Tis the Season...

Tis the Season…

Tis the Season for my heart to break.  I have noticed I’m like SUPER emotional lately.  Call it X, call it Y, call it X + Y=Z…there are many reasons.  Every year right around that merge from Thanksgiving to Christmas ‘season’ I start to really think about just how lucky, I, we (my family) are.  I think it is just part of who I am…and after a quick phone call to my mom tonight I think it’s also in our blood.  Yes, typically women are more emotional than men…some women have an extra high emotional q (kind of like IQ but EQ) and perhaps that theromemter gets turned way up around the Holiday season!

It seems this year I’m extra emotional as I cant even make it through the grocery store with out crying.

I text my friend that very statement and her reply was simple “What are you seeing?”  I then decided I’d blog about it…b/c maybe you all are seeing it too.  Or, rather, maybe you are NOT seeing it and this will encourage all of us to open our eyes a bit more and perhaps even make a difference.  As Natalie Grant says “What are we waiting for?”

Will you join us on this journey?

Chairein!

(Pronounced Chai-rain) which means Greetings in Greek and the transliteration is “Joy to You.”

Before you go thinkin’ I’m some Greek and/or transliteration commentarist (not sure if that is even a word)…just know that Miss Elizabeth Moore taught us this very Greeting in tonight’s Video session where we are studying the book of James together J

I needed to start this blog by saying “Greetings!” b/c yes, it has been awhile since I’ve blogged.

It’s been awhile, but not b/c I don’t have anything to say…I mean COME ON, I’m a chic, it’s been awhile b/c life just happens sometimes.  I can barely stay awake past 9pm lately, I have a 2.5 year old who delightfully occupies my time, I lead a Princess Posse group, I work full time and I’m going back to school to obtain my Masters…whew, I’m tried just typing that!  I’m not trying to write my resume here, just sayin’ life happens sometimes!  J

Sooo what does this voice comin’ from a Princess have to say…

Let’s begin by saying the main purpose of this entry is to ask for something from all of you, the readers.  If you are the prayin’ kind of gal or guy (not sure I have to many guy readers, but hey…never know…) I have a prayer request.  My request is that Team Ulin actively and clearly discerns on a big decision we have added to our plate.  Psh, there is no one size fits all plate up in my family.  When there isn’t room, we pile it on top of something else.  Kind of like my Thanksgiving dinner plate…I like turkey and ham, so I throw that ham right on top of the turkey to make more room for the sweet potatoes…can I get an amen?!  And yes, I make sure I do a spinning class Thanksgiving morning soley and only so I can eat an extra piece of cheesecake, although my friend Alicia's chocolate pie has now made it to the 'favorites' list! 

Before I dive in to what the big decision is (my Princess Posse is already snap snapin at this point b/c they surely know where this car is headed…) let me begin w/ a bit of background.  Team Ulin consist of Phil, myself and our beautiful and full of sass 2.5 year old Kaylee Gabriella Ulin.  However, we would love to be Team Ulin party of 4…or possibly b/c we know God likes curve balls, party of 5.  But for the sake of everyone, please for the Love of our Heavenly Rockin’ Father (sayin that for real, not in vain)…let’s not make our plate like so heavy it like spills into a big mess.  PTL for that! J  Team Ulin has been trying to expand to a party of 4 for 17 months.  I won’t bore you with details (ESP if there really are male readers-HA) but clearly we have not been successful.  Or rather, it just hasn't been our story/His plan yet.  Let me like back up one more step and say, through all of these 17 months, we have really tried our hardest to stay positive and remind ourselves that God’s plan is always perfect.  I will add that I am human…and female…so yes there have been a LOT of tears, disappointment, why questions, confusion (lots of confusion), doctor visits, tests, new techniques some of which I laugh out loud just remembering…such as the first time I ever let my chiropractors partner use an ink pen to click the back of my neck while I stuck my hand on a vile of something and stared at her like a crazy women as she clicked away asking me if I felt it?!  (Disclaimer, I absolutely LOVE and am FOR chiropractic…I just thought this woman was crazy for a moment, that’s all.)   Through all of this, there has also been restored hope, upon restored hope, upon A-Ha moments of “Oh that’s why it hasn’t happened yet” (for example when I came down w/ Dengue Fever on Aug 21^st and thought I was surely dying!) Through these 17 months God has shown me who He is even in the valleys of depression, disappointment and confusion.  He has proven to me time and time again that He feels my pain just as much as I do.  I promise you that He knows, that He listens and that He is in control.  I recently received a text message from a distant girlfriend who has absolutely NO Idea any of this is going on.  The text message read “God already knows the pain you have experienced and can feel it.  Do not let it hinder His plans for you”  What this distant girlfriend did not know…is that later that day, I would get a big explicit piece of information letting me know this month was still not our time.  (ps when I received her text at 8:34am, my reply was "Good morning, are you sure you sent this to the right person?  as I had no clue what she was talking about until about 3pm in the afternoon)  For any women out there who have experienced a similar story…you KNOW just how HARD day 1 of a cycle is.  Can I get another AMEN?    Or two amens…b/c another one is needed for the friend who felt called to deliver a message that would once again restore the hope back in my life.  Let me stop (do you feel like you have whiplash yet…I’m going to be backin’ up, and stopping, and movin’ forward a lot so strap on that seatbelt!)   and add that I wish we got these messages monthly!  There were many months, two in particular, that I will never ever for the rest of my life forget.  Those two months were very very very hard on me…and there was not a restoration of hope in those valleys.  The restoration often comes later.  I’ll add that He always knows what we can handle and His timing is always perfect.  The month I got the text message, He knew how badly I needed a word from Him to keep going.  Not to keep going w/ trying to expand to a Party of 4…to literally keep going walking w/ Him, b/c boy I was in a valley!  I was so confused, in fact, I have never been more confused and broken over something in my entire life.  I am not going to get into all the details of why I was so confused, but know that it was a ROUGH month.  He knew how badly I needed to be reassured in a real and tangible way.  He knew that I could not take one more month like I had the previous month.  He knew there were not enough kleenex left in our house to get me through another 'day 1' ...we had wiped out the kleenex supply the month before!  Jut trust me, he knew I needed a word.  Some of those moments are not to be shared, those are between He and I. and Phil. But trust me, He knew,  and…He delivered it, according to His timing.  And I replied with "you can't make this stuff up!" :)  THAT is how cool and real He is.

