My Lion isnt safe, tame or cuddly.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I am dying of thirst," Said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I...could I..would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. "Do you eat girls?" she asked.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didnt say this as if it were boasting, not as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

C.S Lewis offered this parable to vividly portray the heart of our powerful God. The image Lewis created is trying to awaken our desire for a God who is awesome and powerful.
We have noticed that (for the most part) todays evangelical community seems to only promote one side of the God described in the Bible: the "nice" side. The vast majority of the songs and sermons that permeate churches around America climax with "God loves you," or the often quoted John 3:16. Unfortunatly this powerfully true "love" concept is often offered out of context. The message of Gods love often comes across as if He is a great big huggable teddy bear in the sky.
Unfortunatly this constant teaching about the love of God outside of its scripture context has left a lot of people either confused, or simply mistaken about who God is and what He is like.
But what is love without wrath? What is grace without justice? You may be wondering where we are going with this but the very image of God is at stake here!
The God of the Old Testament goes to war for His people - not just once but again and again. At one point at the Red Sea he destroys the entire Egyptian army in a single, mighty blow. On the opposite bank the Isrealites sang these words aloud "The Lord is a Warrior, the Lord is His Name." This theme did not end with the Old Testament. Jesus' birth was a great invasion, a mission to set us free from our captivity to sin and death. In his own words, Jesus said "I have not come to bring peace on earth but a sword."

We want to encourage you to cast down the idle of the modern Mr. Rogers, wuss-bag God and replace it with the Warrior God of the Bible; The Lion of Judah, whose fierce love has the power to save His people from the grip of the enemy and overcome the strongholds of death in our land.
-liveoffensively.com

I find this to be such a comfort. I know that when life gets crazy, when I feel like I have no control or say over what happening, I have a father who is not only loving but a warrior, one who will save me. I personally dont want a wussy God, a santa clause in the sky! I dont want a vending machine God, where I put my prayers in, and get a treat in return. I want a God who will fight and defend me. I want a powerful, awesome God.

My lion isnt safe, tame or cuddly.
But His fierce love is good.

From dating to engaged...

Because Andrew and I are ENGAGED (yay!!), we got pictures taken together...cuz we love each other and stuff :)
Here, Ill share some with you!

















And my personal favorite (I really feels it reflects our personalities best.)....

A few fond memories.

This is Alira. Shes one of the little girls that I facepainted at our Carnival. We held a carnival in our last week in Jakarta, over 50 kids showed up! It was incredible to see God working through something so simple as games, music and laughter. Joy is a beautiful and powerful thing.


The children in Indonesia are beautiful and welcoming, always wanting to play.


We got to go to a Safari and feed animals. I also got to hold a monkey! He was very energetic and climbed all over me!


I also got to hold a cheetah!


I also got to fulfill and lifelong dream of petting an elephant!!!


and a bit later, I almost cried with joy when I got to ride an elephant. Its something that I have always wanted to do! It was so much fun, and very bumpy!


I had the most beautiful, crazy, fun, amazing team! They are family to me.


and the most amazing translator, Fendi. He became like a brother to me. (His plate says "Fendi loves Bina". Indonesians have trouble saying my full name, I was always called Bina there.)

Well thats enough for tonight. Its late. But there are a million more memories that I could share! Maybe some other day! Ta-ta for now!

Reflecting on Indonesia.

Last year I had the privledge of spending 3 months in Jakarta, Indonesia.
What an incredible time! Sometimes, I cant believe all the things God did while I was there, not only in the city of Jakarta, but also in me.

There I was, in the biggest city I have ever been in.


And not just the biggest.
The dirtiest.


The poorest.



A city where people have no hope.


Where children go hungry.


and yet among this darkness and despair, among chaos and bombings and hate, God was showing me a different side to the city. He was showing me his precious people, the ones that He loves and died for. The ones that have turned their backs on Him, that have broken His heart. And as I started to see Jakarta through His eyes, everything changed.

I saw joy and laughter.


I saw family.


I saw hope.


I saw prayer working.


I saw God healing.

I have so many good memories from Jakarta. I miss my Jakartan family every day. I am different for having been there. I am blessed to have been there.

A supposed moon made of honey.

