This is so cool!

This is the church in Bugambilias.

This is the church in Santa Ana.

This is Iteso University and the Football field where we played soccer at Iteso.

This is the road that we had to drive to get up and down the moutain.

Matthew 20:28
28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

It has been a while since I have posted, but as many of ya'll know I was in Guadalajara, Mexico for a two month internship. I learned a lot while in Mexico. Here are some of the things that I learned

-To speak a little espanol(Still working on this though)

-To serve a little more like Jesus (I'm still working on this one as well)

-To put a tomato on a cut the is bleeding profusely to stop the bleeding(I don't know why this works, but I would love to find out if anyone knows)

-To tell kids no and then tell them what they should be doing

-To cook a few Mexican dishes

-That I can't wait to do that for the rest of my life

Someday I would love to go back as a missionary. Please pray that God would guide me and show me His will for my life.

-

Oh, my Child
Come and weep a while
Cry on my shoulder
Till your eyes have run dry
But listen as I say this
I want you to understand
Never has anything happened
That I did not plan

Psalm 146

1 Praise the LORD. ^[a]
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

2 I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,

6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,

8 the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.

9 The LORD watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.

I love how it says,"Do not put you trust in princes." As a girl I cannot wait until my prince comes and just sweeps me off my feet. But here it says that I should not put my trust in that. To often I get my hopes and dreams wrapped up in the idea of being married to the most wonderful guy in the world, yet here it tells me that my prince will let me down. My prince cannot save me.

That is why I take comfort in the fact that there is one man who can and has saved me.

Thank you Father for saving me. May I put my all my hopes and dreams in you and not in mortal men. May I trust you for the future. Amen.

Isaiah 54:16-17

16 "See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;

17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and this is their vindication from me,"
declares the LORD.

I´ve been reading from Isaiah for the last few weeks. This realy popped out at me. Think about it. When a warrior is going out to battle he isn´t thinking,"Okay, I need to find out who made my opponites sword so that I know how good his weapon is. I need to find out who this guy trained with so that I know what fighting styles he is use to. I need to..." A warrior is not thinking of all the little things that made his enemy a warrior. Instead he is concentrating on the moment. He doesn´t have time to think big picture just then.

We have such a great God that he does that for us. When we are going through a spiritual battle, He knows exacatly what we need to keep up the good fight. He created everything and He can sure stop it if he needs to. He knew eacatly what we need to serve Him before we were even born. God is amazing. ¿Verdad?

To My Father

Dear Dad,

This is a letter thanking you for being such a great dad. As the f ather of five girls, you have undertaken what many men would dread. When I´m telling people I am one of five girls, no brothers, people will often say,¨Your poor dad.¨

When I was first started to hear this reaction, I would try and come up with a snappy come back to make people laugh. But lately I´ve come to a realization. You are probably the best man for the job of raising five girls.

You are kind and understanding, but you also push us to be tough and strong; therefore you have raised some very stong women as your daughters. You have taught us to lead and think for ourselves, but have also taught us to follow and help those in athority get their job done. You´ve taught us to think through things and us our minds, even when we don´t want to. Have have been an example of what we should look for in a husband. And most of all you have passed on your faith. Thank you for raising strong, smart, God-fearing daughter.

Now when people say,"Your poor dad," I say,"He is really the best man for the job."

Love,
--Rie

Deuteronomy 11:19

19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Wow! so much to tell so little time to tell it. I´m now in Mexico. Lauren and I are have been working for the past few days in a preschool in Santa Anna from 8:30am to 1:30pm. Then we go back to the Trotters house for lunch.

Santa Anna is a very poor part of Guadalajara. Think lucky that some of them have indoor plumbing poor. I will be taking pictures, but I can´t find the USB cord that loads my pictures onto the computer. So you guys might have to wait a while on the pic front.

The kids at the preschool are so darling. I love them so much. One of the kids is retarded and I am having a hard time knowing how to deal with him. Pray that God will show me how to deal with him in a way that will help him to grow and understand.