Ok…if you are reading my blog for the first time, hang in there…I swear there will be substance and points to all this.  But also know that someone out there needs to hear my story.  Someone out there knows what I’m screamin’…someone out there knows my pain and needs their text message to keep going.  Someone out there needs DETAILS so I’m sorry if it is too much for you.  But I’m not sorry that my story will be shared, b/c  afterall, that is what life is all about.  Helping others get their moment and reflecting on our own story to say you know what, maybe I’m going through all of this b/c my story will be someone else’s text message. 

So, yep, 17 months have come and gone and looking back I have learned a TON about myself, about Him and about others who have been through some rough times regarding growing a family as well.  Yes there have been rough months, but I must say some months weren't so bad.  Like May- I had trained for 5 months to complete my first tri-athalon and I still deeply wanted to get 'two lines' but I also didnt want to back out of the race, so that month the disappointment wasn't that bad ;)

I am beyond blessed to have a great group of female friends who I can pray with, pray for and grow with.  (if you are interested in the princess posse, let me know…of course there was going to be a plug for that b/c let me tell you, this group is my core!)  You may be thinking why is this so hard on me, I am already lucky enough to have one biological child.  You are correct, I am so grateful!  And how Kaylee came about is a whole other blog entry to be posted some day…let’s just say she is my little lightning bolt and glue to our little family J  However, we want another child just as badly as we wanted the first.  And here is the thing, not everyone wants more than one child.  I am a believer, that a lot of our desires are placed and/or changed on our heart b/c of what God wants for our life.  He could very easily take away the desire for us to want to grow our family and life would proceed…w/ that already full plate.  But that is not our story.    He has begun to mold our hearts into a way I never thought I would see.  He has showed me that He is tired of easy answers for everything b/c life is just not easy.  That is just not the way it goes.  Just when we think we got life all figured out, God throws a curve ball.  He will continue to show us His authority when we think we get authority over something.  If that doesn’t make sense to you..its ok…it makes sense to someone who needed to hear it.

My prayer request is that we discern on if He wants part of our story to include adopting a child from the U.S.  You had to read all of this ‘voice’ just to get to that?  Yep.  Pretty simple actually.  But so very layered and deep at the same time.  You see, adoption is like a pretty big deal.  There is a lot at stake and a lot to gain.  Currently, Phil and I feel called to this path.  We are at the very early stages, but this path has been being paved for awhile…and if I have learned anything in my 29 years, I have learned that God has wired both of us to go from 0-60mph in a second.  I would not be surprised if this all unfolds and we had a newborn in our house by Christmas.  Lord, I’ll need some grace if that is your plan- LOL…just sayin’ wouldn’t be surprised.  Now He has also taught me, that “just when I think I have it figured out…He throws curve balls” so for all I know…we may be waiting to adopt until we’re 80!  Things have already started moving quickly.  We have started telling our family and close friends of our journey and the reactions are varied..which is to be expected.  Many are scratching their heads b/c they had no idea of all the long talks, tears, and yet excitement that has been going on under our roof…others are not surprised at all and are already offering to babysit…others are concerned we are ‘giving up to quick.’  I’ll tell you one thing…we are NOT giving up on anything.  Rather, we are acting on what we are feeling called to do.  There are many more details I could write about specific to this calling, but I will lose all the readers if I go on forever- HA.  So what I’ll do is say if you want to know more don’t hesitate to ask, email, Facebook, tweet, text or send a letter in the mail ;)  (all generations covered there)  My purpose of this post is to ask for prayer but also to be a text message of hope for someone. 

