it is well...

things have gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better... i think i am over the initial culture shock of being in this huge jungle..

cuz thats what it is...its a JUNGLE

and sometimes i feel like im on a safari...wandering through the foliage, admiring all of the exotic animals.

all of the people here are so different, so fascinating. by day, they seem to be to be these hippie-like, long skirt wearing, flowy haired girls. BUT by night, it's skinny jeans, wedge shoes or heels, and trendy tops. guys wear skin tight jeans, metro clothing. i have also seen the punks, the skateboarders, the goths. you name it. there are mullets, which are HUGE here, mohawks, facial piercings, and what not.

its a jungle full of interesting exotic species from around the world

today was really good for me. my time in the word this morning was so enriching, so conviting, so needed. sometimes i forget how thirsty i really am, but when you get a thirst-quencher, you realize how dehydrated you are.

i think i am really into similes today :)

or maybe you call them metaphors. yeaa, i think its metaphors.

ANYWAY...as i was saying...

The Lord is just SO good. He really does speak truth when you need it... WHY do we run around like chickens with our heads cut off?? without direction, trying to live on our own. it's crazy! i need to be reminded all the time of how much I truly need Him.

Galatians 1 has a WHOLE new meaning to me

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1: 6-10

it's really kind of interesting that this passage just really happened to stick out to me today

because, if we are being honest, i usually breeze over or simply skim read the first chapter of the New Testament letters. I tell myself, "O this is just like all the other chapter ones...paul is just introducing who he is writing to and why. It's not important."

yep, that's how it goes. and i usually skip ahead and really get into it in chapter 2, because I convince myself that its in chapter 2 that the "meat" of the letter begins...

well, today I was Biblegateway.com-ing during my quiet time. I typed in "confusion" into the key word section, because I seem to be experiencing quite alot of that this summer. It was a logical keyword choice.
So I'm reading through all of the entries until I stumbled until I stumbled upon verse 7 of Galatians 1 (the NIV version uses confusion in the verse)
Intrigued, I pull out my own bible and look it up. i read the verses ahead and after for contextual purposes. and verses 6-10 just hit hard. and i read them again. and again. and again.

And i realized how often I run to other gospels. ALL THE TIME. Idolatry is HUGE, and so easy to fall into without even realizing it. Relationships, emotions, ice cream, you name it.

but really it wasnt even that. it was verse 10.

and i realized that I am so bad about being a people pleaser sometimes. but not even necessarily with how i relate to them, but rather what i do to make myself accepted in the eyes of men. like the way i dress, which is HUGE here. because i feel like im either at one extreme end of the spectrum or another....i either look 12 or i look 30. i dont dress like most of the other girls, american or spanish. i dont act like them. i dont wear a bathing suit at the beach like they do (or dont do even), and if i do decide to, its going to be a one piece with boardshorts. and i just keep thinking how embarrassing that is going to be, because i already get the stares and looks from some people, like im being judged.

but, IT DOESNT MATTER. i was just taken aback by how those thoughts just reflect some sick desire of mine to be approved by man. because i dont need the approval of the lost. they are of this world, and i am not.

and i need to act like im not. in everything. i need to be modest, when no one around me is. to honor the lord. to honor my body. to honor my future husband.

and its not even in dressing. its in everything. its in friendships. its in my relationship with brian. everything.

i cannot try to please people all the time. i need to be serving. i need to be a servant of Christ.

it was just a reeally humbling morning in the Word. and i dont even know if I make sense here typing this. i think im leaving out and butchering alot of my thoughts...

so the morning was good.

and the evening was AWKWARD. :)

we totally went to a mexican restaurant, where i was BLATANTLY hit on by the waiter. You might be thinking that it's only in my mind.

it wasnt.

it was so blatant that he brought my pinapple to me cut in the shape of a heart.

elizabeths was cut into tiny pieces for her salad.

i got a heart and a smile.

and then had to be there for another entire hour to eat.

i ALWAYS get hit on by Mexican boys! yes, I sometimes am tan. yes, i can speak spanish. i guess that makes me a magnet for mexicans.

not that i have anything against them! wow i think im digging a hole and starting to sound racist.

im not. trust me. i LOVE hispanic people. DUH! im a spanish major...

it was just an awkward experience....