walking this life with Jesus :)

You are all my heart longs for

The treasure and the hunger

I’ve tasted and I must have more

Of your presence God

You call me deeper than before

I’m falling further into you God

You are just so beautiful

I love your presence God 

This beautiful song by Kathryn Scott, Vineyard church worship leader in Northern Ireland, speaks directly what I've learned to treasure these past few months.  I realized that in my time in Scotland and settling back in NYC, the one thing that hasn't changed, the one constant I can depend on in my life, is God's presence! He promises to be with His children through it all!


There are have been so many things have happened in these last few months! There are also particular moments that I am just in awe of seeing God's hand all over it~ when I take time to remember these moments, God's goodness is just overwhelming! :)
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Back in May, in my last few days in Scotland when my flight was delayed for three days and I literally had no place to go, Lisa, from the CU @Stirling University, and her family were so gracious and loving and opened up their home to me.. I don't think I will ever forget them, they blessed my heart more than they even know.

Lisa and me :)

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In August, JP and I decided to extend our break for a while longer in order to focus on the ministries that God has placed us in.  Though it has been difficult, I know that He is in control!  There are treasures to be found in the trials, and there are things that the Lord wants to teach JP and I individually, as we grow in our love for God.  He's been such an incredible blessing in my life and the best friend I could ask for. Te quiero mucho!! :)

 

On my birthday, he surprised me with an amazing cake, beautiful flowers, and best of all....my very own sheep pillow pet!! my goodness, that by itself made my birthday!! He also treated me out to one of my favorite places to eat, Max Brenners :)

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In early October, my grandpa was hospitalized because of worsening heart condition and a case of pneumonia. God delivered him out of there a healthier, happier man than when he entered and placed a desire in his heart to reconcile with my abuelita who lives in Georgia which he had not seen for several years.  Praise Him! That in itself was such a testimony, really God is the only one that can change someone's heart!!  We also got to spend lots of time with family we hadn't seen in a while :)

family picture in our house after spending the day w Abuelito

Also, my lil bro Jordan graduated and started in APEX, a school of ministry and discipleship, led by our old youth pastor and family friend, PJ.  He's having a great time over there and is being kept very busy but I do miss his presence in the house...some times ;) just kidding. Love you Jordan! :)

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It's so crazy how the semester flew by.. it's more than half way over and God has been so faithful, I've had the opportunity to lead a women's small group that though it got off to a rocky start, is now meeting twice a week with around 7 people showing at both times.  It's such a privilege for me to be serving my sisters in Christ in IV @ Hunter.

big event 2011! :)

God you are amazing and too beautiful for words.. I'm looking forward to what you're going to do today God and expectant of what you will do in these next few months! :)

be blessed everyone!

love,

Amanda

looking upward~

When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of Glory died;  

my richest gain I count but loss,  

and pour contempt on all my pride.    

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 

save in the death of Christ, my God; 

all the vain things that charm me most, 

I sacrifice them to his blood.
  

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, 

sorrow and love flow mingled down. 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 

or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

that were an offering far too small; 

love so amazing, so divine, 

demands my soul, my life, my all.

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Meditating on the words of this beautiful song...

Praying about lots of things on my heart...

Seeing my time here in this lovely country come to a close...

Help me to rejoice over the future Lord, because I know that You are the one in control.  

Lord you promise me that you'll take care of all my troubles, teach me how to wait my God.

    Strength and dignity are her clothing,
   and she laughs at the time to come. - Proverbs 31:25

Though this entry was more on the personal side, I hope that it may have blessed you in someway :)

Walk in the light of His love today~ :)

love,

Amanda

spring break~

hey fam/friends :)

well, so much has happened in the course of a month! missing home but very glad I decided to come to Scotland~ God has definitely been taking me on a journey here!  

So many laughs, so many stories, so many late night walks through Stirling to find random shady bus stops (not alone of course, lol)... yea, i'm just really thankful to the Lord for everything that's happened here. The brothers and sisters in Christ who I've met here in Stirling and have gotten to know have a special place in my heart already...special shoutout to Lisa, Eilidh, and Beth :)

SO thankful for TESCOs too...i'm guna miss you a lot, you little Scottish supermarket.

