"When I forget my name, remind me."

Marriage. Covenant keeping. Forgiveness. Grace. Mercy.

This past week I have watching John Piper's sermon series on marriage (Marriage, Christ, and Covenant: One Flesh for the Glory of God). Why?...the question should be: Why not? Even though I am single and probably won't get married for a couple of years, I still need to get a grasp on what the Bible says about marriage. My church and youth group did have messages about it, but I still needed something more. I lacked the connection between covenant keeping and marriage. How is it displayed for God's glory? What does it mean to be "naked and not ashamed"? What is a "bridegroom"?

I have so much to post and I'm only on the fourth sermon, but I have decided to hold off on posting. When the time is right.

In the meantime, I have become hooked on a song. Donald Miller did a review for Andrew Peterson's newest album, Counting Stars, on his blog. He also posted Andrew's music video for one of his songs off the album, Dancing In the Minefields....amazing. For me, this has been the theme song while I have been going through John Piper's series.

You just have to check it out for yourself.

"When I forget my name, remind me.

For we bear the light of the Son of Man...so there's nothing left to fear."

The Dry Land

For the past couple, I should say a lot, of years people have always ask me if I knew I looked like America Ferrera. Yes, I know. Only America lost a healthy amount of weight and she is now more beautiful than ever. I became a fan of America's acting in one of her first movies, Real Women Have Curves, which she won numerous awards for (By the way, this movie is the story of my life...but that's for a different post). She then went on to do other small parts in other movies and then became the leading lady in the USA's version of Ugly Betty (which she does an amazing job as well). Her latest movie, Our Family Wedding, did not do too hot, according to the Rotten Tomatoe scale (I haven't seen it yet but eventually I will). Anyways, America has a new movie coming out, The Dry Land. Looking at the trailier and reading up on it, it lookes like America will shine through and redeem herself. Not only is the issue in the movie a current theme that is running through our nation, but it addresses some hard things that some of us are afraid to talk about. The movie comes out in select theaters on July 30th.

Here's the trailer.




Did I mention that I'm a fan of Wilmer Valderrama?

Change Your Mind

Just thought I would share what I have reading and thinking about...

I have been currently reading Mark Buchanan's book, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. Buchanan starts off his book by providing an explaination of our misunderstanding of the Sabbath and what "work" actually means to us. He then flows into the significance and meaning of the Sabbath by starting off with that it's the mindset of the Sabbath that affects it. He then continues on throughout the rest of the book how different aspects of the Sabbath is important with our walk with Christ. Buchanan follows up each chapter with a "practical application" challenging his readers to take action on their progressive on the sabbath.

This little part of his chapter, entitled A Beautiful Mind: Stopping to Think Anew, has been constantly running in my head:

"God is more interested in changing your thinking than in changing your circumstances. He wants you to have the same attitude as and the very mind of Jesus Christ (see Phil. 2:5-8). To pull that off is a miracle larger than splitting oceans or tossing mountains into them. It is akin to raising the dead. Yet this is the daily occupation of the Spirit—leading us into all truth, reminding us of the things Christ taught, taking the things of Christ and making them known to us again. And this is the one area above all where we are urged to keep in step with the Spirit—to move in the direction he’s moving so that, seeing differently, we are free to live differently (see Gal. 5:22-25).

All this touches on the art of Sabbath-keeping. What makes Sabbath time—whether a day or a year, an afternoon or a week, a month or a moment—different from all other time? Simple: a shift in our thinking, an altering of our attitudes.

First we change our minds. Before we keep a Sabbath day, we cultivate a Sabbath heart.
A Sabbath heart sanctifies time." (Mark Bucanan, The Rest of God, pg. 33)

From my earlier post about healing and continuing to grow, I have been continuing to seek out in my life what I need to do to continue on this path. I already read this chapter while I was in Ecuador, but something told me that I needed to go back and read it again. When I read it, a couple of days ago, it was like "lightbulb!". I knew it.

