Honesty is the best policy :)

Dishonesty and bending the truth seem to be a persistent theme in today's society. Seemingly, everywhere you turn awaits one who, without batting an eye, is willing to verbalize a statement that is entirely false, having every intention of you believing it.

I heard of a book called The Day America Told the Truth, this book reports that 91 percent of Americans lie on a regular basis. It goes on to say "The majority of us find it hard to go through a week without lying,". "And one in five cannot make it through a single day without lying." Apparently, we are a lying culture. The problem is that you cannot merely lie once a day and consider your life righteous and pure. You see the Bible encompasses the idea that you can not compartmentalize integrity. If you jeopardize your commitment to integrity in one area of your life the ramifications will desecrate the whole of who you are.

And, I'm not okay that.

Or with mediocre social standards.

I want to be the point of difference. I want others, when they consider me and my friendship, to be able to freely say that I am a person of integrity and honesty. I believe that no matter how arduous the truth is, it is always less piercing then a lie.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
- George Washington

To be trusted is a greater complement than to be loved.
- George MacDonald

“Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty.”
Psalm 32:2, NLT

A good marriage is not one

in which perfection reigns;

it is a relationship in which

a healthy perspective overlooks

a multitude of unresolvables.

"In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Sometimes you just need a refreshing verse! Yes we are GUARENTEED to have trials and tribulations. "Signing up" for Christianity does not take away these painful obstacles. But what Christians are able to find amidst the chaos is the unexplainable joy and peace that the Lord is going to protect us and shield us.

Choose Joy!

Love,
T&D

Friday, 2.26.2010.

This morning I was reading these verses and they were so encouraging to me. My heart desires to follow these in complete obedience:

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them in all together in perfect unity." ~ Colossians 3:13-14 (NIV)

While reading an online devotional by Margaret Mitchell I was shocked at how much it paralled what I was learning yesterday and how much it applied to this season of my life. Check out a few blurbs from it:

"But if we commit ourselves to remaining in our divinely-assigned role, moving forward in God's purposes, we will witness Him break obstacles and make a way to unity (God's finest), which can involve changing people's hearts and attitudes, promoting people or reassigning those who, by their free will choice, are not willing to cooperate.

Therefore, unity is often a process. And in this process, God forges us, our co-workers, our leaders and our organizations often through the heat of pressure. The reason He has us in this vice is because He's trying to teach us, purify us and position us for promotion. But are we willing to be teachable? Are we willing to die to the limitation of selfishness?
"

I love it! Be teachable, choose to forgive, and stive for unity!

Love,
me

Servant

If you've been around me the last week you might have heard me jokingly complain about how I do all the dirty work for my job. I bleach the refrigerator, I wash the dishes, I pick up after people and deliever all their needs. And yes at some points I do have a poor attitude while doing it. Sometimes I even wonder "who goes to college to be a receptionist and clean up after everyone?"

But then the Lord quickly convicted me that I need to be grateful that I even have a job. Yes it's cliche, but times are tough and I am blessed to be working and compensated fairly decent. Do I wish it was challenging, let me be creative, and not sit at a desk all day? Well of Course! :)But I need to be joyful and thankful regardless. While I was soaking all of this in I was reminded of this verse:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31

Ultimately it doesn't matter if I'm washing dishes or if I'm a CEO in corporate America, my attitude should be that as if I am doing it unto the Lord, because I am. My devotional today in My Utmost for His Highest, was also about the value of being a servant. Think the Lord is trying to teach me something? You bet! Check this blurb out from my reading...

"The ecclesiastical idea of a servant of God is not Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of other men. He says that in His Kingdom he that is greatest shall be the servant of all. The real test of the saint is not preaching the gospel, but washing disciples' feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate of men but count everything in the estimate of God." (Feb. 25, 2010)

So thats my new life challenge, to willingly serve others expecting nothing in return... no matter how small (as maybe a smile or thank you) or how big the return.

I challenge you to serve today too! See if you're not blessed as you bless others!

Love ya'll!
T&D

The latest...

So here we are in Houston, TX... still settling down from all of our crazy adventures. Travis landed a job as an operator for ITC. Today is his third day and he has done nothing but rave about his company and his job. That thrills me more than you could imagine! It's not very common for someone to actually enjoy their profession AND company. As for me, I'm a temp. receptionist in downtown Houston, and I just got accepted into the Texas Teachers Certification program. My classes begin in March, Lord willing if I pass all my exams I will be able to work as a full-time teacher! I'm not positive, but I think I'm going to get certified to teach Special Education. I have a big heart for those children :) I am very excited about this... I would love to end my day of work feeling as if I have actually accomplished something. As if my hours spent away from home were used to impact someones life... that would be wonderful! So please pray for me, that I can pass all these state tests!

