A few things

A few of the random things going on in my life or floating through my head right now:

• I had a great weekend with my family. I enjoyed their company, celebrated birthdays, and took some time to remember the sacrifice my savior made for me.
• With the exception of my plane ride home last night, I have been listening to my iPod exclusively on shuffle. I love the crazy mix of music you get that way. It was perfect on the way to work this morning…from a little Brooke Frasier to Matt Wertz…just what I needed to get my morning started.
• Next weekend I’ll be with this girl. I haven’t seen Julia since she left for Arizona last summer, and that just makes me a little sad. I believe we are planning to see the Grand Canyon. I’ve never been there. I’ve been trying for years to get there. And now it shall happen.
• I think my OCD/anal/beaver/just plain freak of nature habits are getting worse. If you know me well, you know this is scary. I didn’t know they could get worse. Maybe I should be medicated?
• In June I’m going to be visiting this girl. Erin just moved to DC back in February, and I miss her. I’m excited to see her new home, and do some exploring in the city!
• I am currently addicted to Kings…a new TV show on NBC. It is based loosely on the story of King David from the Bible. I love it, but would not suggest watching it, because it is probably going to be cancelled. Sad! Why do they cancel the good shows? Why do people tell me to watch shows that are just going to disappear on me a few short weeks later?
• My friends Laura and Shawn leave for Brazil in a few weeks. It’s weird to not be going, but I am super excited for their trip. I might bribe them to put me in their suitcase!
• I’m going to Cabo in October with my sister. She won a free week in a suite at the Hilton. I had enough miles to fly for free. I love free vacation!
• Can you tell I’m making up for my lack of travel in 2008? Because I went to Brazil right after I started my job, I was in negative vacation for the majority of the year.
• And last, but not least, I had my six week check up for my surgery today, and I am officially cleared. I believe I will start running tomorrow. Or not.

Catching Up

I know, I know….I have become a terrible blogger! Life has just been pretty consistently crazy for the last couple of months. I have made the big move to Lake Highlands. I no longer live within walking distance of work…which is really unfortunate considering gas prices. I absolutely love being in a house with all its perks. One of the biggest perks being the ability to park right in front of your house. When you forget something you don’t have to make the long trek back into the back of the apartment complex to get it, you just run in and are back in the car within the minute. There are many other perks…including great roommates, hardwood floors, and a place to entertain.

Of course, I also went to Brazil, which was amazing, hard, challenging, and stretching. I will attempt to do a whole separate blog entry on my trip, but for now, I will tell you about my favorite moment from the trip. We were in our last village of the week. We had done VBS in the morning and the afternoon, and were hanging around outside waiting to have our service that night. Amit had a group of kids gathered around him on the steps of the Catholic church, so he grabbed a translator and started sharing the gospel with them. It was incredible to watch their eyes just glued to him as he told them about the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for them. Sweet, precious Linda was translating for Amit. In the middle of Amit praying the prayer of salvation with some of the kids, Linda just broke down and started crying. Once she composed herself, she told us that she could just see the hunger in the kids’ eyes. This particular village doesn’t get many visitors who would share the gospel with them, because only a few short years ago they would stone any Christians that stepped foot in the village. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my face. After they finished praying with the kids, Linda told Amit that the old man sitting a few steps behind the kids had prayed the prayer too. I LOVE how God uses us…even in places we aren’t expecting to be used...actually, most of all in those places! God taught me a lot while I was there. A lot about Him and a lot about myself and my walk with Him and a lot about how I relate to other people. I love that He taught me things, but the hard part for me is always bringing that back to my life here in Dallas. I'm still working on it - more on that later.

Since I’ve been back from Brazil I’ve been busy unpacking the rest of my boxes, finishing up the semester with my 8th grade girls, watching Rebekah graduate from A&M, and enjoying a restful Memorial Day weekend in Dallas. It has been a super fast, great, and busy month. The next couple of weeks hold lots of wedding festivities for Michelle. So unbelievable that she is getting married! I might not post until after the wedding next weekend, but I most definitely will after that!

