bo jackson.

okay okay... i know i just posted a blog this morning; however, i had to let everyone know something that made my day!! if you know me at all, you know that i love auburn and i LOVE auburn football even more. well... today as we were leaving the orphanage, i looked out the window of the van and saw a man crossing the street in a bo jackson jersey! of course i got so excited. if only that man knew who's jersey he was wearing. :) WAR EAGLE from honduras!

and the journey begins...

Hey guys. Just wanted to give you an update of the last few days. Orientation was wonderful!  We leaders had a little time to get to know each other before we joined with the rest of our teams and that was so great. It makes our prayers for each other so much more personal over the summer. On Wednesday we joined up with the rest of our team. I met our fourth, Kimberly. She’s so great. She has such a sweet heart. We are going to make her our honorary quad for the month. The first day of orientation was spent learning about Buckner, our country, our role and our responsibility. Buckner did an amazing job preparing us as much as they could. I wish I could name everyone by name who meant so much to us during orientation, but there are just so many. I do need to thank Analiz for all that she has done. She is our mission coordinator in the states (aka mom for two days). She was absolutely wonderful.  The first half of the second day of orientation was spent working in the Buckner humanitarian aide and shoes for orphan souls warehouse. After that we spent time with our regional director to learn a little more about our country. Then the staff at Buckner really poured into us to prepare our hearts spiritually. We had a sweet time of worship and prayer before we headed off. I cannot speak highly enough of the people at Buckner. (If you want to serve orphans and vulnerable children, they are an amazing ministry to serve with.)

Well.. yesterday we started our journey at two in the morning. We hopped on our first flight at 5:30, caught a second flight in Miami, and we were in Tegucigalpa by 1:00 Alabama time (12 Honduras time). We met our in country mission coordinator Nettie and our wonderful translators Karla and Luiz. We dropped of our bags and headed to lunch at Baleadas (also known as Mary Elizabeth’s favorite restaurant). After lunch we visited the orphanage we will be working at. It is called Casitas Kennedy orphanage and it houses children from 0-18. The children are divided up into houses by gender and age group. Here at this orphanage you are not allowed to take any pictures. We were a little bummed at first but know that there is a reason and we respect the leadership there in trying to keep there children safe. Casitas Kennedy has a large number of staff members and the leadership from what I can tell is very nice and very willing to help.

We were at Casitas Kennedy making our way to the baby room when I just stopped walking. Caitlin was tapping my back over and over asking me the name of the girl we were looking at. The girl and I just stared at one another until finally I smiled and got out her name. I said “Kenya” and she just looked at me with a face that was saying, “you know my name? you know me?” I told her who I was, that I was Maria who visited her last year in San Pedro. Her eyes lit up and a smile stretched across her face as we then greeted each other with a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. I was in shock at God’s faithfulness. Kenya had her daughter and she is now ten months old and living at Casitas Kennedy as well. Here is a picture of Kenya from last June, she is on the right.

We also saw something very hard to see. We walked into a room with three children. They looked as if they were starving, so skinny and so frail. They are all extremely special needs. There is one little boy, Christian, who has been there for ten months. His parents used to use him to get money. All three of the children have severe handicaps and problems with oxygen getting to their brains. The only way they are able to eat is by food and juices blended to liquid, and even that is hard for them. As I sat in the floor holding Erika’s hand and rubbing my fingers across her face with no response, I prayed for her. What a joy it is to know that one day she will be in a glorified body walking beside our God.

We left the orphanage stopped to get some breakfast for tomorrow and then came home to settle in. I will leave you with some pictures of our new home. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. You have no idea how much it means.

funny story about the milk... it's at room temperature and doesn't expire for a year. :)

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations." -Deuteronomy 7:9 

and we're off...

Today I left for Dallas. I arrived at DFW around 4:30. Traffic was really bad in Dallas so Analiz (the boss),  Victoria (Peru leader) and I were in the car for a few hours so we were worn out. We joined two other leaders, Olivia and Sarah for dinner at a very good BBQ place. I am still so tired but the other leaders and I have been laughing and sharing stories. My mom, Sarah, Caitlin, Anna Lee and little Ada came to see me off.

I cannot wait for Sarah, Caitlin and Kimberly to get her tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your prayers. :) 

happy mother's day.

i just wanted to take time to thank my beautiful mothers. she has been a constant example of Christ's love for us for me for almost twenty-one years. She daily paints the most beautiful picture of what a Godly mother looks like- devoted to her God, devoted to her husband, and devoted to her house. she loves and cherishes Christ above all else and has encouraged me to do the same. He is her first love and that is why she loves me so well. happy mother's day mom. i love you very much!!! 