It's funny how you learned a lesson years earlier and then years later...you re-learn it. The second time you learn it, or more like "review", it cuts deeper.

Changing our minds. You know when you experience pain or try to lose weight, it's like they say: "it's all in the mind". In Matthew 22:37, Jesus commands us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." He did say "with all your acts" or "with all your degrees" or "with all your accomplishments". He stated: heart, soul and mind. The mind is a powerful thing. It can trick us. It can make us believe that we are feeling something that is not there. It can tell us lies about ourselves. We can trick our minds. We can change our minds. We can even get out of our minds. Think (no pun intended), why Jesus instructed our minds as well? He knows how powerful it was. He knows that from there it starts everything.

It wil be hard to start with our minds. It will take a big step to change some habits that affect our minds. We have to start with realizing that our need to change our minds. We have to evaulate what influences our minds and take away what's necessary or not. It will be hard. It take self-discipline. It will take time. It will take accountablity...but it can happen.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts ~Psalm 139:23

So let's change our minds.

Two Cents: "Don't Throw Your Pearls to the Swine"

I saw this article on The Chronicle of Higher Education website, and I couldn't help but blog about it. I figured my blog is the safest place to put my two cents about the topic. The article discussed about the popular trend of studying abroad and the question if it's really beneficial or not. The study abroad experience is still fighting the running reputation of it being a glorified holiday or just another spring break trip. While that may be the case for some programs, there are an incrediable amount of programs that are educational and provides the student a life changing experience along with cross-cultural skills in their profession.

The main issue that the article presented is many employers disregard the study abroad experience due to the student's lack of presenting the experience.

"Research done by Michigan State in 2008 seems to back up her view. That year the employment institute issued a report stating that study abroad did not substantially increase a student's chance of getting a job upon graduation. Because many students could not explain their international experiences in a compelling way, the report said, many employers did not highly value those experiences.

'Students have given very little thought to how their study abroad has shaped and prepared them for the world of work,' wrote Philip D. Gardner, director of the institute. "In other words, graduating seniors have flunked one of their most important exams—the hiring interview—because they were not prepared with appropriate examples of skills required from their international experiences.'" (Paragraphs 13 &14)

While in the resume writing or the interview process, some students are not talking up their experience abroad. They are not presenting how it changed them as a person but also contributed to their education and their future careers.

The article then continues on describing on some programs are now taking this issue into consideration while sending their students abroad. Many programs are already requiring students to journal and go through a debriefing process, which provides the student to reflect and list out their objectives. At Clemson Univerisity, student's are required to document their experience in a different approach through multimedia.

"Tharon W. Howard, a professor of English, and his graduate assistant require students to engage with citizens in their host countries to complete their projects. After lessons in how to interpret cultural symbols and understand people who are different from themselves, students venture into foreign communities with cameras and notepads to investigate social issues, cultural artifacts, and business practices.

Randy D. Nichols, Mr. Howard's teaching assistant, says that exposure to a different culture will give students insight not only into alternative perspectives but also into their own identities. 'Oftentimes our own cultures are invisible to us until we encounter other cultures,' he says. 'The dominant culture names the other cultures, but it doesn't name itself.'

For Mr. Howard, who also directs a multimedia center at Clemson, the multimedia focus of the program is one of its most exciting features. He says that by giving students new communication tools, he is also giving them new ways of understanding and interpreting the world.

'There's that old adage that if you want to learn something, you teach it to somebody else,' he says. 'That's the underlying idea here.'

Through their blogs, students are linked not only to their professors and fellow students but also to the broader online community. And the interactivity built into the blogs allows students to have conversations with a wide range of people about their cultural discoveries.

