Unusual escort

You might not have known, but Argentina really likes to take advantage of any reason for taking a day off of work. Like this Monday we have “Dia de la Bandera” (aka. Flag Day). Now, to be honest, I don’t really even know when Flag Day is in the United States. Anyways, that all is to say that this Monday was a national holiday and no businesses were open. So a few of us girls, Becky, Courtney, Sarah and I decided to get out of the city of a bit. We went to this place called Sierra de la Ventana; it’s about an 8 hr bus ride away. Of course, we waited til the last minute and got the plain old seats (normal bus seats) instead of the semi-bed ones. These are a killer. Didn’t really sleep the whole way. To me it seemed to be below zero in the bus (but we speaking in terms of Taylor…which may not mean that cold.)

We had told the bus driver that we needed to be dropped off at “Base Campamento” (a camping ground where we were staying) and the bus driver said, “No problem.” But before we knew it we had passed the place and ended up at the terminal. He promised, though, that he would get us there. And boy did he! Everyone else got off the bus, and the bus driver backed up as if to personally take it upon himself to get us there! (As you can imagine, we were laughing at this idea of a personal escort.) But little did we know that he was going to take us a few blocks to hand us off to the POLICE! Yes, the police. There was a police truck waiting for us and the bus driver told us to get off. The policemen threw our “packs” in the bed of the truck and we four girls squnched in the back. We were all thinking, “Are you kidding!” It was unbelievable! I thought to myself, “Only would things like this happen to us.”

So at 6:30 in the morning…bright and early in the morn…(although it was still dark outside)…we got in and had a casual convo with the two policemen listening to Robbie Williams play in the background. Talking about priceless moments. This was definitely one of those worthy for a Mastercard commercial!!!

The only sad thing is that we forgot to get a pic with them. No worries. Let’s just hope that my memory lasts long so that I can forever laugh about this one.

JOY to be grasped

Sometimes I don't understand why it is so hard for me to really embrace the JOY set before me. I am reminded of the passage of 1 Peter 1:8-9,
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I recognize my sin, confess it....but then I stay there. What does repentance really look like in the life of a believer? Someone really walking with the Lord? I mean I would consider myself walking daily with Him. I talk to him. I pray. Ask Him to help me in my weaknesses. And He does help me, but I do constantly find myself falling back into the same sin...and gosh, it is frustrating. I think my being conscious of this saps me of my JOY. I truly believe in 1 John 1:9 that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Moreover, I see that I stand before the throne of God blameless, righteous and purified from all filthiness and sin because of Christ's blood shed for me. I give thanks that by the blood of Jesus, I can "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). But I think that what I really struggle with is believing that....
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)
I pray that God would restore to me the JOY of my salvation daily as I fall before His throne knowing that I cannot and refuse to live this Christian life by my own strength. It is the divine power of the Holy Spirit in me that will give me all that I need for "life and godliness" and HOW I desire to please Him and let off the oh so pleasing aroma of Christ...as I am being transformed daily.

It's been since November

Okay, so really, I have no time at all to do this blog...I have been writing all day on my prayer letter...so my friends the creative juices have all run out. I'm juice-less. Nothing to give tonight. I'm not sure how much I'll have to give here in the next couple of months. It just depends on how often I have the "ganas" to write. We'll just see.

I was just reading my fellow members blogs and thought...gosh, I should get back to it...but I am thinking about changing the name of my blog. Not like it's a bad name or anything. I mean "Argentine Praises" is nice. I picked it because of the double A kind of rhyming thing...you know. But I like my other friends' blog names better...like Meekers "Cerebral Profusion", or Courtney's "The Inner Workings...", or Kelly's "Short Spats, or Mel's "Filled to the Measure", or Jason's "An Ode to Existence", or Becky's "Flighty Thoughts". Basically, mine is boring. I will see what I can do to change it.