"her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." -proverbs 31: 28-29

some things i'm learning about SIN.

Friends… I have to start off by saying the post before this, about shenanigans. Well folks, I WON. It was a crazy week and a half and I couldn’t have done it with out help.

Anyway that’s not what that is about. I want to share with you something the Lord is teaching me a lot about… and that is sin. Sarah, Caitlin and I have been meeting together in preparation for our time in Honduras this summer. During our meeting time we have been going over sin, its root, nature, strategy and goal.

Over the last few weeks things have happened that have really tested what I’ve learned. One big thing I’ve learned is why God allows Christians to struggle with sin… God could have wiped out sin all together, without exerting any effort at all. But.. he didn’t. Our full and total deliverance from sin’s presence will come when we receive our glorified bodies. Oh what a glorious day! To understand the purpose we have to remember that God IS sovereign and he does what whatever he pleases, he works all things according to his will and we do not know the full extent of his sovereign will –Psalm 115:3, Ephesians 1:11, Deuteronomy 29:29. The author points out… “But we know this: in His wisdom, God has chosen not to remove the presence of sin from his redeemed… A believer’s struggle with indwelling sin somehow fits into God’s overarching purpose to glorify himself and conform believers to the image of his Son. Paul says: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the first born among many broethren.”-Romans 8:28,29. From this explanation we see some reasons why God allows his children to struggle with sin…1. To make us humble and dependent on God… Our struggle with sin reveals our weakness and only magnifies God’s strength. By his grace he allows us to see ourselves for what we really are: weak, prone to sin, utterly dependent on him who proves to be faithful ALWAYS. 2. To cultivate thankfulness… God is our deliverer. He has triumphed over death and sin. 3. To promote compassion… we as sinners saved by grace alone through faith alone can relate to the lost. That should promote compassion in us for others. 4. To keep your focus on the gospel… the author writes so much better than I when he says…”What causes us to survey the cross each day and marvel at the power of God’s grace? Is it not the sin that clings so closely, the sin we find ourselves confessing and forsaking each day? God wants to keep the cross fresh in our minds. He wants the gospel to occupy our thoughts. Think about it. We can hardly make it through a worship service without a wicked thought assaulting our minds. Even in the name of fellowship we often commit some of the most ghastly sins with our tongue. The presences of sin and our ongoing struggle keep us focused on the beauty of the gospel.” 5. To make us long for heaven… this world is not our home, our citizenship is in heaven.

The second thing that I am learning is huge for me. We are called to make war on our sin, to hunt it down and kill all remaining sin. Look what Paul says in Romans 8:12-14… “So then, brethren, we are under obligation. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you are living according to the flesh, you mush die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” There is no bargaining with sin. There can be no negotiation. It has to be full out war. Well… to make war on the enemy first you must know the enemy. We must know the nature of sin, the strategy of sin and the goal of sin in order to MAKE WAR! The nature of sin… sin is above all else deceptive. Sin promises good but delivers things that are harmful. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it was conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15. Sin is personal in nature. Man’s fallen nature has the tendency to strongly desire whatever will satisfy it. Sin is deceitful and crafty. Sin is not merely a spontaneous act. It is the result of a process. This slapped me in the face- knowing that my sin is the result of a process. Makes you think about things right? The strategy of sin… the number one strategy of sin is to excite our desires and wants, tempting us with an opportunity to fulfill it. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? It not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1-2  The progression?- we want, we need, we demand, and finally we take, whatever the cost. Sin is personal. It finds, targets and attacks us at our most vulnerable points. Puritan pastor John Owen says this about the strategy of sin: Sin is always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting. Who can say that he has ever had anything to do with God or for God which indwelling sin has not tried to corrupt?... there is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed upon. It will always be so while we live in this world. Sin will not spare for one day.  There is no safety but in a CONSTANT warfare for those who desire deliverance from sin’s perplexing rebellion. The goal of sin… sin wants to master us. Look at Cain in Genesis 4- If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not to well, sin is couching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. God warned Cain that if he chose not to obey, if he chose to give into his desires, if he chose sin then ever-present sin would fulfill its power over him. Sin accomplished its goal to deceive, dominate and destroy Cain. The author describes sin this way… Sin is entrenched deep within the heart, undetected but not inactive. Ouch. Sin is rooted deep in my heart and it longs for my destruction. Sin diminishes the hope of the gospel. When I think of how present, deep-rooted, heinous, and personal my sin is it is hard to focus on the hope of the gospel. My vision is clouded by feelings of despair and unworthiness that encourage me to look to myself to fix things instead of running to my Father.

