2 Posts 1 Day

I am sorry to post again but I was on Reece's Rainbow today (imagine that!!) and I saw this picture. I've seen it a few times and this little boy just keeps catching my eye!! He's so darn cute! :) And I noticed today that he has NO money in his adoption fund! :( So, if you're in a giving mood just click here and click on donate! And make sure you put in the memo line for Luke (Russia)! :) How could you NOT love that little face?!?! I wish I could bring him home! Maybe YOU can!! ;)


Here is his info: Luke was born with a minor ASD. There is suspicion of optical atropht (some vision concerns), but this is common in children with Down Syndrome. He was born at 37 weeks with the corn wrapped around his neck, but look at how he glows!! That smile is SO SO sweet! Click here for more info!!

And here's another pic of him just because he is SO SO cute!!! :) He needs a FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny Things :)

As most of you know, I work in an elementary school. There are many different things I hear that just crack me up!! I thought I'd share a few and also put them in writing so I don't forget them!! :)

• One day while talking about volcanoes...the teacher in our room mentioned the "Ring Of Fire" (the volcanic ring that goes through South America) and C said "hey...Johnny Cash sings the Ring Of Fire! It's on my brother's Ipod." haha. Yes, he does!!!
• Manny has a ton of funny sayings... One day while in my room at home, Jessie and Manny busted in... Jessie said "it's the FBI!!" Manny said "It's the CPR!!" hahaha. I said "The CPR???" he said "I meant to say the FBI!" Yeah, I'm sure you did!! haha.
• Another day at my house (with all the Torres Kids)  we were all eating supper and Manny disappeared for about ten mintues. Figuring he had gone to "take the Browns to the SuperBowl", as he calls it, Jaime asked him if he stunk it up and Manny's reply was "Yeah, I think you need some air-conditioner in there!!" Air Conditioner?? Don't ya mean air freshener?!?! haha. :)
• One of the little boys here at school has my heart! His name is Rolando (yea, you figured it out, he's hispanic!!) I love him! He's precious. And I call him my brother... He agrees that he is but the rest of the kids disagree. One day I called him my little brother and one little girl said "You can't be his sister, cause you're not BROWN!!!" haha. SO???? I can still be his sister! :)
• In our 3rd grade classroom one of the little girls had a magic 8 ball type thing... She asked me to ask it a question so I did.... Then another girl asked it if Ms. Merany had a daughter... the kids' replies were "she doesn't have a daughter...she's not married!" then another little boys yelled "she doesn't even have a BOYFRIEND!!" why, thanks for the ego-boost today!!! :)

I am sure there are more but can't think of any right now! I may add some more later!! :)

All but the burning bush!!!

So, this will probably not come as a surprise to many of you, but I finally surrendered my life to the ministry/missions. :) :) I have felt this calling for quite a while now... I have not really ignored it but just not done anything about it or told many people. The Lord has been placing that on my heart for a while now. I have blogged about it but other than that I've not talked too much about it. The last few weeks, though, it has been super heavy on my heart. Not only that but the Lord has been telling me through other people that this is my calling for life!!
One example is Doug. Although Doug doesn't really count because he is always telling me what I'm gonna do with my life. haha. :) But, he is usually right. Another person is Dana from work. I walked in last Friday and she looked at me and said, "Merany, I was thinking about you this morning and the Lord told me that you just need to go ahead and surrender to the ministry and be a missionary overseas!!" Hello, God! :) I was a little caught off guard by that! Later on Friday, I was chatting with Ms. Darylon Poe. She stopped me and said, " You seem to really have a heart for missions. You should be a missionary. And some people talk like they want to do that but you, I can see really doing it!" Hello again, God!! :) On Saturday I was at the HOP (House of Prayer) in Union City. We were worshipping the Lord and just singing and such. Then, Mr. Gorton got up to pray but first he said that the Lord had laid it on his heart to tell us that the Lord was speaking to one of us in there. That He was calling us to make a decision... to pick up our cross and follow Him! I felt the Lord speaking to me yet again! I prayed again that night and to myself I surrendered to the ministry. After the service, Gareth asked me if I felt the Lord speaking to me during that time. Of course, I said yes. Because He was. LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!!!!!! Garerth said that he had prayed for me during that moment. I talked to mom and Hilary about this when I got home. They weren't surprised since I had been talking about this for some time now. And last night at revival, Bro. Steve was preaching on decision making. And how some decisions mark the rest of your life. Not only that but they affect the lives around you. Your family, your friends, people you will meet. At the end, he talked about how some of us were being called to make the decision of surrendering to ministry. I felt God talking again. He let the invitation be for anyone making any type of decision. For salvation, recommitment, surrendering your life to ministry, deciding to be a better spouse in your marriage, etc. I knew that I had to make it public last night! I was torn because NO ONE in my family was there. I had almost convinced myself to wait til Sunday when they'd all be there and as soon as I did, Bro. Steve said "some of you are trying to convince yourself to wait til next week or whenever!" OK!!! I HEAR YOU!!! :) haha. So, I went forward, talked to Bro. Jerry then Bro. Eddie. Bro. Eddie said he was not surprised at all! But he made me tell the church and make it public. I did that and everyone greeted me afterwards. It was such clarification that EVERYONE'S reaction was that they were not surprised!!! haha. :) I did it. Now, I'm gonna be held accountable. Now, people will pray for me on the where/what/when. I have no idea what's next!! But, I know God will tell me when He's ready for me. :) I told Gareth and Mom that God did all but send the burning bush to tell me that's what I needed to do! Here am I, Lord! Send me!!!