I’ll conclude by telling you that although adoption is second choice for us, it is NEVER second best.  It is second choice only b/c we would LOVE to have another biological child BUT we mostly would LOVE to choose God’s plan for our life which essentially erases our desires and makes His desires first choice anyway.  I am smiling as I type just thinking about it all.  I am smiling thinking about all the NEW joy we can have in our life by giving a child a home.  We recently attended an information meeting on adoption at our church and I couldn’t help by cry the whole time as I started to experience a new kind of joy, a new kind of goosebumps that one must get when you realize you can have all the same joys as you would with a biological child…but then it is multiplied b/c it’s a new kind of joy of WOW this child wouldn’t even have a home if we wouldn’t have acted.  A women shared her story of watching her adopted daughter get baptized at the age of 7.  She balled her eyes out because who knows if her daughter, who was born in China, would have ever even heard the word of God if they didn’t become her parents.  Now that is what gets me fired up!

If this is part of His story for us, I can expect that it will be great.  No one said easy…but He said great (John 15)

One more disclaimer...this is not a plug for adoption.  Adoption is NOT for everyone, in fact, as I already mentioned, I never dreamt it would be for us.  I never really knew anything about it.  We just have a LOT Of reason to believe that it very well may be a part of our story.  So if you are reading and can relate to my story, know that your prayer request can be whatever your heart desires!  

So would you join us on this journey in prayer?  Please pray that we first discern and then if it is indeed His plan, that we jump.  There is a big difference in hearing/confirming His plan and then acting on it.  To ask for prayers on this is a big thing…b/c if people are praying…He moves. 

Tis the season for Thanksgiving.  I’m thankful you read this entire post- HA.  No really, I’m thankful for my family party of 3 and I’m thankful to be a servant for Him even though I am not even close to being perfect, He loves me anyway.

Chairein ya’ll.  Chairein.  Joy to you. ..and maybe an AWE snap too! J

You are Invited to the 1st ever Ripple Retreat!

Saturday September 17, 2011

The ripple effect is a term used to describe a situation where, like the ever expanding ripples across water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally.

Truth be told, I wrote everything down from this ‘vision’ (at 3am when it came to me- that is a whole other story) but hesitated on where to even begin.  It seemed SOOO distant to me and initially I thought this would be something to take place years down the road.  Well, clearly, He had other plans and keeps bringing this back up and has confirmed WE, the Princess Posse, Princess Pack, and who ever else we care to invite, are to do this right now.  Strike while the iron is hot.  Be obedient and follow Him.

You see....my vision, was at this elaborate camp with all kinds of multimedia resources etc.  Since, we aren't quite there yet- He has since reminded me we already have so many resources right at our fingertips and are to get this party started; utilizing what He has already blessed us with.  I mean what else do we need besides- girlfriends, food, an i-Pod player, perhaps even a guest singer, our bibles, and a place to worship??  CHECK CHECK CHECK!

If you are into the behind the scences God stop story, read on.  If you only want to know the details, scroll down to the itinerary and RSVP link.

This summer, shortly after my trip to Colombia I did a quick 3 day fast.  I was searching for some direction in what God was calling me to do with some things he laid on my heart.  Well ask and you shall receive...b/c I received a vision, very clearly and very detailed, on one aspect of what He wanted US to do.

This vision was for a women's retreat to gather for fellowship, growth in the word, adequate prayer time, individually and as a group, and of course FREE FOOD FOR YOU! .*wink*  This doxology (an outpouring of praise, worship and honor to God) retreat will be quite simple but life changing.  At the time I received this vision, I had no idea what to name the retreat, it was a last priority.  However, he did keep putting the word ripple on my mind.  He secured and patented the name in my mind when I was in Florida for a national work meeting.  I was sitting on the patio to our room, atop the 22^nd floor, and saw a little fish jump out of the water.  As it dove back into the water, it created such a HUGE ripple- looking like this:

It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but I knew He had me sitting there at that moment to remind me “Remember me?  Remember this mission I put you on?  Don’t forget!”  So I prayed for confirmation right there and then, asking God to confirm if He was speaking to me about the ‘ripple retreat’ He had laid on my heart.  I kid you not, within 2 minutes there were 3 people out swimming in the ocean…even though it was only 7am.  Ever single person had a huge ripple around them…it was so bold and obvious I called Nikki (my roommate) out to check it out and told her the story and said you are my witness I am not making this up!  It was a special moment Nikki was able to witness with me, as not only is she one of my best friends & colleagues, she is also a Princess Sister so this is also her Mission!  I quickly reached out to a few warriors and asked for prayers, guidance, ideas and such.  God was working quickly, quicker than I could even keep up!

