A bride-to-be...

This has been a very happy morning.  There is a blanket of white outside and I'm surrounded by people I love while we celebrate the greatest love of all - God sending His own son. I was thinking about these things while I was getting ready after sharing gifts with my family.

It is the best love story.

Since the beginning, He has loved His creation and He has courted His love - wooing her through the ages, though at times she has been blind and deaf and cold.  He has pursued her relentlessly, knowing that Forever together eclipsed all that it would cost Him.

On Christmas, we celebrate the day He got on one knee and proposed to humanity. We are His bride, and He sent His son as the ultimate declaration of love - His invitation to a Forever together.

With a proposal this good, can you imagine the wedding He has prepared for us?

May you all have a safe, joyous holiday with loved ones and be filled with all the warmth and assurance that comes from knowing He loves us.  Merry Christmas!

-Amanda

It couldn't come soon enough...

Home for Christmas.

Ribboned smoke from bright fireplaces
The spicy breath of gingerbread faces
Pine trees adorned in candy garlands-
A Christmas at home is calling.

I drive with snow and peppermint
The miles pass with each remembered scent
Until the warm sight of home is found-
The sweet fragrance of family all around.

-af dec 2009

Proof:

I'd rather be writing anything but my internship paper...

I wrote and entered this in a challenge called "Relishing Vegetables" this afternoon -

pomme de terre,
fruit of working-class sustenance -
apple of the earth

...it's about potatoes...

sigh.

Coming of Age

i am no longer a child -
i reach for volatile innocence
but clock hands hold me back
reminders of what's wasting

i am waiting -
as the unknown sky darkens overhead
the whispers of my child heart say patience
sunshine's just in her dressing room

i am not afraid -
held fast in joy and peace i journey
through hymn drenched mourning to
Love's sweet promise

af - december2009

A Prayer Request!

Hello, hello my friends and loved ones!

I just wanted to update you on a few things....
First - there are a few teams going to Tokyo this winter break, the first of which is already there I think.  A Chi Alpha team from Alabama is there doing ministry at different universities as well as participating in XA Japan's Christmas festivities so please keep their ministry in prayer as well as the team's health and travel as they serve the Lord!

Second, I know a team of six from Kansas City's International House of Prayer will be heading to Tokyo in seven days! The team is lead by my good friend and summer Tokyo cohort Robert Monson.  He's been sick on and off for the past few months so please keep him in your prayers as they prepare to go! Also, keep financial blessing, safe travel and effective ministry opportunities in mind as you pray for this team. 

I know God is going to use these missions teams and missionaries Joyce, Susan, Yuri and April to reach Japanese students during this holiday season and I can't wait to hear how He changed lives through them!

I am also still praying and seeking out the path God has laid before me.  It has been a stressful semester, but God has confirmed more and more in my life the passion for helping my friends come to the full understanding of His love, especially the international students in my life!  I'd appreciate it if you could remember me as well in your prayers, for clear direction and unwavering determination to follow His will for me!

Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Some random haiku....

elated embrace

horizon and sun collide

scattering shadows

------------------------

now you own the key -

a private garden, solely

ours, esoteric

---------------------------

abiding serene
a quiet night's lullaby
crickets sing and sigh

-af 2009

Until...