21.3.10

I am being a 21.3.10 Warrior for precious little Jessie. She has down syndrome and is in an orphanage across the world. She's there with no one to love her or take care of her!!! This month I am sponsoring her and praying for her and asking YOU to donate $21 to her adoption fund!! A family will be more likely to adopt ...her if she has money already in her fund! So, please consider sacrificing $21 for sweet little Jessie. And maybe just maybe you would pray about her belonging to your family!!! :) Just go to my chip on the side and donate to sweet Jessie!!! :)

Jessie is darling!!! Brown hair and brown eyes, and totally healthy. Perfect age to benefit from early intervention, and to join her new family! 

Every year, on March 21 (to honor the 3rd copy of the 21st chromosome presented in Down syndrome), the world comes together to raise awareness and advocate for people living with Down syndrome. Because Reece's Rainbow has an international focus, we are doing our part to further the recognition of this very special day!

Donate to Jessie!!!! :)

Hearing God's Voice

Ok, so this past weekend at Outback, they talked over and over about how important it is to be in relationship with God. That the more we conversate with Him and read His Word, the more we will know His voice. I prayed that I would know God's voice. That is so important because in the Garden of Eden there were 2 trees... One tree of Life and the other which was the Tree of Knowledge of GOOD and evil... Not just evil. This is dangerous because a lot of times in our life we choose what is good. Just because it is good. The tree was not called the Tree of Evil. So, it is super important to know God's voice so that we know what tree is the Tree of Life. (Just for the record, I didn't come up with that on my own, although I'd like to take credit. Another Outback story) God has proven that to me this week... Ask and you will receive, right? Right. So, I've began to hear Him. And what I've heard Him say is that maybe I'm not supposed to do Souled Out! What?! Are you serious?! I have to do Souled Out?!?!?! But as much as I argued, ignored, insisted on me thinking that was Him and it not being, the feeling of His voice continued and intensified. Ok, I asked God to hear His voice and He spoke. Now I have to obey!! I asked for it, right? Yea, I did. But that is not what I had in mind for Him to say!!!
So, I've been wondering, praying, and thinking about what I am supposed to do instead! Maybe stay home, go somewhere else, what? I have no clue. And Souled Out is kinda like Nicaragua. I didn't pray about it... I just said I was going. I didn't ask to make sure that was God's will for me. I didn't ask Him if that is where He wants me. Maybe He is just making me step back and pray about it. Pray and make sure that is what He wants me to do. Maybe it is. I kinda hope it is. BUT, I know if it's not then there is something better and bigger for me to be a part of. It may not seem better and bigger to me, but I am sure it is to the Kingdom. So, I've learned my lesson on asking and receiving!! I don't want to battle with God. I want to hear Him and obey. No questions asked. But it is a difficult thing to do!! Like in my last post, I want to stay out of His way. I have to die to myself so that He may live through me.

Oh, How He loves us so!

I've been wanting to blog lately but haven't felt like I've had too much to say. I know one thing, though. This weekend I really felt the love of God. This weekend I went to Outback University in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My friends Gareth and Seth invited me to go. I am SO SO glad that they did!!! I had a blast! It was the most amazing weekend. So different than anything I've ever been through. It was an outdoors event (yes, it was pretty chilly!). I was lucky and blessed enough to get to sleep indoors, however most campers and staff slept in tents! This weekend consisted of strong and deep teachings. Not the everyday talks that you hear at church or camps. They were really "real life" talks. How to live your life day to day with God as your focus. These people that spoke were true vessels of God and allowed Him to use them. It was powerful. They "preached" almost all weekend. But it was NOT the type of "preaching" that you dread. I was looking forward to more!! They talked while we ate, before breakfast, into the late night hours... And then talked some more. I had to chance to meet yet more friends from other places! I love that. It was super refreshing for me to see true Godly men. Not just christian men...But men who ask their buddies what the Lord revealed to them this week or how the Lord has been working in their lives. There were few "sports" conversations... or girl conversations... They were deep, meaningful, and concerning conversations between friends. But anyway.....






If you remember from the previous post (and if  you don't just read it!) I was a little down about being single! This weekend the Lord spoke through the speakers and showed me that God is in LOVE with me. That no earthly love will fill that void! If I don't let God fill it, I will never be satisfied! I was feeling lonely and looking for Earthly love to fill it. It ain't gonna happen!! They used the phrase over and over that if we will focus on our vertical relationship (ours with God) then our love will overflow to our horizontal relationships (ours with others on Earth). I HAVE to focus on my relationship with God!! Have to! It's a must!!! And I'm in constant battle with myself to stay out of the way!! To do things for God's glory and not my own! I feel like I've been saying " I, I, I, I" Well, I guess I have!! But it is how the Lord touched me this weekend!!!!!!!!! Although, He worked in so many lives in SO many different ways!! That is just how big our God is! :) Ok, there is SO much more I could share but I'm pretty sure you are getting tired of reading! I am getting a little tired of typing! :)