Everybody Praise the Lord

In light of Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays) I thought this blog would be very appropriate.

1.     I am thankful for the gift of salvation. Without Jesus I am nothing and I have absolutely nothing.

2.     I am thankful for parents – the way they’ve raised me and support me, and for the example they are to me.

3.     I am thankful for my baby sisters, Lydia, Alisan, Jamie – they are my best friends. I can’t imagine doing and walking through life without them (even on their most annoying and obnoxious days).

4.     I am thankful for the rest of my family – Grammie, Grandma Alice, Aunt Betty, Uncle Russell, Justin, Stephanie, Brandon, Aunt Alicia, David, and Ashlie. I am thankful for your love, support, and friendship and the way you care for me.

5.     I am thankful for my best friends. Regardless of whether we’ve been friends since kindergarten or we’re fairly new friends, know that you are special to me and I treasure our friendship.

6.     I am thankful for a church family in Tallowood Baptist Church, which is completely committed to teaching the truth of the gospel and to missions.

7.     I am thankful for the numerous adults and mentors I have in my life. I am thankful for your commitment to Christ and the way it manifests in your life. As a result many of you have shaped and influenced my life in ways you didn’t even know.

8.     I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to serve Him in another country.

9.     I am thankful that while I am here God has constantly provided for me – financially, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

10. I am thankful for hospitals, doctors, and nurses that figure out what’s wrong with my dad and who take care of him when he is sick. I am thankful for God’s hand of healing on my dad’s body.

11. I am thankful for the Tango app. Seriously, this is my new favorite app. I can text and talk on my phone to people anywhere for FREE as long as I am connected to wifi.

12. I am thankful for food. Even though I am not eating yummy thanksgiving food with my family I am thankful that there is food on my table for me to eat. So many people, including some of my kids don’t get enough to eat on a daily basis.

13. I am thankful for water. It’s such a basic necessity that we all too often take for granted.

14. I am thankful for the opportunity to have received an education from a great university and for the opportunity to continue that education when I return to Texas.

15. I am thankful for my pets. I miss my cats and my dogs (yes, even the two little bratty ones). They’re so great to snuggle with especially my black lab/dalmatian; she’s a lap dog right??

16. I am thankful for my Bible. Being able to have the word of God in my hand, to hold and read is such a treasure and blessing.

17. I am thankful for music. Need I say more?

18. I am thankful for sports. If you know me at all you know that I love sports. I can’t explain it, but I love them and I love my teams. For those of you wondering, yes I got to see Texas A&M beat Alabama while in Honduras!

19. I am thankful for cameras and pictures that capture and preserve memories.

20. I am thankful for all of the kids I babysit for in the US. I love the time I’ve spent with them. And, I love to look back at pictures and videos of us and remember and laugh.

21. I am thankful for the ability to drive. I (for obvious reasons) am not allowed to drive in Honduras and sometimes it makes me crazy, especially when I have to wait for half an hour for a taxi. I’m so blessed to know how to drive and to have a car so I can go wherever I want or need, whenever I want, something I have definitely taken for granted for at home.

22. I am thankful for the beautiful world God created. The view outside my bedroom is absolutely stunning. The mountains – incredible. Good job God, you’re a great artist.

23. I am thankful for shoes and socks that are not falling apart, that I can wear to keep my feet safe and dry. So many of my kids are not that lucky.

24. I am thankful for Buckner International and the work they’re doing in the US and around the world – specifically in Honduras through Buckner Honduras and the staff here.

25. I am thankful for nail polish. I know that sounds silly. But, sometimes its fun for me to sit down and paint my nails with my girls and feel kind of girly.

26. I am thankful for how much fun God has made it to learn and improve on my Spanish speaking. I truly enjoy going to Spanish class three times a week and practicing with my girls and with my students.

27. I am thankful that I have a house that I can call a home.

28. I am thankful that I have a bed to sleep in, here and in Texas. I recently learned that at the orphanage some of the teenage girls don’t have beds to sleep in at night and that breaks my heart.

29. I am thankful for Tallowood and Breakaway podcasts. They’re a little bit of home from afar.

30. I am thankful for the protection of the Buckner staff while living in another country. I know they always have my safety in mind. 

And now for a few birthday shout outs.

Happy birthday to my friend Drew, my cousins Brandon & Justin, and my lovely friend Amber. I hope yall all have great times celebrating your birthdays this week!

Thanks & gig 'em.
Peace, love, and pursue Jesus.

Kellie

Never Alone

First, I would like to apologize for the lack of blogging and updates. I think its safe to say blogging is not my thing. But don’t worry I’ll keep blogging because my sisters said I had to (they’re kinda bossy like that).

