Snow-Days and Visits

The other day, we had such a big snowfall here in Chicago that my work decided to let us leave an hour earlier :)  I was so excited to have a snow-day and enjoy an extra hour at home at relaxing.  Little did I know that my usual 8-minute drive home would take an hour and fifteen minutes.  At least the snow beautified the bare, naked trees outside.

Later that week, one of Tim's childhood friends-Shannon came to visit us for the weekend.  It was great to meet Shannon and laugh at all the childhood memories the guys created when they were younger.  Aside from the fun times we had going out to eat, watching home videos, and taking pictures, the best part of the trip was definitely our conversations about God.  What a rich time it is when we share openly about God, and try to understand Him better; there is so much to discuss and never enough time, but we were all deeply blessed after those great conversations.    

Here are some pictures from Shannon's visit:

That night, after I went to sleep, the guys stayed up until 2:00A taking cool shots outside and then some more inside.  

Winter Waltz

Almost two weeks ago Trinity held a Winter Waltz for graduate students.  Of course we couldn't pass the opportunity to dress up, unwind from school/work and enjoy a nice evening, so we were there!  We had professionals come in and teach us the steps to several dances, it was so much fun :) Here are some pictures of our fun night.

Look at that studly man!

With my friend Laura Gates

 Tim's look-alike at the party.  

Our friends Laura and Benoit.

joy joy joy  

With Hannah, one of the undergraduate girls I mentored last semester. 

Planting a Seed

Sorry if you have already heard about this, but I wanted to share something really cool that happened last week; I just get so excited thinking about it!! :)
Last week my boss assigned me a huge project where I had to pull a certain document out of folders for 800+ employees and make copies.  I was not very excited to embark on this project since I was busy enough with my own responsibilities, but it's not like I had a choice to to tell my boss no.  Anyways, on Tuesday a co-worker and I worked on the bottom floor searching through tons of boxes for this particular file.  During our time together we had the opportunity to get to know each other better--we talked about our families, job situation and motherhood.  I'd learned from her that her son went to a Catholic school, so I decided to ask her if her son learned about God in school and if he ever asked her about God.  From there I asked her what she thought about God, she replied that she kind of believed in God, but many things did not make sense to her, such as human origins and God allowing suffering. I tried to explain the consequences of sin, how God is not to be blamed for the evil things we do, and how we live in a broken world.  Nothing much came out of that conversation, we just kept working and talked about other things.
But I just felt like I had to keep asking and probing, I couldn't waste this opportunity, so I asked her the following question: "what do you think happens when we die?" That hit the spot for her! She shared about being afraid/paranoid of death and having panic attacks when thinking about not existing and not seeing her family anymore.  That's when I was like, "Wow, Holy Spirit this is our opportunity, work through me cause I can't do this on my own..."I shared with her how and why I don't fear death, but actually look forward to it.  I told her about my hope in Jesus Christ and desiring to be with Him one day.  Then I went on and on sharing about sin, Jesus, our need for a savior, how to be saved, the death and resurrection, the transforming power of the Gospel exemplified in the lives of Peter and Paul.  I kept going, sharing about grace and of how grateful I was for Jesus's sacrifice, and how much the Father loved us to send His son to die for our sins.  In sum, I shared the Gospel with her, and it felt amazing! She was very open to what I had to say, and very attentive.
I drove home that day with so much joy in my heart that I couldn't stop smiling and praising God in my car.  I was just so happy to work for God's kingdom and to do something that counts for eternity.  With the Holy Spirit's enablement I planted a seed, and even though I don't know if I will be the one to water it, I trust in the One who will make it grow, I know that He's at work.  
The next day while we were continuing the project, my co-worker told me that she had spoken with her husband about our conversation, and how she felt good after we'd talked.  She said that she had never heard some of the things I'd shared with her.  I proceeded to share more about having a personal relationship with God, and being in communication with Him through reading His word and prayer.  Next thing I know, she was downloading a Bible app on her phone :) Praise God! I know that the Spirit is working in her heart.  This project was not a coincidence, but happened for a great purpose in which God is being glorified.
I thank the Lord for giving me the courage and boldness to share the good news.  It's always so hard to talk about God at work, but I couldn't resist the Spirit's prompting on this occasion, and I am so glad that I didn't resist Him!
Please be praying for my co-worker and for me.  I'm in the process of buying her a Bible (she doesn't know about it because I want to give it to her as gift), and I want to highlight passages for her.  Tim is encouraging me to sit down with her, and show her in the Bible all the things I spoke about so that she knows that these were not things I made up.  So anyways please be praying that God would give me opportunities, courage, boldness and wisdom.  Also that I would be sensitive to the Spirit's guidance and wait for His timing. Thank you! God is good :)

