SUMMER IS IN SESSION!

SUMMER IS IN SESSION-
first week of summer is over. we had 4 groups, lots of projects, lots of prayers, and lots of watching God not only showing up but show off. What an incredible experience to be able to walk through peoples mission trips with them. Watching God move in mighty ways here reminds me everyday of His faithfulness. God is so good. I got the chance to debrief one of the 4 groups this past week and it was awesome. Seeing where people are at the beginning of their trip to the end is ridiculous in the sense of God moving in and through people. WOW. i really LOVE what i do here. Worship is another part of what happens in summer time. It has been emotional staring at God's beauty (the mountains, the children, etc) and worshiping Him. What an incredible God we serve. Every night for the next 8 weeks we will have consistent worship lead by my friend Craig Aven. He is very talented and the first night he got here and started singing my heart felt totally at peace. It has been a LONG road here not worshiping God in ENGLISH. So needless to say i am so thrilled to be able to worship my God in my first language.
I love summer because of all the neat people we get to meet. I love hearing people's stories and where they are in life. I think it is so interesting how God connects all of us for such a short time in such a sweet way. So many hearts coming in and out of our campus all being touched by God in a different way. it is such a reminder of the Body of Christ. All coming together, putting their differences aside, being united through Christ, and having fun while serving orphans.
But along with summer comes lots of not feeling rested. Right now i actually feel a little sick so please be praying for me. i leave for el limon tomorrow for a whole week and am super excited about it. But i am praying for healing and that i won't get worse, only better.
During this past week i got to lead a group on a cement project and it was super fun. they tore up the floor in the boy's dorm at MANANTIAL DE AMOR and then we did a big pour on it. So fun. We were dirty, sweaty, hot and making a difference. we got the whole floor finished and it was such a great work day.
Please be praying for summer. For rest, endurance, for God to move, beauty, BALANCE, and falling more and more in love with serving the orphan child.

From NANNY to STAFF

As many of you know i have been matt and julie cooper's nanny here in Mexico for the past 5 summers. I started watching them when Cameron was 2 and they only had 4 kids. Now they have 6. they are such an incredible family. words cannot describe how much i love them. As summer is approaching and a NEW nanny is coming my heart starts to feel sad but really excited at the same time. I have never been staff before, especially throughout a busy summer. It is true i have a passion for children. whether that is the Cooper children or the orphan children. I JUST LOVE KIDS. i love to love on them. i love to kiss on them. i love to wrap them up in my arms and i love watching them grow up so big. Since living here i have had a great balance of being on Staff but still having the pleasure to watch the cooper kids from time to time. there are many times that i miss them so much i pretty much force matt and julie out the door so i can hang out. haha or i just invite myself over for family fun. It is never a dull moment in the Cooper house. Especially when trying to put Caleb to sleep when there are 8 boys downstairs that have the radio on really loud.
Anyways,
i have taken moments to pause and think about this summer that is about to happen. I can't really put into words how i feel but i know i am super pumped. My role is different now with what i am used to in dealing with the interns, nannies, and staff. But one major problem.... I DON'T REALLY FEEL PREPARED. so... i have decided to take action and decide not to consume the things of this world and what i am used to, but to pursue God in a more passionate way to feel ready and prepared for this summer. I am asking the Lord to take hold my thoughts, actions, spiritual walk, to renew my mind, my heart, and to give me GLORY STRENTH that can only come from Him. I am on day 3 now and it has been awesome. I am experiencing more of who God is and who I am in Him. Please be praying for me through this time of preparation and transitioning from a nanny to a Staff person. I am super excited for what is to come and all the people that are going to come and serve alongside us this summer.

Sending Sara Off

One of my best friends SARA left early this morning for 6 1/2 months to move to SLOVENIA. I got the chance to pray with her before she left and all the thoughts of when i left returned to me. i remembered that it was SUPER hard to leave my friends, my family, and what was so comfortable to me. But the beauty is... I HAVE NEVER LOVED MY LIFE AS MUCH AS I DO RIGHT NOW. God has blessed the fact that i am not comfortable and He is enriching the ministry i work with. What a honor to be a part of that. Sara is the same. she has a HUGE heart for missions, is sad about leaving, but looking forward to what the Lord is going to show her throughout her 6 months with Josiah Venture ministry. I believe in her and am so thankful i have someone in my life that is like her. She is passionate about who God is in her life and i think everyone that knows her considers her a best friend. She is the most gentle person i know with her words, actions, and thoughts. I am so thankful she is such a big part of my life. I am praying for her and for her new adventure. I am also praying for all my best friends back in Oklahoma. It is not easy to say goodbye for a few months when you are used to seeing those people everyday. Sara is VERY close to a lot of people so i am sure there were a ton of tears but such a sweet, happy sending off. Sara you are a strong women of the Lord and i am so proud of who you are. Thank you for being consistent in serving the Lord. I pray blessings over your journey and pray that you search out God with everything you have. May He be your provider, helper, friend, father, and your encouragement. I love you girl. GOOD LUCK.

learning and LOVING

Before summer starts we had an all staff pour on the second floor of SMCA. our campus is growing and so are our visitors (we could always use more so check out back2backministries.org and sign up for a trip).
I was asked what my goal was by the end of my first year of living here is and when dealing with actual work projects i said i would love to be able to run the trompo, and a crew, all by myself. although it is not exactly summer yet, i had the opportunity to jump on it and learn. thanks to matt cooper who helped teach me what to do. i now know that you need 2 buckets of water, half a bag of cement, and lots of gravel or mix sand stuff. i kept pouring a little too much in some of the buckets. but other than that, MAN I FELT POWERFUL. haha without my job the cement would not have gone all the way up to SMCA. i had a blast doing it even though my arms were a little sore the next day. Praise God for great work days when a lot of things get accomplished. NOT to mention that i accomplished my goal before summer even started.... FEELS PRETTY GOOD. thanks to the staff for their patience with me on this day and letting me learn. once again my dad would be so impressed and proud at some of the skills i am learning here.

