christmas music

i'm pretty cynical when it comes to christmas music

(total surprise, huh?)

but i am grateful for bands like this that take something 

that has become so routine and have made it unique.

truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother.

and in His name all oppression shall cease.

sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

let all within us praise His holy name!

 

more stories: taking a break

i'm kind of at a standstill with this series of blogs. 

and blogging in general. 

and i'm waiting for more photos before i can tell more stories

(pun totally intended).

wipe away those tears.

i'll be back.

sooner or later.

the basket

matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

i read this while i was with the church on sunday.

the pastor wasn't preaching through this section,

but the Spirit brought it to my attention.

instant conviction.

i have allowed the light of the Lord that dwells in me

to be put under a basket.

the worst part:

i put the basket there myself.

the hard part:

how do i get the basket off?

Lord, by your pefect grace and power, help me take the basket off this light.

more stories: hospital immanuel

while overseas, i had the privilege to visit a baptist hospital.

i knew it was going to have a western influence since the  it had been started by westerners.

it is now nationally run and it has the best reputation in the city.

that day, i donned my nurse hat scrubs

and headed to the hospital on the other side of the city.

i was going to have the chance to tour the hospital and chat with some of the staff.

my friend acted as my translator 

(which, by the way, is difficult when "nursing" is already a second language).

we met with something similar to the nurse educator. 

she had received education from different countries

and was well rounded in her nursing education.

in short, #legit.

she took us on a tour of the facility being sure to visit each unit.

from peds to post-partum,

from clinics to ICU.

ICU was my favorite. the nurses and i talked.

we talked EKG's, post CABG, and ventilators.

my nurse-y heart was happy.

well, over-flowing actually.

[i forgot my camera during this part]

the hospital is in such high demand, they are building a new one.

 pretty cool, eh?

next, i spent some timing talk with some nursing students.

it was a fun exchange, but i felt so inadequate.

their eagerness to learn was exciting.

my inability to answer their questions was ridiculous.

i also talked with some staff members.

it was fun, but once again, humbling.

humbling to see how hard they work, how knowledgeable they are,

and how much they care.

on the left is a nurse who works in the clinic and she's wearing her thursday uniform.

(yes, a uniform for each day of the week)

we were basically instant friends.

next to her is the nurse educator.

as stated before, she is amazing.

overall, it was an amazing experience.

i feel blessed that i was able to experience a place that 

has become a beacon of the love and light of Christ

Ways to Pray:

-pray that this community of nurses would continue to live out the Gospel as they love on the sick and take place in healing

-pray that nurses would be bold in sharing Christ with patients, families, and coworkers.

-pray that God would continue to use this hospital as His vessel to make His name known in this city

musings

i haven't really felt like blogging lately. there are just so many thoughts in my head that i don't know what to do with them all. last night, i was wide awake in bed, even though i hadn't slept in almost 30 hours. my mind just would not stop. so here are a few things that've been going through my head lately.

• i really like being a nurse. despite my inadequacies and occasional coworker drama, the Lord affirms over and over again that He has made me for this task. i am overwhelmed when i think how perfect His plan is!

• half a serving of multi-grain cheerios, half a serving of raisin bran, and a half cup of milk. breakfast of champions

• i have a hard time accepting that friendship have to change. it takes me a long time to see that they are different (and experience the full gamut of emotions in the process).  but i find hope that in the midst of changes, Father is my constant.

• i've finally accepted it's close to winter. scarfs and my northface are becoming common place in my wardrobe.  i'm just not ready for christmas. i want to savor thanksgiving, remembering it's a time set aside to praise and thank God. what a blessing that we have a holiday set aside for that!

• i found out another friend will be moving overseas after the first of the year. i know that the Lord has clearly told me to wait, but my anxious and overly-eager heart wants to go more and more acutely.

• jergens natural glow lotion. 'nough said.

• i really want to adopt. lately, the Lord has been putting stories of orphans and orphanages in my path. i just can't get it out of my head.

• i am getting busy again. i've been over-booking my life, not allowing for set aside time to savor the Lord and His goodness. this is an issue. pray is appreciated in fixing that.

i think that's really it, more or less, at least. this weekend i head down to socal for the second time this month to celebrate with my beautiful friend and sister as she weds an amazing man of God. i love being able to celebrate this special time with my friends!

thanks for reading these simple musings.

More Stories: university

my friend works with university students.

part of her job is to meet and share Truth with them.

one of the days i was there, we hit up some of the universities.

the first university we went to was run by muslims.

we know some bule who work there, so we went and said hello

and then we prayer walked a bit

 we almost walked in the mosque area with our shoes on.

juto for sure.

(ya, i know, juto is nepali. bare with me)

after our time there, we hitched a ride 

to the city's "public" university.

we were meeting up with one of her students, 

but we were early, so we prayer walked.

i love to prayer walk. it's a humbling and Spirit-filled 

way to come before the Throne of Grace.

but i definitely struggled with it this day.

maybe it's that i was "out of practice,"

maybe it was the head cold,

maybe it was the profound darkness that seemed to weigh me down.

not too sure, but gonna go with the latter.

behind and across the road from the university

is a training center.

people go there to practice for the hajj.

you can see the picture of the training center at the 

upper right hand corner of the previous collage.

see the fake kaaba?

  we prayer walked the area.

i don't really have any words to describe it.

dark?

oppressive?

felt lostness?
i think you get the idea.

the saddest part to me is how deeply rooted the darkness is.

as i experience different cultures, 

there seems to be a common thread:

lostness is lostness

and people are so easily blinded and hardened to the darkness.

and by people i mean the human race.

i pray that believers in san mateo, california, and in all the world

would battle against the strong forces of apathy

and face darkness and lostness head on.

join me in prayer:

-pray for the Light of Christ to shine brightly among the few believers who attend these campuses

-pray that stone hearts would be utterly shattered by the truth of the Gospel

-pray that students, professors, and the administration would have dreams and visions of Christ and that they would repent and believe the Gospel

-pray that the training center would be shut down/destroyed and that it would be evident that it was an act of the true God

jams

i recently acquired some new tune-age. 

among this list of songs was hillsong's "sing to the Lord."

honestly, it's great. 

enjoy!