Project Rescue Update
Jan/090
As I have posted earlier, our youth group (Anthology) raised money for Project Rescue as a Christmas Service Project. We were able to raise $1500 for one of the organization’s Homes of Hope in India. We were so proud of our students for stepping outside of themselves and giving to children that are far less fortunate then themselves. Project Rescue helps women and girls get out of sex slavery and gives them the resources to have a new life. For more information on Project Rescue visit http://www.projectrescue.com/.
With love and prayers
Easo & Leela
Hope Does Not Disappoint, Right??
Jan/091
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hope does not disappoint. If I just focus on that phrase [and I'm being very honest here], I think - “Yeah it does.” I mean, if it doesn’t, then why do people say “don’t get your hopes up”? Sometimes it feels that the things we are hoping for are never going to come into existence. That’s tough. The Bible says that hope doesn’t disappoint. Its right there. So, how do I learn to better understand what that really means?
If you look at the verses leading up to it, it clearly shows that hope does not stand alone. A hope that doesn’t disappoint isn’t just something you wake up with one morning. Its at the end of a long string of characteristics. Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Maybe this hope only comes after suffering [a trial, temptation, an obstacle] that calls for perseverance. And if you can push through the situation and keep moving, then you will have built character. And if you can build this character than you can better understand this hope that does not disappoint.
The rest of the verse gives us an even clearer understanding of this hope. It says it does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. We can believe in this hope if we allow God to pour out his love in us and trust in the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit.
When we are facing a situation, we are pushed to reach for God’s love, and in that alone there is hope.
Today, We Make History
Jan/091
My Hubby’s Band
Jan/091
Faith of the Great
Jan/090
It’s a Girl!
Jan/091
I Want
Jan/092
I want to [and will do!]:
- buy a camera and start taking pictures
- start playing tennis
- practice piano and be as good as I once was [when I was 10]
- sing more
- spend more time with the Anthology girls
- return more phone calls and messages 
- take a trip to rhode island
- be a great wife
- complain less, appreciate more
- remember people’s birthdays
- celebrate at every chance
The Heart of Faith
Jan/092
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27: 13-14
The heart of our faith is recognizing the goodness of our Lord.
God is so good. He is good in the small things. He is good in the big picture. He is good in progress. He is good in the wait. In each season, God is good. Maybe we don’t always understand His goodness. Sometimes, its hard to see if we have so many other things in the way. But, we can easily clear the path to see His goodness. Its there. Our world is rushing, pursuing, being aggressive. Slow yourself. Wait. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. For He is good, even while we wait.
A Great Ending
Jan/091
The year 2008 brought some of the biggest changes and transitions in my life. I was still settling into my new job and new life here in Daphne at the beginning of the year. February brought a surprise (and emotional) visit to see my dad on his 50th birthday. It also brought an engagement. The Spring brought wedding planning, a busy work season, visitors, and the on-going work of building relationships with our students at Anthology. Summer brought visits home, youth camp, and the final details of the wedding.
And then it was Fall. Fall was the most tiring, but definitely the most exciting time of the year. We had the wedding, and the honeymoon to the Mediterranean (which I think about at least once a day, still). The Coldplay concert, Alabama football, Thanksgiving, traveling, work events, Christmas parties and Christmas.
The year has been tough at times, and the most wonderful at other times. People have come in and out of my life. I have attempted to learn to balance my life back home and my new life here. How the year ended for me was almost therapuetic. We spent Christmas with Nik’s family, then went to Springfield to spend a few days with my family and the best of friends. And then, we returned to Daphne to ring the New Year in with our close friends here. It was symbolic of the new beginning I have started - knowing that God has taken care of me. It helped me realize that my supportive community hadn’t been taken away from me; rather, it had grown.
I’ve struggled a little letting go of what my life was in Springfield. And don’t get me wrong, I will never let go of my dear friends and family, but it is time for me to accept that life changes and I need to roll with it. I can’t have what I used to have. I can remain close with those I love, but need to recognize the people and work that lies around me here. I will benefit greatly if I can fully engage myself in the daily life that I lead here in Daphne; and so will others.
So, here’s to the New Year - remembering where I have come from, holding on to those I love, living today, and looking forward to a great future. I am so very blessed; my New Year’s resolution is to start acting like it.