Questions...

I am currently reading Crazy Love BY Francis Chan... what a challenging book that is constantly making you re-check your heart over and over. i just read chapter 6 and there were a couple things i wanted to pull out for you..
He pulls out a question from John Piper's book 'God is the Gospel' it says '
"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this: if you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

i don't know about you but for so many times in my life i CRAVE Christ and my relationship with Him. i feel like when my life is going crazy it is very much a reflection of my relationship with Christ. All of those things in that quote sound great but could i truly be satisfied by all that ? I don't think so at all. for a short time i am sure many people would be okay but then after that season you would miss the ONE person that pursues you on a DAILY BASIS and the way that He makes everything sweeter when He is involved. Not to mention that Heaven would not be Heaven without Christ. how would you feel if you loved someone with unconditional love and you invited them over for dinner and to play games. then to realize they don't really love you back or desire a relationship with you, they only wanted to come over because they heard you had an x-box, wii, and Escalade?????? that is what i think about when i read that question.

Psalm 63:1-5 i not only want to be able to say it and mean it but i also want to PROCLAIM the greatness of our God on a daily basis.
" O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. i have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. i will praise you as long as i live, and in your name i will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you."

EL LIMON

I had the pleasure of going to El Limon this past weekend. El limon is the children's home that is 6 hours away from our property. i was able to meet up with one of our groups that was staying there for their week.
There are no words that come to mind when thinking of this children's home and their incredible leadership except for TOTAL SURRENDER TO GOD. i went to a place that i have not been in almost 5 years and still come back feeling so filled up with the presence of the Lord it is almost unreal. The presence of God in this casa hogar is so thick. there is no doubt that if you go to el limon in hopes of serving you come back feeling completely served.
While i was there i had the pleasure of helping cut down a tree. using only an axe and a machete. it was the MOST interesting work, i think, a team of girls could do. we have lots of fun memories of us and this tree. we also took the kids from this casa hogar to some natural water springs and had a cookout. this place was beautiful. the picture above does not even do it justice. i also climbed to one of the tallest branches and jumped into the water. it was super deep and a fun rush. although i landed kinda funny and bruised my tail bone... haha only me i know. oh well I DID IT FOR THE CHILDREN AND THEIR LITTLE HEARTS. (that is a little insider for miss kenzi couch) It was such a fun refreshing day. the water that was so clear, the arrachera tacos, and oxxo runs were AWESOME.
At night, me and the other stinters (jay and kenzi) went up on the scaffold that overlooked the city of mante, which is where el limon is. Anyways, the town is really really little and quiet. the stars were out and shining so bright. everything took me back to simplicity. our lives and relationship with the Lord doesn't have to be as difficult as we make it. sometimes we (especially me) get so caught up in the worldly things when all we really do is need to LOOK UP and see the stars and listen the gentle whispers of the Lord. God is ALL around us and is ready to show us the Beauty and REALITY of who He is whenever we get over ourselves and continue to realize it is not about us but all about HIM.
since we are back on our campus and are taking precautions against the swine flu stuff we are planning things to do with the jovens. last night we had worship for about 2 1/2 hours. i left after 15 minutes of it and grabbed my ipod and went to a scaffold here on campus (it is the one in the picture above). i am so refreshed by God and His presence since last night. i have longed to do worship in English but everyone that lives on campus that could lead worship only knows Spanish. hints the ipod and scaffold. i got up and away from everyone on campus and went up to where it was just me and the Lord. i don't think i have ever belted worship songs so loud with my arms wide open just praising our God for how incredibly wonderful and great He is. (and praying that i didn't fall off the scaffold haha) there is so much going on in Mexico and the U.S. that has everyone worried so much. God did not put us here on the earth to worry and be afraid. HE IS WITH US. i feel like we are all acting like He went away or something. well i can tell you something for sure, HE IS DEFINITELY HERE AND PRESENT. before worrying about something, how about we build an altar (fall on our knees) and give it to the Lord. Remember God is in control. He knows what is going on with this swine flu and drug wars and economy. HE IS A GOD THAT LOVES HIS CHILDREN AND PROMISES TO BE WITH US. rest in that reassurance sweet friends and know that He is not going anywhere. i pray that you all will be able to have a sweet encounter with the Lord SOON. OH HOW HE LOVES US.

CABI

trip to the border-
Carol Anderson By Invitation has been very generous to Back2Back. we have had our second annual cabi sales here in the Monterrey area. they ship the clothes to Mcallen, Texas and we go there for a day and sort them all out to bring across the border. we had to make 2 different trips this year because we had 10,000 pieces to go through. Praise God. the reason to praise God is because last year on the cabi sales alone, 4 of our teens on campus had their school completely funded. This year we have twice as many pieces and i am praising God for what is to come. i know He continues to provide for the children here in Monterrey and i love seeing the unique way He does it. Thank you Carol Anderson and the way that you continue to be an advocate for Back2Back. not to mention with the cabi run to the border, i got Sonic and Target in one day. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME.