Chiang Mai Update #3

Sawa dee ka! (Common Thai greeting)

The first group of students from Southeastern left Chiang Mai last Thursday morning after a piano recital Wednesday night. Most of our piano students played one song they had learned and then some of us played in quartets (shown in picture). We sent our students home with their keyboards to continue learning and hopefully use the curriculum to share the gospel with more people. One of the pictures shows the restaurant where we spent most of our time (Sojo’s). We taught piano in 2 different classrooms that we rented on the third floor of the restaurant.

We had a free day last Friday before the second group arrived, so several of us put our money together and rented a Jeep. We drove north through the mountains and visited several villages. One of the most well known tribes is the Long Neck Tribe. One of the pictures is of a little girl in this village. I plan to do a little more research when I get home to find out more about this people group.

The second group arrived safely last Saturday with no major problems at the airports. That was definitely a blessing! We worshipped together Sunday morning and tried to get to know each other before taking some free time to catch up on reading. Those of us who have stayed for the entire month are responsible for having six books read as a part of the requirements for receiving class credit for the trip. I am still working on that!

We started on Monday studying about Islam. Monday afternoon we visited a local mosque and all of the ladies wore traditional head coverings called Hi Jab (pictured). We found out that there are many reasons for the Hi Jab ranging from protecting the skin to protecting men from having lustful thoughts. We then walked through the neighborhood around the mosque in an attempt to find persons who would be willing to meet with us throughout the week and answer our questions about Islam. I was in a group with two other girls and the first two people we talked to in the neighborhood were both Christians! It was neat to talk to them about sharing the gospel with Muslims and I found out that one of them became a Christian through a college ministry called Campus Outreach and now works on staff with that organization. I was involved with Campus Outreach in college and actually became a Christian through that organization as well. It was a neat connection!

We then met two Muslim women to interview throughout the week. We were able to present the gospel to one of them, Diana, but she said she was still learning about the Koran and wanted to know everything about the Koran before trying something new. Please continue to pray for our interactions with Diana over the next week, as well as our conversations with Buddhists in the coming week.

As I type this, I am lying in bed, sick with a sinus infection. Please pray for a speedy recovery so I can make the most of the time I have left in Chiang Mai.

Thank you again for your love and prayers! It has been great reading emails from some of you; it’s a wonderful feeling knowing that people back home are praying for you! Praise God with me for two more lost sinners saved by God’s grace!

Grace and peace to you, Kate

Chiang Mai Update # 2

This is my second update that I sent out to my financial and prayer supporters! There is so much to say! What a crazy two weeks we have had! Unfortunately the pictures will not upload for some reason, so I'll just have to show you when I get back!



There is so much I want to tell you and it is so hard to condense it to a short enough email that you will want to read the whole thing! This is just a small glimpse into what is going on here in Chiang Mai. I will share lots of stories when I get home, I am sure!

A common phrase you will hear around Chiang Mai is “Same same, but different!” I’ll give you an example: When we first arrived in Chiang Mai we had to recruit students to teach how to play the keyboard. Each time we talked to someone we had to specify “piano keyboard” because they thought we were talking about a computer keyboard. Their response would be, “Same same, but different.” It has become a very familiar phrase to all of us on the trip, to the point where it is a joke: “You wear pant, I wear skirt, same same, but different!” (They do not use any form of the verb “to be” or any junction words)

On Saturday, we went to the Mae Taeng Elephant Park and road on elephants up a river and through the jungle. There were many times I felt my life was in danger! Then we rode on a bamboo raft back down the river and I got to “drive” the raft for a while, as you can see in the picture! Our raft drifted peacefully down the river, but the other group did not have the same experience. At one point in the river, there is a rope stringing all of the way across, about 4 feet above the water. One of our group members decided it would be a good idea to hold onto the rope. He happened to be standing at the front of the raft with 6 people behind him including the driver. He held onto the rope, somehow forgetting that the raft would keep moving, and knocked over everyone behind him like dominos (including one of our professors), then fell into the water taking the driver with him! I wish I could have seen it, I can only imagine what it looked like! Fortunately, no one was hurt and the driver thought it was hilarious.

