Saludos, amigos!  It’s been a jam-packed two weeks in Ensenada.  I have been meaning to update my blog but God had other plans and shut the WiFi down the entire first week.  It feels like I have been here for a month, and I already feel at home here.   God is doing a work that truly only He could do.  Some of the highlights of the past two weeks include:

·         Bonding with the 31 students and 20 staff members.  My prayer is that God would unify us and make us one even as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:11).  We come from all over the world:  Mexico, Scotland, England, Bahamas, Canada, Australia, the US.

·         Hay mucho oportunidades para hablar en español en el base.  Uno de mis amigas mejores es de México y vive en mi cuarto.  Dios es marvilloso.  Él es siempre fiel para protegir en este camino.  

·         Listening to one another’s testimonies.  As we are vulnerable and real with one another, God is healing wounds from our past.  More than ever before, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for Jesus’s saving work in me. 

·         I asked Jesus to tell me what He thinks of me, and I believe that he said this:  “I’m dancing over you.  I am pleased and delighted in you.  I want to dance with you.  Don’t doubt my love.  Don’t doubt my voice.  Fall in love with me, because my love for you will never change.”  As He was speaking to me, I envisioned Him dancing with me.  I was following in His steps, but sometimes I would try to take the lead.  He asked me, “Will you let ME take this dance?”

·         While reading “Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit” by Francis Chan, God has been showing me that I have not completely submitted to His lordship.  I wonder why I am not radically radiating Jesus, when I often attempt to play Holy Spirit’s role and operate on my own strength.  Painfully, I am learning to die to myself.  I’ve had to realize that God is NOT who I want or imagine Him to be.  He is who He is and is not limited by my small perception of Him.  But He’s SO much more beautiful, holy, intimate, worthy, and glorious than I could ever imagine.    

·         This past week we’ve had the opportunity to glean from a woman named Kay Charlotte.  I have never before met someone as bold, blunt, and humble.  She used group object-lessons that she felt the Lord was specifically putting on her heart for our group.  One such lesson involved dragging our baggage everywhere we went for two days.  In another lesson, we spent an hour contemplating on our life’s legacy in a graveyard, and yesterday we decorated a brown bag to represent who we are, the good and the bad.  Learning about my identity in Christ is forever changing me.  Here are a few of the haunting questions she asked us:   what are you feeding more:  your personality (gifts) or character (the fruits of the spirit)?  Am I living in Egypt with not enough, the wilderness with just enough, or in the Promise Land with more than enough (of God’s blessings and supernatural power in my life)?  How bad do I want the promise land of God so that God can use my life to make a difference for His glory?  This point hit me hard:  delayed obedience is disobedience.

·         Psalm 51:17 greatly spoke to me:  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” 

I am stoked for how God is going to continue to move!  Thank you so much for continuing to pray

• that the Lord would mightily reveal Himself in this time
• that the enemy would have no hold on us
• that Jesus would continue to open our eyes and break our hearts so we can be used for His purposes 
• for rest as many have been tired and some sick
• for rich, intimate encounters with the Lord   

I love and miss all of you, but I know that Jesus wants me in Mexico in this season!