Let's Play Catch Up

Well ladies and gentlemen, I've yet to find a knack for consistency. However I do strive towards it. So let's have another go at blogging. I don't promise to be thought provoking, or clever, or very funny, or even up on the times. However, I do promise to be honest, to be as transparent as I can be via blog and to allow you to journey with me as I learn to completely submit to my Father God.

So to catch you up really, really quickly...it's been a year since I last blogged all over myself...or you.

So let me give you highlights for each of those months...to the best of my ability...

July 2008

I had the opportunity to join a team of about 15 others a

nd work with the hill tribes in Maesot, Thailand! It was an amazing opportunity where we saw healings, salvations, baptisms and were able to worship with foursquare church family in Thailand! When I say healings I mean we saw one man's leg grow to meet the length of his other, a mute woman spe

ak, stomach problems vanish, blind given sight, and oppression be lifted. In all of this, I learned that the reason we need to leave our comfort zones and visit cultures not our own, is because God speaks to us in very, very different ways...but He speaks and He moves!

Something I journaled while there...

"Lord, it's an amazing privilege to have traveled so many miles to celebrate and encourage a people who are so very committed to you a

nd your true message of hope, mercy and grace. We make church so difficult and complicated. It's really quite simple--serve your people. Do this as an offering to you. You will honor our commitment and you will grow us. " So very true!!!

August 2008

Well, by this time I'd been working at Biola University as their Admissions Representative for about 3 whole months!!! I'd also been dating Mr. Christopher Barragan for 1 whole month :). And I had the amazing opportunity to go to youth camp with the RFC kiddos. It was an amazing time!

God gave me two things to share with the girls that weekend in message format. 1) The Giving Tree--as an example of what an unhealthy

relationship with Chris can look like; Christ being the tree and us being the boy. 2) Ephesians 1-a statement of faith and encouragement for Christ likeness.

September 2008

hmm...September feels kinda uneventful aside from the fact that I took my very first recruiting trip out to Central Califas, or more fondly termed "the arm pit of California". :) It was a great time of connecting with high school students a

nd families at high school visits and college fairs. And it was also extremely exhausting! My days began at 6am and ended at 10pm or 11pm...plus I was in a super unfamiliar territory. But this was the start of 3 months of uncharted territory for me, as I carried out the tasks and duties required of me as Biola's Admissions Representative.

What does an Admissions Representative do you ask? Well, basically I'm the person who's "in the trenches" or out on the road visiting 4 high schools a day and tabling a college fair in the evening. I probably met 40 to 60 new people every day. Some I had 2 to 3 min convos with , others I really was able to share and connect with about Biola and help them see how they might thrive in our community. Any college or univeristy representative is the "road dog".

You gotta like traveling, tolerate driving (or love it), enjoy flexibility and schedule change, have the ability to "make things happend" when they appear not to

be happening, and love people. I mean LOVE them! Because everyone knows, a high school kid knows when you're blowing smoke....so authenticity is key. To say the least...the experience grew me and challenged my character. And the solitude grew on me too. God time was easy in the car and power naps were a treat. :)

October 2008

Very much in the thick of the admission representative job. This month was a blur...outside of these fun events!

Happy 22 Birthday Mr. Barragan!!!

A Flintstones Halloween!!!!!!!!!

November 2008

Happy 25th Birthday to Me!!!! :)

December 2008

Chris and my first Christmas together. I became a Tiffany's girl. It was beautiful!

NOW THE ABOVE POST IS VERY OLD AND I NEGLECTED TO POST. EVEN MORE DEPRESSING IS THAT I HAVEN'T BLOGGED FOR A WHOLE YEAR. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY MANY HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2009. I'LL COMPILE THEM AND LIST THEM IN THE NEXT BLOG. COMING SOON...

Thailand Missions 2008

Something my team and I put together to share about our trip!

Enjoy!!!

Good Morning

With a lot of time on my hands, I have the luxury of waking up in this manner each and ever morning. I know right now I'm forming a habit....so that when life starts to get more busy than it is right now and God continues to put more responsibility on my plate, I will still remember to wake to each and every morning with this manner.

A perfect start to the day.

I admire...

I dividuals who can understand and digest
N ever ending, complicated emotions, concepts, issues
S o well that they, with
P rowess and power compose
I ntricate, yet comprehensible
R are pieces of
A rt
T hat are timeless, profound, impacting yet delicate enough to
I nspire and awaken similar feelings deep within the
O n looker, passerby, everyday person who happens to see, hear, read, or touch and will
N ever be the same again.


Inspiration

Frozen in Time...for 5 minutes...Try Bondage for a Lifetime

This past weekend 120 others and I participated in The Freeze Project (hosted by Charles Lee of JustOne & Derrick Engoy) and it was was an awesome success!

Basically what we did is select a location at the Santa Monica Promonade and freeze for 5 minutes in an "interesting" position. Upon freezing, we had tons of people walking/sitting around the promenade wondering what was goin' on. After the freeze people were very curious and asked tons of questions and we passed out lots of flyers. It was a very effective way to inform people about human trafficking.



