Another sad I wish “I would have”
Another decision to “never again”
Another tear and more “I’m sorry”
Another resolution made within

Another chance to make things different
A clean and hopeful fresh new start
But once more I can’t beat resistance
And once more failure breaks my heart

Another year and nothing changes
Another mess to rectify
Another dash in Your direction
And once more I don’t qualify

I try to add height to my stature
And play the role of something great
But each attempt ends in disaster
And now I dread the next clean slate

After my fake charades of grandeur
I know that I will never be
The one I want so much to give You
I realize I’m still just me

Commitments always come to only
Broken pieces in the sand
The only thought that keeps me now
Is that they all are in Your hand

My confidence and will are gone
I’ve given up at last for real
But if surrender makes me Yours
Then give me strength once more—
TO YEILD

Merry Christmas?

Today we put up our tree and decorated our house...and we were late. Lagging far behind the rest of the city, which is already wrapped in lights, bows and tinsel. I started seeing lights and trees in October, apparently a very normal thing for the very happy people in Medellin, who are still celebrating the 50th of December in the middle of January. So I'm in for a very long very joyous Christmas season. Merry Christmas everybody!

Instrument of Your peace

"Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world." - Wayne Dyer

While we wait around for others to notice —and perhaps even mention— the great person we are, how noble our loving deeds of sacrifice, and (why not) maybe even shine a little spot-light our way, others really just want to be the object of recognition…

It’s such a common infirmity. Everyone desperately wants their heroism loudly proclaimed, and the irony is, the only way to become a true hero in anyone’s heart is to extol their virtues endlessly, and forget entirely about your own.

The other day, while hearing this song for the 2,089th time, it finally hit me…this is the essence of life!!!

Oh happy person that I am in this new revelation.

O Master—

That I may not seek
To be consoled, but to console
Not to be understood, but to understand
Not to be loved, but rather to love
For it is in giving, that we will receive
And in forsaking, that we truly gain

Perfect Love

There’s a reason we hold on
There’s a reason that we fight
There’s a love that makes us strong
There’s a hand that holds us tight

There are eyes that can see past
The moments laden with disdain
There’s a voice we hear at last
When we’ve labored long in vain

Through the deaf and raging deep
Moments black and thick with fright
There’s a love that does not sleep
There’s a dream that gives us sight

There’s a whisper sweetly spoken
There’s a blanket, soft and warm
That descends when we are broken
There’s new life when we are worn

There’s a hopeful pure sensation
When life’s righteous judgment falls
There’s a joyous inspiration
When life’s duty stiffly calls

There’s a moment rich in hope
Found beyond despair in wait
And when triumph fades from scope
There’s escape from sentenced fate

There is somehow commendation
When we’ve rightly earned disgrace
There is only admiration
In this one accepting face

A picture is worth a thousand words...

To all my devoted family and friends who still frequent this forgotten blog—some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I start a million lines in my head and I end up tossing them all away. The more I try to fit you into words, the more I realize that it can’t be done. I wish there were a better way to express how thankfully I hold you in my heart.

You’re just the most wonderful friend I’ve ever had.

You are far from perfect, Lali, but you inspire.

You have a way of making any old mundane thing in life seem like the most splendid adventure— and if you have anything to do with it—it usually turns out that way. No matter what you do, your “glorious” outlook makes it glow.

I wish you could know how very much you’ve influenced my life.

When I looked at you, I understood what discipleship was all about. You gave me something to strive for.

You have such a literal and simple conviction about the Word. That always gave me faith that it's all true—because you believe it automatically, and with child-like trust and joy and purity!

There are many very basic lessons of life that I struggle with. I’m a typical disaster, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s this: I was meant to live for the Lord—you help me figure that out.

I may never learn to behave like a grown-up, but there is one thing I can do: I can fight for my faith. I learned that from you—from watching you fight.

I’m not level-headed, efficient, effective or productive, and though I can’t seem to properly organize my life, I can surrender it to Jesus every day—you helped inspire that surrender.

I have this passion—this love for the Lord that’s never going to die—it was kindled by your own.

In spite of your inward battles, you are always so outwardly positive; always striving to be strength to others, regardless of what you are facing yourself.

Others are re-inspired about life from your simple joy and your beautiful spirit. There’s so much that I love about you, but most of all, it’s the way the Lord shines through you, so beautiful and crystal-clear.

Your warm, friendly nature makes others feel totally comfortable with you—and thereby with Jesus—because of the way that you are totally comfortable and at home with Him.

I want you to know how thankful I am that you are a part of my life! The fight in you will always inspire me to fight on—no matter how far away you are.


The number-one priority is and always will be love! To love is our biggest responsibility. If you can go to bed at night knowing that you have shown love and given love then you can rest, knowing that you’ve accomplished something truly great!

Mari Mari...Happy birthday

Good friends are those special, thoughtful people who are always there for you. They always seem to have something nice to say. They make you breakfast in bed; they hold you when you cry, and they send you “Get-well-soon!” cards whenever you’re sick.

Good friends call you up every once in a while, just to see how you’re doing; they notice when something is wrong, and they weep with you when you’re hurt; they’re always eager to fill you in on what is going on in their lives, and they’re interested in hearing about whatever is new in yours.

Good friends make you feel good about who you are.

Mari is not one of those people.

Mari has always been more like…a best friend.

Best friends are the kind of people that you don’t even like, but, for some reason, you’ll always love to pieces.

Best friends never even have to say “I love you too!” You just know they do.

Best friends can annoy you on purpose and know that you’ll get over it.