I need to work on my Spanish. The kids at the preschool don´t speak my English, so I have a good warm up in the morning. But I´m still a little hesitant to speak to adult and teenagers.

This Sunday I¨m singing for worship in the English service and singing an offertory in the Spanish service. The offertory is Be Thou My Vision in Español.

Galatians 5:19-21

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Exodus 34:10-14

10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. ^[a] 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Here we have to examples of Jealousy. Though these words may appear at fist to be the same that is not the case. One of these jealousies is our own human jealousy. The second example is God's jealousy.

I struggle alot with jealousy and I'm not talking about the kind that God has for us. I struggle with being jealous of others. But I have been warned if I live in a constant state of jealousy I will not inherit the kingdom of God.

My jealousy causes a multitude of problems. It causes me to sin against others, myself, and God. It makes me bitter, hate the people I'm jealous of, angry, despair of being good enough, makes me guilty over being jealous, and causes strife between others and myself. When I am jealous of others, I'm not being content with what God has blessed me with.

My sin that seems just to be just inside my head where no one can see wreak havoc on almost every part of my life. I don't want that.

Father, I come before with a great load on my shoulders. I need You to change my heart. I need You to make me not jealous of others. I do not want to live my life in a jealous state of being. Make me more like You and Your Son, Father. Amen.

I hope to write more later about God's jealousy later.

Proverbs 31:30

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

A woman to be praised. What a wonderful thing. I have know many women who have been worthy of the kind of praise that this verse says we should give them. I would like to thank all the mothers and single ladies who have lived their lives devoted to God. It is such an awesome thing to see.

My sister wrote this. She's awesome!

The Trees
By:Noelle Pruitt

What do you think of when you see a tree?
I think of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Why?
Because we always have room to grow.

What are the larger trees?
They are those who are wise and strong in the faith.

What about the littler trees?
Those are the ones who are young and untested. Pray for those.

What about the trees that are bare and have no leaves?
Those are the ones that have bo fruit. Who believe but never flurish.

What about the ones that have flowers?
Those are the ones that have gone before us, and now light our way with their bright colors.

If we are trees, what are squirells?
They are poeple that test our paitence with their ceaseless chater!

What about the wind?
thos who would have us bend and never grow. Those who would try to uproot us us and knock us down.

What about the birds?
Birds are angels, sining out for God's glory and cheering us on sky ward.

If we are trees, then what is God?
God is the Sky, big and beautiful. Giving us water to drink and sun so we can grow. God is the sky because we could never reach him ain a million years without Jesus.

One last question, what are the trees with all the little pods on them?
Those are the ones planting God's word into the hearts of others.

1 Peter 4:11
11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

As Christians we are called to be "little Christs." Are we doing that? I looked up faith on biblegateway and one of the things that came up was "GLORIFYING GOD » Accomplished by » Faithfulness." We were made to praise and glorify God. We are told in this verse to do everything to glorify Him. How amazing would it be to have God so on your mind that you think about glorifying Him in everything.

Father, my heart does not glorify you, yet that is what you created me to do. Pleasese turn my heart. Make it into something that longs to please and serve You with everything in it. Amen.

A friend recently asked why I am so stressed. It got me thinking. Why do I get myself in a stressed out state? It's unbiblicle. It isn't good for my health. People don't like to be around me when I get like that. I'm not fixing or helping in anyway the thing that I'm stressed about. And last, but certainly not least I'm not trusting God with my life.

So the next time you see me stressing over something and not trusting God for the outcome. Please tell me to take a deep breathe and pray with me.

A guy sat down to write a story. He though as he sharpened his pencil,' Who will be my main character? Should it be a boy or a girl? A girl. What family should I put her in? What special gifts and abilities should I give her?'

He starts writing. He puts her in a large family and gives her many blessings in her life. 'What kind of story should this be? Action, romance, mystery, or inspirational?'

He thinks for a moment and decides all of them. He wants to make this story really special. He already loves his heroine so much.