So just wanted to give you guys a little update :) I'm going to be leaving for spring break this Sunday, March 27th and coming back to Stirling on April 4th! I'm so excited, I'll be traveling with two friends from the States, Sara & Nora, and first stop for us is Ireland-- while we're there we'll be visiting Dublin and Inishmor (which happens to be the largest of the Aran Islands).  Then Nora and I will be catching a flight down to Alicante, Spain where it will hopefully be beach weather! :)

if you get the chance, please pray:

–all three of us would stay safe and healthy throughout our trip

–i would be able to continue to read His Word daily and be encouraged and challenged by each passage i read

–that God would continue to reveal Himself to each of one of us

- and just that we would have a good time :)

If the hostels we're staying at do indeed have free internet as they say, then I'll try to  update throughout the week :)

Definitely looking forward to this break after these midterms! Man oh man, they don't get easier here in the UK, hahah..

Love always from Stirling,

Amanda xx

settling in

So I wanted to start off this entry saying "Thank you" to everyone who has sent their love and prayed for me in my time here :)  Whether it was known or unknown to me, through email, facebook, skype... or like one very special person did through flowers ;)... you have no idea how much I appreciate all of your prayers and the love you have sent my way. I feel very blessed to have the family and friends that I do...all I can say is that I can't wait to see you again!! :) <3

So it has been about two and a half weeks that I've been in Scotland and it has been quite the journey!! I am falling in love with this beautiful country and the people in it~

The semester is in full swing now, and I'm enjoying all my classes.  And thankfully I was able to finish Coriolanus by my second seminar, not easy though..although when is Shakespeare ever easy??  All my classes have to do with the study of the relationships between literature and language (linguistics), and they've all been very interesting and engaging.  I have a very nice schedule too, one that at least allows me to breathe in between classes (which wasn't really possible in Hunter, lol).

In my time here, I've been able to travel a bit on the nights and weekends~ here are some of the highlights accompanied with pics :)

Edinburgh & Stirling
Nora, Kaylin, Staci and I took trips to Edinburgh and also to Stirling (though we do live here, we wanted to take some time to explore it)~

My flatmate Andy, a native Scot, was nice enough to offer us a lift to Edinburgh and give us a tour of the city!  On our way there down we had to had to stop and take pictures of the Ochil Hills.  Amazing!

In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands formed the dry land. - Psalm 95:4-5

 

Once we got into Edinburgh, I had to pick my heart up off the floor of the car because the driving here is crazy! And I thought I was from a city with crazy driving.  But between the dizzy roundabouts, the opposite side of the road, the narrow cobblestone streets, driving stick shift...oh my goodness... you know that I was praying all the way through! lol. 

So once we got to Edinburgh one of the first things we did was visit Scott Monument.  Inside the monument there is a tiny little winding spiral staircase that if you keep going up will give you great views to the city.  And we did- we made it all the way to the top!

view of Edinburgh castle from the top :D

castle + Moorfoot Hills

In our journey through Edinburgh, we found a adorable little tea shop called "Eteaket."  I think I've found a place to replace for the time being my beloved Alice's Tea Cup in NYC!  They have all sorts of teas and cakes and scones...the smell inside is amazing.  I am definitely visiting you again Eteaket!! :)

i <3 t

We were also able to visit the "Museum of Childhood" which had all these weird and quirky children's toys from the 18th century to now.  So after a long day of being tourists, we ate in the Robbie Burns cafe, where I (unfortunately) was able to try some of the famous Scottish haggis :/  Most people love it, and it actually wasn't quite that bad (tastes very much like corn beef hash), but I have a special affinity for sheep which makes it kind of weird to eat :/  So I'm sticking with fish and chips while I'm here for sure ;)

We took another trip to explore the city of Stirling ... we started by making our way up to Stirling Castle which are surrounded by the Town Walls~

 
 

i couldn't resist climbing it in the way that people in medieval times tried ;)

kaylin, nora and i... good times :)

We then made our way up to the Old Town Cemetery and Church of the Holy Rude.  I couldn't believe that it was in this church where John Knox regularly preached and it was also where James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in 1567.

a "wee" history sidenote :) --> John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.  He was known for praying to the Lord for his country...his prayer was continually "Give me Scotland or I die."  Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have admitted that she was more afraid of the prayers of John Knox than of an army of ten thousand. Amazing stuff :)