As I processed this ‘calling’ over the next week, it sunk in even more that the ripple effect was exactly how He sees us from above.  One little drop (person) can make such a big effect.  This is not rocket science, I/you breathe life into one person, they then breathe life into another, that person to another- the ripple continues on.

The ocean is so big, bigger than we can even see w/ the naked eye.  Yet, from God’s view, or in this case- my view from atop 22 floors…He/we get the opportunity to sees all of the ripples extending out into the untouched waters that one person (or fish-LOL) can make.  Is it ironic that the fish is the Christian symbol?  Just sayin….

He wants us, His princesses, to have life breathed into us, so we can breathe into other people.  Keeping this ripple effect going out in multiple ways….

                           

Each person, creating ripples at their own pace, but spreading quickly with out doing much.  Just making that one drop, and letting him take care of the rest. 

So here is the agenda, read on but please RSVP with an open heart, open mind and know If you are supposed to be at this event- He will put it on your heart.  He will provide daycare, a morning off work, and a life forever changed full of His blessings.  I know, b/c He told me so :-) 

730am-8am  Arrival & Individual Prayer time

Arrive at the Summit Park on Canton Center
We will be meeting in North Pavillion 1
Directions:
From Canton Center Rd. turn on to

Heritage Park Dr

.  Proceed past the fire station.  Take the 2nd left into the parking lot by the Pavillions w/ picnic tables near the soccer fields.
**please be on time** Yes, I will have coffee- there is a reason for starting so early ;)
We will begin with individual prayer time
8am-815am  Breakfast & Fellowship
815am-830am Praise & Worship 1.0
With guest performers…trust me, you don’t want to miss this!
830am-845am  Intercessory Group Prayer –
don’t worry if you are unsure what this is, all you need to do is show up.  Start thinking about if you have any mountains in your life that we need to tell to MOVE!
845-930am Large Group Material/Discussion
930-945am  break
945-10am Guided Meditation

We will learn 2 different ways to meditate:

A) Meditating on scripture
B) Meditating by silencing the mind
(Listen, if I can do it, Type A, non-stop go go go....anyone can do it!)
10am- 1030am 
Yoga for Christians
A peaceful heart leads to healthy body. -Proverbs14:30
Lets STRETCH our way to health!
 *I know what you are thinking....is she for real?  Yes, I am for real.  This retreat is Mind, BODY, And Soul.  This is the 'body' part.  Now let me put the disclaimers:
-it will be Christian yoga lead by a certified yoga instructor
-there will be no chanting or other non-Christian things associated w/ stereotypical yoga.  I have been doing athletic yoga for 8 months and have found it as a way to Praise God and keep my body in tune.  During the Triathlon training I recently completed, I learned there is actually something called "Christian Yoga" who woulda thunk?!
-if you are thinking you are to uncoordinated to do yoga, say a prayer and come anyway- HA.  I promise, anyone can do this, it will be basic.
-if you are thinking there is no way you are physically able to get in a yoga pose, I tell you to come anyway.  This is only 30 minutes and you can just watch if you are physically unable however, this will be VERY beginner style yoga and nothing to outrageous.  I promise you will be able to do most of it even if you have back, hip, knee etc problems.

1030am-1045am Team Prayer in Two’s

*you will find out more the day of
1045am-11am Praise & Worship 2.0
11am-12pm  Lunch Provided and Group Philanthropy project art & craft
12pm dismissal…& lives forever changed J

*this itinerary is tentative.  I trust the Lord will guide our time together and if we need to spend less/more time on one specific area we will do so.

•   What do you need to bring?

My hope is that everyone can bring 1 friend (or more), A Princess Sister -aka a female friend that is our sister in Christ. This specific retreat is for believers.  We love our seeker friends, but that is for a different time and place. Also bring an open heart, mind and of course your bible.

• What do I wear? 

Please wear gym/comfy/stretchable clothes.  *no jeans or skirts.  perfect example is yoga/running pants/capris/shorts and a t-shirt/tank-top or light jacket depending on weather.

•    What do you need to do?

RSVP  here
**Please indicate on this eVite website how many guest you are bringing.  **Note you can edit/update your RSVP guest count anytime you want

He's full of surprises...

Greetings!

My original intent was not to publish what I'm about to write, I started journaling this in Microsoft Word b/c it seemed easier then writing as I knew I might end up all over the place...surprise surprise.  After I was done, I thought what do I have to hide.  Its already typed, I may as well share b/c we all go through things like this.  So from the soul of my heart I share....