He gives her puzzles to work out. He watches her as guides her through obstacles. He is filled with happiness as she finds some one to love for the rest of her life. He smiles when she's happy and joyful. He nearly cries when she is facing tuff times and needs someone to cry with.

After writing for what seems a couple of decades, he sets down his pencil and takes time to reflect on what he has just written. "It is good," he whispers softly.

Our heavenly Father writes our story. Can we wait patiently for the end of the story to be revealed?

I went to a conference last weekend and over that weekend God really reached out and touched me. The speaker spoke just what I needed to hear and the worship band was one of the best I have ever seen. They truly knew how to worship God. I came back so blessed from the trip; however, ever since I got back I feel like the Satan has been attacking my friends and me. But God is in control.

Matthew 8:23-26

Jesus Calms the Storm

23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

God right know is saying to me,"Why are you afraid? I'm here and I am in control. I will take care of you."

Our God is a loving God. Some day it will be completely calm.

James 1:2-4

Trials and Temptations

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Okay this is a girls only post. Sorry guys, but this really won't be something that you want to hear.

Isaiah 30:19-22
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"

Look at what these verse s are saying. It's saying that we will turn from our idols. We will love the Lord so much that we will throw it away and see just how gross and dispicalbe our idols really are. As soon as we ask our Father for help He will not only hear us, but He will open our eyes and ears so that we can have understanding. He will give us guidence and show us just how much we really need Him. That is too cool for me.

Older and wiser
This is not always so
I don't know

Growing older means
Relying more on me
Is that what I want to be

As I walk through trials
And worlds unknown
May I cling to You
And not let go
My Heavenly Father
I cry
Give me faith as a child

Simpler and easier
The way it was long ago
I didn't know

Cleaner, purer
My heart now is torn
Between mine and Yours

As I walk through trials

And worlds unknown

May I cling to You

And not let go

My Heavenly Father

I cry

Give me faith as a child

Not an emotion that will soon pass away

Not thinking about it real hard

Not something I just say

To have something to say

It is being sure and certain

Of what I may not see

And trusting You through the mundane and insane

Lord, I don't understand
Why I'm suffering in Your Plan
Why I struggle through trials day by day
Though I may not see how this will end
How You'll bring out Your perfect plan
Yet still I'll sing glory to Your name

Great is my Lord
Merciful to me
Holy is my God
Ever loving me
Pure is my King
Cleansing and washing me
Thank You Father for saving me

Isaiah 30:18
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

I have been much in need of this verse lately. I have needed the Lords active compassion and He has given it just as this verse promises.

Currently ReadingCommon Grounds: Conversations About the Things That Matter Most
By Ben Young, Glenn Luckesee related

I'm over due for a book review.
I was given this book from the author himself. It is a very different sort of book and I learned alot from reading it.
The story line is three friends who have know eachother from college go out for coffee about once a week. They all have different religous beliefs. Two of them are christians, but belong to very different denominations. The third is an atheist. One of them hears a pastor who comes and preaches at his church. He is captivated by what the pastor says and it gives him a whole new insite to his faith. He invites the pastor to the coffee meetings with his friends. They discuss a lot of thoelogical matters that the three friends have questions about. The questions are not easy ones and I love the way that the story uses so much scripture. It is an awsome book that has deepened my faith and understanding of God.

"We are called to do good works and to do good work."

My friend Mike said this one day and it really stuck with me. We were discussing music and whether it was okay to listen to secular music. I said that it was and that I do. I'm just careful with what I listen to. He said that he was really disappointed with some Christian artist because they didn't seem to do good work.
He gave the example of Marlene Manson. Marlene Manson may not do good works, but he does good work. He is a very effective artist in that he is able to make you feel the emotions he wants you to through his music.
Now I don't listen and hopefully never will listen to Marlene Manson, but my friend Mike does have a point and it applies to my life. I may do good works, but am I doing them well? Am I doing everything in a way that would please, serve, and worship my Savior? Am I doing everything to the fullest? No, I'm not.

Father, I pray that You would work through me and not only do good works, but good work as well. May I be a testimony of Your greatness. Make me more and more like You. Amen.