Every Good & Perfect Gift...

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how thankful for all the things that God has given me. I know it seems kind of cliche at this time of year, but it's almost like I've had to remind myself that God has given me good things. I have set my sight so much on the things I don't have or the things that I think aren't fair in my life. So, I've been making an effort to write down the things that God has done in my life lately and all of the things that He has blessed me with. It's amazing what looking at those things does to take your mind off of the little petty things. Here's a few of things things that I am SO thankful for:

• My Wonderful Family - I mean, really, I couldn't ask for a better family!



• The chance to go to Brazil and get to tell some great kids about Jesus. And the chance to go back in April!!
• GREAT FRIENDS!!!!! God has provided me with great friendships in every area of my life. These are just a few of the amazing people He has place in my life.

LB & Julia - here being my triathlon support. Everyday just being wonderful, consistent friends!

Lisa - my running buddy! Without her, I would most certainly not be in shape and I probably would have walked out of student ministries after the first week except for the fact that she talked to me and let me sit with her & her girls!

And my favorite girls!!! I can't imagine what my life would be like without these girls! My parents prayed for great friends and roommates in college, and boy did God deliver. These girls are without a doubt the people who know me the best and that I know will always be around!

• Some amazing 8th grade girls who I'm pretty sure teach me more than I teach them. It's hard to believe that they are in 8th grade already. Being their small group leader for the last 2 and a half years has been such a huge learning experiences and one of the greatest blessings in my life. I can't wait to see what the Lord does in them in the next 4 and a half years!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. James 1:17

I love my Mac!

I've been playing with my computer, and I made a video with some of my Brazil pictures. Here it is....just for fun :)

More than Words...

That's how I feel about my trip to the Amazon. I'm not sure I could ever fully put into words the way God worked in my heart and the things that He did in those 9 days. It was really an amazing time, and the things that I brought back with me are too many to count.

The highlight of my trip was getting to lead two little girls to the Lord. These girls have a really intense home life, and would have been impossible to leave them there not knowing that they had Jesus. Here's a picture of us praying with the girls and then with them after we prayed:

I was on the VBS team for the week. For anyone that really knows me, they know that I could not have been happier than to be put on that team. It was such a great experience for me, different than any other time I've gotten to work with kids. It was more than just running around the village & playing with them. It was being bold with them, and sharing Christ, and really letting them know that God loved them. It was really a special time. Here's a picture of our VBS team....they were so much fun to work with!

Back: Kenny, me, Katy, Bridget, Front: Jen, Deny, Lisa, Clauder, Beth

This trip has reminded me that I need to be bold with my faith not only on the Amazon, but right here where I live. I was also reminded there of how alive I feel when I am doing missions. I love serving God's people in the nations. I'd like to think that I will end up doing work like this more long term sometime in the future.

I'm so thankful for all of you who supported me through prayer and with your resources. This trip wouldn't have been possible and wouldn't have been such a growing experience without you.

I really wish that I had more energy to write more about the trip, but I'm pretty spent after going straight back to work this week. Here's the link to all of my pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.d.welch/Brazil2007.

Ready or not...

I'm headed for Brazil in the morning! I can't believe it's here. It really snuck up on me! The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I worked Connection with our junior high kids last week. We stayed at a hotel & put on a day camp for these apartment kids. It was SO fun, and such an awesome experience to watch my girls get their hands dirty & serve. Really, really amazing! Here's a couple of pictures from the week:

SarahBeth & I made shirts - we were the crafts leaders :)

My sweet Maddie helping the girls with crafts
Me & Sweet Tori!
Spencer, SarahBeth & I won a ball at Dave & Busters. We took it to the apartment complex the next day and it was deflated within about 10 minutes!

I'll update when I get back from Brazil!