At least thats what we're looking forward too! But apparently, planning a honeymoon is not as simple as it seems.
Andrew and I decided that we should book our honeymoon soon, at least start thinking about it, so we went to the travel agent. We wanted to know what they had to offer us, how they could help us.
Heres how it went down.
We walk in, I announce "We want to buy a honeymoon".
We sit down with a lady, never met her before(Ive booked alot of flights through this travel agent, I know most of them). She seemed nice enough.
She asked what country we were considering, what time of year. We told her June, for a week or two, somewhere in Central America.
Then I said something that she was not prepared for:
"We dont want to do all-inclusive".
.............silence............
"ok."
..................silence............
"well there a great new all-inclusive resort being built in Costa Rica."
.......pause from andrew and I........
"Thats nice, but we dont want to do all-inclusive."

I wont take too long, Ill just simplify by quoting her.
"Well, see, the great thing about all-inclusive is that everything is included"
.......oh.....ok.......we didnt get that with the "All-inclusive" title!

Now some of you are probably saying "Whats so wrong with all-inclusive". What has all-inclusive done to hurt you.

Let me start by saying:
1. No offense to anyone who is a die-hard all-inclusive fan. I myself have done it and I very much appreciated it at the time. It was fun.
2. I do understand why its so popular. Its a vacation right?! Relax, dont do anything, have people serve you and cook for you, its all very appealing! I get it.

Here the thing though. Its NOT my thing, and thankfully, its also NOT Andrews thing! (phew!)

Heres how I see All-inclusive:








You might look at those pictures and see perfection, relaxation, life at its best! You might look at those pictures and think "wow, what a life that would be."


I look at those pictures and see whats not shown. I think to myself "I wonder what kind of people work in those resorts. What kind of life do they live. Whats their history, how did they end up there."


You see, when I go to a country, I dont want to hide behind the walls of a resort! No way! I want to be out there, among the locals, eating what they eat, speaking their language! I want to know what a normal day looks like to them. I want to experiance their country, not just be able to say Ive been there!
I want to learn from them. I want to taste what they taste (even if it is awful..remind me to share the dog-eating story later), I want to see what they see!

How incredible is it that we are able to go to different places in this world and meet these people, some who have nothing, some who have much! We get to meet them and talk with them, hear about their life-stories, their hurts and their victories!
I am so blessed to do that.


And so, for our honeymoon, we will NOT be doing an all-inclusive. We will not come home with pictures of us sitting at a swim-up bar with people from Spain(I have plenty of those from the last all-inclusive trip!), and lounging on some beach with blue towels and blue chairs.
So where will we go? What will we stay in?
We're not sure yet. Im hoping it will look something like this:

When it comes down to it, I just want to spend a week or two with my wonderful new husband. I want our honeymoon to be an adventure, a bit wild and unexpected. I dont want perfection, because I know Ill be let down. Life isnt perfect, this world isnt perfect, but through it all, God is good. He created this world for us to love and enjoy and explore. And thats exactly what Andrew and I will do.

2010 so far...

Well, we are only 25 days into 2010 and I have to say, its been a great year already!
Heres some of my favorite memories so far!







Date night at El Nopal with Spencer and Michelle. Anytime we hang out with them, its just bound to be good times! From delicious food, amazing drinks, an adorable new friend who said "meow"(see above pic) and lots of laughs, our date night did not disappoint!

After dinner, we decided to take the party to our new (and VERY empty) condo. After a quick stop at the liquor store (where a homeless man threw his bike on top of Michelles car), we partied it up in style at Le House of Wiebe!




Also so far in 2010, Ive discovered that the family that Im marrying into is much more high class than myself...heres an example:



Thats right, ironing in 3 inch heels. Downright classy.

Andrew and I also had quite the adventure the other day with one of my best friends, Jessi, Taylor and Sean. Have you heard about this movie..whats it called...starts with an "A"...oh yeah thats right, AVATAR!!
Well, Jessi convinced us that we should go, so we headed out to Langley at 5PM! (did I mention that the movie started at 1015!!!), had a delicious dinner, then became those crazy people who show up to movies HOURS early! and was it worth it? HECK YES IT WAS!!! Avatar in 3D = Awesome!


I like how andrew is on the end, having NO idea whats going on. Hes cute.



I can never pull off a serious face...I just look angry.



So there you go..a bit of 2010 so far. There really is so much more to look forward too!
Andrew and I are going to Paraguay for a month in Feb, not to mention that we are getting married in June! And thats just the first half! So, to 2010 I say "Glad you could come, lets have fun!"

I just wanted to let you all know that I have the manliest fiance in the world. He is smart and handsome and tall and funny and he makes me laugh. On top of that, he can build anything, including a bed for us!

And so, to prove just how manly he is, I thought I would add this picture!

It was facial night at my house and did he shy away? No sir! He picked a red headband and got right into it!

Sorry ladies, hes all mine!