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4:30 a.m. on Saturday will get here fast, and I will leave for Mexico!
I am so excited! I've got 2 days to finish learning as much Spanish as possible! I can currently say hello, goodbye, and where is the bathroom! I figured those were a good start!

If you've heard any recent news about Nuevo Laredo, you may have heard the city described as 'general mayhem'. I am expecting that the kids that will be at Ms. Karen's orphanage will be no exception. All of these kids are considered 'street kids', meaning they survived on the streets by either begging, prostitution, or stealing. I am extremely excited about spending time hanging out with these kids and showing them His love!! For some of them.. maybe the first real picture of love they've ever seen!

Here's what I'm learning:
Love is a sacrifice. A pouring out of oneself. And we can only pour out when we have been filled up. These past few years, as I have begun to more deeply understand my own failures, I have needed to drink more deeply of His mercy and grace. It was either drink or wither. For a while, my pride took over, and I chose withering over accepting the cup that was offered to me. But grace won (thank you, Jesus!), and I find that in drinking from that cup, I am filled with more than I can fathom! I am filled with His love. And when I choose to let that spill out of me, transformation occurs. Transformation not only in my own heart, but in those who taste His love for the first time. I am transformed because I look a little more like the One I follow each and every time I choose patience over impatience, mercy over fairness, forgiveness over begrudging, tolerance over anger, LOVE over HATE. Love. Oh, how I cannot wait to let this love overflow into the lives of children in Mexico.In countless ways I have seen that the message of love- taught not through our words, but through our ACTIONS- communicates the gospel more loudly and vibrantly than we could possibly imagine.

The Gospel- shared in kind words, patience, a smile, fairness, integrity. Africa has taught me that it is the only message I need to share. Words aren't required to communicate it, and when it is experienced, it opens doors to answer questions about its source. As my friend, Christy Nockels says: "they will know us by our love."

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-4

*stay tuned: I am fortunate enough to be able to update my blog while i am gone! Check back Sunday or Monday for an update from Mexico and hopefully some pictures! :)