The Beauty of the Lord

Today my brother and his friend came down for a visit and we went on a hike to the nearby Mary's Peak, the highest point on the coast range. Although part of it was foggy, it was a SPLENDID view and you could even see part of the ocean. I was just so captivated by the Lord today and I had asked Him to do that this morning. He knows how to get to me. During the hike it was a great time of affirmation from the Lord, of praising Him, of confession and of dreaming.

Before I give you some shots of the day, I wanted to share how I woke up this morning, still half
asleep, thinking about Zacchaeus out of all people. I had never felt a strong relevance to that story until I woke up this morning. It is AMAZING to me how Jesus specifically sought out the tax collector, perhaps the "worst of sinners". He pursued him, wanted to dine in his home...above all the others he could have chosen. He didn't want him to hide anymore. Just being in His presence, Zacchaeus was transformed and immediately set about to changing his life. Jesus says "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."
AMEN...ahhhhh....so beautiful..

I have realized that when I spend time in His beauty, I want to be more like Him. There is no possible way to stop that desire.

Well that's it for now...blessings!!

In a Fog

Kind of feeling like this--in a season of this--right now.

I was walking home last night by myself from the gym and I was trying to dialogue with the Lord and I felt my mind was numb...and it has been numb for a long time I realized. Even my emotions, and my very heart seemed hazy.
Even though I wasn't hearing very clearly from the Lord, ironically I heard that I was in a foggy season. And what do I know, I look up and the sky is all foggy, but just in the general area above me.
I also heard that this time is supposed to test my endurance and persevearance, and that it will expose my foundation and build/rebuild it up.
Please keep me in your prayers!
Thank you..

Stickin' With It

This is kind of embarassing, but I have a natural tendency to just wanna quit sometimes.

Like earlier this year when I dropped the GEO 300 class because that first paper was just too much for me and I was too overwhelmed. Drop Class CLICK! :)

And how I felt today when I walked out of that building after taking the CBEST (one of the tests to get my teaching license) with the knowledge that I have to retake the math portion. I literally thought to myself--am I really smart enough to be a teacher? Am I being ridiculous, should I choose something else? Am I hearing right from God? I HATE MATH! It's one of those stories I can picture telling to my daughter when she's older and going through something similar, and I tell her, "Sometimes, you just have to stick with it, even though it's not fun or easy...it is worth it in the end."

So I am gritting my teeth and retaking the math part on April 9th (which is NON-CALCULATOR I might add!!) because I know that someday the Lord will help me to be an awesome teacher and change lives. For the record I'm not changing my major.
****
The Lord carried me back home with one of the most ravishing sunsets I'd ever seen, and as some tears ran down with all kinds of emotions twirling in my heart, not just from the test, I could almost see him pull out his little bottle and catch them one by one.

 
The Lord is good and continues to win me over with His love. This is my favorite verse right now:
"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
Isaiah 55:12 {ESV}
Thank you for all your prayers, it really means the world to me.
Love and blessings.
{Suse}
PS Some pics from a little shoot I did with my little sister Ximena in Costa Rica. Missing her/it/them a lot.

 

Just Checkin' In...

not a whole lot of things have happened lately...
here are a few things though.

+ I started working in my kindergarten class last week and I am LOVING it! it is so much fun!

+ Praise the Lord, I am feeling MUCH less stressed out and am staying on top of school and such for the most part.

+I volunteered to give a presentation in a Spanish class about Costa Rica, so i have been putting together a slideshow...wow how it makes me miss the place! it is also cool to see how Jesus has helped me overcome my fear of speaking in front of people...

+I am attempting to be healthier in my diet and have set up some general rules for myself....please pray self-control and persevearance for me! :)

+ I have a big test coming up this Saturday for education so i can move on to the next level of my degree! please pray that i have times to study and that it goes well!

Well that's about it for now...back to the homework!

The Lord has been faithful.....

B A L A N C E

Already up to my neck in 16 credits of overwhelming stress, I am learning I need to learn to balance my life better. I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of girl. LOTS OF EXERCISE. NO EXERCISE. GOOD TERM, BAD TERM. HEALTHY OR UNHEALTHY. PROCRASTINATION OR STRAIGHT A's. QUIET TIME OR NO QUIET TIME.

In every sense of the word, I just need balance.
How do I balance when my whole world is being rocked by this institution called school?

In working out, in eating habits, in friendships, in real conversations, in my short-but sweet times just with Jesus, in my activities, in finance, in computer time, in taking care of myself, in studying and more, I have been challenged with balance. There are things I tend to sell myself short on when I get super busy and stressed, and other things I do way too much.

I have said before "If I can survive through this term, I can get through anything." However, I want it to be a term where I see the Lord's power, provision, strength and peace come through and change my whole perspective. I am eager to practice diligence and doing everything unto Him. I am not looking forward to juggeling microbiology, teaching practicum and 3 difficult Spanish classes, but I am looking forward to needing Him so heavily.
Please be praying if you think about it. I've been listening to this lovely, powerful song to help me stay focused on Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-liS9e2IY8&NR=1

Blessings to you all.

Dreams and Things

Fun story...
so this winter break I had a random dream where a girl in my house (I don't know super well) got engaged to her boyfriend. I hadn't been thinking about them at ALL or anything. I texted my friend/house manager and told her about it, randomly. She replied, "you are kidding me! I was literally thinking about them an hour ago and was praying for them!"
Well, sure enough, tonight we had a ring ceremony! (a Charis tradition when a girl gets engaged) and they are engaged! I found out tonight that my friend had actually had a dream about them the same night that I did!! The engaged girl was totally excited when she found out about our dreams....kinda funny that I knew like 11 days before her! :)

This isn't the first time something like this has happened and I'm praying for the Lord to increase any gifting in the prophetic.....
MORE dreams, Lord!!!! You are so fun and good...you care about details we wouldn't even think about.
Good to be back at Charis...