Another pic of the day, gorgeous weather that day!~

nora and i in front of star pyramid, overlooking Old Town cemetery

After lots of sightseeing that day [and a little bit of shopping in the center of the city ;) ]   we had lunch in a Scottish pub called "Drouthy Neebors" - ordered fish and chips which was really delicious...it was huge piece of fish though! 

scottish brown sauce...yum :)

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So in everything, I simply see God's faithfulness.  Not only has he provided for me to go on this trip and of course protected me in every way so far, but He has been leading me to the right people.  I've been able to connect with the CU (christian union) on campus and become friends with sisters in Christ who can encourage me to grow in my faith and who I can pray with :)  Tonight will be my second time going to their home bible study called 3:11, which has been such a complete blessing.  Looking forward to the "banter" [their word for fellowship, lol :) ]

I've been able to visit Stirling Baptist and go with my friend Staci to Church at Stirling...both times I've walked out very blessed by the message and the time spent in worship~ here are some pics of Stirling Baptist:

I can just feel like He's up to something very good...and I can't wait to see what else he has in store here :)

Love always from Stirling,

Amanda

campus @ night

my temporary home: stirling, scotland :)

So it's been about 5 days since I've landed in Glasgow, Scotland and I can't believe it~ it feels a bit surreal to be here!  Lots has happened since then...new faces, new places, new food~ all in all I'm very thankful to God that He made a way for me to be here and have this experience.

Here are some of the highlights from the past couple days (pics made possible by the lovely camera given to me by my family...thanks guys! :D )

Scotland is truly a beautiful country, a bit damp, but beautiful :)  This is my campus!!

So let's start:
Saturday, February 12th- I arrived to Stirling and moved into my flat.... it's become my little home away from home! :) 

flat no.5 :)

my bed + desk..oh and can u spot Gracie?? :D

already tried to decorate with pics + cards from home :)

my closet

Sunday, February 13th- Went into town with some new friends! Nora, Kaylin and Staci and checked out some parts of Stirling.  Went to TESCO (like costcos/bjs) and loaded up on some very needed groceries--- mama, u would be proud of me, i looked for the sales :)  Plus, we visited Stirling Baptist Church which i'm definitely looking forward to visiting again this Sunday.


Feb 14-15th- some long but very useful orientation sessions... was able to explore campus more and get to know my flatmates. Two are from Scotland, one is from Australia, and the other is from Maine! the guys and gals of Flat 5/4/1 are great :)


Wednesday, February 16th-  I was able to visit Dublane Cathedral, one of the few surviving medieval churches of Scotland~ it dates back to the 12th century!  Also visited Stirling Castle which had stunning views to the city.  Met the Provost of Stirling (sort of like the mayor back home) who hosted a reception in his building for the international students at University of Stirling!

me + staci at the doors to the cathedral  :]

view from Stirling castle, definitely coming back here to visit!

Though I don't have a picture of it for proof, I actually cooked my first legitimate dinner last night~ chicken with stir fried vegetables and rice!  And it was quite delicious if I do say so myself ;)  But oh, what I would do for some of my mom's empanadas rite now or a bowl of her sopita de pollo! :/  I do have to say though, last night was definitely an improvement from this:

"dinner" made by a very tired person after a long journey to Scotland, oh and with some animal crackers on the side, lol!

And just thought I would throw in these last two pictures..this is my new favorite snack here. I'm definitely bringing lots of these back to the states!

And, though many people have told me there are lots of sheep here in Scotland, I didn't really believe it until I saw it today!  They're all over the place! :D

 i quickly snapped a pic for proof! :)

Though I feel like I'm still getting used to life here, classes start tomorrow whether I'm ready or not! ;) I'm excited tho, I'm taking three modules this semester (modules = courses): Foundations of Language, Writing and Language and Writing and Identity.  All seem pretty interesting~ by Friday I will have to be done with Shakespeare's Coriolanus-- I'll update you with how that went in my next entry ;)

Though many changes have come and though homesickness may kick in sometimes, I'm always comforted by God's presence~ He is with me no matter where I go.  Reminds me of Psalm 139~

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast."


..."the anchor that holds is the wisdom of the cross"...

God is what holds me together no matter where I am or what I'm feeling/facing.  He's with me in this journey called "life." That's so amazing to know :)

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

I'll be posting weekly so stay tunedd!! :D

love always from Stirling,
Amanda