Quick Prelude- I just completed a 3 day mini fast.  I was searching for some answers, direction and guidance on some things that were impressed on my heart after the Colombia trip.  I talked w/ a lot of my brothers & sisters on the trip about fasting and knew it was what I needed to do.  I have only done one other fast in my christian life, and it was over 2 years ago when Kaylee was still growing in my little, or rather large, belly and I was searching for help/guidance over what vaccinations to do/when etc.  Most people have the misconception that you just stop eating completely while fasting, and although sure that could be a fast...that isn't up my alley.  Instead, I have chosen both times to 'give up' (kind of like many do for lent) some things that are difficult to give up and when I am 'craving' those things or time that would have been spent doing those things- instead I spend time in prayer, reflection, in His word, in books etc.

Ok, now on to my 'journal':

So essentially the fast is over with, but this morning (Wed 7/6/11) I had a little breakthrough while watching 2 minutes of Regis & Kelly w/ Richard Blaze, blazing up some summer refreshing drinks.

I started to process how I have been so ‘down’ lately…no other way to say it.  I’ve been holding on to two verses for dear life asking God to not let me forget these sweet jewels- Matthew 8:26 “Who are you of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  & John 14: 1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Anyway, watching some Regis & Kel I started to think back to when I watched a lot of the Top Chef shows *since Richard Blaze was the guest* (isn't that funny how the mind wanders??) etc and wasn’t feeling down then, so why now?  Light bulb went off….we don’t get the physiological jugular attack by Satan when we are just sitting around not doing a whole lot.  But when we have a lot going on, a lot working for the kingdom- he goes straight for the PJ! (physco jugular)  Yesterday Beth Moore’s blog talked about how her sweet daughter Amanda was getting attacked (PJ) b/c they are opening a church inner city.  I have often talked to K Rock about wondering if Beth Moore, someone who I clearly admire sooo much, still struggles w/ the same things we do.  The answer is- yes, sort of.  She does- but the good news is, it gets much easier the more mature in faith you are.What a breathe of fresh air that was.  Knowing we aren’t alone in this…it can’t be coincidence that when one does good for the kingdom it is bound to come with some pain.  Hence why perseverance builds character according to the book of Romans 5:3,4  So I can have strength, hope & delight knowing that good things are coming my way.  Good things are in my future.  Most importantly, good things are in the kingdoms future due to my path, choices and anguish.  Oh what a delight that is.  Who knew our pain would cause delight.  I mean aside from childbirth- what other pain ends w/ a happy ending?! 

I have been throwing around the idea the past few days of "why would anyone want to work for the kingdom'when we get attacked like this?"  I mean the guy dressed in Red knows ALL my hot buttons, insecurities and fears.  He has pressed just about every last one of them over the past 3 weeks...I've surely been hollering out to God "Can I get a white flag or what?!"  Quick dislaimer...I am a women, sometimes the littlest blows dig deep into my heart.  No one has cancer or is sick, my family is healthy & doing well- but as I keep refrencing the PJ- that is all it was.  Battlefield of the mind on several things.

Ok anyawy...During my fast some BIG stuff was revealed to me, so of course that thought would cross my mind.  The evil one does NOT want me to go through w/ the vision that I received.  He will put anything, anyone in my path to stop me from carrying on with it.  This is where the perseverance and faith comes in....As a daughter of the Most High King, I know better.  Trust me though, there were many ugly thoughts like "Yea, why go through with this" but in hindsight I can clearly see that wasn't me, surely wasn't the Big Man...it was the guy in Red.  I think that is where a lot of people easily fall down, quit and give up.  When they get road blocks or better yet- a big PJ attack, they say ok ok I'll back off.  I happen to know a lot of these people.  It's natural.  The flip side is, we just need to know and be prepared to let the truth set us free.  It really is that simple.  It may not be easy, but it is very simple.

Let the perseverance push you through and He, our King, will continue to show us all kinds of surprises.

As Kaylee would say...."Hallelujah"  :)

To the world you may be one person, but to that one person you may be the world...

