Gratitude: The Response To Grace

Every day we are surrounded by choices and decisions, small choices and big choices. "What if I go to college here or there?" "What if I don't go at all?" "What if I pick the wrong career path?" "What if when the time comes I marry the wrong person?" At this age and time in my life, there are what feels like many big decisions to be made. Lots of growing up to be done and many overwhelming changes happening. I think one of the biggest and most common questions that followers of Christ start to ask themselves at this time is, "What is God's will for my life?" and "How can I figure it out?" 
After some stressing and freaking out about life and it's sometimes confusing adventures I found the answer. Here it is:  

"Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Remind yourself: God is here, I am His, let's hang out. Be in a continuous, active relationship with our maker. 

There isn't a map lined out in front of us telling us to do this and that. We still have many choices and decisions to make. But the truth is that He made us in his image. So therefore make choices, but know that if your heart's in the right place you will make wiser choices. If you're tuned into His heart you'll make loving choices. We get to make choices. It's a privilege. He made us in His image for a reason. But here is the kind of heart we should have to enable us to make those wise choices: rejoice always, pray continuously, and in everything be thankful. That is God's will for us. 

Disclaimer: I got to pondering upon all of this after listening to a podcast titled End of Religion from Woodland Hills Church. If I learned anything through school it was not to plagiarize. And for whatever reason I would feel guilty haven written all that and not telling you from where it was inspired by. I think my English teachers would be proud. #walkervalley 

So along with all of that, something that has also been on my heart are some questions. Or you could see them as doubts. Doubt is a normal part of faith and life. And not something we should be ashamed of. I think doubt, uncertainty, and curiosity lead to a stronger faith and more wisdom. 

It's awesome how God can bring people into your life at just the right time. For the past year, I've really been thinking about what it is I believe. I love the Lord with my whole being and believe Jesus is my Savior. But why do I believe this? I don't want to just be a Christian who loves Jesus and attends church. Those were thoughts that would run through my mind every once in awhile but with the distractions of life it wasn't too hard to ignore or get side tracked. But a few days ago, a friend and I were talking and these questions were unveiled again. My friend asked, "Do you ever have doubts about religion? Maybe not about God, but about christianity? Sometimes I can't get passed the idea of hell. How can better people than me go to hell? And then what about other religions? What makes me right? The fact that I just happened to be born in America in a strong Christian family?" All of these are valid questions. The one thought that comes to mind when thinking this is "Seek and you will find Me."

I've been in Paraguay for almost 3 months. Which means I'm already half way through this journey. Craziness. And having been living on my own for the first time and being somewhat disconnected from the distractions back home, it's made me really start to think and dig deeper into these questions that I had simply tossed aside in the past. 

I asked my dad these same questions and he responded, "As far as hell is concerned, no one goes to hell that doesn’t want to…having said that, if a person spends all their time on earth trying to avoid God, you have to wonder why they would want to go to heaven…it will be especially hard to avoid Him there. On people born in other nations and people groups…the question to ask is, “Can Jesus get to people in spite of their belief systems?” The answer is, “Absolutely!” In fact, He may be able to reach a Muslim easier than a Christian. Being born in “Christian America” can actually be a more difficult hurdle to finding Jesus than a Hindu born in India. Bottom line: there is no belief system that Jesus cannot get through to rescue people…He does it every day.”

All so true. I don’t consider myself a religious person. I don’t believe religion was God’s original intent. I love the Lord and desire to have an intimate relationship with Him. I want to “wrestle” with Him and dig deeper into the Kingdom of God. It was really comforting and inspiring to see that there are people my age, male and female, that are making an effort to think for themselves and seek the Lord on a much deeper level. My parent’s always told my siblings and I that one of the best things you can do is to “learn to think for yourself. Don’t let others think for you.”




So yeah. That’s what’s been on my mind and heart these past few weeks.
As far as Paraguay, it’s wonderful! And the children are even better!! :)
Teaching may not be my thing haha, but the experience is awesome. I have to remind myself I’m in the middle of South America doing what many people dream of doing. It has been and is continuing to be a blessing. Definitely starting to realize that the good-byes that will come sooner than later are going to be hard. Spanish and English are basically all we do here haha. When we’re not teaching we are constantly having people and kids over wanting to practice English in exchange for help with our Spanish.
I’m about to celebrate my 19^th birthday here Paraguayan/American style. And maybe even a little Canadian since my two fellow interns are from Canada and just so happened to bring Canada cupcake liners with them haha :) This will be my second birthday celebrated in a foreign country! So here’s to 3 more months in Paraguay!

Thought of the Day: Gratitude is the response to grace. It just makes since. 

