Out with the old and in with the new!

Hello all!!  A lot has happened since my last blog.  Well the BIG news first.  I'm sure most of you saw this on Facebook, but I bought a car!!

The Black Hornet

Hornet Butt

Great new view!

Lot's of space for traveling!!

I love this vehicle and I thank God that He made all things possible for me to purchase it.  It's a 2010 Toyota Matrix.  It's EXACTLY what I wanted!  I have been desiring after this car for some time.  And God says He will give you the desire's, right?  Well this was a great desire in my heart.  I sure needed to trade in ol' Bessie.  She was not safe.  You all remember what happened when I moved here to Stockton...

Ol' Bessie AKA The Beast!

I almost DIED here!

 I love how God turns tragedies into His glory!   What the enemy has meant for evil He has turned around for His glory!....Love IT!!

Anyway....what have I done since then?  Last weekend I took the Hornet for a drive.  The original plan was for Renae to come and visit me and we were going to go see Yosemite, sine I have never been there, but plans changed.  She told me that Sherri Youngward was going to be singing at her fiancee's church on Sunday, so I jumped at the opportunity to see her.  Sherrie and I have been trying to meet up for some time and it just never worked out.  So this was a great opportunity that I could not pass up and  I got to visit my Bestie in Mill Valley!  It was a great and much needed get way. On my way there I had to go through some toll bridges.  The only toll bridge I had ever been on was the Golden Gate Bridge, so this was quite an adventure.

Toll to the Richmond Bridge.  $5 toll!!

I was a beautiful sight to behold, that's for sure.  I love going over bridges!!

 

Renae had some prior engagements that she could not get out of, so I though it would be nice to spend some quality time with my other mother, Mama Springle, and we cooked. She gave me some great idea's for cooking, since I seem to cook the same things ALL THE TIME!!  I'm experimenting with a quinoa recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. I'm making it tonight, so I'll let you know how it tuns out.  Back to my weekend....

My contribution to the meal, sauteed squash fresh from their garden.

Later on that day, I drove down to Renae's fiancee's parent's house to spend the night.  They are quite hospitable.  Their house was amazingly adorable!  The room that I stayed in was done up like a little hotel.  She even put little candies on the night stand.

My little "hotel" room in Mill Valley

Church was great!  Her fiancee is a wonderful  teacher and seeing Sherri was great!  I love hearing her worship!!

Sweet Sherri

Love this lady!

After church we found THE best burger joint in Mill Valley.  It's Called Super Duper, but Renae kept calling it Super Burger. Wasn't that on that Nickelodeon.  Silly Renae!  

Amazing garlic fries!

The Bride to Be! (on the right)

After this lovely lunch we drove out to Fort Baker where she might, finger crossed, have her wedding.  But only time will tell.  There  is a great veiw of the Golden Gate Bridge.  It's a tradition to take a picture with the GGB in the background.  I think this is the 6th or 7th year we've done this.

I was quite winy though.

My Bestie and I!

So much wind!!

The beautiful Bride to be!

We then drove through the Marin headlands to look at all the old military buildings.  We came to a beach and there were some crazies surfing in the 30 degree or below ocean water!  Crazy surfers!!

Good waves I guess...

But this is not a bad way to spend a Sunday either!

This was the 1st deer I'd ever seen in real life!  I know I'm a city girl!  Don't hate!

This was what we waited at to go into a one way tunnel under the mountain.

There IS light at the end of the tunnel!!

The End!

Thus end's a great weekend! 

What adventures will I have next?  Next weekend, Garlic Festival in Gilroy!!  My Uncle is driving up from So Cal to come with me!  YAY!!  

Until next time!!

Evening Blog...

Good evening my beautiful friends!!  Yes it is 9:30 PM when I started writing this blog.  Why am I up so late you may ask???  Well, I had this GENIUS idea to take a nap right after work before my home group and in the middle of my nap I got a text message from the leader telling me home group was cancelled, so what do I do??? CONTINUE SLEEPING!!  I'm such a sloth sometimes!!  GEEZE!!!

Anywho!!  So what type of adventures have happened in my life since my last post???  Well, not much happens in lovely Stockton!!

I found this to be THE funniest sign I had ever seen!

 A couple of Friday's ago I hosted  a purse party at the home of my home group leader.  Not to many people came, just a few friends from work, but it was fun nonetheless.  I was able to get some good credit and got a three purses and a wallet.  These are actually really cute purses, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a girl.  If you know me at all, you know that I'm not a girly girl that cares about fashion.  But these purses are a purse within a purse.  The outside in interchangeable, so you don't have to keep switching your things into anther purse.  Pretty neat idea if you as me.

On the 4th, I was invited by a friend from church to go to a barbeque that she was invited to, but at the last minute her plans had changed.  Then a friend from work invited me to go watch the fireworks at one of the fields in Manteca.  That seemed like a good plan, but i absolutely HATE crowds and traffic on the 4th and combine that with it being in a Wednesday and in an unfamiliar area.   I didn't want to be stuck being out super late when I had to work the next day...and lets face it.  Who wants to be out and about in Stockton when the sun goes down???  So this was how I spent my 4th...I don't know if you could tell, but it was the capitol's firework show in TV..better then nothing I guess!

 

Last Sunday, the church that I have been attending  had a church picnic in the park.  I knew about three people, so I decided to go.  How are you going to meet people if you seclude yourself, right?  Going, I found out yet again how small the world is.  And it gets even smaller when you factor in Calvary Chapel and Bible College.  I was waiting in line and I started talking with this girl about random stuff and I told her that I was a traveling therapist and she tells me that she is a Recreational Therapist for disabled children in Lima, Peru.  So I said, "Oh, do you know so and so..."  And her reply way awesome!  "Everyone knows so and so."  OMG!  NO WAY!!  She was a good friend of mine in Bible College.  We had drifted a little, but she was still a friend of Facebook.  So we chatted a little bit and we were talking about missionary work and things of the like.