Hola Mi Amigas!!  Our group joked that it might take a few days to adjust back to Englise full time again- we found ourselves still talking to each other at the airports yesterday in Spanglish.  Delaney even tried answering the US Customs officer in Spanish in a frantic looking for a translator until we laughed and reminder her..."we were home, he speaks English."  *smile*
I speant a lot of time thinking about how will I answer the question "How was the trip?"  The truth is- there is no easy answer.  Each of the 11 days have their own story.  There were so many layers to this trip I can only scratch the surface and share some details and try to paint a picture that God would want all my siestas and amigas to see!  I shared with our team yesterday at our ver last devotional that If I had to pick one adjective to describe the trip it would be crazy.  It would not just be "good" or "bad" or "awesome" b/c that doesn't quite do it justice.  I can't just say "awesome" b/c there were parts of the trip that quite frankly were tougher than I ever anticipated.  As I mentioned to my princesses, I so wish I could have had them all in my pocket or along my side to witness everything for theirself...but until then, I will do my best (w/ the help of my journal and of course some prayer) to give a reflection and recap of my experience going to Colombia 2011.  **NOTE:  right now I'm doing an over view.  I do plan to do a breakdown day by day but sheesh that will take awhile.  So for now, enjoy a favorite song of mine that I must have heard over 30x this past week from team devotions to camp:
click here
Read on while you listen ;)

To first give a bit of a background...our group was lead by Marc Greer, a staff member and multi-mission trip Jesus Lovin Triathalon doin Warrior :)  I actually traveled with him before to Croatia as well.  Marc made sure that before we left, we did our best to build group unity as it was going to be imperative for the trip.  He also emphasised one word...flexibility.  Well, right off the bat we were blessed in both of those areas- we had one heck of a team, I mean truly beyond any expectations you could possibly have for being with a group of people you barely know for 24 hours a day, 11 straight days, with not normal living conditions.  We also needed to be flexible before we even left the country as we dealt with over 8 hours of plane delays.  This didnt phase our team...we immediately went bold to the throne and prayed we would make it there safely, in one piece and as punctual as possible.  We did.  Check 1 done and done.

The purpose of the trip had so many different layers as well...which personally, I couldn't quite wrap my little, I mean big, mind around until we were there doing it all.  I just pushed my Type A personality to the side and rolled with the paintbrushes...I mean punches.  The primary description for the outreach trip was working with kids...sweet, right up my alley!  Little did I know, I could have went with a carpenters liscence and fit right in!! 

 I had NO IDEA the trip would entail as much physical labor as it did.  Those who know me best, know that I am more of a girly girl kind of girl.  I dont mind cooking, cleaning (well even the cleaning is questionable- ha) and playing with kids...but I married a big husky man so that he can be Mr. Fix it and we live happily ever after, RIGHT?  My dad was a professional painter and landscaper, so growing up there was no way his 3 girls were going to touch his yard, any lawn tools and certainly not his paint brushes! (clearly my type A comes from him!)  So my physical labor resume was not lookin to hot prior to this trip! 

more paint on me than the wall?!

Coming home, my resume might win me a PT job @ the Depot!  Which btw...if I were a Depot employee the first thing I would say is "We need to open up shop in Colombia!!"  Whole nother layer...LOL

So let me get back to the adjective crazy and explain.

• It was crazy to see how big God is...again.  He is always impressing on my heart to show me "look at how big I am, you can't wrap your mind around it"  Whether it was through the Andes mountains, the ginomeous Colombian skyline, the amount of people, cars & smog or the amount of rice these people eat- it was crazy!Here He was, in a whole nother continent listening to prayers in Spanish, not paying attention to the cultural diffrences, the haves or have nots- just working in peoples lives the same way I know Him to do.  



He is SO Big...

• It was crazy to see how much faith, true faith, the people we worked with had.  Boy can I learn from all of them.  In fact, if you pray for me to have one thing...all I want is more faith. 

• It was crazy how big their avacados were!
• It was crazy how cold it was being so close to the equator??  Well anything less than 80 degrees I typically classify as cold.  But really, it was cold.
• It was crazy how quickly my few spanish phrases I learned in 3 years of espanol came back to me, but still how difficult it was to communicate with some people.  Wait till I tell you about the buy one get one free kiwi story, or the time I thought I ordered some coffee w/ cream and ended up with cheese & hot chocolate- OH BOY! LOL
 It was crazy to see the poverty level in the inner city...I have been to 18+ countries and have NEVER seen anything like it   