P.S. I got attacked by another frog in the middle of the night last night…my dislike for frogs is steadily increasing. 

~Aubree    

Padre

I could not have been blessed with a more amazing earthly father than the one that God blessed me with. In these past few months of living on my own and in a completely different country and culture, I have really started to see what an impact you have had on my life.

You are so wise, you have the kindest heart, your patience is abundant, and you share joy (and most definitely a laugh) with each person you encounter.

I remember being a little girl and going on one of our many Saturday morning, one-on-one Walmart dates. We were standing in line and you were talking to yourself quietly, as usual. I asked what you were thinking and you said you were simply praying for the man in front of us. You said, "that's part of what loving God's people is. You don't have to know them or anything about them, but they are family in God's eye's so we should pray for them like we do our own. And by doing so you will learn to be in a constant state of prayer, praying even when you don't realize it. The joy that that will bring you is like none other." Like I said, very wise.

I find myself walking the streets of Paraguay and really wishing I had you walking by my side and your arm to grab like we shared countless times walking the streets of Costa Rica.

Your love for reading and inquisitive mind has always been something I admire. Along with the way you seek after God and His kingdom, the way you dance and sing even when everybody is watching (as embarrassing as it could be), how you put ice in your milk and cereal (which is actually delicious), and how you blame anything going on with the weather on the "polar vortex" (of which I honestly think you have no idea what that really is). You are an incredible father, Gran'pa, and husband. You've shown me the kind of man I want to marry one day. Tara, Ryan, Austin, and I are beyond blessed to call you Dad. Happy Birthday! or Feliz Cumple!

Miss you.
Love you to the moon and back:)

~Bree

Daddy's girl from the beginning. 

One of my favorites :)

Costa Rica flashbacks.

A Month in Paraguay

It's been almost a month since I first arrived in Paraguay; an eventful month with a multitude of emotions. 

I began solo teaching about two weeks ago. I'm teaching English to eight different grades (pre-k through 6th) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's a challenge but a good one. The kids are full of energy but adorable:)

Spanish is going well…I think. Everybody keeps telling me I'm going to pick it up fast. And that's been my prayer, so we'll see. I absolutely love the language though and learning in general, so I think with hard work and learning to embrace embarrassment I'll get there haha.  

We've been dealing with major internet issues here which has made this past month a little more difficult when it comes to missing home. On the bright side it has led to lots of movie nights, baking, and heart-to-hearts haha. But Lord willing the situation will be resolved soon. We pray so. We all miss Skype. 

It's funny how that one person that can drive you the craziest is the one you miss the most. Miss you little bro ;)

The other night we had "Cell Groups," a bible study they do here at Hogar El Camino every Wednesday night. Sara leads the older girls of the houses and community and Shaun leads the older guys. At the end, we all split into groups of two to pray for each other. It was neat to see how even though these girls have grown up in different situations than I, we all still battle the same insecurities and difficulties. I'm thankful I'm getting the opportunity to get to know these girls. They are each so gifted in their own way and have incredible futures ahead of them. Definitely, some of the strongest girls I've ever met. 

I'm slowly starting to make connections and build relationships with some of the kids here. Especially the oldest two girls Nilda and Lisa, who just recently got their visas and will be making their way to the states with Shaun and Sara come December for scholarship interviews in hopes of attending college in the states. Their desire for learning and helping others is so evident and inspiring. We've kind of become language buddies. I help them with English and they help me with Spanish. We make a good team haha:) If anyone would like to help toward Nilda and Lisa's trip they would greatly appreciate it. Be keeping them in your prayers.

The 5 intern girls that I have become close friends with only have 3 weeks left before they each return home. I'm thankful I've had each of them at the beginning of this journey. We've made great memories and had lots of laughter:) They will be greatly missed. 

One of my highlights about these past few weeks has been getting a crash course in the World Cup. I've learned more about soccer or "futbol" in the past few weeks than I did going to countless soccer games through high school haha.  

One Saturday morning, I and the other 6 intern girls set our alarms at 5:30 to go climb the water tower in order to see the sunrise, which was a lot higher than it looked but SO much fun. And absolutely gorgeous! I could get used to the scenery here. I'm enjoying having palm trees and fruit trees in my backyard. 

The cold weather here has gotten all my seasons (and holidays) screwed up. I've been in a Christmas mood all week. But we did get a really warm day on the 4th of July. It actually felt like I was in Tennessee. We celebrated July 4th and one of the girl's birthday with a big cookout and fireworks. We all teamed together and attempted to prepare the best "american" meal we could come up with, burgers and lots of delicious desserts. Later in the evening we roasted smores while the men went to set up the fireworks. It was so neat seeing the house kids' responses to their first fireworks experience. Lots of screaming and laughter:)

Bug Report of the Week: I and the other girl interns encountered the biggest spider we have all ever set eyes on. Which lead to us calling the maintenance guy, Milciades, at midnight to come and take care of it. We didn't even feel bad. That thing came straight out of like Jurassic Park. So now I don't do frogs or spiders. 