So why haven't I blogged in a while? Well, life gets a bit harder after college. You can try and anticipate how different it will be, but you don't really know until it comes and smacks you right in the face. As much as I loved going to Liberty University, I don't think it sets you up for real life very well. In that I mean, while you are there attending school you have church Sunday morning & night, convocation 3x a week, and church Wednesday night. As most of you know, this is not a "boring church service that makes you fall asleep", it is amazing! They have the most amazing bands, and world renowned speakers flown in to talk to the student body. What I always said was, you cannot attend Liberty, and not be moved as a person. To me, it is impossible to go to LU and not grow spiritually and desire a deeper relationship with the Lord. So for four years of your life you are almost in this "spiriutal bubble". This place where all of your best friends are, those people who are there to encourage you and speak Biblical truth to you.

But, what happens after thsoe four years are gone?

Well for me it meant marrying my best friend and moving far away (6 times) from everything I'm used to. The only person I truly had/and still have is Travis. So for me, if something goes wrong with us... then it's as if my whole world has crashed before me. Of course it hasn't, because my Lord will never leave me or forsake me. But sometimes you need that tangible and physical person to love on and be loved from. Well the past month has brought some battles into Travis and my marriage that I never thought we would have to face... I have truly been learning what it is like to depend only on the Lord. I have nothing else to sustain me, encourage me, or make me joyful. What's more difficult, is I don't have the plethora of church services to attend like I did at LU. We haven't found a church home here in Houston yet, but trust me... I'm on the lookout!

I have undoubtedly realized the importance of maintaining my relationship with the Lord. I can no longer be spoon fed my spirituality and wisdom from God. I must daily seek it out. And most days it is a challenege. Being gone 12 hours a day at work doesn't leave much time for anything. But this is where the real test of life comes in. How will I balance all that is beckoning my attention, and in where will my priorites truly lie? It's all up to me and it's a challenge I'm willing to take. Because to me, I have nothing to lose. I want to be a strong woman of God and I desperately want Travis' and my relationship to be revolutionized. I no longer want to be mediocre or allow sin to seep in. I want to honor purity and privacy in our marriage always. Above all, I want to be able to say that I did my part, I sought the Lord daily and stayed true to my convictions.

We greatly appreciate your prayers!
Love & Miss ya'll!
T&D

Writing again...

So I guess it's time to crawl out of my hole and start writing again.

(Although it isn't entirely my fault for not writing, our wonderful computers hard drive crashed again, losing all my pictures, documents, etc. Therefore, she was at the store getting fixed for a while too.)

So, most of you probably know that we are back in the states now... safe & sound. We are so grateful for being able to come back with no obstacles hindering our departure. I tell you what, nothing makes me more grateful to be back in our homeland than hearing about the devastation Haiti has just experienced. I can't imagine still living in the DR and dealing with that fear & havoc.

So here's a quick synopsis of what we've been doing:

we went straight to NY from the DR and we had a wonderful time up in the snowy north with my family & friends. There's nothing like spending the holidays cuddled up in a blanket next to a fireplace, listening to Christmas tunes and watching the snow fall. It really is magical :) We first intended to stay there, if we had means of working and paying our bills. However, we got overwhelmed with discouragement and decided to come to Texas where we thought the chance of landing a job was greater. So we made the trip by car from NY to Texas. Ironically, we did that road trip exactly a year ago right after we got married. I really hope this doesn't turn into an annual tradition! haha Luckily we got to see some family along the way and that made the trip even better.

We spent New Years Eve (and our One Year Anniversary) in Kansas City, MO with some of my family. Unfortunately we both got the flu and ended up going to bed at 9pm that night. Not quite the way I thought my first married anniversary would go... but I was just glad to be with him. Actually, now that I think about it... we still need to celebrate our anniversary :)

So here we are back in Texas.

Travis' parents have been so wonderful to us and offered us to live with them until we get our feet on the ground. What a blessing that has been for us! Our time right now is being spent by countless hours on the computer for job searching & networking, and of course playing scrabble and farkle.

Travis and I are just trying to survive at this point. Yes it may seem dramatic, but we have encountered a lot of trials in only one year of marriage. Our first four months of marriage Travis worked 7 days a week on nights so we never saw each other, we've already moved 5 times (once internationally), I've had two different jobs in the last year, we established our own tourism company in a third world country (and you know all the obstacles that came along with that), and now its as if we are right back where we started. We have nothing to show for it, and that sometimes gets the best of us.

While our friends are starting to buy their first homes & all their fancy furniture & climbing the ladder at their jobs we are living with our parents and both unemployed. Trust me, we still have it wonderful but these are just the thoughts that Satan tries filling our minds with... that we are failures and will never amount to anything, that we have silly dreams and are immature. But, at the end of the day we must remind ourselves that we truly desired to take the risk that we did. I firmly believe that we would have always regretted it if we didn't try... so now we must recover from our risk. I believe the Lord has something really neat in store for us, it's just the patience that might kill us in the mean time :)

So, please pray for direction for us. For the peace of God to rule in our lives and to not be anxious about what we should do. Above all, I just want to use these experiences to help others and offer encouragement in some way.

Love & Miss ya'll!
D

ps- the picture is of Deer Park, Texas