As of today, three people that we know of have accepted Christ as their personal savior. Two of them are two of our piano students. One of our team members (Josh, in the picture) found someone who wanted to learn how to play guitar, so he bought a cheap guitar and decided to teach guitar lessons instead of piano lessons. I personally have two piano students now (Mae and Kanokkorn) and both are Christians (Mae is pictured with me). Please pray that I would be encouraged by the opportunity to disciple two sisters in Christ. For some reason I have been disappointed that I have not had the opportunity to share the Gospel with unbelievers. Everyone with whom I come into contact is a Christian! Praise God that there are this many Christians in Chiang Mai. I know I will meet non-Christians when we enter into the last two weeks of the trip. We will not be teaching piano anymore and a new group from Southeastern will join four of us that are staying when the group that is currently here leaves. The last two weeks will consist of 6 credit hours of classes and evangelism through interviewing Buddhists and Muslims. Please pray that I would be bold in my interactions with Buddhists and Muslims over the next three weeks.

Please also pray that I will be able to swallow chicken, rice, and unidentifiable spicy stuff for three more weeks! I don’t know that I can stand it much longer! I guess I should be thankful for the food. Please also pray that my stomach would get used to the different diet as well. Some days have been a little worse than others, but overall God has blessed me and kept me relatively healthy.

Lastly, please pray for the Chiangmai Life Church. It is a small Chinese church where two of our piano students attend. We were able to attend church with them this past Sunday and they provided a meal for us after we worshipped with them in English and Chinese. We led a few songs and sang English while they sang Chinese, and then they led a few songs all in Chinese. One of our team members then gave the sermon and another team member, who is from Malaysia originally, translated for him. Please pray for their church growth in this Buddhist nation.

Thank you for your love and prayers!

First Chiang Mai Update

Wow, as I write this post, everything is in Thai! The only thing English on this page is what I am typing. I hope that I am familiar enough with this site to be able to post everything even though I can't read the buttons! This post is actually an update that I emailed out just a few minutes ago. I am posting it in case someone doesn't get the email but wants to see what is going on in Chiang Mai! Here it is:

Greetings from Chiang Mai!

After 4 straight days of traveling, being delayed in Raleigh for one day, leaving 5 of our group in Raleigh with a canceled flight, and spending an extra day in Bangkok, I am finally in Chiang Mai! Praise the Lord! We had so many problems getting here that Northwest booked us on a US Airways flight with business class seats from L.A. to Tokyo and Tokyo to Bangkok. The seats were AMAZING! God definitely had His hand in delaying us a day and separating our group in order to give us excellent flights to Chiang Mai! We felt so loved and blessed! When I first stepped on board the flight from L.A. I saw the seats and immediately took a Dramamine to make sure I stayed asleep in those plush seats. I ended up sleeping for 7 hours straight and completely missed the fruit plate, salad, braised beef short ribs in port wine sauce, twice baked cheddar potato, fresh steamed veggies, and caramel cheesecake. I was so sad! Anyway, enough about the flight.

Please pray for one team member that is very sick. We rushed her to the emergency room in Bangkok the first night we were in that city. Her eyes were so red and swollen that she could barely open them. She was in such intense pain that we forced her to go to the hospital. The doctor looked at her and said, “ooo.” Haha! He said it was probably a “bacteria infection” and gave her antibiotics and eye drops. We then went to the hospital again in Chiang Mai and she was diagnosed with Pink eye and Tonsillitis. Please pray for her healing and the rest of the group’s health as Pink eye is so contagious!

We arrived in Chiang Mai and only had 1 student that had previously signed up to learn piano from us. So, the first day we were here we went out to local malls and recruited students to teach! I just started teaching my student yesterday and it was a lot of fun! The purpose of teaching piano is to use the curriculum our professor wrote for us that has Scripture throughout in order to share the Gospel with our students. It turns out my student is already a Christian! At first I was excited for her, then I was bummed that I wasn’t going to get a chance to try out the curriculum, but then I realized I had an opportunity to encourage this sister in Christ and disciple her while I am here. I talked with Ed (one of our professors) about this and he said it could be very important that I be here to encourage her. He tells us often that to be Thai is to be Buddhist. It is very difficult to live the life of a Christian among Buddhists and for me to be here as a sister in Christ encouraging her and exhorting her to be bold in her faith is just as important as leading someone to Christ. I am very excited about this opportunity that I have to disciple a sister from another country. I pray that I can be an encouragement to her and maybe even help her be bold in her faith to her non-Christian friends and meet with all of them to help her lead them to Christ. That would be so neat!

Please continue to pray that our team would reach out to this city handing out Gospel tracts and forming relationships with our baristas at Starbucks while we are teaching our students and building relationships there as well.

Thank you for your prayers!

My Soul's Sufficiency

I have had so many thoughts running through my head as I have been spending an unplanned extra day in Raleigh before my flight tomorrow.

