My parents got me a gift card for Christmas. Here's some more info about it
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DEC 15, 2009
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Saturday, December 26, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Brown Bag #6
Brown Bag #5
Dear AIMers,
It’s with a heart weighing about 100 tons that I write to you… when else but in the middle of the night. My world feels like it’s crumbling around me and my heart feels as though it could just shatter at the slightest breeze.
This brown bag is not going to be like the other ones I have written. Parts of it may be funny or have slightly esoteric vocabulary in it… But it’s not intended to be comical. Because as I write to you my world is being turned upside down, inside out, and any other way you can spin it.
Since you are going to find out your teams soon I’m going to share with you some really amazing God-centered, intimate moments I’ve had with my team. Just know… if you don’t get to go with the people you chose, or don’t get to go to your top field, it’ll be ok… Shucks, I’ve gotten 2 new teammates since teams were formed a year ago. I’ll tell you all about what a teammate is… but let me back up for a minute and give you some context about my world shifting heart obliterating excruciating pain.
I want to tell you about an incredible woman. Her name is Jennifer Mazo. She and her husband Mike were my youth ministers when I was in the youth group. Jennifer is 33 years old and as of 2:54am (mountain standard time), is lying in the ICU in ST. Joseph’s hospital in California… in a drug induced coma, waiting to go home to be with Jesus. About a month ago, Jennifer was diagnosed with stage 4 non-hotchkins lymphoma… Basically, all those big words mean she had cancer in her lymph nodes, and it’s really bad. Jennifer knew several months ago that something was wrong. But, she and Mike were in the process of adopting a baby girl, Maggie. Jennifer knew that if she started the process of treatments and testing, that it would interrupt the finalization of the adoption of Maggie… so Jennifer let it go until right after the adoption was finalized. Jennifer then went into surgery and had a…ready for this? BASKETBALL sized tumor removed from her abdomen. Since then, Jen’s condition has been rapidly declining. Which leads me to the last 48 hours; yesterday morning, Jennifer was put on a breathing machine because she was having trouble breathing… and last night her body went into shock causing her liver and kidneys to fail… and now here I am… in the middle of the night… waiting for someone to call and tell me she’s gone home to be with Jesus.
I don’t understand God’s plan most days. I especially don’t understand why He has decided that it’s time for one of my best friends and mentors to leave this earth. Something else I didn’t fully understand until now was why God put me on the team I’m on. My team has been praying fervently with me for Jen. Tonight, when I told them that Jennifer’s time left on this earth is very short, they came to my aid and held me, and let me be a blubbering mess. They prayed with me and cried with me and let me get angry and yell. This team has been through a whole lot and will probably go through a whole lot more before our time is up. But I am so thankful for them. I have no strength. I’m broken and hurting and sadder than I’ve been in what seems like forever. Let me just give you a little bitty list on what I think a good team is. (Kris and Pat, I’m wrapping this up soon, I promise!!)
Ok. #1. A teammate is a person who drives you crazy… but can also make you laugh harder than anyone
#2. A teammate lets you cry so hard you get snot all over their jeans and they don’t care
#3. A teammate is someone who senses your needs and fills them in a way that only Jesus can.
#4. A teammate is someone who goes to IHop with you in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep and you’re really sad.
#5. A teammate is someone who lays their hands on you and prays when you’re lying in the middle of your floor because you’re crying so hard you don’t have the strength to stand.
#6. A teammate is put in place by God and it may take you nearly 7 months to figure out why you like them… but you wouldn’t trade them for all the tea in China.
Teams require humility, and compromise. We have fought a lot on this team… because oddly enough… teams are made of people and people sometimes disappoint us. Please, dear friends, I implore you to give it a shot. No matter how unlikely your match up may seem… or how perfect… God’s hand is in it, and He won’t let you go through this alone. It’s in moments like these that I’m not sure how I would survive without these people.
Dear AIMers,
It’s with a heart weighing about 100 tons that I write to you… when else but in the middle of the night. My world feels like it’s crumbling around me and my heart feels as though it could just shatter at the slightest breeze.
This brown bag is not going to be like the other ones I have written. Parts of it may be funny or have slightly esoteric vocabulary in it… But it’s not intended to be comical. Because as I write to you my world is being turned upside down, inside out, and any other way you can spin it.
Since you are going to find out your teams soon I’m going to share with you some really amazing God-centered, intimate moments I’ve had with my team. Just know… if you don’t get to go with the people you chose, or don’t get to go to your top field, it’ll be ok… Shucks, I’ve gotten 2 new teammates since teams were formed a year ago. I’ll tell you all about what a teammate is… but let me back up for a minute and give you some context about my world shifting heart obliterating excruciating pain.
I want to tell you about an incredible woman. Her name is Jennifer Mazo. She and her husband Mike were my youth ministers when I was in the youth group. Jennifer is 33 years old and as of 2:54am (mountain standard time), is lying in the ICU in ST. Joseph’s hospital in California… in a drug induced coma, waiting to go home to be with Jesus. About a month ago, Jennifer was diagnosed with stage 4 non-hotchkins lymphoma… Basically, all those big words mean she had cancer in her lymph nodes, and it’s really bad. Jennifer knew several months ago that something was wrong. But, she and Mike were in the process of adopting a baby girl, Maggie. Jennifer knew that if she started the process of treatments and testing, that it would interrupt the finalization of the adoption of Maggie… so Jennifer let it go until right after the adoption was finalized. Jennifer then went into surgery and had a…ready for this? BASKETBALL sized tumor removed from her abdomen. Since then, Jen’s condition has been rapidly declining. Which leads me to the last 48 hours; yesterday morning, Jennifer was put on a breathing machine because she was having trouble breathing… and last night her body went into shock causing her liver and kidneys to fail… and now here I am… in the middle of the night… waiting for someone to call and tell me she’s gone home to be with Jesus.
I don’t understand God’s plan most days. I especially don’t understand why He has decided that it’s time for one of my best friends and mentors to leave this earth. Something else I didn’t fully understand until now was why God put me on the team I’m on. My team has been praying fervently with me for Jen. Tonight, when I told them that Jennifer’s time left on this earth is very short, they came to my aid and held me, and let me be a blubbering mess. They prayed with me and cried with me and let me get angry and yell. This team has been through a whole lot and will probably go through a whole lot more before our time is up. But I am so thankful for them. I have no strength. I’m broken and hurting and sadder than I’ve been in what seems like forever. Let me just give you a little bitty list on what I think a good team is. (Kris and Pat, I’m wrapping this up soon, I promise!!)
Ok. #1. A teammate is a person who drives you crazy… but can also make you laugh harder than anyone
#2. A teammate lets you cry so hard you get snot all over their jeans and they don’t care
#3. A teammate is someone who senses your needs and fills them in a way that only Jesus can.
#4. A teammate is someone who goes to IHop with you in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep and you’re really sad.
#5. A teammate is someone who lays their hands on you and prays when you’re lying in the middle of your floor because you’re crying so hard you don’t have the strength to stand.
#6. A teammate is put in place by God and it may take you nearly 7 months to figure out why you like them… but you wouldn’t trade them for all the tea in China.
Teams require humility, and compromise. We have fought a lot on this team… because oddly enough… teams are made of people and people sometimes disappoint us. Please, dear friends, I implore you to give it a shot. No matter how unlikely your match up may seem… or how perfect… God’s hand is in it, and He won’t let you go through this alone. It’s in moments like these that I’m not sure how I would survive without these people.
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