The Greatest Love Story of All

When I think of the true meaning of Christmas, I don't simply think of the Baby in a manger. I consider Who gave that gift and what that baby went on to do. I will never fully comprehend why a great and powerful God would send His only Son to earth as a mere human, destined to die a horrible death. I can't understand why we sinning humans are worth it; how He could love us SO much. When I think of the love of my Savior, I am awed into silence. I will never understand it but I am more than thankful for it. I can only wish that I could love Him that much in return, if a human were even capable of such love.
This Christmas, I consider the love of a Father for His children. I consider the love of that Baby in a manger. That precious Baby we see in nativity scenes, Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and decorations is my powerful and loving Savior, Jesus Christ. My prayer for this Christmas is that everyone will realize that the true meaning of Christmas is not to give presents or even to be with family, but it is to remember the greatest love story of all. I pray everyone will accept this great gift and will develop a lasting and meaningful relationship with that Baby in a manger, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
~Hannah

Simple Joy

Since Autlan, I've wanted to write about my experience at an Indian camp we went to. I finally got the chance to do this when we were required to write a college admissions essay in AP English. So...here it is:

I searched my surroundings and felt a deep sense of sympathy as our team filtered into the poverty-stricken Indian camp. I knew that by coming to Mexico, my eyes would be opened to a very different culture, but I didn’t realize then how much it would affect my life. I first noticed the homes in which the migrant workers resided, remembering what the leader of our group told us: the buildings were owned not by the residents, but by their employers. They worked day by day to earn just enough to provide for their families; from paycheck to paycheck they struggled to make it through each day. Their houses reminded many of us of prisons rather than homes. I then noticed the residents’ tattered and dirty clothes as they stood watching us with dirt-caked faces. I observed their faces, their eyes. In the adults’ eyes I saw uncertainty; the mothers were willing, yet slightly hesitant to allow their children to follow us and hear the story we had prepared for them. In the children’s eyes I witnessed a sense of confusion; they could not understand why we gringos would leave our home to simply tell them a story and play with them. But most of all, I noticed fear in everyone’s eyes. A fear that we, like the majority of Mexican citizens, would also discriminate against and persecute them simply for their different ethnicity.
However, instead of giving into their fear, they decided to trust our word and follow us to the community basketball court where we had set up a puppet show for the children. We soon experienced their lack of good behavior; two boys started a fight in the middle of the story while many other children threw rocks at a local pastor who shared a story with them. Our team members struggled to control the wild kids but only partially stopped them with a promise of dulces, or candy, for the ones who obeyed. Once the story was over and we brought out the chocolate, the children mobbed around the candy-bearer, hands and arms desperately reaching toward the prize. As best as we could, our team ventured to distribute a piece of candy to each child. In a whirlwind of energy, the children demanded that we spin them around in circles, take pictures of them with our “fancy” cameras, and participate in hand-clapping games. One older woman tried to earn a few extra pesos by selling handmade tortilla warmers to the females in our group. All too soon, it was time for us to leave. We quickly hugged our new friends goodbye and piled into our suburban. But, as we attempted to drive away, the kids jumped onto our vehicles, demanding more candy. One of our team members passed bags of rice through the open windows, hoping they would fall into the hands of girls who would bring the food back to their mothers. Finally, as we waved adios to the adults and children of the Indian camp, we drove away, contemplating our recent experience.
The memories I have of that evening are as fresh in my mind today as they were then. I can still see the faces of the children. I can see their hesitance, their confusion, their fear. But the most vivid picture I have in my mind is not of their despair, but their joy. The joy that comes from simple things in life: a piece of candy, a friend to play with, a smile, a hug. I remember their smiling faces as they heard of the love greater than any other. When I am tempted to complain about some insignificant thing in my life, I think of the impoverished lives of those children and remember their simple joy in the midst of their hardships.

