The Good News of Christmas

It's amazing how God works in our lives. This summer radically changed my life in more ways than one. I grew to appreciate more and better understand the foundations of my faith. I learned its simplicity, yet how dynamic and life-changing it is. Living in a place where I was the minority, because of my citizenship, but also because of my faith, really showed me how precious my faith was and how much my Father valued me as his child.
I am one of the billions who have had the privilege to know my heavenly Father in a way most people will never understand. I can talk to the creator of life at any point of the day. Despite the fact that he is overseer of everything created, he cares about the smallest details in my life.
Knowing how powerful the Good News is overwhelms me. I am privilege to carry His name as a child carries their Father's last name wherever they go. Just how a child possess characteristics of his or her parents, so I possess characteristics of my Heavenly Father. His words are so simple, yet the most powerful.
This holiday season I have a deeper conviction for the Gospel, because I lived in a place where it was not welcomed. I walked in the places my Savior walked. I experienced the gospel as an every day reality that I still experience daily.
God gives me more grace than I deserve, yet he never gives up on me. I know when I feel someone "wronged" me I am not quick to jump back in a relationship with them, but rather keep that person at a distance. God doesn't do that. He embraces me and reminds me that he never left: it was me who walked away. He wants to welcome me back and forget I ever did anything wrong. I just need to confess and turn away from my wrong doing.
As Christmas approaches, I think of justice. Justice isn't solely executing a criminal, it's making a wrong right. God sent Christ to correct wrong (sin). The fact that he sent his most precious and perfect asset to a place filled with evil, corruption and selfishness, because his love for us, outweighed any consolation he had. That's powerful. He made the wrong right by sending Christ to be the payment for the wrongs mankind has done and will continue to do. He is the God of all people and will always be.
Christmas is not just about the baby in the manger, it's about the new creation we become when our sin is confronted with this justice. The cross is justice against every evil. My debt was paid in full: I don't have to allow evil to rule me, because I chose to allow God to rule me.
The good news is for all people of all nations, tribes, tongue and language.
The wise men were great examples to follow. I was stuck in traffic as I was driving to my college town this evening. I was talking to God and he told me that the wise men probably looked ridiculous in the eyes of those around them. They followed a star, because an angel told them to. Imagine telling your friends you saw an angel and are going on a journey to somewhere you don't even know, but not to worry, because you are following a star to get there. They were Jewish, which made it even crazier, because they were still waiting for their Messiah. AND, to top it off, the area they were walking was most likely ridiculously hot. After walking in places John and Jesus walked, I realized how hot and rugged those places really were. So, these men walked in crazy terrain, following a star, holding onto a message an angel gave them. Yet, the Word called them wise. I want faith like that: faith to do something that looks completely ridiculous, but do it, because God says so. In the end, everything was revealed, their obedience was blessed, and they were a blessing to the Savior of the world. Amazing.
Noah, God told him to build an ark in the desert where they never saw rain. That's ridiculous. Yet, God told him to do it and he did, despite what ridicule he faced. Me of all people should have the greatest faith, because I have the Word full of examples of my predecessor's faith, but also too because of how God has led me and blessed me in the past and present: he never leaves me hanging, but blesses me more than I imagine.
How does this all relate? Here it is: my God has shown me more grace than I ever could have imagined. He loves me even when I am unlovable. He is patient with me when I am not patient with him. He give to me, when I do not give to him. He overwhelms me with blessings, when I hoard things to myself and when I get distracted. My God, is a God of truth and Justice. His Word is truth. The Gospel is Justice. The Gospel transformed the people who saw it being lived out over 2,000 years ago, and it transforms now. His Word is his command to all who claim to follow him. His followers are commanded to live justly in the world as he demonstrated in his Word. Jesus allowed the Gospel to transform his life and I am called to do the same, along with every other person who claims the name of Jesus. Christmas is about God bringing justice to earth. Not to kill everyone off, but to show mankind that He created life, knows how to live it, and wants all people to live it with him and has the opportunity to, if they give up control of themselves and let God lead.

Where's Home?

Somehow i have for house keys on my key ring, all of which I have used within the past month and are in different cities. I have not had a consistent place to call home since I was 17 years old, but I would not have it any other way. It is hard, but I have accepted it. I love traveling and hope to travel through out my life. No matter where I go, I will always have my family and friends but it will be difficult because I do not know where to call home. The Word says this is not my home, but rather heaven is, since I am heaven bound. I have best friends from every stage and place in my life and have stayed in different places for significant amounts of time, but the only consistence presence in my life is God. Even thought it is hard when my friends and family, whom I love, can not relate to or understand me, I know I am not alone, because God is always with me and he knows what I am feeling and knows how to encourage me.
I have learned great lessons about life, love, family, and faith that many people don't learn until later in life.