I was never led to go to other campuses while in Bible College.  I felt and still do feel that your mission field is right out your front door.  I think it's one of the reasons I chose the field that I am in.  I enjoy so much just sharing God;s love with people.  The Bible tells us to "let you light so shine before the world that they will see your good deed's and glorify the Lord."  That is what I intend yo do every day.  Shine a little light in the lives of others that don't get the opportunity to see it as much.  

Working in a SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility) I have come to see (and not see) this joy in the hearts  and faces of so many of the elderly.  You can't fake the joy of the Lord.  At that age you can tell who has the Lord in their lives and who doesn't.  Thoes that don't have such a haggard and withered look about them.  It's so sad.  But those that do, have this radiance about them.  You don't even have to ask them, they just shine with the joy of the Lord.  It's so refreshing!!  I believe God has placed me there to spread a little of His love.   

I don't know where the Lord will have me go next.  I just talked with my company today (who I absolutely LOVE) and told them of some areas that I would be interested in traveling to.  So we shall see!  I thank God every day for leading me to such a great group of people!!  It's such an honor and privilege to be working for them.  So if any one is interested in traveling, just hit me up for details!

160,000!!

My Ol' Bessie reached a milestone last week!  160,000 mile!!  And that got me thinking.  I think it's about time to trade her in for a newer model.  Last Saturday I went to the Toyota dealer here in Stockton to see this one car that I found on the internet.  I have wanted a Toyota Matrix for a long time.  It's a great traveling car that get's great gas mileage.  So I went down and got to test drive the one that they had.  It was nice and drove very smoothly.  Actually, ANY car other then mine drives smoothly!  But have no fear, I did not but it.  I shall heed my fathers advice and not make any rash decisions.  Tomorrow I will drive to another dealer and look at a couple more Matrices (as my father the math geek would call them.)  So just keep me in prayer that God would lead me to the perfect car that He has picked out for me.  And that Ol' Bessie will last a little longer.  

Thank you all for your prayers...until next time!

Friends, Life and Tattoos!

Yesterday I got a call from a friend of mine that I graduated with from Loma Linda.  She is a traveler like me, actually we work for the same company.  She lives down in King's City at the moment.  She asked me if I would like to meet up half way and have lunch.  So we met up in Milptas. I was a little nervous to drive that far, being that car is not in the best shape, but I did it anyway because  I missed my friend.  So we met up at El Torrito, but ended up going to Red Lobster instead.  It was great catching up.  Here we are at Starbucks!  This is one of the best two person photos I have ever taken on my phone!

Gina and I enjoying the sun

So my life here in Stockton is pretty good so far.  I feel like all I do is work and on the weekends I am recuperating from the week.  I am beginning to meet more people while I'm here.  Last Friday I hosted a purse party at a friends house.  Not many people from work showed up, but the ones that did enjoyed themselves I'm sure.  And as a bonus, I was able to get three purses and a wallet for a great price.  It beneficial to host parties like that.  

I am discovering new delicacies..

So...why didn't anyone ever tell me how delicious this is!!

Pampering myself...

My fingers look chubby here

All toes should be loved

And watching others get pampered...

Best Father's Day present ever!

And in other news....

Tetelestai

I feel that I need to clarify this one..

So I got this tattoo right after I graduated Bible college.  I thought long and hard  for a year about what I wanted because I knew that it would be with me forever, and forever is a long time.   People ask me all the time what it says/means.  My reply is always the same, it's one of the last thing Jesus said on the cross before he died.  I am realizing that not everyone knows what that is.  Here I thought that it was common knowledge.  How wrong was I? 

Literally translated the word tetelestai means, “It is finished.” The word occurs in John 19:28 and 19:30 and these are the only two places in the New Testament where it occurs. In 19:28 it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now completed, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

The word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full. The Greek-English lexicon by Moulton and Milligan says this:

“Receipts are often introduced by the phrase [sic] tetelestai, usually written in an abbreviated manner...” (p. 630). The connection between receipts and what Christ accomplished would have been quite clear to John’s Greek-speaking readership; it would be unmistakable that Jesus Christ had died to pay for their sins.

 I heard it once said that Jesus took our debt, that was so high that there was NOTHING that we could ever do to repay it, and wrote on it "paid in full" with His blood. 

All this to say...Jesus Paid  it All!  There is nothing that I need to do to be a better Christian.  In the eyes of Christ, I already am bought and paid for.  I can't "earn" my way into heaven.  There is no amount of doors that I can knock on, no amount pamphlets or magazines that I can had out and no amount of people I can evangelize to that will "win" my way into heaven.  There is ONE way into heaven and ONE way to know that you know that you will be there.  By accepting the free gift of Salvation that is offered to us. 

John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the would would be saved through Him."

God want's everyone, the WHOLE world, to be with Him forever in heaven.  All we have to do is accept it.  It's a FREE gift.  Trying to "payback" Jesus for this free gift is like a slap in the face.  Let me put it this way. Say you gave your son/daughter a gift for no particular reason, but just because you loved them and wanted to show it. If your son/daughter freely too that gift, said "Thank you very much, now how much do I owe you for this gift?", would you not be offended??  I  would think so.  That's how I would imagine Jesus reacting to it. 

So there you have it! The explanation behind my tattoo.  Until next time!!!

Remember that Jesus Paid it ALL!!