Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.    --Elisabeth Elliot

          Hello, xanga world! I thought this was really good. Read it again. Let is really soak in.

                          Every word, every breath

                          Every action, every step

                   All for the glory, the glory of God.    --Dallas Holm          

  I'm being held at gunpoint to update here, so I'd better get going!  

  Hey, I think this is actually gonna be pretty long...hope you guys don't get too bored. I got some pics later, but I have some things I need to say. I've been going through this really hard time lately. I was talking with a friend, and she was talking about family...(before I get into this...I need to admit that I'm gonna try to do the whole thing without mentioning any names and also without going into too much detail...life is funny). Anyway, this friend of mine was talking about family, and she said that she could take people talking bad about her, but she couldn't stand when people talked bad about her family. This is also true for me. But I must admit that I might have taken it a little far. See, I figured if I was the one sticking up for someone else, it couldn't be wrong, right? Cuz they weren't the one defending themselves. But I was wrong. I was taking sides and actually writing people off and judging them and almost hating them if they said anything against the people I love. I became bitter and angry, and a lot of other unsavory things. I've repented and I'm still trying to change. It's hard, though! Once you start thinking a certain way, it gets hard to dig a new rut in which to pattern your thinking. I have to keep in mind that the bad guys are not people. It's Satan! He's the one that plants seeds of discord between people that are normally wonderful and kind, and he ruins so many lives and I have decided that I'm not gonna be one of his victims!  I still think it's wrong to let people talk bad about your friends and family...it kinda demonstrates a lack of backbone--(otherwise known by the delightful name of "gumption"), and I won't become one of those people that dives right into a conversation where they're slandering someone, and starts piling on other tidbits to make it worse. People like that are awful. So I won't do that. I just wanna walk the middle line where I won't talk bad about ANYONE! Cuz see, to defend somone, you're usually talking bad about someone else in the process. So if people talk bad about the people I love, I will simply walk away...or maybe just tell them to shut up until they get all the facts. Sound like a good idea?    

  I guess what I'm talking about here is gossip (it just hit me!), and it really is an evil thing. And while I hate it so much, it's hard to not become one of them. It's like you hate gossiping so much, and then you start talking bad about the people who gossip, and you don't even realize it but you're becoming one of them too!! That's what I was doing. It's really scarey. I need to keep in perspective that this is a spiritual battle, not a battle between me and anyone else. It's even worse when the people who're gossiping are Christians, because we're the light of the world, and if they're watching (they always watch more when you're doing wrong, by the way), they see what you're portraying. By that, they either want what you have...or they get so badly turned off that it makes us make Jesus look bad. Isn't that the most scarey thought ever? JESUS--the one who died for us...suffered so much for us Christians, and he asks only one thing--that we be a light for the ones left in darkness, and instead of being so grateful that we pledge the rest of our lives to him and whatever he wants us to do, we get so caught up in our little struggles of lust and SIN that we forget what we're here for, and become a bad example not only for other Christians but even for the world as well. The whole concept of gossip so totally kills all remnants of loyalty and love. Even if you're talking about someone you don't even love...much more reason you shouldn't do it. I really struggle with the whole thing. I hate it so much, and to find it in myself is so horrifying! I need so much change in my life. I NEED Jesus. He'll fix it all...it just might take a while. I love him so much for the patience he has with me. I mean, you'd think that after dying for us, he'd lean back, cross his arms, and tell us to go for it...and then not help us when we fall on our faces, but he's so awsome! He's so patient and merciful, and so full of LOVE!!! Wow.    

  So! Enough of my ramblings...I got a little long-winded there, sorry 'bout that folks! Hope I can make up for it with a few pics.

  Oscar and Willy are here. I'm so HAPPY!!! I missed them all so much, and to have them here makes up for so much of the pain of missing everyone. They bring along a taste of Honduras! These are my brothers--and they love Anika of course...who could help it?

  Here are some more of Anika. I keep loving her more every time I see her. She had just woken up from a nap and I had the honor of babysitting, so I got to talk to her for hours. She seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. She smiled and giggled, wrinkled her nose at me, and cooed to her heart's content. I really think she was talking to me, and if I woulda been only a LITTLE smarter or wiser, I would have understood every word. She is so sweet. When she's really ecstatic about something she almost goes cross-eyed. I think it's sooooo cute!!!