Living by the simple joy we have in HIM alone,
Hans

Content in His Love

I have come to the realization that I am horrible at blogging. So I apologize for that. :)
At the moment, I am sitting on my couch, sipping a mocha, taking in the rainy fall weather and feeling quite content. It's been a long time since I've blogged so I'll quickly recap what has been happening in my life:
1) I helped out at our Church's VBS- Outrigger Island, at the end of July. I led the songs along with Tay and my mom and we had tons of fun being "hula girls" together. The kids loved it and it was great to be a part of.
2) On August 8th, 13 people from Bethany, including myself, went on a 10-day missions trip to Autlan, Mexico where we assisted the Bruggemans in their ministry at a Regional Training Center there, a facility which hosts missions groups and different events. In Autlan, we led a VBS at local church, visited an Indian Camp where we shared a bible story with the kids and showed them Christ's love for them along with ours, and we helped out with different projects around the center and at another missionary family's house. We painted and cleaned bathrooms and did dishes and swept and fun stuff like that! Another awesome thing we did was lead conversation clubs at a local Christian Coffee House, La Roca. There, English students from La Roca came to practice their english by having conversations with people from our group. We met two teens named Fani and Rafael there so if you could, please remember to pray for them that they will both come to know the Lord Jesus as their personal savior. The trip in Autlan was absolutely amazing: my eyes were opened and God reaffirmed my heart for missions once again. I met some awesome people- adults and kids- and I was reminded once again that Mexico is my second home. After the group left, Jarren and I were privelaged to spend an extra week with the Bruggeman family. It was so amazing to have a week to hang out with Jess and our friendship grew even more. We had tons of fun eating tacos, watching movies, going to La Roca, shopping, stargazing, "bat" chasing, splatter painting, etc. I was sad to leave and I'll never forget those two and a half weeks I spent in Mexico this summer!
3) School started again... I was sad that the summer had to come to an end, but I was ready for school again. Classes aren't that bad and I'm surviving the homework load for now. I'm excited to see what my senior year holds for me.
I've been sick for a few days, so that really stinks. Colds are not fun but I'm hoping I am coming to the end of it. Today, I am heading to Portland to see one of my best friends, Sarah, whom I haven't seen since I was in Mexico! (That's two and a half months- way too long!) So I am pretty psyched about spending the night at her dorm with her in Multnomah.
Last month was a strange one for me; I went through a few struggles and was down a lot. Now, I am once again reminded that my God always knows the plan- HIS plan. I learned to rely on Him in hard times and to let Him be my strength. I can't hold all my burdens alone, and I learned that when I give it over to Him, I will recieve His peace. Right now, I am content in the love of Jesus and I am feeling very grateful for many things: amazing friends, a supportive family, an incredible church, the comforting feel of fall: leaves changing colors; hot dirnks like coffee, hot cocoa, and apple cider; the smell of the autumn air; wearing comfy sweaters; seeing pumpkins and haystacks and apples around; the list goes on and on...
I am so excited for fall- my favorite season. It's hard to explain but there are so many things about fall that just make me feel so content and thankful. I can't wait to see what's going to happen and I will try my hardest to keep you all more updated! Sorry again for the delay!
All for HIM,
Hannah :D

Gray Clouds

Okay, now for serious stuff again… As I write this, I am in the car, somewhere in Montana, headed back home from Wisconsin. I was there for about a week with my family. And I’ve got to say, as much as I love my friends in Salem, I was so happy to get away for a bit and be with my family. I came to a point where I needed to get away, clear my head, be with family and have no communication with anyone else. So I decided to be technology free for the week: no cell phone, no Facebook. It was so nice. On the road, I have been listening to music and looking out the window at God’s creation. I’ve learned that Montana is an absolutely gorgeous state! I like to think it’s a mix between Texas and Oregon- the wide plains and big skies of Texas with the trees and mountains of Oregon. I guess it’s the best of both worlds. I’ve had a lot of time to think and pray and even though some trials still exist in my life, I feel completely content. God has taught me so much in the time I’ve been able to spend with him. While I was sitting in the backseat of the car, looking out the window, I found myself studying the gray clouds in the sky. Then a thought occurred to me. Those gray clouds were like the trials God puts in my life. They don’t seem very friendly, and I get discouraged easily when I’m around them. But I need to remember that it is those clouds that make the plants grow, just as those trials in my life help to grow and mature me. I was listening to a song called Airplane by Bethany Dillon when I was thinking about this and in it, she sings, “When the sky is gray, I want to believe that when the sun is hiding, it still exists.” Although I love the sun and feeling like everything is perfect, those bittersweet clouds are needed in my life. I’ve known this for a while, but this is just a new way to think of it and I wanted to share it with you. So even if you feel discouraged when the gray clouds are above your head, remember that they play an important part in God’s prefect plan and the sun will come out again. I’ve had a great time with my family this week- going to Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Devil’s Tower, Deadwood, Wall Drug, watching God’s 4th of July fireworks show of thunder and lightning, relaxing in hot tubs, having fun at a water/theme park, eating dinner together, etc. I didn’t want to come home again until I felt like my mind was cleared and refreshed and I can now say that I’ve come to that point. I’m in a great place now and I couldn’t be more content. I’m excited to see my friends, go to youth group, and get ready for my 3-week trip to Mexico!! Thank you all for being a part of my life and I love you all very much. I hope you are all enjoying God’s blessings this summer and I’m praying for you.
~Hannah

