How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.

~ Publilius Syrus

This is definitely something that I've been working on lately.  I've had so many thoughts on things that I've wanted to talk about!  Obedience!  Love!  But I've been busy.  You know how it gets.  I've been working on a video and learning so many new things and preparing for trips to Ohio and to Hong Kong and Kenya and hoping for a trip to El Salvador. 

I've lived a lot of my life thus far not forgiving myself.  I've forgiven people who really hurt me, but the person who hurts me the most is myself and that's also the person I find hardest to forgive.  So I'm trying...trying to let go of things people have done to me and let go of overthinking the wrongs I've done to others.  If they've forgiven me, why do I hold onto it?

So I'm working on letting go.

It’s never too late — in fiction or in life — to revise.

~ Nancy Thayer

Learning And Loving

I've been learning new things through work and I'm trying so hard to use them for our Salvadoran coffee hour, to show people what it's like in El Salvador and what our church does there.  Though people talk about it, I think that videos and such really help.  So I thought I'd show you a little preview.  There will be audio and the first photo is not the one I'm using.  Also, the quote is from the bishop and I had his name pop up, but it's not working at the moment.  I need to edit the second part of the quote so you can see the girls eyes as well.

But here's what I'm working on!!

(P.S.  Please pray for El Salvador and Guatemala [as well as Honduras and Mexico] during this time of great flooding.  We know a family in Guatemala and we've met so many wonderful people in El Salvador.)

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who let me know of their opinion on the post below!

Funny thing, the quote that was chosen both by my blogging friends and by the "Walking With El Salvador" community on Facebook was the same quote I had chosen in the first place!  I started to have doubts about the quote I picked and thought the second one might be better, but even a person who has been to El Salvador 14 times thought the first one was best.

So thank you!  I appreciated your help :)

Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world
- Father Oscar Romero

A Quick Opinion Poll

I have a quick question for everyone.  A little background first.

I'm making a video for our El Salvador coffee hour.  I want to open with a quote by Father Oscar Romero, a man much beloved in El Salvador for his heart for the poor and his willingness to live his life for God.  Our mission trips to El Salvador are often about friendship and about walking with the church there and showing them they are not forgotten.  I have about 5 quotes that I am looking at.

With that information, which quote do you think would best open the video?

1) Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world


2) ...the joy of sharing and the feeling that all are one's family does not pass away


3) Where there is "what is noble, what is good, what is right," there is God.


4) How do I treat the poor? ... The way you look at them is the way you look at God.


5) When we struggle for human rights...we are not departing from God's Promise.

If you want to vote, could you please leave a comment with the number you prefer in the comments section?  Or, I can tell you that I'm leaning towards the second quote...do you think, knowing what I stated above about walking with El Salvador, do you think this quote is appropriate or inappropriate?

Thanks for your help!!

What Would You Like Done With Me?

I've been reading Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts and she mentions Teresa of Avila and a poem that she wrote called, "Enjoy Me."  So I Googled it and I found a poem that I feel sums up the longings of my soul.  I thought I'd share it with you.

For you I live and come to be --
What would you like done with me?
Sovereign, awful majesty,
Knowing till eternity --
Goodness, gracious to my soul,
Highness, godhead, one and whole,
Look at this nonentity
Singing of her love for thee --
What would you like done with me?

I am yours, because you made me,
Yours, because you then redeemed me,
Yours, because you suffered for me,
Yours, because you clamored for me,
Yours, because you did not lose me,
What would you like done with me?

What commands then, good my lord,
By such a creature should be done?
Or what office have I won,
Being but a slave abhorred?
Can't you see me, my sweet one?
Me, my sweet one, can't you see
What would you like done with me?

Right here is my heart, you see,
Lo, I put it in your hand,
My body, soul, all I command,
My entrails and my loving thee.
Redeemer sweet who married me,
Since I gave my all for thee,
What would you like done with me?

Give me life or give me death.
Give me honor, give me shame,
War or peace, it's all the same.
Give me sickness, give me health.
Weakness, strength, I won't complain.
Come what may, I'll let it be.
What would you like done with me?

Give me wealth or poverty,
Give me rest, or anguish fell,
Give me sadness, give me glee,
Give me heaven, give me hell.
Light of life, pray hear me tell
How I surrendered all for thee.
What would you like done with me?

If you will, teach me to pray.
If not, give me aridity.
From all good things your praise I'll say --
Or else, give me sterility.
O thou sovereign majesty,
Peace I find alone in thee.
What would you like done with me?

Wisdom give me, if you will,
Or, if you choose, give ignorance.
Give me wealthy circumstance,
Or give me thirst and hunger still.
Give me shade or light until
I'm tossed about unceasingly.
What would you like done with me?

If you command, at rest I lie,
For your love's sake I'll idle be.
Or if my labor's your decree,
Working hard, I want to die.
Tell me, "Where and how and why?"
Sweetest love, I ask of thee.
What would you like done with me?

Give me Tabor or Calvary,
Desert or the fruitful earth.
Be I Job in his sad dearth
Or John at bosom sucking free.
Perhaps I'll flourish gracefully,
Or sterile stay, if such must be --
What would you like done with me?

Be I Joseph, cast in jail,
Or Joseph, lord of Egypt's shore,
Be I David, punished sore,
Or David, king whom all men hail.
Be I Jonah in the whale,
Or Jonah safe, miraculously
What would you like done with me?

Be I silent, be I speaking,
Bearing fruit or bearing naught,
Let the Law show forth my fault,
Or Gospel soothe, if such you're seeking.
Be I happy, or by pain caught,
I only live when I'm with thee!
What would you like done with me?

For you I live and came to be --
What would you like done with me?


Saint Teresa of Avila (Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada ) (1515 to 1582)
– translated from the Spanish by Alan D. Corré