I am still going through phases of ups and downs in dealing with my grief. At times I just break down in tears, but then there are times that God is so gracious to give me peace. That song that says, "Sometimes you gotta set free what you love just to bring it back" comes to mind. Part of me really prays that is true. Then part of me just prays that God's will be done in my life whatever it may be.

Go figure, music is therapy! You would think I know that by now after majoring in music therapy for 4 years, but there are times when I really believe it! It is so neat to see how God uses lyrics of Christian songs to encourage me when I need it. One song that I've been singing in my head over and over again is "Child of God" by Kathryn Scott:

With every breath, with every thought
From what is seen to the deepest part
I offer all that I've come to be
To know Your love fathering me

Father You're all I need
My soul's sufficiency
My strength when I am weak
The love that carries me
your arms enfold me, till I am only
A child of God

With every step on this journey's walk
And wisdom's songs that the soul has sought
I give myself unreservedly
To know Your love fathering me


If I really am offering all that I am to Him, then I have to trust in His plans for me. Even when He does things in my life that I would like to question, I have to trust Him. He has ultimate control over my life. He can give and take away good things as He pleases because either way it will be for my good. My life is in His hands. He consistently reminds me of the theme verse for my relationship with Peter that still rings true even now,

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. " Isaiah 55:8-9



I will still love Him and praise Him in the storm.

Update :)

As some of you saw on facebook, I've been asking for prayers for my heart. Many people have asked me about it, so I want to clarify. It was prayers for my heart emotionally, not physically. Even though a lot of times emotional heartache can affect you physically, and it did. But thank you for the prayers! God has been doing a lot of healing and drawing me closer to Himself through all of this. God was so gracious to provide for me to be able to fly up to NY and spend a weekend with my best friend Patti. It was much needed for both of us actually! I had an amazing time and I'm so glad I was able to go up there....more on that later! Thank you for your prayers also for my preparations for my trip to Thailand. My new passport arrived on Friday! Praise God! We were getting worried about that, but it's all good now!

Now for more serious prayer concerns. Some of you may have noticed if you have seen me in the past week and a half, a large sore on my forehead. When you saw me, I didn't really know what it was. It turns out that it is actually pretty serious. I don't really want to go into the details, but I do need to ask for prayers for healing. Because of this sore, I may not be able to leave the country. That is not good! Most of you know that I leave in less than two weeks for my trip to Chiang Mai. This has to heal before I go, or they will not let me in to their country because of the nature of the infection. Please pray for quick healing as I am looking forward SO much to this trip!

I would also like to ask for prayers for my spiritual preparation. I pray that I would diligently prepare my heart for the people I will meet and prepare myself in the Word so that I will be able to clearly explain the curriculum we are using to teach these students. I also have several books that I have to read before I go! Pray that I would use my time efficiently and read the materials in preparation for the Thai culture.

I can't wait to see how God uses the next week and a half to prepare my heart for the trip and also to see what He does through our teams in Thailand.

Please also continue to pray for big decisions in the next two weeks. The next year of my life depends on this decision. Pray that I would decide on the thing that would most glorify Christ in my life.

Remembering Justin Cope

We will forever remember Justin's big smile and even bigger heart. He was such a great friend, he will truly be missed. My prayers are with the family in South Carolina. It was so great to see everybody Thursday night, I'm so sad that this is what it took to get us all back together, but thankful that we did have a reunion. I love all of you and miss you dearly. I pray that we will see each other again soon under different circumstances. Charleston will always be in my heart!!

Justin Cope
COPE, Justin Justin Edward Cope, age 25, beloved husband of Kimberly Blevins Cope and son of Orben and Vickie Cope of Rock Hill, SC, died Tuesday, June 12, 2007. He was born July 7, 1981 in Chattanooga, TN. He attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, SC and graduated from Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC with a major in music and with Cum Laude honors. He was a member of New Vision, Concert Singers, and the Singing Buccaneers. He was employed at Oakbrook Elementary School as a music teacher. Justin is survived by his wife, Kimberly, his parents, Orben and Vickie Cope of Rock Hill, his brother, Chad of Rock Hill, his sister, Jessica Quinn (Philip) of York, SC, his aunt and uncle, Mildred and Ray Shrum, aunt & uncle, Jane and Ken Shrum, all of East Ridge, TN aunts Helen and Cindy Skiles, of Soddy Daisy, TN, uncles, David and Michael Taylor of Chattanooga, TN. He was the grandson of the late Jessie and June Cope and the grandson of Walter and Irene Taylor of Chattanooga, TN; mother & father-in-law, Ann Marie Blevins and Mark S. Blevins, Sr., brothers-in-law, Mark Stephen Blevins, Jr.(Chelsea) and Gary Lee Blevins, II, and uncle, Billy Wayne Garrett, Jr. The relatives and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Justin E. Cope are invited to attend the funeral service at Cathedral of Praise, Friday, June 15, 2007 at two o'clock. Interment will follow in Dorchester Memory Gardens. Friends may call at J. HENRY STUHR, INC., GREENRIDGE ROAD CHAPEL, Thursday, June 14, 2007 from five until seven o'clock. Memorials may be made to Cathedral of Praise Building Fund, 3790 Ashley Phosphate Road, N. Charleston, SC 29418. A memorial message may be written to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths. Published in the Charleston Post & Courier on 6/13/2007.

