“Praise be to the Lord, Who has given rest to His people Israel. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers, may He never leave us nor forsake us. May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord your God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.”

I love those verses! Truly the Lord IS worthy of ALL of our praise, for He alone is the breath and life we have!

Being Thanksgiving Day, there is sooo much I have to be grateful for!

I am thankful for a loving, merciful, faithful, saving God Who loves me and has saved me. Who makes every day worth living; Who patiently leads and guides me into His best for my life, for His glory!

I am thankful for my family….who has raised me, supported me, taught me, trained me in the ways of God. Whom I have had some really amazing times with, and learned so much from!

I am thankful for my Verity friends—who have invested so much in me throughout our years as friends. Without whom I would have never gotten through Verity. They encourage me in Christ, and keep my head up when I think that life is not worth living any more.

I am thankful for my farm friends—who make my life such a joy to live all the time! For Deborah, who believes in me, and pushes me to be the best that I can possibly be! For friends who stand beside me, behind me, and support me, no matter what. For friends that come with me through the storms of every day life.

I am thankful to be an American citizen. Even though she is not perfect, God founded this country upon His principles, and He is still in control. I am grateful for freedom to worship God here in this country.

I am thankful for food to eat….every day, whenever I want. For a roof over my head, and heat during the winter, and a/c during the summer. For a soft bed to sink into every night. For clothes to wear…to work, to the farm, around the house. For shoes to protect my feet from the elements.

I am thankful for animals! For my horses that I love so much, Scout, Shiloh, and Job. For Nutmeg, my precious baby dog. For soft, warm, fuzzy kitties that snuggle up with me. For loyal, faithful, and loving animals….they make me smile when the skies are pitch black and gray!

I am thankful for my truck. That God so graciously gave her back to me after I wrecked her this summer. That she gives me the ability to go places to serve people. For an amazing deal on body work, fixing, and parts. For the faithful, dependable steadiness of the Chevy s10!

I am thankful for my computer. My new computer that God provided money for me to buy. It is a workhorse, to be sure, and handles my photos, videos, and hard drives like a pro. I am thankful for reliable hard drives, to back up precious pictures and memories.

I am thankful for my cameras….for faithful, precious Darby, and most recently, God’s provision of Brady. I am thankful for all the gear He has given me and blessed me with over the years, that I might shoot for Him, and His glory.

I am thankful for my guitar—for a medium of worship to praise the Maker, Keeper, and Lover of my soul!!

I am so grateful for all the blessings God has given me! He is so good.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Gratefully His,

Michelle

“For the love of God constrains us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are AMBASSADORS for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

I love those verses. Those last few are my life verses. That is, after all, what the name Michelle means: Ambassador of Christ; One who officially represents God.

And God is forever good! Life has been weird and tricky the past few years, but God is always faithful! My Dad has now been in Colorado working for over a year, and we continue to wait on God’s timing in the sale of our house. Although we still do not know why or how God is leading, it is okay. I have enjoyed the precious year on the farm, doing as much as I possibly can before God calls me on to leave.

There are many things in life I enjoy, however, they can be summed up into a few general particular PASSIONS of mine. Animals, photography, video, writing, missions, and communicating to name a few of them. The past 6 years I have followed my love of animals, which led me to Kopper Top, and the people I have encountered and fallen in love with along the way. I love animals and communications, and would be happy to follow both of them for the rest of my life. Yet continually, the doors for photography, writing, video, and missions have been slammed shut in my face, leaving me with one option left: my animals.

However…this summer, God has been opening the doors and making it very clear to me that I can return to PERU!!! I am sooo excited about it. I have been longing to go back for two years…ever since I came back from the 8.0 earthquake trip But the doors had never opened. Until now. Now…now, it is so clear to me, and I am SO EXCITED to follow in God’s path and plan for my life! Darby is stoked about going as well, and very eager to capture the work of God on film (err, memory cards)

Looking back on it all, and looking forward to it all, there is only one thing I can say: God is SO FAITHFUL and SO GOOD to me!!!!! He truly does give us the desires of our hearts, and align our passions and hearts with His! If you had asked me when I was 8, 10, 12, 16, even 18, if I would ever want to be a missionary, I would have responded with an emphatic, “Are you crazy?! No way!” But now…that is one of the biggest burning passions of my heart. GOD changed my heart, and I am so humbled and grateful to Him. God can change hearts. God can take a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. I know He can. I have felt Him do it with my own heart.

I am so excited and can hardly wait till this summer! I have met a lady who grew up in Ecuador and she is helping me brush up on/learn Spanish! I have been going to a Spanish church with her, and whew, is that taxing my memory and mind! Although I continually discover I know more than I think I do, which is encouraging…but I still have a long ways to go! My mom sent me to the bookstore with my sisters tonight to buy a gift for their friend’s birthday party (I was being lazy and didn’t really want to leave the house, but I did), and what did God put in my path but two Spanish CDs with hymns and choruses in Spanish!! I love Spanish…it is a beautiful language. And there are few more beautiful sounds than to listen to the nations worshipping God!!

My God is good, and I will triumph in the works of His hands! May I ALWAYS be an ambassador for Him, whether here in the States or in other nations across the world!

May the life I live reflect the FAITH that I believe!!

Joyfully,

Michelle

PS. Despite my "traitorism" in using Facebook and Wordpress of late, my faithful old Xanga gets to bear the news of Peru first It may very well be it's last post (can't keep up with allll these sites!:-/.)

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”

These past several weeks/months I have been blessed with lots of time on the farm—something I enjoy immensely!

Kopper Top has 2 vans that have been donated, and we had to take the Ford one to the dealer several times this week. Wednesday, we brought it back home after having the spark plugs and wires replaced, and I followed Deborah back in the Chevy Astro, paranoid of losing her the whole time. I had to WHACK myself to calm down and drive sensibly But I flipped the radio on, and heard some of my favorite songs. Then I got hit with the coolest analogy! See, I was following Deborah, determined to stay with her…my eyes RIVETED on that red van like my life depended on her…I’d be lost without her if I lost sight of her! But how much more so I ought to RIVET my eyes on Christ and never let Him out of my sight! For without Him, and following His leading, I would be lost, and pretty much ruin my life:-/ It was a really cool analogy that hit home in me and struck a chord at that moment, and I will not forget it for a long while. I had NO idea where I was, I was just following Deborah. I didn’t know what she was doing or where she was going. I only knew that eventually, she would lead me home. So I trusted her and followed her. And so it is with God…I don’t understand what He’s doing, I don’t know exactly where He’s leading, or where I am, or WHY He is taking me a different route than I would have gone…but ultimately, He will lead me home.

Who are your eyes fixed on?

~~Recent farm pictures~~

Lady, our new abandoned baby goat, and Percy

Lily and Deborah

Scout running for me

Nutters hates snow:-d

Fixing my eyes on Christ,

Michelle