we were there. We have several hundred pictures and a story to go with each one, so hopefully over the next few weeks, we will have the time to post some stuff about our trip!

Check back soon!

God Has Answered

I just wanted to let you all know that (with a little encouragement from yours truly) my sister has finally joined the blogging world! If you would like to check out their blog, you can find "God Has Answered" at www.myellianna.blogspot.com.

Introducing me...as a brunette!

Well, I have had requests from some of my friends and family back in TN to post a picture of me as a brunette. I have now offically been a non-blonde since March. The idea in dying my hair brown was that as it grew out, it would fade to my natural color which is actually a dishwater blonde. The reason: hair color is expensive and time consuming! So, I'm trying to free myself from the bondage of hair dye by growing it out at it's natural color.

So, now, 2 months later, I have about 1/2 inch roots of dishwater blonde hair and a faded out reddish-brown color for the rest of my hair...not quite what I had in mind! But, I am going to just deal with it and have funky hair for a few months until it's all grown out. Though I do sort of miss being a blonde, I have decided this is all for the best!

So, what do you think?

Doggy Yoga

So, this morning when I was doing my jumpstart yoga (yeah, that's right) Asher was in the living room with me. Now, this is not a normal thing to do in my morning routine, so needless to say, he was very curious. Over the course of the 30 minutes, he began stretching with me. I'm sure it was just a coincidence, but it was very funny when Jared walked in and found me and Asher pretty much doing the same stretches. Then, when I layed down to do the ab toning portion, Asher became very concerned. He actually licked my face every time my head came off the ground. Then, after several attempts to get me out of the floor, he just sat on me. It was hysterical. I would post a picture from this morning, but it all happened too quick for Jared to get out the camera...plus, I'm not really sure that I want everyone to see my sad attempt at Yoga!

A Magic Carpet Ride

So, today, I was sitting at work and I had pretty much finished up everything I needed to do for the day. With everyone gone for lunch, I was getting pretty bored. So, as I thought about it, I decided this would be the perfect time to try some of those "desk exercises" that you always read about in fitness magazines and see on Good Morning America. So, I googled "Desk Exercises." I was amazed at what I got. Who on earth would ever feel comfortable doing these in their office in the middle of the day?! Maybe, I'm crazy. Here are a few that came up...let me know what you think.

1. The magic carpet ride-Sit in your chair with your legs crossed and your feet on the seat. Then place your hands on the armrests, suck in your gut and raise yourself a few inches above the seat, using your belly, muscles and hands. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat five times.

2. Glance at the wall clock and do a minute's worth of jumping jacks

3. Desktop Yoga-Stand up facing the wall and reach your fingers up as far as you can. While you stretch up also stretch down by placing your feet firmly into the floor. Firm up your legs, extend the side of the torso and bring the shoulder blades towards the wall. Breathe fully as you stretch, walking your fingers up the wall. Move little away from the wall so that your torso is diagonal to your hips and press both palms into the wall equally. Press into the ground with your feet, firm up your legs and release your tailbone away from the wall. Lift up the ribs and let your head drop slightly.

I think you get my point. If I started doing the magic carpet ride in the middle of the office, I think I might attract a little more attention than I was going for.

Please tell me that you have better ideas!

Passion...not Fashion!

I have spent all 25 years of my life in church. I have been a Christian for 17 of them. I am married to a minister. I have heard almost every word, euphemism and cliche in the Christian Vocabulary. But, it was not until today that I learned that the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is considered "Passion Week." It is a week set aside for remembering the passion that Jesus displayed in the week and days leading up to his death on the cross. So, I decided to do some research. What kind of celebration takes place during passion week? I found this article from the Korea Times that briefly describes some of the activities done during Holy Week but it also goes on to talk about what we would do to Jesus today if we were the mob given the opportunity to condemn him. Now, honestly, I don't know who the author of this article is and I don't know what his theology is. But, it made a lot of sense to me. Here is another site that explains the events that took place in the week leading up to Christ's death. So, I hope if you have some time, you'll read these articles and do some research of your own to find out more about Passion Week. It is my prayer for this week, that we would all spend more time focusing on Christ's Passion for his people than on what dress we will wear Sunday and where we will find shoes to match it! This week is meant to be about Passion...not Fashion!