Sign his guestbook here

New blog

It is still in the making, but I'll probably be using the new site from now on. It's more compatible with my new mac!

Check back for more updates!

http://web.mac.com/kate.mtbc/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html

God is Faithful

I can't quite figure out what God is doing in my life right now! I have just lost a man that means so much to me, but somehow I still have to trust that God is good and will give me His best for me. If God's best is to not be in a relationship right now, then I want God's best. However, that doesn't completely take away the pain!

Relationships are such a leap of faith. We are depraved humans and will never be perfect in our interactions with each other. We will never "know" the future 100%. We can only trust in what God has laid on our hearts and pray that His will will be accomplished in and through us. We take a step in faith and trust that God will take care of the rest. Relationships are so much work too! Things are not supposed to always come easy. With two sinners entering into a relationship, there are going to be problems and things that the two people will have to fight through. A wise pastor told me this morning that you have about 10 things in your head that you have to work through in your relationship, but really there are about 100 other things that you haven't even thought of yet that you will have to work through! The important part is that you are committed to God and committed to that person and working through whatever it is that comes your way. This is not always easy! It requires SO much trusting in God and tons of prayer. Each step in a relationship is a step in faith. Just take the step and pray that God will honor your faith in Him to accomplish his purpose in you.


A friend of mine reminded me of a verse last night that is helping me through all of this -

2 Timothy 2:13 - "If we are faithless, he remains faithful."

Not that I'm completely faithless, but there are times in the day when I feel so hopeless and begin to doubt that God is indeed good. Praise God that even when I doubt, He is still there and will ALWAYS be good.

Wonderful, Merciful Savior

Some of the truths I am claiming right now come straight from this song that we sang today at Providence. I could barely get through the whole song on stage without bursting into tears. What powerful words!


Wonderful, merciful savior,
precious redeemer and friend.
Who would've thought that a lamb could
rescue the souls of men,
Oh you rescue the souls of men.

Counselor, comforter, keeper,
Spirit we long to embrace.
You offer hope when our hearts have
hopelessly lost our way,
Oh we've hopelessly lost our way.

You are the one that we praise
You are the one we adore
You give the healing and grace
our hearts always hunger for,
Oh our hearts always hunger for.

Almighty infinite father
faithfully loving Your own.
Here in our weakness you find us
falling before your throne,
Oh we're falling before your throne.

New man!

I have failed to update my blog for quite a few months, which means all of you who still check my blog (all one of you) have not heard about the new man in my life! We really have a neat story, so I wanted to share it with you!

His name is Peter Copeland, and we actually met in college. We "knew of" each other and had some of the same friends, but didn't know each other well. He graduated the year before me and went to seminary in New Orleans. Meanwhile, I finished my last year at CSU and moved back to Raleigh for my music therapy internship. During my internship, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and Peter was forced to evacuate. He ended up moving to Wake Forest to finish out his MDiv at Southeastern. When I walked into my first Old Testament class this semester, he was the first person I saw when I walked through the door. We re-introduced ourselves and he decided the next week to switch seats and sit next to me (I knew what he was doing all along! Haha). A month later he asked me to "hang out." Then after 5 weeks of praying about us and seeking wisdom from others, he made our relationship official!



This first picture is from the night after he made it official. I was at his church helping him with HarvestFest with a bunch of kids.



This picture is from before our date to IMAX. We had one picture of us together, but we wanted a nice one!



The movie we saw at IMAX was a 3D film, so here we are looking ridiculous in our 3D glasses!


Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about this amazing man! You can see his love for the Lord in his words and actions daily and he treats me with the utmost respect, gentleness, and integrity. What's really funny is that we have SO many differences. We figure that it just makes the relationship more interesting! It wouldn't be very fun to be in a relationship with someone that was exactly like yourself! Luckily, none of our differences have been too big of a deal!