Good Ol' Northwest

Something funny that I’ve realized going to Wisconsin is that the Northwest is very addicted to coffee. I’m sure you’ve all realized that there is a coffee shop every half-mile, and usually a Starbucks on every corner. I just assumed it was like that all over the United States, but I guess not. When I get coffee, I always order the same thing: a black-white mocha. This is a mocha that has half a shot of regular chocolate and half a shot of white chocolate. No matter what coffee shop I go to, they always know what a black-white mocha is. But as you go further east in the US, you’ll realize that the coffee shops begin to get more limited and the baristas don’t know as much of the coffee jargon as they do in the Northwest. The further east I got, the more I had to explain what a black-white mocha is. When I asked for a black-white mocha in Minnesota, the lady just stared at me with a blank expression. I realized she had no clue what I meant so I had to try and explain what I meant. I could tell she still didn’t get it that much when I drank the coffee she gave me and it tasted different than the normal black-white mochas I usually get. It didn’t bother me at all, but I just thought it was funny and it made me realize how caffeine-happy the Northwest is. It’s kind of pathetic, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. ☺
~Hannah

Non-Serious Blog for Jack

Ok, my friend Jack says all my blogs are too serious. So here is a non serious blog for Jack. Ok, so here is a funny joke: So there are two muffins in the oven. The first muffin says, "Boy it's getting hot in here." The other muffin says, "Ahhhh!!!! A talking muffin!" Umm....what else is not serious? Today at youth group, Andrew ate a live cricket!! That was crasy insane! He was like Bear Grylls. Speaking of him, that guy is hardcore. Although, I heard it isn't the real thing. I hear Bear sleeps in hotels when he's filming. But still, if he eats live bugs and drinks the water out of elephant dung, I'd say that's pretty legit. Wouldn't you? Anyways, I like the summer. It makes me happy. I have been feeling a lot like a child lately. I've been playing games I played in my childhood and just loving life. it's pretty nice. Oh wait, this is getting a little serious...
Soooo....I got to hold a newborn baby today! That was fun. Kinda scary, but it was cool. He was so tiny and cute!! Guess what time it is as I'm writing this? It is 2:09 am!! What is wrong with me?!? It's ok, it's summer. i can stay up as late as I want. I'm really not that tired right now though. Not sure why. I went to bed at 2:00 am last night too. Maybe I'm becoming nocturnal. But probably not. Whatever. Ok, I'm running out of random, non-serious things to say. Happy now, Jack?

Junior Humanities

Well, this past year has been the busiest of my life. I had so much homework in my class called Humanities. It was an block class with AP US History and Honors American Literature. We had so many projects, papers, assignments and homework to do. I got super stressed and thought so many times about quitting that class. I'm so glad I didn't, though. Looking back over the past year, I'm amazed at how much i've learned. not only that, I've made so many memories. This class of ~63 was like a family ( a very large, interesting family; but a family nonetheless.) I've come away from this class with so many memories, inside jokes and a great understanding of what to expect in college. Looking back, I have no regrets and although the people I've complained to about this class may think I'm crazy for saying this, I absolutely loved Humanities- the people, the teachers and just the environment. I could have lived without the research paper, DBQs and AP exam, though... 

Anyways, although Humanities was fun, I'm also glad to be done with it. I just have mixed feeling about the whole thing. But it sure is nice not to worry about homework or studying constantly. but I'm definitely looking forward to this summer and I will be sure to keep you all posted! Love you guys!

~Hannah

The Fishing Dock

Here is a story I wrote about an experience I had with some friends in July of 2006. I guess it's quite delayed, but it meant a lot to me so I thought I would share it with you all....

The Fishing Dock
The five of us, after searching everywhere for our new friends, finally realized that we had missed them. We didn’t get to say goodbye. They had left the campsite before we could give them hugs, exchange contact information, or tell them we would miss them. As we reached the end of the campgrounds, we came across a lake. The water was crystal clear and perfectly still. The morning sun’s rays reflected off the water and the vibrant green forest surrounded the lake. The trail we were on led to a dock. It was an ordinary, wooden fishing dock that floated on the cold, silent water. Devastated and hopeless, we stumbled to the edge of the dock. After talking about how sad we felt, Jenny announced that she was going to pray. We all held hands and sat down in a circle on the fishing dock. Each of us said a prayer, thanking God for the opportunity we had to share the story of His love with the kids from France we met the night before. We prayed we could be able to see them again some day, if it was His will, and that the seeds we planted in them would grow until they too, blossomed with the love of Christ. After our prayer, we sat in silence, feet in the water, humbled by our God’s creation – in awe of the beauty around us.
The moment felt bittersweet. We wanted to see our friends again, but still, everything about that morning just felt right. As we looked out at the indescribable creation, we were reminded of how big our God is. He created everything we saw in front of us, and that was only a very small portion of it. Our God was so transcendent, and yet he listened to these five high school girls on a fishing dock. Not only did He listen to us – he answered our prayers. Later that summer, we were blessed to be able to meet up with the French family at the State Fair.
The moment on the fishing dock was also the moment I realized how blessed I was to have been given a close circle of friends who shared my passion of glorifying God in all I do. As I look back over the past couple of years following that morning, I see that God used that moment as the starting point of a precious and lasting friendship between the five of us. We’ve grown together a lot since then. We have had a few struggles together, we’ve changed and matured, we’ve learned to carry each others’ burdens, we’ve been forced to say goodbye to each other as some move or graduate high school, and yet we still remain close in the end. We’ve learned that each moment we spend together is God’s and our lives are His. By keeping Him at the center of our friendship, we have experienced a friendship far more deep and close that many have known.
We’ve gone through many changes, and things will continue changing, but I know that our friendship will always be cherished by each of us. The morning on the fishing dock was a major turning point in our friendship, and ultimately a major turning point in my life. I’ve learned to strive for more “fishing dock moments” and although my friends and I have shared so many memories together since that morning, I always look back and remember it as one of the greatest moments of my life.

