Jesus Took My Bad Karma!!

So I've now been here in East Texas for 3 weeks....I can't believe its already been that long! well i feel like I have been in a class room for more than 3 weeks but  thats because i have the attention span of a small child....haha!! Since I haven't been on top of this blogging stuff i have some catching up to do!! Two weeks ago Dean Sherman was our teacher for a few days and he taught us about spiritual warfare. Here are a few basic principles that really stuck with me:
- Jesus took  my bad karma- how awesome is that, all the crap that you or I have done is forgiven and always will be.
- Spiritual warfare is 24/7 not event based-this is kind of a new concept for me but its so clear that it is true!
-Blinded minds can not see- Blinded minds meaning people that do not have a relationship with God. they are unable to understand the glory and grace of God because they are blinded by the god of this world, no matter what you say they cannot understand and that is reason that all we can do is pray that God opens their eyes to his wonder and majesty.

Last Saturday my entire Gateway training class went on a Silent Retreat at a state park in Tyler,TX.    That was a new experience for me, i don't usually sit quietly and wait for God, i usually talk and talk and think and talk and think and talk some more .it was really awesome to spend quality time with God alone!

This past week in class we talked about interpersonal development  and conflict resolution.   We took the disc personality test i am a D/I-D which means dominate and inspirational so basically it says i like to be in control or can be bossy and i like to have lots of friends and gain energy from groups of people rather than from being alone.the personality test also told me that i am an over achiever im not sure i believe that lol.  We were given kind of a strange assignment this  week we had to write our own obituary's . Now when i first thought about this i thought i would want to be remember for having some kind of awesome career or for inventing something really awesome but i wasn't really to sure so i just started to write and when i finished i read what i had just wrote and i surprised myself lol what i want to be remember for is being a wonderful loving wife and mother that lived her life completely after God's heart! ( dad DONT freak out...it wont be anytime soon lol)  i cant really remember where i was going with this haha but my mom will happy that i realized im more like her than i though.

lets see what else would you like to know about the last couple weeks.....we went bowling at this cute little bowling alley that opened up on a monday night just for my class...small town's are pretty awesome....they feed us really well here i think we eat like every two hours...i spend lots of time in class coloring so ill post some of my pretty pics for you to see! i cant really think of anything else to tell you! please continue to keep my class and myself in your prayers as we continue our training here and as we prepare to leave next week to go on our field service in benin! Please also pray that this is a smooth transition for me and that i dont get to home sick. Its weird i so badly want to be in two places at the same time!  Thanks so much for all of your love and support!!        

                       bowling was lots of fun ...my shirt glowed looks pretty cool! huh?

whos really pregnant??

perfect stance! hahah

my bowling team plus Dulce

we had a hot dog cookout and my skewer matched my shirt!

I get very bored in class...

so i ...

color!

melissa

                                                 mrs sherry sent me an awesome card with this mask inside!!

               

i figured it out!!

So here are some random pictures of this weeks activies!!

breating mask for the fire fighting!

the container that was used for the fire fighting drill

me and melissa!

im super strong!! haha

Baby sheep!

me and dulce!!

me and anna aka alaska

lets get it started.....

So this past week was my first week of gateway, the training program for mercy ships. This week we  did  basic safety training which includes cpr, first aid, fire safety and a water safety practical.  we learned alot and had a lot of fun... the fire part was a little scary but we did it in pairs so that made a big difference. During the pool pratical we had to get into immersion suits and get into, out of and flip a life raft that was really fun!!! im living in what is called the family dorm with 7 other women and 7 guys. i have 3 roommates melissa from philly, dulce from honduras and joanne from oregon. The living situation is really fun there is always someone around  to hang out with and since we spend at least 18 hours of each day together its like we've know each other for much longer than one week! Next week we start the more bibical training and im excited to see how God streches me in ways ive never even imagined ...i know that this whole adventure is going to be such a learning experience and im so excited to see where it takes me! Currently i am commited to work with Mercy Ships for one year and after that  i have no idea what God has in store and im so excited to find out!!
Some prayer request * thats God would keep me complety foucsed on him, its very easy to become distracted and i want to get everything that God wants me to get out of this.
* That God would speak to me diretly about what he would have me do on our field service to benin , i want to be a blessing to the people we interact with.and  that he will soften the hearts of the people that we will  come in contact with.

Thanks for reading this and ill try my best to keep you guys updated on whats going on...ive never blogged before so this kinda strange to me but ill get used to it! maybe the next one will have some photos i still havent quite figured out that part!