The Bronx





• It was crazy to see the children exposed to such darkness in the 'streets' including prostitution which put women on 'display' in the windows of old wharehouse buildings.  I have been to Amsterdam & Vegas where prositution is also legal, but the differnce here was the children on the next street over witnessing....I balled my eyes out and reached a capacity limit this day.  Writing the blog reflecting on this day will be tough.
• It was crazy to travel with such strong believers...all 14 of us with our own unique stories from all walks of life, all different faith maturity levels, all different cultural experiences and all differenent gifts.  I PTL for Andrea and her voice- man can that chic sing a tune!  I PTL for Edward & Mike's humor, I PTL for my asian invasion plane buddy Ed and all of our heart to hearts.  Who knew 10 years ago when we were both at Club Divine we would be on a mission trip together one day?  PTL for that! I PTL for my bonding with Delaney and her quick wit 19 year old awesome personality, Oh I PTL for this chic who ended up being my Colombia besty :)  I PTL for Cathy's prayers that go bold to the throne.  I PTL for Val's wisdom and long talks and support on a journey I never knew I would be facing unless I went on this trip and had a few conversations with her.  I also PTL for Val's moistureizer b/c I want to look as good as she does at her age of 60 something (never did get the actual year ;) )  I PTL for Jeff's work ethic & Roberts child like attitutde and devotion to personal time.  I PTL for Marc's leadership and all of our triathalon talks and our runs together...even though I HATED running that BRIDGE- grrrr.  I PTL for Matt, our gringo celebrity.  I enjoyed our discussions during the runs and am grateful you walked w/ me when I couldnt hang in the smog infested air!  barf!  I PTL for Rennee- the only one in our group who was literally fluent in espanol- we would still be looking for more tools and waiting to order at the restauraunts if it were not for him.  I PTL for Kurt's vision on the swing set and 20 years in the military- with out his physical work abilities we would still be working at the farm!  I literally PTL for this team, oh what a team.

What we do best...

Delaney...is loco...

Ed making work fun

Fearless Cowboy leader, Mike & Renee

• The bugs were crazy...my legs are looking a lot better- thanks to my princesses'prayers, benadryl a trip to the nurse & a whole bottle of Caladryl.  Who has ever heard of a coffee fly before?  Those little suckers make me want to never drink coffee again...but ya know that won't happen!  Especially since our team came home w/ 50 lbs of authentic organic Colombian coffee...mmmmm

lookin not so bad from a camera view...

• It was crazy to actually see stuff you only see in the movies...like homes with no running water and literally a bucket to use for the restroom.
• It is even crazier that in a community w/ no running water, these children were so happy!

Mrs Mary- @ Club de Amigos

• It was crazy how much rice and potatoes these people eat...I"m all set for the rest of the year on carbs!




bags of water...

• It was crazy everything was in a bag...jelly, water, babywipes ETC
• It was crazy how much God is moving in these people's lifes
• It was crazy that Fran was so excited for powder coffee creamer??  Apparently she doesnt know about a venti skinny mocha from the coffee company that starts w/ a big S!
• This silly thing was crazy- the transmilenial!!


• It was crazy to be a part of something so big you can't wrapt your human mind around it.  It was crazy to see 13 buses roll into the camp all filled with over 400 people who did not know the Lord or the Gospel.  Whoa, was that crazy.  It was crazy who watch over 100 people (and still counting...)get saved and know that one day i will see them again on the other side. 

Pumpin up the crowd w/ some musica!

• It was crazy to know that it used to be in Colombia's constitution that you had to be Catholic yet so many people don't even have a clue what that means or who Jesus is.

• Its crazy- you really do learn to share everything

• Its crazy you really can make anything out of wood....
• It was crazy to serve in the nursery from sun up till sun down not knowing we did have a bag of baby wipes....oh my









Her daddy was saved this past weekend :)







• It was crazy to watch the children play and sing the same nursery songs we do
• It was crazy to look back and see that God chose me for this journey.  Little ol' me.  It IS crazy to look at my journal and see how many documented things God revealed to me in such a short time.  5 to be exact...BIG BIG things I took from this trip are in my journal.
• It is crazy to look ahead and know He still has work to do with me and in me but I have grace and peace knowing He will fully equip me to deal with it.  Philipians 4:13 Baby!  Not gonna lie though, a bit scared!
• It was crazy to meet so many different missionaries...all w/ the same purpose as us, from all over the world.
• It is crazy that one person can make such an impact.  Just one person.  Put two or three or more together and watch the ripple...

So I think you get the point...in case you missed it, it was crazy :)  Changed my life forever.  I definitly need more time to process everything, but one quote that keeps coming to mind is:

What are we waiting for?

To the world we are just one person, but to that one person we can be the world!

I was stretched on this trip, more than I preferred to be.  I was not comfortable, ate things that weren't that great, others that were excellent, missed my family like crazy, swated bugs, scratched bug bites and prayed harder than I have ever prayed.  This was my 2nd mission trip in 3 years...I pefer He slow down my pace a bit but He is probably laughing as I type that.  At the end of the day, I would do it all over again.

My life is forever changed, 100's of people's destiny was forever changed and for that I am the most excited.  PTL.

You don't have to travel around the world to help one person and make a difference.  Listen to your calling, we all have an inner desire for something.  Life is a mission field and our destiny is eternal- make it worth while :-)

T minus Cuatro Dias...

Buenos Dias Mi Amigos!