Keep your eyes open for the next Freeze Project here http://thefreezeproject.com/.

If you aren't familiar with human trafficking it is modern-day slavery. It involves victims who are trafficked to and from various countries and locations and are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Annually, about 600,000 to 800,000 people -- mostly women and children -- are trafficked across national borders which does not count millions trafficked within their own countries. People are snared into trafficking by many means. In some cases, physical force is used. In other cases, false promises are made regarding job opportunities or marriages in foreign countries to entrap victims.

For more information or to connect with others who are actively working to end human trafficking visit:

Human Trafficking.org
JustOne
Stop the Traffik
International Justice Mission
Loose Change to Loosen Chains
Amnesty International

IN SHA'A ALLAH

If God wills it I will be heading to Thailand this summer for a short term missions trip with a few of the hilltribes in Northern Thailand.



During this trip we will spend a day in Bangkok at World Base Thailand and then some time at a local orphange and then carry out a medical missions operation to a few different hilltribes. I'm very excited about what God has in store!



I've been dealing with a few pressures or stressors if you may that have made it difficult for me to readily make the decision to go to Thailand.



1) I'm out of work and while I have the money to go...I feel guilty for doing so because I don't have an income.



2) My father has always been a wise counselor in my life and he really doesn't understand the vision behind this trip. He thinks I'm going for the opportunity to add another travel log to my life's tales. He thinks a short term missions trip like this really isn't worth the investment of time and money.



3) I'm not sure what's next for me in this current episode of my life and for a while even considered whether or not I was going because God put it on my heart to go, or if I was going because my loved ones were going and I wanted to tag along.



All things considered, God has been doing a work in me.



Even outside of this trip, God has really given me a burden to help those that cannot help themselves. I'm learning to love more and more every day. While it hurts at times, knowing how to love like Jesus did, really does make life more fulfilling and meaningful.



In a past more personal journal September 9, 2007 I wrote:



"Lord you bring a Divine focus and so much encouragement. Lord as I was just praying now and thinking about how much knowledge and experience you've allowed me to be exposed to...I still can't help but ask WHY?



What am I supposed to do? Lord as your vessel, how are these contents that you've filled me with thus far to be spilled out? Surely these things are not for my benefit. I have always understood that they are only for furthering others in whatever they strive for and where ever they need to get to.



Competition has never excited me. Shear knowledge has never been fulfilling. Numbers and statistics don't bring me satisfaction. It's always ever been the process...getting from A to B and bringing others there along the way.



So what's next? I don't want to forget ALL that I've learned...the tensions of society and the things that alleviate those tensions.



But how do I know what's next?



Lord lead me. Bring clarity. Give me very certain direction so that I know the right steps. "

So I continue to pray for clarity. I continue to pray for focus and direction. I continue to pray that those things that appear to be worthwhile and even take my heart captive are made evident for what they are...distractions...things that take away from what God has for me. Now I don't ever want to be a work horse...and I know that certain things are for our enjoyment as God has designed them....but there's a time for everything. Seasons.

Right now is my time to keep on working towards the plan God has for me. Thailand is very much a part of that plan...everything else around it has had strong influence...but God wants me to serve his people. That's what I'll do.

The Freeze Project--April 6, 2008. Join us!!!

My friends at Just One, One Voice to End Slavery, and Stop the Traffik will be hosting The Freeze Project at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA at 3pm on April 6, 2008.

The inspiration for The Freeze Project came about when Improv Everywhere did their version in Grand Central Station, New York.




Justice Twist to the Idea:

Our twist to this idea would be to use this creative method for drawing attention to social injustices around the world.

The Basic Concept:

For our Freeze Project moments, we would like to draw a couple of hundred people at a time to participate in drawing attention to some of the social injustices of the world. Instead of protesting, we would like to create an experience that is fun, non-intrusive (in your face activism), and inclusive. We believe that we could use “the Freeze” to draw attention in a crowd, which will then be followed up with a brief handout to people about a particular social injustice in the world.

How a Freeze Project Moment Looks:

• Participants will be asked to show up a designated time and place.
• Participants will then proceed to the “Freeze” space and blend themselves into a crowd as if they were regulars in that particular environments (e.g., malls, events, outdoor shopping areas, etc.).
• A cue will be given by the director of the Freeze moment.
• Participants will then stop what they were doing and stay frozen for the next 5 minutes until they receive another cue telling them that the freeze is over.
• Following the freeze, participants will handout a couple of print material each to people observing them (with or without conversation).
  
  
  That’s it! Enjoy the rest of the day at the venue where the Freeze takes place.
  We just ask that participants give us feedback after the experience by visiting our website/blog: http://www.thefreezeproject.com/.
  

Things they need:

• Freeze participants --RSVP
• People interested in video taping the Freeze moment
• donations of bottled water

So come join us!!!!