Faith is the substance and evidence of things hoped for but not seen.    Hebrews 11:1-2

  Here is some pics of when we went to Las Piñuelas. It was so much fun!

It was me, Elisha, Ryan, Erik, Darwin, J.D. then Jeff and Willy in front. We had so much fun.

 This pic doesn't even capture the amazing beauty of it! God is so great.

We majorly got stuck on the way home. (Rainy season does that to people.) so we had to get these guys and they're trusty oxen to help us out. I just love those massive creatures. They were amazing. It must've been hard for them to pull the truck out. The tires had sunk way in and while waiting on them to arrive, the river had made it go even deeper...so yeah. It was really cool to watch them calmly drag the truck all the way across the river.

        "You remember the things you survived more than the things you enjoyed."

  Hello everyone. I still haven't posted the pics of the reunions...but I did find one of Cristian! This is him and J.D. at La Chiquita...aren't they cute?

  Mistakes are the portals of discovery.   --James Joyce

      Hello everyone. I'm back from VA...has been a very fun week. I already miss my parents though...don't know what I'm gonna do with myself for the next 5 months. 3 was pretty bad...and the worst is still to come. Now that sounded really negative! No, I actually think it can't get too much worst than it's been...I hope not, anyway!  

  Well, I'm rambling, so I should go home and finish my laundry. I will post pictures from both of my family reunions next time I get the chance! Goodnight!                                                                                                                                         

The photo snatcher is back...sorry, Liz! I love this pic of my sister Fanny. I miss you, girl. Call me sometime.

This is mango canning!!!! Waaah, I missed it! This pic makes my mouth water it looks so good. it's not very clear, but I still had to post it cuz it's such a good one. It brings back so many memories. We do this every other year...the mangos all make mango sauce, something similar to apple sauce...and it's weird but I don't like either one. I love mangos, and apples, but the sauce is so yucky.

Here's J.D. I'm only missing Cristian to make it all complete, but I didn't get a good one from my mom, so hopefully I'll get to that later. I think J.D. is so cute! I miss you!

 Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.

Hello everyone! I'm here in VA with my parents, and I got some pics from my mom, so I'm gonna have fun posting them...

Lidia has bad hair days, and she looks so cute! I miss her so much.

I haven't figured out how to rotate pics yet...so you'll just have to crane your neck to see this one. It's Ninfa having fun with one of her favorite pass times. She can sit and read a book while humming to herself for hours.

Harmony is taking over my job at the house...she is cooking a lot, and she cares a lot what the boys think of her food (typical girl), so she can feel very heartbroken when they complain...I miss you, Harji!!

Yolanda is constantly keeping an eye out for small babies to hold. She's in her 7th heaven rightnow.

Here's Jossi, my little clown...I miss her noise...she made the "hat" herself. She's the kind of energetic, loveable, and sometimes obnoxious little girl that wins your heart no matter what. I miss them all so much.

I used to have an open mind, but my brains kept falling out.

  Guys, isn't the weather awsome??? Sunshine does something to me. I just love it. Makes me happy even when I'm having a bad day. God is good. I try to make it a point to proclaim that in the bad times, but I think the good times are when I forget the most. Isn't that weird? You'd think we'd be praising him all the harder when life is smooth, and things are going our way...but I think that's when it gets the hardest for me. When I feel like the breath just got knocked out of me from a particularly hard blow...I immidiately turn to my Padre, for his comfort and love are so real (the deeper the pain the closer he is)...but when things settle down for a little, I start forgetting. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of a tunnel, and I wanna praise God for that. I don't want another trial any time soon, but if it's in the will of God...then bring it on! But I wanna thank him and praise him NOW...while things are settling down, and I can see a way out. So may all the glory, praise and honor go directly to my precious Father, Savior and Lord...and may it be grato perfume for him. I love him so much.

  A nagging woman is worse than a leaking roof. --Proverbs 27:15

  The picture thief is back!!! I love these pics of my people...I don't have any, since I didn't have a camera down there, adn all the pictures I have of them are developed already. I'm not sure how I could get them onto my website from there, so I'm not even gonna try, so here are some I stole from Kris. Sorry girl, hope you don't mind!

This is a very sweet sister Ninfa I miss her so much. (Sorry you gotta kinda crane your neck to see her.)

This is Cristian...my little brother.

He's probably in the third heaven since he's

a born flirt, and any pretty girl will do. Doesn't matter

if she's a little older or not.