Love, Hannah

Catching up....

Ok people...I apologize to those who read this blog. I realize I have not posted anything since January, so I'm sorry for the delay. Basically in the past 4 months or so, I have been to Mexico, studied like crasy for the AP US History Exam and spent time with friends and family. I'm not going to go into details about everything, as I'm sure it would bore lots of you. So I just want to let you all know that life has been hectic but good. I feel like my relationship with God has been strained lately because I am always busy studying and doing homework. I know that is NO excuse and I could probably be finding plenty of time to spend time with Him. Although I am not as close with God as I would hope right now, He still reminds me that He'll never leave me or forsake me, no matter how far away I get. I've seen His work so much these past few months. From beautiful nature to seeing His work be done through the missions trip in Mexico, God has really revealed his majesty to me.
In going to the beach, Silver Falls and Mexico I've seen pieces of God's beautiful creation and His hand at work. While sitting on the beach, I was reminded of the passage in Psalm 139:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
As I sat on the beach, with a handful of sand, I could not even begin to count the grains of sand on just one of my fingertips. I was in simply in awe. At Silver Falls, I realized how simply beautiful Oregon is and how blessed I am to live in such a gorgeous place. In Mexico, I just learned a lot, and although I'm not going to go into every detail, all I can say is that I was amazed at how God can use any situations and any people to further his kingdom. 7 kids were led to Christ that week and I think that is just so incredible!!
I'm looking forward to the summer and I would appreciate it if you could pray for me and the people at my church who are going on a missions trip to Autlan, Mexico this August. I am very excited and I know God will do amazing work there and use us in many ways. I will hopefully stay more up to date on these posts and I apologize again for the delay! I love you all and I hope you are doing well!!
Trying to live for HIM daily,
Hannah

SNOW DAY!!

So today, I woke up to an inch or two of snow! Being in a place that doesn't get much snow, it was enough for a snow day and no school. So I called my friends Sarah and Melody and they walked down the hill to play in the snow. We did everything we could think of; making "snowmen", making snow angels, eating snow, having a snowball fight, sledding down my driveway, and taking pictures were just a few of our activities. To people in other places that have snow half of the year, this may seem quite pathetic, but we didn't really care! What I learned from this was that I need to make the most of every moment! If I hadn't played in the snow today, I know I would have regretted it! Even though it was an inch of snow, I had a BLAST!!! Praise God for those small joys in life!

A Living Sacrifice

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay in posts. I've been a little busy over Christmas Break. I hope you all had a wonderful time relaxing and spending time with family. Over the break, I got the privilege of going on a retreat with my youth group to a place in Central Oregon called Wildhorse Canyon. There we had workshops and main sessions and time to do different activities. I learned so much and was really challenged in my faith. One main thing our speaker talked about was being a living sacrifice and being willing to give up anything to follow God's will for our lives. I found out that I had been very selfish and I don't really know if I would be willing to give up all the things I have and want in order to serve God. But I also learned that I need to trust God with my life and commit my ways to Him. It's really hard to be willing to give up everything to follow God but I completely trust him with my life and would have it no other way than have the Lord directing me. God has blessed me so much this past year. Sure, I've had many hard times and I would say it has been the hardest year of my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way because the lessons I've learned are life-changing. I thank God all the time for an amazing family, awesome friends and the best church and youth group ever! I pray all of you will stay close to God this coming year and please pray for me as well as I try to keep my commitments. At the end of this post are my commitments and I would greatly appreciate it if you could hold me accountable to these. It truly is the main desire of my heart to glorify God in all I do and I hope you all too can see how much God loves you and honor Him with your life. Thank you all for your friendship and love. I love you all and hope you have an amazing year of 2008!
My Commitment for 2008:
Stay in the word and spend meaningful time with the Lord daily. Surrender to the Lord every day and die to myself and my selfish desires. Be a holy and pleasing living sacrifice to God!
~Hannah