Devastation Is Hard To Swallow

Devastation is all around but somehow hope seems to abound. As each car pulls into this church parking lot that has blossomed into a fullblown disaster relief center, I am struck over and over again by the strong smiles on each person's face. Yesterday I was helping a woman out to her car with all the food items she had picked out as well as some bags we had filled with sheets, blankets, towels and silverware for her. This woman was one of the many who had "LOST EVERYTHING" written across her sign in form. As I picked up one of the bags to put it in my wheelbarrow a box of brand new pots and pans was revealed sitting there with her other bags. This precious womans reaction was to cover her mouth and whisper, "oh Lord, pots and pans." She said it with such awe in her voice and tears began to run down her face. My heart was so broken for her and we just stood there in that relief center hugging and crying over pots and pans. We were two people from totally different walks of life who had never created a single memory together but the love of the Lord brought us together like sisters. Every day I talk to people and hug perfect strangers who offer up a brave smile and share their deep heart pain with me. They tell me about the family members they buried or how the Lord has blessed them by sparing their family despite the loss of everything else. These people are my heroes even though they keep telling me I am their hero for coming and helping them. I haven't done anything and I wish I could do everything. Prayer feels futile until I see the peace it brings to thier faces

Into The Great Outdoors

For 5 days we hiked into the wilderness, carrying everything we needed on our backs. Our destination was a group of the most crystal clean, pristine lakes I have ever seen. Almost untouched by humans. As we went we meditated on the character and nature of God and how His creation spoke to us. I loved every single second of it. There is nothing on earth like being in the middle of God's creation, raw, rugged and breath-takingly beautiful. I feel more alive than in any other place, I am faced by my littelness and thrilled by my ability to survive. My body hurts at first and then becomes strong and invincible.
One morning we awoke to find a winter wonderland around us. The lake we were camped beside was a frosted jewel reflecting the ice blue sky. As we hiked that day the sun warmed our skin and quickly melted the snow.Later when we returned to base camp I found a perfect cliff to jump off of into the previously frosted lake. The clouds reflected on the lake creating the illusion of jumping into the sky.
If I had it my way, the DTS would backpack once a month, life would be heavenly. The trip really brought us all so close together as a team, we became more than a team, but a family, fighting for each other and encouraging every step of the way.














Here is the team on our way back out of the wilderness



I hope you appreciate my 5 year old crouch stance, the braided pig tails and my stuck out tongue as I clean my dinner

Back In Action

DTS is here! I am back to happy, joyful once more, life is good again. i have been blessed with a wonderful group of students and God is working already! the weather has been remarkable everyday. God has shown his glory to us through the sun and the warmth, as well as the crisp clear air and the frost that greets us in the morning. we have been learning about the Father Heart of God and Rob Meyer has been our speaker. though i have heard his lectures many times, Christ speaks to me in a new way every time. it is also good to just be reminded of what my fathers heart is for me and how i can grow closer to Him. i went running for the first time in a long time yesterday and made it back to the base alive! i was not attacked by any wild cougars or wolves.... though there were A TON of dead gartner snakes on the road! i couldn't believe it! ok, that is all i have for you this time!

im outie,
<3 Felicia

Why I Love Country Again

I spent 10 hours driving through the middle of nowhere country on Sunday and came to the conclusion that country music is what holds this great nation together. Well, I'm sure that's not all it is. But as I listened to never ending country stations that were always clear, I heard normal people singing about normal things. They sang about their faith in God and they also sang about falling in love and having family's, the familiartiy of life in a small town and even the occaisonal mess up that we all have. It was real, raw and nice to know that people across the land are blessed and struggle with the same things. Yes, it is true, I have fallen back into the twangy pit of country music with a vengance.
Moving along, I had a wonderful weekend/day with my family. Thankfully the day seemed to drag. I think it was one of the only times I was glad to have a slow moving day. On the way to the wedding I was able to see one of my good buddies from my Mexico life in Yakima. So I was pretty much blessed alot over the course of the weekend. Now it is back to work. Fun times

Drive On

I get to see my family!!!!!! I can hardly wait. By tomorrow night I will be with parents, sister, brother in law, Grandma, cousins and aunts and uncles galore. Yippee. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the huge drive from Boise to Penticton and that I don't get to see my bro. It's funny how greater distance makes you miss someone even more. I already love Egypt so much, but now that my brother is there I want to go back more than ever. even as I write this I realize how much Egypt dug it's way into my heart. I definitely love it more than India. Maybe I am so drawn there because my heart is for the Muslim people. Ok, but back to my family. I wish I had more time with them than just one day. I suppose even the one day is blessing enough.

Longing

I captured this picture in a small slum church in Kanpur India. This woman had such an earnest desire to be in the Lord's word. She was captivated by the scriptures as Raju told of Jesus desire to know the deepest parts of her. She makes me think of Mary sitting at Jesus feet, enraptured by his words. I want to be like this, craving more, hungry for Jesus.

Do you ever?

Do you ever want to quit life and go back to school? Stop running around in circles and just read hundreds of books? Quit networking the world and just know your friends and family? Have a nice little house with a garden and a dog? These desires have been pressing in on me more and more lately. And it's funny because I know I am where I am supposed to be and I am so looking forward to this coming DTS. Maybe it is the difficulty I have had in adjusting to the newness of this place. I talked with Deb who is leading the DTS today. I told her how God was showing me that since I got here I have been gaurding myself so much and putting up walls everywhere. I don't even feel like myself anymore. It's like I am a false person, putting on a mask for these people. Sometimes I think my joy is all gone. Pray that I will find myself in Jesus again, that is what I want more than anything. I want to show the DTS students a person who is so genuinely satisfied in the Lord. That's me today.

Happy Saturday!

I just spent a nice relaxing week in Boise and am now back into the swing of things in Cascade. The past few days have been full of change for me, change of plans, change of home, change of roomates, change of responsobility's and so forth. I'm about to start calling all the students we have accepted for the fall DTS to see how they are doing and pray with them as they prepare to make the move to Idaho. I'm going to be up at the camp a bit as well to cook for a team that has come to lay new floor in our kitchen. Other than that there's not too much going on in my life, except that I want to go to school. But that is a whole other story. Over and out

Time to Relax

I supose I should begin by welcoming you to my new blog. So WELCOME! I promise to try my hardest to keep you all updated on my comings and goings and the events of my life. As most of you know I just returned to Idaho from India. Here is a little background on that. I went to India for 2 and a half weeks to lead a mission adventures team. Mission Adventures is a summer program that we do up at our YWAM base in Cascade Idaho. Students come for 5 days to get short term missions training and then we take them on a short term mission. Most of our trips this past summer were to inner city settings such as Vancouver, Las Vegas and San Francisco. We were able to take part in alot of amazing things. I was blessed to be asked to lead a small team of girls to India as a part of our summer program. Our time in India was super busy and very fruitful. We were able to come alongside the YWAM base in Kanpur, India and help further their influence and ministrys in the city. One of my favorite parts was visiting schools. We were able to visit 5 huge schools where the students body was 80% Hindu. We had complete freedom to say and share whatever we wanted with the students. I got to preach a few times as well. The best time was in a small mens bible school. We had a very special time and God really spoke to the young men. All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to returning to India the end of November with the DTS I will be staffing. Now I am in Boise spending time with friends and relaxing before I jump into the DTS. I will post pictures of the trip soon. Thanks for reading