So, this past week was a little different for a few reasons. First, I had a different translator with me instead of my sweet Giselle. She was wonderful but it was a little bit of an adjustment to not be with my friend. Second, in the afternoon instead of teaching English to the kids at the CTC I taught English to the moms of the kids at the CTC. Third, my dad was in the hospital all of last week and its not every week your dad is hanging out in the hospital and having surgery (back to that in a second).

Teaching English to the moms at the CTC had me extremely nervous (you can ask my parents) I had no idea what to teach them or how to approach teaching a group of people older than me because its something I am definitely not used to doing. I could teach kids all day long but adults, well that’s a little bit different. Thankfully, God calmed my nerves and worries from pretty much the first second I walked into the classroom with all of the moms. I decided it was best to start from the beginning and learn simple phrases like, “Hello, what is your name?” and “How are you?” It wound up being a really wonderful time to interact with the moms. They were all so sweet to me and thankful that I was there to help them learn English. I’m looking forward to getting to spend more time with them while I am here.

Okay, now back to my dad situation. I’ll give yall a quick summary for those of you that are not aware of what has been going on recently. My dad was sick on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with what they thought was a stomach virus and he got super dehydrated causing his pacemaker to go off and shock him seven times early Friday morning. Apparently this feels like having an elephant kick your chest, but I wouldn’t know for sure because, well, I don’t actually have my own pacemaker (although I’ve asked my dad if can get one to survive some of the Texas A&M football games I have to sit through) and I’ve never actually had an elephant walk on my chest. So, my dad called 911 and they took him to the hospital, they found out he had an infection in his blood but an unusual one (of course my father can’t make things easy). A few days and tests later they found out it was a problem with his gallbladder and that he would need to have it removed. Thursday my dad had surgery and he went home Friday after a long week in the hospital. All of this (not so quick) summary to say I was worried about my dad. I spent the majority of the week physically present in the classroom with my students and moms or at the house with the girls but not at all emotionally or mentally present with them. This was not at all fair to them, but I more than anything just wanted to be in Texas with my family. After all, Lydia got to come home (and skip class, shame on her) to be with our family and I wanted to be there too, but not exactly an option. I was praying that God would have his hand of healing and strength over my dad and that He would calm my anxious heart. But seriously, the sinful, anxious, worrier part of me would have no part of that; on I went about my business of being anxious and worried about everything, constantly. God did however give me a beautiful, much needed reminder of his constant presence and faithfulness. I posted this on Facebook a few days ago, but I’ll post it here too.

“When your mind moves toward a problem area, you tend to focus on that situation so intensely that you lose sight of Me. You pit yourself against the difficulty as if you had to conquer it immediately…When a problem starts to overshadow your thoughts, bring this matter to Me. Talk with me about it and look at it in the light of My presence…You will always face trouble in this life. But more importantly, you will always have with you, helping you to handle whatever you encounter.” – Jesus Calling

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15

God is faithful, always. In the seemingly good and in the seemingly bad, He is always faithful and He is always present. He promises to walk with us through every situation and to help us overcome, all we have to do is turn to Him and allow Him to. God is constantly using situations to remind me of His faithfulness, His goodness, and His provision. There is no reason to fear or worry because I know who my God is.

The whole situation makes me think of one of my favorite songs: “Shadows” by David Crowder Band and Lecrae. Go listen to it, because it’s wonderful. I love the words. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3VeFdkyHE

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for my focus; that my heart and my mind would be here in SPS not worrying about happenings at home. Pray that I would concentrate on walking with my Savior and that He would show me every opportunity to share Him.

Please pray for my dad’s continued healing and recovery after his surgery and stay in the hospital.

Please pray for my girls at the transition home. A few of them are moving out soon! Pray that they are prepared, that they have peace about the situation they are walking into, that they would trust God in every aspect of this transition. And pray that the time we spend together is fruitful, beneficial, and glorifying to God.

Please pray for the English class I teach in the morning and for the students I have been able to build relationships with, that those would continue and that they would see Jesus reflected.

Starting this week I am going to one of the orphanages every afternoon. Please pray that God would show me how He wants me to be involved here and what He has in store for Casitas. Most of all pray that these teenage girls would know the saving power and grace of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for my Spanish and its continued improvement. It is getting better, but sometimes it just makes my brain hurt, haha.

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support. It is because of your faithfulness to pray and support me that I am able to be here.

If you would like to continue to support me financially, please go to the donation tab at www.buckner.org and enter my trip code, HO12-LT01.

Thanks and gig 'em.

Peace, love, and pursue Jesus!

Kellie