I am part of a family that is greater than blood. No matter where i go I have family. It is hard having some of my things at my mom's house and living in another, but I have learned material things don't matter. Since graduating high school I have come to realize how insignificant things are.
Traveling to third-world countries have really changed my perspective on life and what is really important. In Zimbabwe the people there had nothing, yet they had so much faith and had smiles on their faces. I saw real faith there and learned that it's not about things but people. As long as I have people I love and people who love me, things will be fine.

One major thing I learned in the past four years was this: it's about loving God and loving others. If you're doing both, everything will be taken care of.

How to teach conversational English in an African country

Final Yearbook How-to Blog:

Have you ever wondered how to converse with someone who barely understands the English language? Many people think going to Africa is one of the biggest adventures of a lifetime, partially because of the differences in culture and language. Something many people do not know in America is that many people in the major cities and university towns understand enough English to communicate, even if they do not know the words needed to convey their message. Many African students read and watch American and European novels and movies, which enhance their vocabulary but sometimes leave them confused over word meanings. Africans may approach Americans with the wrong word to greet them, but they only repeat what they hear and treat foreigners how movies teach them to. Below are a few steps to teaching conversational English to African college students.
1. Be patient.
2. Have a partner with a similar agenda.
3. Have them verbally answer probing questions that require more than a yes/no answer.
4. Let them to ask you questions.
5. Speak at a medium-slow consistent pace.
6. Be prepared to define every word you speak, including the word “the.”
7. Use elementary vocabulary.
8. Do not allow their mother-tongue to be spoken in class.
9. Assign them to create a presentation in English on a topic they know.
10. Let them to discuss in English.
11. Have someone in class repeat what you say in English if you question their comprehension.
12. Let them know you will grade their progress so they try to improve.

vi. Many people think they are incoherent and dumb because they do not understand English. Do not assume that, because they are very knowledgeable about world events.
vii. English is not the only language in the world. Treat them with respect and understand their position. They are trying to learn your language. Imagine if they expected you to be on their level if they were teaching you their native language.
viii. Speaking loudly does not help them understand.
ix. Each student is different so help them according to their individual need. Some know more English than others so challenge them according to their level.
x. Translate common phrases they use and teach them in English.
xi. Write instructions and other things you want your students to remember on the board so they can read the words you speak and attempt to sound them out.
xii. This does not take money to do.
xiii. Be creative in the different methods you use and have fun.
ixx. It may get frustrating; remember why you are teaching them and be patient and understanding.
xx. Show a video in English with subtitles.
xxi. Explain things in the simplest way possible, but think of another way to get your message across if they do not understand.

xxii. Be willing to learn from your students: be humble.
xxiii. http://www.englishclub.com/ gives ESL teachers free resources

Serving the Homeless

This past Thursday I went out with the Homeless group to the park on Mission Inn Blvd. to hand out to-go meals. I wanted to go all semester but never had the time available. I love working with homeless, but do not have many opportunities available because of my busy schedule. My group started talking to a man, but he was very stand-offish. He answered our questions, but stood with his arms crossed and looked away. The second I said I was from Bakersfield his eyes lit up and we started talking. We started talking about Bakersfield and the places in town we both were familiar with. He then said he had family in Palmdale and I did too. He opened up and told us about his daughter and how he missed seeing her that day. He came down to Riverside to be closer to his daughter, but is still looking for a place to work.
He was having a bad day because he missed his daughter. The smile on his face at the end of our visit made the whole evening worth going. Even though he wasn’t having a good day, I could tell that us talking cheered him up. I am so grateful that God brought us there to bring a smile to that man’s face.

Missing My Home in Africa

Today was one year exactly since I left Kenya; I have been thinking it all day. I miss my friends so much. I always think about the market I went to often and the people I met. I always wonder how they are doing now. I pray for them but wish I could see them one more time and formally say goodbye. I never said good bye to Jon, the guy I saw every week. I hope he is doing well and continues reading his Bible and applying what we went over.
I fell in love with the Gandy family but I have no pictures with them. Jim and Linda brought me into their family as one of their own. I cried so hard when I had to leave them. I could not imagine leaving them behind. I just wanted to sit there and hug Linda all day. Jim taught me so much without him realizing it. My camera wasn't working the last time I saw them so I have no pictures of the three of us, or with their family.
God truely blessed me over and abundantly. I always wonder if the people I worked with remember me and if my influence is there.
I spent my last full day in Kenya with my African mom, Linda. I spent the night with Becky, my African sister. Linda talked me through re-entry into the USA and let me cry on her shoulder. She told me funny stories about her family and the people she stayed in contact with who volunteered with her in Nairobi. She took me to my favorite resturant in Nairobi, the Java House; we shared desserts: rich chocolate cake and cheesecake. We picked the girls up from school and watched their basketball team play. One of our friends was on the team so we watched him play; my African brother coached the team. We already said our goodbyes and were plesantly surprised to see one another again. My roomate/sister, Jeff (brother) and I exchanged gifts over our Christmas tree that night. It was great. Becky was snappy like usual but the cat was unusually kind.
I lived with Becky on the weekends. It was so hard to walk out of her house for the last time. It was so hard to hand over the keys of my cottage, clean out my desk, and hug my deep friends and family goodbye.