Pray for us as he moves to Myrtle Beach to serve as a US/C2 missionary for the North American Mission Board. It will be hard being away from him for two years, but I know he is doing exactly what the Lord wants him to do, so I definitely support him.

He's a great guy, I hope you can all meet him soon if you haven't already!

IHOP with Patti!

This morning was my last morning with the Patti until she comes back to visit! We ate breakfast at IHOP before she drove off to spend time with her cousin and then move up to New York. Here are some funny pictures from the morning!

On her cell phone. Typical.

We had the camera set up on top of her car and kept trying to use the timer to take our picture! Haha! These are funny pictures from that experience:



Look at how full the car is!

Waving Goodbye!

Driving off :(

Patti's Birthday

Long overdue pictures of Patti's birthday at The Cheesecake Factory! I got up to tell our waitor it was Patti's birthday, and when I got back they had taken like 30 pictures on my camera! So...here are a few of my favorites.

Patti's Birthday

Patti's birthday was today! Look for pictures from the celebration at The Cheesecake Factory coming soon....

Jessica and John Hardin

The last wedding of my summer and I got to spend it in Charleston! Yay! It was great to return to my stomping grounds, but I was definitely sad cuz I didn't realize how much I missed it down there.

Jessica and John Hardin - August 5, 2006

So happy!

Citadel tradition. They must kiss before the cadets let the newly-weds through. What you don't see in this picture is the painful smack on the butt that Jessica got after the kiss from the sword of the cadet to her right.

I took a cool picture of the cake. I like trying to be artsy sometimes :)


Yes, there was an ice sculpture! Can you see the fruit around the bottom of it? And the giant martini glasses holding the chocolate to dip the fruit in? Yum!


Must have been a funny story, Daniel!


Frances, Me, Emily, and Alex hanging out at the reception. The food was some of the best food I have ever had at a wedding and the decorations were gorgeous!


This made me wanna gag cuz it was so sweet! John joined the live band to sing a song to Jessica. Then he got off the stage to dance with her while he was singing to her. Did you see that, God? Are you taking notes? :)


The back of Jessica's dress. Isn't it gorgeous?!


Congrats to all the newlyweds from this summer! God bless you in your marriage!

Updates?

For some reason, my blog is not updating. Did I go so long without using it that it shut down? I have changed my picture several times and updated my profile, but it still seems to appear the same. I've also written entries....but do you see them? NO! Where are they?

Emily and Todd Bennett

Emily and Todd Bennett - July 8, 2006

Exchanging Rings

He sure went after that kiss!

Mike P. signing the "guest book"

Me and Patti

Even the youngest of attendees had a good time! I got a chance to hold little Elijah for part of the reception, but people kept coming up to me asking questions like, "Awe, how old is he? Is he your first?" Yeah, I decided to give him back after that!

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett

What a waste

No, not just this blog. My life. What a waste. What am I really doing with my life? I'm doing nothing that i wanted to do by 23; i'm working at starbucks, now for really no reason since the biggest reason i started working there was to have benefits; i'm going to seminary for what? i'm in the middle of applying to grad school why? i live with my mom which is a complete disaster, but can't afford to live anywhere else; i thought i was supposed to do career missions in the future, but now really have no clue; not sure if i even really want to do music therapy, but i'm doing it anyway because i need the money; i feel like i would love it if i was actually serving the people that i want to serve, but i can't right now because i'm too busy to do anything besides what i have to do for work; i'm sick of living this life.... for some reason right now it seems meaningless. I know it's not. I know He gives my life meaning. He is the reason for me even living right now. My life is meant to glorify Him. Ok. I know this. But what is it that is going to glorify Him? I have no direction. I have no clue where to go from here in order to glorify Him most. I want to find joy in the purpose He has for this life of mine. I'm not happy. I know He does not exist to make me happy. I am not one of those people who say, "God wants me to be happy." I know that is not His chief purpose. But doesn't He want me to find joy in the things He has designed for me to do? Then why do I not like my life right now? Right now... really for the past year. I feel like I'm doing nothing that I want to be doing. I want to be doing what He wants me to be doing. Is this really it? Then I should be content with it. Is it something else? Then show me!!!! Why is it that the only time I'm really happy is when I'm singing to Him or shoveling concrete in some foreign country for a family that has nothing, but everything at the same time? I love Him, I love music, I want to serve Him through music. I want to serve His people using music. But what does this mean exactly? I need a man. LOL. I need a biblical husband in my life to give me some leadership! Chip, I hope you're working on that list for me! Too bad my heart has been drawn to a man for a very long time and he couldn't care less about my existence! Right now I'm pushing myself in so many different directions, that I don't know which way is up. I just desire that the Lord would give me definite direction for the here and now. I trust Him with my life and my future, and I know that His plans for me are to give me hope and those plans will all end up good in the long run, but do I trust Him with my immediate future?

