almost unbelievable

for god so loved ME that he gave his one and only son...for ME. so that i WILL NOT perish, but i will have EVERLASTING life with my savior.

like my nephew dante would say...thats AWESOME!

thank you lord for sending your son. for me.

to spend or not to spend

my friends and i have been pondering the meaning of christmas. and how it relates to the way most people celebrate it. getting together with family - good. eating yummy food - good. worshiping jesus - good. but there is so much more that we (my friends and i) have been consumed with. consumerism.
i thought this video/website was interesting.

top 5 christmas songs

what are yours?

here's mine.

1. please come home for christmas by the eagles
2. oh holy night
3. carol of the bells
4. baby its cold outside
5. oakridge boys christmas

soooo good....

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!


Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

b uti wi llm iss u

you are everything i want. and nothing i need.

and so it is...

giving more than 'thanks'

i just got home from the gym and i think the people there probably think im mean or mad. i just tend to think a lot when i work out and today my thoughts were confusing and disturbing...and thus the outlook on my face. oh well.

'tis the season for these familiar thoughts.

this morning while i was having breakfast with my nephews, delicious sausage and some yogurt, a commercial came on for some hot wheels. my nephew's (age six) eyes light up (like they do anytime he sees A toy) and he gets excited about the 29 day count down till christmas (aka the day he will get many presents). he goes on to express his excitement by signing:
'happy birthday to...dante!'
whoa whoa whoa. back up back up...who's birthday are we celebrating?, i ask
again,
happy birthday to dante?
um actually its JESUS' birthday, you know - the reason for the season?
OH YEAH!, he remembers. and starts the song again this time, 'happy birthday to YOU - during 'you' he points up (towards heaven i presume).

it was quite comical but made me think at the same time. are these holidays even real or is it just an excuse to consume? giving and receiving stuff. stuff that i want and feel like i need.

later while i was working out, CNN informs us that there are terrorist attacks going on in mumbai whilst i am on the elliptical. i feel a burden - that i am not grateful enough for being safe, for being born in a safe country. for not showing my thanks by giving more. who am i to have all that i have? and who are they (they being anyone living in poverty) to not have enough?

a commercial plays. its a commercial for starbucks, which is rare. it was about how they have partnered with the 'red' campaign (in the war fighting against aids). it asks questions like "what if its not about ME, what if its about WE." it was actually a really good commercial. i mean, it ALMOST justifies spending $4 on a coffee (which i am completely guilty of).

i pray that our country will be burdened with the weight of our 'stuff' that we are challenged to give more, but spend less. not be consumed by what the media makes of this season. make it clear to me Lord where i should spend my time and energy and money. thank you for blessing my life. remind me to not be too comfortable. stretch me and use me. i pray that the situation in mumbai will be under control soon and i pray for those who are scared. use that situation for good somehow.

re: iguana in my mouth

so i wanted to look up a picture to show people this lizard that attacked me and i found it. i found out that it is commonly named the "jesus christ lizard" - because it can walk/run on water. cra-zy. which verifys my story seeing that my mouth was at the level of the water. in the dark. ( it looked just like this)

and that is how that sorta thing happens.

stay tunned to hear about when we almost got the poison dart frog in our mouth.
dang it.

pura vida!

this means "pure life." duh.
everyone just says it here.
here being the fabulous place of la fortuna, costa rica.
we love it. and it may not exsist in 4 years because it sits at the base of an ACTIVE volcano. so that means red lava is shooting out every 2 minutes. im not even joking - im at javalava right now looking at it.
yesterady we went on a hike through the jungle to a waterfall - on the way we found a ocelot which is like a jaguar. it was just a cub and so we played with it and picked it up, hoping the mom wasnt watching. later in the hot springs lindsay and i were hanging out in this little cave where the water is up to your neck and there are only a couple inches above your head. it was so fun and laughing and then BAM - iguana in my mouth. it was lime green and the lenth of my arm (with tail). i FREAKED out and grabed the closest stranger next me. oh yes and this cave is quite dark and small so at the time i had no idea what had just attacked my FACE. it jumped on lindsay's back and finally someone with a flash light came and caught it. at which point i forgave the poor guy and held it a bit before setting it free outside the cave. it turns out i actually loved him.