Howdy Y'all

Howdy!!!

It has been quite a while since I have written to my humble readers. What a busy year it has been! As many of you know, I have been a student at Texas A&M University this past year. I am proud to announce that I survived Freshmen engineering weed-out classes (maybe not the best GPA but God is faithful), and I am officially a declared Biological and Agricultural Engineering major with a emphasis in Environmental and Natural Resources and to top it all off a Spanish minor. What will I do with this one may ask? That has yet to be completely determined, but I have a slight idea. I would like to do work somewhere involving clean water sources both for drinking and agricultural purposes. They say 1 out of every 6 people does not have access to clean drinking water and According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease accounts...for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year. It was estimated that 88% of that burden is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and is mostly concentrated in children in developing countries (per the source of infinite human knowledge.. Wikipedia). So there seams to be a problem, and I have been thinking that maybe I will be able to use some of the things I have learned at TAMU to help others. We shall see were God leads me. Oh and I still want to serve the Orphaned child and I feel like these two can fit together somehow. I cannot help but be overwhelmed with the parallel between bringing clean drinking water and the water of eternal life Christ has to offer to people in need.

Speaking of orphans, this summer I am not able to go to Monterrey, Mexico to work alongside Back2Back Ministries due to a few things...

a.) school is expensive and Jesus told me to go to school and try to get out with as least debt as humanly possible. So I will be working 40 hours a week at H.E.B for now. Not the most stellar dream job but it pays the bills and has been a good company to work for the past 3 years.

b.) Summer SCHOOL.... Yeah I know lame. But I figured it be best to get a few classes out of the way. So this summer I am taking Engineering Physics 2 (HARD) and Biology (EASY). I am taking classes for eight hours a day on Mondays and Wednesday at the Rio Grande Campus of ACC which is right next to that forsaken place known as UT or TU. (This is purely a attempt at humor for my fellow Aggies. Therefor if you are one of my Longhorn family members or friends, do not get offended. I realize UT is a good school and great place to receive a decent education. But A&M is better... just saying.) Rio Grande Campus of ACC has to be the most ethnically and culturally diverse place I have ever been to in my entire life of 19 years and 26 days.

OKAY so back to the fact that I will not be able to go back to Back2Back back in Monterrey, Mexico where I would really like to go back to in order to get a chance to serve back2back with Back2back Ministries and be able to be back to serving the children and youth of Monterrey. Basically I just really want to go back. (the play on words was completely unintentional ;)) I really miss the people that mean so much to me there:both interns, staff, joven, and children alike. They are in my prayers and thoughts constantly. It has been hard to me to accept the fact that I will not be there this summer. And even harder for me to accept the fact that I will be in Austin this summer just doing the mundane tasks of work and study. But God has other plans then mine. God sees the bigger picture. And even the mundane things such as school and work and eating and sleeping can glorify God. So here I am Lord, use me this summer. I trust in the fact He has a plan for me this summer even if I may never see it. It has also been good to be able to see friends and family in Austin this summer and spend lots of time with them. This has truly been a blessing.

In order to survive this summer with a good attitude and heart, I am gonna need to pray and pray a lot. I have been very bad at prayer through the years. I prayed only when I felt like there was nothing else I could do and if I remembered to at dinner and bed time. But prayer is so essential to the Christian life. I once read on a billboard for a church, "Prayer is the simple acknowledgement of the existence of God". Prayer is just that, and so much more. Prayer is the humbling of yourself and in response the glorification of God. We need to be dependent on God and prayer brings about that dependence. We need to pray to survive. So pray with me this summer. I challenge you to spend a hour in prayer a day. Grab a friend or a family member if you need someone to pray with you. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." You will surely not be disappointed. You surely will not be left the same. You surely will be transformed.

James 5:13-20

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, ²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.