Now I leave you with another song I like.
Blessings :)

     

 Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  

Basketball & Sleeping Outside

Yesterday, we had our first real snowfall down here, and I was actually excited to see the pretty snow.  It's too bad that there are no mountain or hills to go sledding on, I do miss that from AK.  Oh well, the snow doesn't last very long, and besides the snow here makes for horrible traffic, it took Tim almost three hours to get to work; I'm thankful that my job is less than 10 minutes away.  Something else that's positive about my job and that I'm very thankful for is the raffle tickets for sports events.  This week they raffled 2 tickets for the Chicago Bulls game, and I won :) So after a long day of work for both us, we were able to enjoy a great night in downtown Chicago.  First, we stopped at Cemitas Puebla, a famous little Mexican restaurant with yummy sandwiches.

 

Then we spent the rest of our date night at the game, which we won 103 to 87 :) I must say that watching the games live is so much fun, and wayyy better than watching them on TV; I'm starting to become a basketball fan.

Because we won and scored more than a 100 points, everyone won a free BIG MAC, and of course Tim used his ticket right after the game :)  

Later that night we came back home, and I quickly fell asleep.  Then when I woke up husbandless at 4:00 AM, I looked outside and sure enough there he was, sleeping outside :) Our neighbors probably thought that I had kicked him out, haha.  But just to clarify, I didn't kick him out, he was testing his new sleeping bag for Denali.  

I, on the other hand, prefer to use his sleeping bag as a blanket.  It's so big and fluffy, and of course super warm! It also reminds me of those inflatables at Bouncing Bears ;) Tim will be testing his bag again this week since we're supposed to have an ice storm.  

Have a great Saturday everyone! I'll leave you with a song I'm learning for tomorrow's worship service.   Can you guess what hymn this is? you might recognize the lyrics, it just sounds a little different.  

Isaiah 28:16

So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation: the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

Family Fun

Two weeks ago my mother, sister and youngest brother came to visit us in Chicago.  What a great time we had playing board games, studying the Word together, watching movies, walking in downtown Chicago, waiting for 2013, playing whirly ball, shopping, baking banana bread, making crafts, and of course eating a whole lot of food.  

We were amazed that we were all able to fit in our small campus apartment, yeap that's right! one couch  + one air mattress = $0 spent on hotels :)

They arrived on Sunday evening from NY.  That same evening we drove through Winter in Wonderland, a park filled with lots of Christmas lights and ate at Panda Express.  Then on Monday Tim and I played Settler's of Catan with Rick and Hery while my mom surfed the web: Facebook :) Later that day we drove to downtown to wait for New Year's day in Navy Pier, we stopped at Giordano's for some of the famous deep dish pizza, which my mom thought was too cheesy.  Anyways, all bundled up we walked through downtown, stopping at Millennium park and the famous Chicago Bean.  After lots of walking in the cold, we made our way to Navy Pier and hung out until midnight.  Our neighbors, my siblings and Tim rode the ferris wheel while my mom and I stayed warm inside chatting.  We were little whimpertons as Tim would say.  

Pretty fireworks

Needless to say that after such a long night, we slept in the next day.  We started the year with a Bible study, and then had a late brunch.  That night Tim and I made dinner for my family with the assistance of Hery and Rinicol while my mom surfed the web: Facebook :) Then we played more board games. 

I had to work the rest of the week, so my family hung out with Tim while I was at work.  It was nice to come home to my mom's home cooking.  One day she surprised me at work with these beautiful flowers. 

and then when I came home for lunch, she surprised me with this lunch set-up in the hallway for a mom-daughter date <3

Aside from whirly ball the rest of the week was pretty low-key; we just hung out playing games or watching movies.  On Friday night my family picked me up from work and we went downtown to eat Puertorican food, yummy! 

Saturday was a sad day as we had to say goodbye to Rinicol, he had to get back to Virginia for school.  After saying goodbye, I took my mom and sister out for some therapy shopping to GoodWill and Discovery; we found lots of cute and cheap things :)   

On Sunday we took my mom and sister to our church CrossLife, there they were able to meet our pastor and some of our friends.  We spent the next few days hanging out and just relaxing; I was glad that my mom and Hery were able to unwind and relax during their stay with us.  

Hery and I made journals on Monday night and baked banana bread on Tuesday night.  

On Wednesday, while I was working and Tim was in class, Hery and my mom went for a walk around campus; they seemed to be amused by our neighbors: the squirrels.  

and then Thursday came too fast, and it was time to say goodbye again.  I miss them already, and hope they come back to visit soon.