You can’t get rid of best friends. They’re resilient. You can insult each other, and not communicate for months—even years. But every time you see each other, you’ll realize that nothing has changed, and (after all) you’re still best friends.

Best friends are those people that you don’t even try to hold on to, but for some reason they always manage to be a part of your life.

A best friend will laugh in your face when you get hurt, borrow your things and never return them, and roll their eyes at you when you ask them for a favor.

They won’t go out of their way to make you like them, but they’ll always be—a best friend.

So here’s to one of my best friends—who made me go out and eat gross sopa y pilla on the street with her when she was pregnant, and suggested that I walk in front of her when we crossed the street so that, in case anything happened, I’d die first.

I love you tons Mari! And if our friendship has survived this long, there’s no way we’ll ever be rid of each other.

I’m praying that you get a lot of attention all day tomorrow...and (why not) the rest of the year, and that you feel very special and loved!

Have yourself a beautiful new year!

Your Love’s got me going around the world

He is, after all, the reason behind all of this madness.

Change, for all that’s been said about it being good…and needful, can be so difficult to follow through with…arg.

I’ve never really known it until now, but (for what it’s worth) it is hard to start all over. It is the most unnatural thing in the world.

And I just have to say that I SO love you, all my most dearly beloved loved ones in Chile, you know who you are : ), and I desperately miss you so very much!

You’ve been a part of me for so long that it was strange to have to say good-bye. I didn’t entirely realize how much you mean to me, until I actually left you all behind…as Brian Adams so nicely put it: Baby when you’re gone, I realize I’m in love…well…you know

It goes like this: You’re totally buzzed about facing your “uncharted seas”…you fly away…you land…and then, shortly after all the stress and travel rush…you inevitably arrive at this place, in the far corners of your mind, where you, in fact, hate yourself, and demand to know why all this was necessary in the first place.

All the gloriousness in leaving wears off quickly, and then begins this fight…against yourself…and yourself painfully kicks at you for throwing all of that warm, fuzzy, homey comfort away…awful self!

So you’re forced to recall that feeling in your heart, when He distinctively called, and somehow—unexplainably and involuntarily—you just had to go.

He is the one pulling in directions that no one else can see, feel—or even understand, and He doesn’t gauge your obedience by how your dedication is looking to everyone else, but by how quickly you respond to His spirit, no matter what it says to do.

PRO.16:2 The ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirit.

Amen.
…but it’s still so hard to let go!

It’s so uncomfortable, in fact, that it literarily forces you to enter the realm of faith—where you belong in the first place—and there, in the midst your terrible heartbreak, something much bigger and grander takes over. You remember at once what you’re here for, and you realize that nothing else matters quite as much as fulfilling that call.

So you shed your share of tears, and then you gain something that wasn’t there before; something that brings you a brand new feeling of excitement and satisfaction. You get the feeling that you have just opened the doors to limitless possibilities.

It’s strangely nice and refreshing.

So, my conclusion, after all of this is…firstly that you’re all apspolutely wonderful! And I miss you! And I LOVE YOU so dearly!

…and the future is as bright as the promises of God!!!

(Beyond my dramatic moment…I’m really so happy to be here! Everyone has been so welcoming, and I’m looking forward to finding my place in the Home! Yey!)

Let your goals consume you, so they become more important than any temporary pain of today.

They would not remember the simple rules; that a red hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds.
-Linda Goodman

So many of my very good friends are Aries. I think it’s because we both pity and deeply understand each other. Being an Aries is mostly a big contradiction, and only a fellow Aries can truely sympathize. We have characteristics embedded into our very souls that strike right at the heart of our lofty ideals.

Your everyday Aries will most probably be both:

- Conceded and self-centered—and perfectly selfless and noble

- Pushy and careless—and warm and generous

- Satirical and sarcastic--and genuine and sincere

- Bold and confident—and insecure and self-conscious

- Brave and heroic—and nit-picky and whinny

- Shallow and insensitive—and deep and passionate

- Strong and tough—and fragile and sentimental

- Bad tempered—and incapable of remaining angry

- Independent and self-sufficient—and secretly longing to be told what to do

- Practical, sensible, and straight-forward—and overly idealistic and irrational

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------You are not an Aries:
You are completely confused; probably even rolling your eyes over all of this narcissism

You are an Aries:
You are groaning and nodding your head; perhaps even shedding a tear over this life-long dilemma
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It isn’t easy being so self-absorbed and hating your own kind…but, the important thing is that…we try.

We had an Aries birthday party last weekend, and (just to fulfill our secret hearts’ desire to be in the spotlight) they planned a very amusing make-up contest.

Each of the Aries girls had to pick someone(s) of the male population to apply her make-up, and the guys had ten minutes to work their magic.

Mercy picked all the guys in her Home, I picked all the guys in my Home, and Audie picked Dan…yes (sigh), JUST Dan….that turned out to be a very level-headed thing to do.

Overall it was a very positive experience, in spite of the fact that none of guys on my team had ever personally come in contact with make-up before.

Audie: “I’m so pleased with my brilliant choice!”


Come on guys! We can win this thing!




HELP!!!!!!!!










“That does NOT go in my mouth!!!”

GROOVY! We made her look like a drunken harlot!

Mercy is just so hard to ruin…look at her—still lovely, intact, and holding on to her dignity.


Audie: “I’m so pleased with my brilliant choice!”

It was fun, and we loved our moment.

I love them! I love them!...I LOVE THEM!!!

Yes, I have a disease…I think that every moment with the kids is a “Kodak moment”!!! It’s just overwhelming.

(Note Alan's new best friend, "Tiny Block" on the table)


Raff has a new "Starwars Practice" buddy : )