T- 4 days till departure.  1st off a big shout out & Thank you for all the 'support' as of lately.  Whew, I have needed it!  Whether it was a FB post, a Tweet, a text message asking what you can do to help, an email w/ a scripture (you know you melt my heart w/ these E!) or just simply signing up for the 'prayer calander' I can not express my gratitude enough!
Per my previous post click here ya'll know this has not been an easy road to walk, or rather...wobble down.  One minute I'm excited, the next I'm crying.  I told Alex today when I went to pick up a book she is loaning me for the trip- you would think I was pregnant- LOL!  I then followed up by saying it would not be this hard if I was not a mommy.  All my mommy teams, you know how it is!  Even if you aren't a mommy...traveling abroad on a trip of this nature can be a rough juggel for anyone.  I had a few days this past weekend where I couldn't even sleep- this is sooo not like me, I am a princess who adores my sleep!  Thankfully, I had yet another breakthrough Sunday evening and was once again restored w/ peace.  PTL!  One common response I give is that "yes, I'm excited.  I'm excited to love on these kiddos and show them the love of Christ. which they sooo deserve"  I am excited to see the big picture when it is all said and done.  I am not necessarily 'excited' to leave my family for 11 days, 10 nights and get out of my comfort zone.  However...His will be done.  I'll be hollerin' adios in 4 days and kissing Kaylee until she tells me enough mommy go bye bye!  Ps. I have told her "Mommy is going to go work with Jesus for a few days"  she will even repeat it and smile as if she gets it...melts my heart.  Then she starts singing "Brocolli, celerey..." all you veggie tale lovers know what I'm sayin ;)

Ok so now on the reason of this post...I just thought it would be cool to post a very tennative agenda of what we will be doing daily.  I say very tennative, b/c these trips are very go w/ the flow and go as you are called.  (hence why I need so many prayers for my super type A personality- LOL)  I've said it a million times, I will say it 3 more million times, Thank you for all the prayers.  I know ya'll will be praying specifically for what we are doing daily and this little agenda may help.
Team Agenda

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...here is the link for our Team Blog if you wish to hear about our adventures while we are away:  Team Blog
Depending on the access to internet will determine the frequency of updates.

Nevertheless....Muchas Gracia mi amigas y familia!!  Te Amo!!

1825 days...

For the past one thousand eight hundrded and twenty five days I've been married to this man.  He still melts my heart today like he did 8 years ago when he swept me off my feet at that good ol college Pub we both were slangin drinks at....Pub 13.

When we went to Bora Bora, Tahiti (for photos go here:  Bora Bora pics) a little over 3 years ago for just a 'swing through' vaca on the way home from Australia (I know...kinda crazy, the good old days HA) we felt in love with that place!!!  We made a pact that we would go back for our '5 year anniversary.'  Even though it was only going to be 2 years later and cost about the same as a small house in MI...we were gonna go back. ...or so we thought! LIttle did we know that same year we would get pregnant a few months upon our return. Soooo...plans changed this year, we booked a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, MI instead!  SNAP- WHAT A CHANGE!  TC is sentimental to us as it is also the destination we speant our 1 year (or 365th day as Team Ulin) anni at as well.  You can put on your spring jacket, dip your toes in the sand and sip a nice local wine and pretend you are in some real exoctic foreign place if you want...but for us, we are quite ok with keepin it local.  TC is quite a beauty.  The norm for Team Ulin would be to taste some good eats and explore all the fun local winerys...but this trip was the 1st of its kind.  All about our full of energy and appreciation 2 year old!  Who told us over and over amongst our 3 day stay "this is her favorite ever."  Whether it was her favorite hallway (that had trees colored on the wall), or her favorite pool or favorite 'story time'...she had a lot of favorties on this trip :)

'her favorite fountain'

'our favorite' 2 year old :)

Being parents has changed our world...not in a better or worse way...just changed our worlds.  Life as we knew it changed that one Tuesday morning 2 years and 9 months ago.  Whew, glad we got some of our trips under our belts prior to then!  I say not for better or worse bc I love it all! I sometimes miss sleep and quiet dinners w/ just me, my man and the sunset...but Kaylee has brought more joy to my life Jan I could have ever dreamed! She makes my little world!

After Kaylee went to bed last night (@8pm btw) Mommy fought to stay awake also!  The shot of espresso after dinner was like water and my body was screaming for some sleep.  I fought and fought and stared back at my suitcase w/ my cute um, outfit, for our anniversary...but instead went for my oh so comfy shorts from Vicky's Secret PINK and my PINK t-shirt.  Def would have made other choices if I were laying in a bungalow in Bora Bora ;)  Phil and I curled up on the not so comfy hotel suite couch and watched a show about the Tornados of 2011.  So romantic...LOL.  This is our life, we are livin to love it and I sure do.


We certainly wouldnt have it any other way, we are so grateful and blessed and hope to make another trip to the GWL some day hopefully by then w/ another team member ;)