Time is Flying!

Less than a week before the students take off for Southeast Asia! Time has flown by so quickly-I feel as if they just arrived! Here is a picture of each team :-)

Nepal

Bangladesh

Ch!n@*

Borneo

It has been awesome getting to know these students and also watching how God changes their lives during their 3 months of school :-) knowing that He will continue to use and grow them as they bring the message of Jesus to Asia. So exciting! And I am honored to be apart of this process :-D (thanks for supporting me!)

What else is new? This quarter I have learned a lot in my life personally. Living in community tends to bring out many sides in a person-good and bad- faster than in a "normal" life setting. That being said, God has been pruning me in several ways! And I continue to learn more and more how He is my good Father... how He knows what is best for me, and even the best ways to grow me. "...the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in"-Proverbs 3:12...awesome. I like this quote from Max Lucado: "God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus". Yes...please take all my ugly :) Beauty for ashes. Wonderful.

Also, I have come to believe that I don't think people are put into our lives by accident... and that when differences or conflicts arise, it may be pointing out things inside of us that God wants us to grow in, or may pinpoint an area we may need Him to heal a wound from our past. Many times when there are negative emotions stirring within us, that is a sign from something that goes deeper than the situation at hand. An example with me is just ways I have been acting out of selfishness, and my reactions from conflicts were stemming from this selfishness. So...with that said, negative emotions/reactions etc. may just be results from our circumstances, but looking deeper and asking God if there is something He wants to show us is something I am learning more of as I walk in this place of community.

OH!!!!! happy day. On a not so serious note-I am going home for Christmas :-D Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, and will be happy to enjoy it with family and friends. I am immensely excited (that I have to make sure I am not too focused on the future and get distracted from where I am now :) I will be home for about 2 1/2 weeks, and will thoroughly enjoy all of it!!! :-)

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Thanks for being interested in my life.

~~Violetta

*Team Ch!n@ is spelled this way on purpose for security reasons.

Caffeination and Furry Lips!

OOOOH the bonus of working at this base... :))

This weekend was PACKED with activities that my department helped put together/plan...
First of all, this base is known for its strange interest in mustaches and crazy 80's events... and this saturday our base had its third annual "MANNY'S MUSTACHE MARATHON".... what comes into your mind with this title?? bahahaaa.... this is a mini marathon-7 miles long- that students and staff have the option to join... and not only is it a race, but also a mustache contest along with an 80's dress code. Basically, only pictures can give you a better idea of the colorful furry lip filled day!!!

Not only did we have furry lips, but also a "Coffee House" event on Sunday that was filled with snacks, coffee, and lots of talent. The night was filled with different goodness from both staff and students such as: singing, guitar, skits, jokes, poems, dancing, juggling etc... which ended up being the perfect balance of seriousness and laughter. :)) I even got to play and sing a funny song I wrote using the guitar.

The two fabulous events from this weekend are definitely two of my favorite events EVER our base puts on :)) And even though it was quite a busy weekend for us in hospitality because of the extra hours of planning, preparing, decorating etc... it was worth it :)) (and then went to bed at 8:30 pm on monday to recover haha). Events like these are great to encourage community and splendid memories for everyone during the schools!

Just a piece of my life in blog format for you :)) thanks for reading!

~Violetta