We currently have a medical mission team here from the Chattanooga/North Georgia area giving all the children in the school and community check-ups and fluoride treatments. A blessing I know I've taken for granted. 

I'm beyond thankful for my bible study back home. Before I left they each wrote me letters so that I would have at least one to open every Thursday while I'm here, making Thursdays my most looked-forward-to day of the week. This past Thursday's letter had a very fitting scripture from Luke. 

"to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve 
Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." 
                                                                     -Luke 1:74-75

Even though I'm so far from home, friends, and family and don't know what my future holds this reminded me that I can "serve Him without fear." 

P.S. I'm happy to report that I did not catch anything on fire or blow anything up in the past few weeks. #feelingaccomplished 

                                                                                                                                                       ~Aubree 

The view from atop the water tower.

Me coping with the spider situation. (All the other
girls were standing on chairs…so I wasn't the only one.) 

 Happy 4th of July and 10th Birthday Christina!

Christina, Nilda, Me, and Lisa

Lisa and Nilda

All the girl interns (Cesia, Vanessa, Bridget, Me, Mandy, Lacey)
and Milciades, the maintaince worker/bug killer. 

I don't like frogs...

Last night I had what my house mates, Amber and Lacey, would call a TIM (This Is Missions) moment. As I was walking to our kitchen to get some water (in complete darkness and barefoot by the way) I preceded to get attacked by a frog…at least it felt that way. I can take snakes and large animals of any kind but slimy, hopping, smallish bugs/insects/amphibians and I do not get along. So after taking a few deep breaths and holding in a scream in order to not wake the 4 girls that arrived yesterday, (I was not going to let their first impression of me to be "this girl can't even handle a little frog") I went and got Lacey to come take care of it. We spent the next few minutes dancing around our living room at midnight trying to catch this frog in a cup. In the end the frog was set free and lived happily ever after doing whatever it is frogs do…that is unless it makes its way back into my house.

The trip down to Paraguay was long but went rather smoothly with no complications. Customs, being the most dreaded and worrisome part of the trip, was actually a breeze and the least confusing and complicated thing all day. After being picked up from the airport by Shaun and Sara we made our way to the town of Itagua, about 20 minutes outside of Asuncion, where Serving Paraguay resides. Immediately upon arriving everything reminded me of Costa Rica. I continue to realize more and more each day how having lived their for ten months when I was 14 is so helpful. The culture shock is still there in some ways, but really it just brings back great memories of CR.

The people of Paraguay and Hogar El Camino are amazing. These kids are so beautiful. It's neat how their individual personalities shine through even with me not having a clue what they're saying 60% of the time haha. I will begin teaching Pre-K through 6th grade English with Amber on Wednesday and then in about 2 weeks I'll be on my own. It's going to be a challenge but I'm excited :). I feel so blessed to be here and blessed by these kids. God's pretty awesome :).

On Thursday they celebrated their national holiday "Dia de la Familia." We went to the school, Tape Pyahu, and played games with the kids, ate hamburgers, and watched them sing and perform their traditional Paraguayan partner dance. Later that night was rough. One of my fears about this journey is something tragic occurring at home and me being so far away. My friends Chris and Ethan were in a terrible car accident on their way home from church camp. I grew up playing with Chris and Ethan since I was about 5 years old. I vividly remember countless nights playing "hide and go seek" and "cops and robbers" till we were told it was too late and time to go to bed. Well, Chris passed away and Ethan is in critical condition with a long road of recovery ahead of him. I'm thankful I was able to see and talk to Ethan the day before I left. It was the first conversation we had had in a very long time. God works in such mysterious ways. Chris will be greatly missed. Please keep Ethan and the family in your prayers.

My dad's love for Proverbs and Psalms has worn off on me over the years. One of my favorite verses has always been Proverbs 3:5-6; a verse I continue to fall back on in times of need and comfort.
     "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
          And lean not on your own understanding;
       In all your ways acknowledge Him, 
          And He shall direct your paths." 

P.S. As I was typing this last sentence, I managed to catch the microwave on fire. (Ironically something I did with our toaster when I lived in CR.) So yeah I think I'm making a big impact… 

P.P.S. No one was hurt and the house did not burn down. Praise the Lord.

                                                                                                                               ~Aubree

Game time. 

Amber and some students doing the traditional Paraguayan partner dance. 

Belen, the youngest child in Hogar El Camino.  

Araceli