A Strange Creative Story written with my own Vocabulary Words

YEARBOOK ASSIGNMENT
1. putty • noun a malleable paste that hardens as it sets, used for sealing glass in window frames, filling holes in wood, etc. — PHRASES be (like) putty in someone’s hands be easily manipulated by someone. — ORIGIN French potée, ‘potful’.

2. excavate • verb 1 make (a hole or channel) by digging. 2 extract (material) from the ground by digging. 3 carefully remove earth from (an area) in order to find buried remains. — DERIVATIVES excavation noun excavator noun. — ORIGIN Latin excavare ‘hollow out’.

3. dainty • adjective (daintier, daintiest) 1 delicately small and pretty. 2 fastidious and fussy when eating. • noun (pl. dainties) a small appetizing item of food. — DERIVATIVES daintily adverb daintiness noun. — ORIGIN from Old French daintie ‘choice morsel, pleasure’, from Latin dignitas ‘worthiness, beauty’.

4. air • noun 1 the invisible gaseous substance surrounding the earth, a mixture mainly of oxygen and nitrogen. 2 the open space above the surface of the earth. 3 before another noun indicating the use of aircraft: air travel. 4 the earth’s atmosphere as a medium for transmitting radio waves. 5 one of the four elements (air, earth, fire, and water) in ancient and medieval philosophy and in astrology. 6 Music a tune or short melodious composition. 7 (an air of) an impression of. 8 (airs) an affected and condescending manner.
• verb 1 express (an opinion or grievance) publicly. 2 broadcast (a programme) on radio or television. 3 expose to fresh or warm air.
— PHRASES airs and graces an affectation of superiority. in the air noticeable all around. on (or off) the air being (or not being) broadcast on radio or television. take the air go out of doors. up in the air unresolved. walk (or tread) on air feel elated. — DERIVATIVES airless adjective. — ORIGIN Greek aer.

5. vivacious/vivaysh ss/ • adjective attractively lively and animated. — DERIVATIVES vivaciously adverb vivacity noun. — ORIGIN from Latin vivax ‘lively, vigorous’.

6. inconceivable • adjective not capable of being imagined or grasped mentally. — DERIVATIVES inconceivably adverb.

7. liable • adjective 1 responsible by law; legally answerable. 2 (liable to) subject by law to. 3 (liable to do) likely to do. 4 (liable to) likely to experience (something undesirable). — ORIGIN perhaps from French lier ‘to bind’, from Latin ligare

8. flabby • adjective (flabbier, flabbiest) 1 (of a part of a person’s body) soft, loose, and fleshy. 2 not tightly controlled and therefore ineffective.
— DERIVATIVES flabbily adverb flabbiness noun. — ORIGIN alteration of earlier flappy.
9. sit • verb (sitting; past and past part. sat) 1 be or cause to be in a position in which one’s weight is supported by one’s buttocks and one’s back is upright. 2 be or remain in a particular position or state: the fridge was sitting in a pool of water. 3 (of an animal) rest with the hind legs bent and the body close to the ground. 4 (of a parliament, committee, court of law, etc.) be engaged in its business. 5 serve as a member of a council, jury, or other official body. 6 Brit. take (an examination). 7 (of a table or room) have enough seats for. 8 (sit for) pose for (an artist or photographer).
• noun a period of sitting. — PHRASES sit in occupy a place as a form of protest. sit in for temporarily carry out the duties of. sit on informal 1 fail to deal with. 2 subdue or suppress. sit out not take part in. sit tight informal 1 remain firmly in one’s place. 2 refrain from taking action or changing one’s mind. sit up refrain from going to bed until later than usual. –USAGE It is good English to use the participle sitting rather than sat with the verb ‘to be’: we were sitting there for hours rather than we were sat there for hours. — ORIGIN Old English.
10. platoon • noun a subdivision of a company of soldiers, usually commanded by a subaltern or lieutenant and divided into three sections. — ORIGIN French peloton ‘platoon’, literally ‘small ball’.

11. nerd • noun informal a person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious. — DERIVATIVES nerdish adjective nerdy adjective. — ORIGIN of unknown origin.