This has been so good for me. It has been good but I would be lying to you if I said it had not been hard. It is hard to stare my sinfulness in the face to deal with it, to confess it and make war against it. Recognizing my sin and learning its nature, strategy and goal have driven me to long for closer communion with my Father… The One who has triumphed over sin. The One who has destroyed it. It has driven me to long to be a woman of prayer. 

So... my prayer at the moment is Psalm 39... "For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin."

shenanigans.

it's that time of year again. time for 200 crazy college students to change their identities on every social network they're on, betray those who are close to them, sleep with one eye open and have a break out from the amount of stress they're under. yep!! it's time for SHENANIGANS. for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about i'll give you a short description. shenanigans is a game of water gun assassins. each person gets a target to kill (with a water gun of course) but is also given to someone as a target. you are given a 48 to 72 hour time frame to kill your target without being killed before you expire. it's the most stressful as well as the most fun thing we do at Auburn RUF. to get everyone excited for shenanigans my sweet friend Sarah Heinss made an AMAZING video. go watch it and enjoy.

voy a regresar.

I am beyond excited and incredibly humbled by the news I am about to share with you. In December I sent in my application to serve as a Buckner intern again in Honduras. Last Thursday I had my phone interview and they let me know that I have been accepted. This is a huge answer to prayer for me. I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. I was thinking back to last summer, over the past few years of school, and to the summer approaching. One thing I kept coming back to was how sweet it was to be so far from comfort. He brought me to a university of 24,000 people. He placed me in relationships with people I may have never met otherwise. He asked me to give four weeks of my summer to serve Him in another country. He gave me a calm heart and a patience that could not have come from me. He is once again taking me far from comfortable with another summer in Honduras- this time for the entire summer. 

I am so excited for this opportunity. I am so humbled that God would chose to allow me to be apart of His awesome plan. Although He doesn't need me, He choses to use me. God is so faithful. He is already showing me so much. He has been so sweet to let me see a glimpse of His plan for me in Honduras but also to remind me that I have a job here as well, and that job is to love Him, love others and bring Him glory. The Jesus that is with me at Auburn is the same Jesus that is with me in Honduras. 

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." -1 Corinthians 15:10

Last summer I spent my time in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. As you know from my blog post about them, I fell in love with the children and people I met there. They have such a large part of my heart. This summer, Buckner's greatest need for interns is in Tegucigalpa and Roatan. This means I will be in the same country but not city as my precious niños. My heart both aches and rejoices at this. (Is that even possible?) While of course I will miss my niños in San Pedro, I am so excited to share the love of Christ with the people in Tegucigalpa and Roatan. 

One thing that we do so often here in the States is talk about the orphans and afflicted in the world. We even have compassion for them. But oh how different it is to hold them in your arms, to hold their hands, to look at their beautiful faces and stare into their eyes. It changes everything. 

This is going to be a journey for me. I want to share it with you. I don't want to sugarcoat things. I want to be vulnerable about my life, my feelings and my relationship with my King! I pray that you will be able to see Jesus in my weakness. As I begin this journey I ask that you would join me in prayer. Prayer is the vital breath of the Christian; not the thing that makes him alive, but the evidence that he is alive. -O.Chambers Pray that God will first and foremost prepare my heart, that He would continually remind me of my need for Him, that He will rid me of all my pride and selfishness, that I would be obedient, that I would love and love well, that I would be disciplined, that I would aggressively attack the sin in my life, that I would give Him all the Glory and that I would honor Him. Since picking up my life and moving it to another country for over two months is quite expensive, today marks the start to a long support raising journey. I trust that the Lord will get me where I feel He is calling me this summer. I trust this and I know it; however, when I am alone with a lot of time to think, my flesh comes out to get me. When I flesh think, nervousness, fear, worry- they all come at me. Friends, I ask that you would pray for my thinking, that it will be Spirt-thinking. 

Thank you so much for taking time to read about something that is so dear to me and an irresistible passion in my life. 

-Mary Elizabeth

PS... the title of this post means... "I am returning." 

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." -Ephesians 3:17-19