I have called you friends...

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; 

but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

John 15:12-15 

Tonight, I saw these verses evidenced in the lives of our friends. 

Over the last few months, John has gotten to know the guys who lead the Hispanic church at SMCC.

  [Brother Issac, Pastor, J, and Brother Jason]

These men are men of God. They fear the Lord and love each other. 

They laugh together, hug each other, and pray for one another.

It has been such a blessing to watch these men do ministry together in such a great way.

Tonight, we gathered together to celebrate the birthday of Pastor and his beautiful twin sister.

[Cecilia and Pastor Erick]

As we drove, we discussed the worries of life and the exhaustion of looking at another week ahead.

When we walked through the door of our friends' home, 

immediately the joy of the Lord met us.

We ate some amazing homemade food from El Salvador, played fun games, 

chatted, prayed together, and laughed... a lot.

I am so thankful for the fellowship of these friends.

They welcomed us with open arms, even though we don't speak Spanish very well,

and offered their home to us anytime.

Pastor exemplified this passage in his words and actions tonight, as he does everyday.

True friendship is hard to come by,

and although I have only known this group of people for a short time,

it feels as though it has been a lifetime.

Thank you, Pastor and Yami, for inviting us into your home

and allowing us to celebrate with you.

Your marriage is such an encouragement to us and your faith is inspiring.

We love you more than we can express

and are so very thankful for your hearts and friendship.

Dios te bendiga.

[J & C, Issac & Alma, Pastor & Yami, me & J]

Supporting a friend in ministry

I had the incredible blessing of having coffee with my dear friend from college, Danielle, this past month. We hadn't talked much since we graduated, but we reconnected after Jaimee died. We picked up right where we left off. What God-timing it was. Danielle is one of the most joyful people I know. She radiates the love of God in her words and smile and actions. You want to be in her presence!

This month, Danielle moved to do missions in Colorado with Chi Alpha. And I couldn't be more excited for her! She gets to spend her days loving college girls and showing them Jesus. If you want to support her, you can do so here. Her ministry is made possible by prayers, donations, and the Lord's provision.

She's perfect for the job. I can't wait to see how God uses her!

Fall and fellowship

I'm blessed to be a part of an amazing group of people. I love our new church ministry and I love the people that represent it. I love our pastor and I love the friends we have made. And I love the ladies.

This past week, I got invited to a ladies night to have dessert, fellowship, and talk about new opportunities for ministry.

To say I was excited to be included is an understatement. I had to find something super fun to make for dessert. Inspired by my friend, pumpkin cupcakes it was.

(this is my new fun cupcake carrier. i had to have something to put them in!)

Sidenote about pumpkins:
Mind you, I am not a pumpkin person. I mean, I love pumpkins. But eating them...not so much. Like, I don't know if I've ever even had a piece of pumpkin pie, because it just doesn't look that good to me. But when Jessi brought these to bible study a few weeks ago, I fell in love. I even tried my first pumpkin spice latte. I know, I'm behind. It was good! Until the end... then it got luke warm and orange and sorta freaked me out... anyways. The point is - these are good. And pumpkin flavor is actually pretty good!

I took them over to ladies' night, and the girls liked them! In addition, we enjoyed amazing fruit salad and beautiful decorated cookies. Although my favorite part was probably the cookie dough... "no eggs!" ... by Sondra. Girl after my own heart.

We sat in her backyard, the 5 of us, and talked about life and love and ministry. We talked about encouragement and caring for others, and ways to implement that in very tangible ways. Great ideas were presented, and I'm so excited for the potential for this new ministry. Encouraging people is one thing I really enjoy, and now that I'm done with school, I'll be happier and hopefully more encouraging. :) It's all in the works right now, but I hope it can become something huge.

And I hope some of these friendships can also become something huge.