12. halberd /halb rd/ (also halbert) • noun historical a combined spear and battleaxe. — ORIGIN High German

13. pavane /p van/ (also pavan /pavv’n/) • noun a stately dance in slow duple time, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. — ORIGIN French, perhaps from Italian pavana ‘Paduan’, from the dialect name of the city of Padua.

14. babble • verb 1 talk rapidly in a foolish, excited, or incomprehensible way. 2 (of a stream) make a continuous murmur as the water flows over stones. • noun the sound of babbling. — DERIVATIVES babbler noun. — ORIGIN Low German babbelen, or an independent English formation, based on the repeated syllable ba, typical of a child’s early speech.

15. honey • noun (pl. honeys) 1 a sweet, sticky yellowish-brown fluid made by bees from flower nectar. 2 chiefly N. Amer. darling; sweetheart. 3 informal an excellent example: it’s a honey of a movie. — ORIGIN Old English.

Goofy Living his Dream
The music note left the bunch, because he was shunned by the rest of society. He grew up in a home with many other notes, but spoke with a stutter and breathed air- unlike everyone else in his house. He had one solid friend, Wilbert, who never left his side; some would describe them as nerds. They grew up together and sat next to each other on the bar when it came time for them to perform.
Wilbert and Goofy were as close as honey. They went everywhere together and even learned how to line dance together. One day during their line dancing lessons Goofy met a special note, Brooke; this note was a little dainty. She laughed a lot and saw the bright side of life. She was the prettiest girl in the bunch. Goofy never thought she would like him but he liked her and hoped to talk to her one day.
One day at line dancing practice Wilbert seemed more distracted than normal. “Wilbert, why are you having such a hard time focusing?” Goofy said. “You’ve been running into me all evening.”
“Look over there!” Wilbert said as he pointed to his left. Goofy could not believe his eyes, Brooke was sitting at the table staring at him. Could this be?
“Inconceivable!” He said in the midst of his babbling. As he stumbled over his words Brooke strutted over to talk to him.
“Sit down boy, you are turning into putty.
She came over to talk with the boys and invited them to a pavane going on the next night. They overwhelmingly accepted the invitation and skipped home. As he skipped his flabby tummy flipped and flopped in the wind.
“Dude, your stomach flapping in the wind… so not vivacious,” his friend brutally told him. “You are liable to make sure your flab doesn’t come out for vacation when you see her. You can’t mess this up!”
Since his friend told him he couldn’t mess up this big dance for him he joined a platoon to help get him ready for the big night. They helped him loose the flab and how to dance pavane style. While in the platoon he learned how to use a halberd to defend Brooke if any crazy monsters came her way. If anyone came up to her he had a plan to put them in their place with his new toy ‘The halberd,’ complete with a sword and battleaxe. He was not going to let the most beautiful note pass him by.
The next night the two went out dancing and had a marvelous time together. Wilbert could not believe was out with the girl of his dreams; he was in La-La land. Goofy saw stars in Wilbert’s eyes as he walked in the front door in a daze. Nothing Goofy did would bring Wilbert back to the real world, after his great date with Brooke. Goofy excavated him out of the ancient La-La land and brought him back

Riverside Fires

Fires rolling down the hill. The whole hill wasn’t on fire but scattered brush fires were on the side of the mountain.
The family lived in their home for 11 years and never had a problem with the fires.

Family members sat helplessly on their front yard watching fires consume the rolling hills in their neighborhood. Neighbors congregated on street corners in disbelief as they watched firefighters protect their block.

Eye-witnesses reported that the flames broke out in hills across from Tilden Place and Gramercy Place on Sept 22 around noon and never died. One home owner said he was not afraid because firefighters and police responded quickly. “The fires are pretty contained so I’m not too worried about it,” he said. “When you move out here you know there is potential for this to happen.”

Police, caution tape, fire trucks, Search and Rescue, and Citizens’ Patrol workers blocked on-lookers from driving into the fires.

Firefighters fought small brush fires in the Agricultural Park, near Julian Drive and Crest Avenue in Riverside County, to keep more property damage-free. Nearby residence showered their homes with water hoses, doing what they could to save their house.

Parents embraced their children as they held onto the only possession they could protect from the fires. Winds roared across the hills, ushering fires into unaffected areas.
Hopeless and despaired homeowners served firefighters juice and water to refresh them from the fires.

Debris fell like snow flakes and blew across streets and sidewalks like autumn leaves. Children wrapped baby blankets and bandanas around their noses and mouths as they watched the fires roar through the field behind their neighborhood park.

Parent and local homeowner Christine Garcia said the fire burned the area surrounding the Agricultural Park off Rutland Ave. “I think we are safe but it’s spreading at a fast rate,” Garcia said. “Everything [The fire] goes so fast that you can’t think.”