July Fourth Adventures

Patti and I decided to celebrate this Independence Day by grabbing some Mexican food and watching some fireworks. However, nobody seemed to tell us that all the Mexican restaurants in Raleigh would be closed because the Mexicans that own them are celebrating their independence from...oh wait...it's an American holiday celebrating our independence from the British. Someone tell me again why they were all closed? We tried Chipotle, then La Rancherita, then El Rodeo, and finally ended up at Chili's. After all that, Patti was ready to go home and watch the fireworks from her porch. I wouldn't let that happen! I dragged her down to the fairgrounds where we could have a better view! We ended up parking in the Vet School parking lot figuring that would be the closest we could get.

I laid down the blanket when we got there. Patti said, "Oh good, put it where the grass is tallest and there are more spiders." I had my reasons. Think about it, we either lay it down in the tall grass where we could get more cushion or on the rocks. It would've helped if Patti had remembered that she had lawn chairs BEFORE we got to the Vet School. Anyway, a couple walked by a few minutes later with their kids and I quote the mom, "Sweethearts, let's stay over here where the grass is shorter." Patti and I lost it. We knew it would be fun night arfter that!


I have to admit, I picked a spot with a GREAT view...


I tried to take some pictures of us, but couldn't seem to get the camera centered...


I realized it needed to be moved over some, so I tried again...


By the time I got it right, we were sick of pictures...


While we were waiting for the fireworks to start, some people in the parking lot decided to show us their own fireworks display...


Finally, the show started... it lasted all of 10 minutes...


We decided to leave before the grand finale in order to fight the traffic....it didn't work...


For the rest of the ride home, we had the windows rolled down and the AC cranked up while singing/screaming to our new favorite song, Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, KT Tunstall.

All in all, it was a great night. Fun was had by all!

Weddings and Anniversaries!

Today is the first anniversary of my blog!

AND it's wedding season again! I have only been to two so far, but there are many more to go! I thought you might like to see some of the pretty brides! So here are a few samples of the two weddings I have been to:

Nate and Julie Powell - May 28, 2006

Vows

Me, Meg Blinson, and soon-to-be Emily Bennett

Josh Blinson helping out in the kitchen!

Mark and Shelly King - June 10, 2006

Vows

Horse and carriage! How romantic!

Goofy Groomsmen!

Mexico

Ok...remember that post about Mexico? Well, here's the deal. It was an amazing trip that God used to teach all of us so many things and it almost seemed like He blessed us more than the people we were serving! Anyway - I'm pretty sure most of the people that went on the trip have finished paying for it. However, I haven't. I really didn't want to do this, but I'm thinking that maybe the reason I didn't want to do this was because of my pride. I think I just need to chuck the pride issue because I need help! There is no way I can finish paying for this trip when I compare my bills to my paychecks. I haven't even been paid for the month of April yet, so my bills are even getting behind. I know there are people out there that love supporting missions. I know there are people that love financially supporting people since they cannot go themselves. Would you be willing to help me find those people?

Friends...

I have been realizing over the past few years who my true friends are and how I don't have any. Ever since my friends have started getting married, I have been coming to a realization that I don't really have any real friends because of whom they choose to put in their wedding parties. No, I'm not saying that because I didn't get picked I feel rejected. That's not where I'm going with this. I think that the wedding party represents something else besides who stands up there to be recognized. Those people are the people who have walked through life with you in the good and bad and who love you just as much as you love them. They are the friends that you want to stand with you as they have stood by you through thick and thin. Now, don't misunderstand me and think that I'm trying to throw myself a pity-party because that is not what this is about.

On my wedding day, I might have one bridesmaid. And again, it is not that I'm worried about who I'm going to have in my wedding, I'm sad about what these people represent in my life...or how there is no one representing that type of person in my life. I don't have any real friends that go deeper with me than just a friend at church who I see once or maybe twice a week and who possibly prays for me once in a while. What is it that I'm missing? Is there some key to friendship that I just don't understand? If there is, I would absolutely love to know what that is, because I'm obviously missing something. Why is it that I'm not a good friend? Please don't comment and say stupid crap that refutes me saying that I'm not a good friend because I don't want to hear it. I seriously want to hear what it is that I can do to be a better friend to you. What can I do to show you that I love you in Christ and want to walk through life with you and encourage you and challenge you?

Is it that the Lord is preparing me for missions? I know I'm supposed to do missions, but maybe this is God's way of making it that much easier to pack up and move overseas when He calls because I certainly won't have any attachments here. I seriously think two people might be sad if I ever leave. Still, not a pity-party, just the cold hard facts.

Thinking...

I was just sitting and thinking today, dangerous, I know. But seriously. What is the point of me even liking any guy? I am never going to try to put myself in a situation where that particular guy would see me more often than he would with a normal friendship/acquaintance at church kind of relationship. I don't want to make myself noticeable. I don't want him to be attracted to me because I have put myself in front of him enough times that he starts to be attracted to me. I just want him to like me for my love for God and my passion for Christ and ministry/missions/music. Then I also believe that the guy should be the initiator of a relationship. So...where do I come into play? What do I do but just sit back and trust God and wait for that guy to come? Why does my heart even start to form crushes on guys when really I can't do much of anything about those crushes? Hmm .... anyone have any thoughts?

Mexico Spring 2006

REYNOSA, MEXICO

As most of you know, the college ministry at Providence took a group of students to Reynosa, Mexico over Spring Break. I was so blessed to be able to be a part of this team and form the relationships that I did. It was so hard to go home and sleep in my lonely room without 8 other girls in beds surrounding me. I miss all of you so much! We all grew close together and I feel like we really became a big family while in Mexico. I will now share a couple pictures with you and tell you just a little bit about our trip. I wish I had room to tell you more, but this will have to do!

Our trip there was rather quick. We all hopped on a plane to Houston, then another one to McAllen, then spent the night at a hotel in McAllen. The next day we drove over the border into Reynosa.


















When we got into Reynosa, we settled into our rooms and then went to tour Naranjito, the colony where we were going to work. The next day was church! This is the weird part, we played volleyball with the kids in between Sunday School and the church service! Yup, there we were in our skirts and nice dress pants playing volleyball in the dirt! How fun!
The next day we got to see the house that we were going to work on. This is what the house looked like when we got out of the vans for the first time on the work site:




We layed all the bricks to finish the walls of the house within the first couple of days.






We didn't have any of those fancy cement mixing machines. We WERE the cement mixing machines. Just hand us a shovel and we'll show you how it's done!:


















We then poured cement into wooden frames to make the columns on each of the corners of the house and in the middle of the walls. After that, we poured a rim of cement around the top of the house:

Then we went and poured a cement roof on another house while this one dried. That is the day I broke my finger! A bucket that had just been emptied of cement was thrown down from the roof and hit my hand the wrong way! Ouch! My finger got really big and turned a nice shade of black. I finally got an x-ray when we got back to America and they verified that it was indeed broken. Natalie's lip also got busted this day. Those were the two major injuries of our trip. Other than that, there were a lot of cuts, scrapes, bruises, and cement burns! That's me, catching the buckets...probably not the smartest of all jobs!

















Then we went back to the first house and layed the last two layers of brick on top and dedicated the house .



Besides work, we got to have two cookouts for the Mexicans in Naranjito. It was a blast playing with the kids and sharing about Christ using gospel bead bracelets where each color represented a part of the Gospel.



At night, we generally all hung out in the kitchen, our primary meeting area. Give us a couple minutes of spare time, we're bound to start up a game of Charades!





It was not uncommon to see random animals standing in the road, or running across the road for that matter! It gave the joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" a whole new meaning!





In our free time, or while we were taking breaks on the work sites, we also got to practice our Spanish and talk to Mexican co-workers. It was neat forming those relationships throughout the week and to see how God was using what little Spanish some of us knew. One guy even prayed with one of our team mates to ask Christ into his life. Praise God! Please be praying with us for the rest of the people we spent time with down there. We hope to keep building these relationships as we continue to return to Mexico over Spring Break each year.

God was so awesome on this trip and I feel like I am not doing Him justice at all by telling you just this little information! Please ask any of us about the trip, I'm sure we'll talk your ear off!

To see the rest of my pictures, just go HERE!

New Update!

Wow, so sorry it has been so long since my last post! However, I do have good reasons. One was that I went to Mexico for a week and couldn't blog. The next is that when I was in Mexico, I broke my finger so that when I got back, I couldn't blog. Third is that when I got back from Mexico I had one week to finish planning a conference for all the music therapy students in the Southeastern Region of the US that was to take place in Louisville, KY. No time to blog! I'm so glad it's over though! It was fun and it went well, but I'm glad I'm not the president of the region anymore, that was way too much responsibility! Fourth is that while I was in KY, my computer crashed. Therefore, even though my finger is starting to get better, I've had to do a ton of work on my computer to get it to where it somewhat runs. See? I told you I had good reasons!

So...lots of stuff has been happening that you don't know about! It's been pretty exciting this past month and a half around this house! Right when I got back from Mexico, my boss told me she was moving to Florida and that I had a decision to either find a new job somewhere or make my own company so that I could keep my contracts. I had two days to make this decision, so I decided to make my own company. I am now a small business owner! Shelly is working on my logo and then Jason will work on a web page when she's done with that (right Jason?! Haha!). I have the greatest friends! Anyway, other than starting Medicinal Music of Raleigh and working at Starbucks, I haven't really been up to much of anything else. My next post will be all about Mexico and you will finally get to see some of my pictures! They are on webshots, so I'll put a link in my next post to that site...if I can find it. I don't have it bookmarked anymore because I lost everything from my old computer.....hmm.....we'll see!

Baby Roark is Here!

Congratulations Nick and Allison Roark! Welcome to the world Elijah Roark!

I just wanted to post some pictures from visiting mom, dad, and baby Roark today! Elijah Luke Roark was born today weighing exactly 8 pounds and was 21 inches long. Praise God that labor apparently went very smooth and quick! Of course, mom looks terrific, and baby is gorgeous and healthy too!





The first time Elijah really cried was when Allison changed his diaper for the first time! Haha, I wouldn't like it either baby Roark!


I was so excited that I got to hold this little miracle! Everything about pregnancy and babies is just so amazing to me! God is just phenomenal!

A myriad of emotions

I am frustrated. I am angry. I am sad. I am so many different emotions right now.

I am so frustrated with myself that I am complaining about having a stupid sinus infection. Although it is very painful and annoying, it is definitely not going to kill me. My one and only female best friend, she probably doesn't even know that I would consider her that, is very ill. Yet she continues to seek the Lord consistently and trusts Him that He is good and that He knows what He is doing through this. She loves Him genuinely and with her whole heart and really doesn't complain all that much, if at all. Here I am upset with the way things are going in my life right now because of being over-worked, dealing with a myriad of health problems and family issues, a recent break-up, financial problems, etc, etc, and she doesn't even really get upset at the fact that she is very sick with a disease that has killed only God knows how many people.

I am so angry. I am angry that she has to go through this. I want to make it better. I want to take it on myself to take it off of her. She has been through so much, why this? Why now? Why can't I take her place God? HEAL HER! I'm not ready for You to take her away from me yet!!!!! Lord please hear my cry! God who has brought us through so many trials and so many pits, save her!

I am so sad. I am sad because I know that whatever God decides to do with her life, it is for His glory. I have to remember that this could mean her leaving this world. With tears in my eyes, I have to remember that it would actually be better for her to be with Jesus. It would be better for Him to take her home and for her to get a completely new glorious body.

Pray for her. Pray for those who are closest to her who are also praying for her. If you know her, love her. Remind her of God's nearness when things start getting worse, as this is only the beginning.

Reading, lots of reading

Wow, I've been doing a lot of reading lately! The Cross and Christian Ministry by Carson has proved to be a very convicting and informative book about applying the gospel, the cross, to every aspect of Christian ministry. I've learned so much about how messed up and unfocused Modern Western evangelicalism has become in so many places; how the Holy Spirit is the initiator and perfector of our faith; how God brings every individual person together with the gifts He has given them in a ministry to accomplish His purposes. I could go on and on!

A Call to Spiritual Reformation has been good so far, but then again I've only read a few pages of it! It is a book about bringing us back to the most central important problem in today's church. We need to know God more! The way Carson suggests that we take a step in the right direction is through prayer. I'll let you know more later!

When People Are Big and God is Small has also taught me a lot in a very short period of time. After only a few pages, you begin to realize that every single person has the fear of man in them. You start reading and thinking about how this book could apply to many people, then Welch starts asking you poignant questions about your own thoughts and behaviors and shows you that you yourself also struggle with "peer pressure" or "self esteem" as the world would call it. I'm only in chapter 2, so I'll have to let you know more later!

And for my last and most important book, The Bible. Wow. I've been reading it almost non-stop for the past two weeks and all it has been doing is increas