The multimedia focus has also generated a great deal of student enthusiasm, says Mr. Nichols. 'Before now, these students were consumers of Web sites, not producers,' he says, 'but all of them will be working in the 21st-century workplace, and having these technological skills gives them a great sense of comfort.'" (Paragraphs 18-23, quotes taken from "Colleges Help Students to Translate the Benefits of Study Abroad", written by Ilana Kowarski, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education on July 22, 2010)

Not only do the blogs provide great publicity for the university and the study abroad program but the student learns how to present their learning experience professionally. This provides great practice for the student on where the student should provide objective material and the raw truth. Students are able to present issues and matters that really matter to them. From human trafficking to graffiti to status quo's, students are learning and presenting.

As most of you know, I am currently getting my masters in Higher Education and Student Development. So I'm still in the learning process in what goes on in the Higher Education world. I am also in the lovely thesis writing process. I am also writing my thesis on study abroad and how it affects the Latino/a Ethic Identity development on Latino/a students at a predominantly white institution. I also spent my first half of the summer in Ecuador working with a study abroad program as a student development staff member there. I am also a study abroad alumni. So...the topic of study abroad is one of my favorite topics in higher education (also: diversity, miniority, racial reconciliation, woman issues, and immigration issues). This article is an interest of mine because it's something that I hope to work in the future. I do have to admit that study abroad has the problem of the reputation of being a party semester in another country outside the eyes of the university. And yes, I do have some friends that have been their experience. But my experience and many others have been incredibly different. It changed our lives. We were pushed not only academically with lectures, papers and assignments, but in service learning and exposure. We were placed in situation's that normally would make our skin crawl. Well, enough of me ranting about how amazing my experience was...

My point is that it is true that we need to learn how to talk up our experience. It's part of the re-entry process as well. I remember hearing the saying "don't throw your pearls to the swine" (So true). Yet there is a different when talking to a prospect employer versus your best friend about your experience. All what your employer wants to know is what skills and objective did you possess and how can they be beneficial for the job. I love the fact that these article presented how important that needs to be for students to learn.

Now if you read the comments of the article, each person does have somewhat of a point. I would hope that they each obtain some sort of experience being abroad and have studied and worked within higher education. For me being a study abroad alumni, my experience has changed my worldview and my character, but also my social skills, business etiquette, Spanish skills, cultural sensitivity, and etc. Because of the impact that study abroad had on my life, I have decided to work within the field to help other students experience the same. I hope and wish to work alongside the students for their study abroad experience to be fulfilling in their life and challenge them to the next level. I hope to widen their worldview, make them uncomfortable, realize it’s a bigger world out there, things happen outside of the USA, that happiness is not just in Facebook statuses and Twitter updates, and people have faith in all circumstances.

If you ask me, I think an employer would like to hear that.

Disclaimer (kind of): I just want to end that what I am still a grad student and am learning about higher education. (Even if I am ten years into the profession, I will still be learning.) Main point is: that what I am saying take it with a grain of salt. I’m just speaking from my experience and what I have been studying. We all have different experiences and opinions.

(Pictures are from my study abroad experience in Nicaragua and Cuba)

Lima in The Raw

"What are you hiding underneath?"....Better yet, are you hiding?

I was inspired by two blogs I follow: Kara H. and Tiny Twig both posted pics of themselves with out make up (both looking naturally beautiful). In her post, Kara dared her readers to take a picture without the make up. For some of us, that's a pretty big move, and to post it on the internet is another major step.

So here I am. No eye liner, mascara, or eye shadow. Lima in the raw. Real.


Show your real self.

Boom. Ok, I got it.

Ahhh, Lima...it's been forever since you have posted...what is going on????

I'm sorry for not updating my blog as much anymore. Coming back home has kept me busy catching up with friends and family.

Spending time with people that I dearly love has been such a great refresher for me. They are the ones that have been with me through the up's and down's of life. Reuniting with some of my close friends reminded me of all the good times we had through our college years. It's crazy to think that some of us has real jobs, bills to pay, significant others to factor in, children to attend and all that other grown up stuff. Yet it didn't stop us from hitting the sand volleyball courts and make new memories at Sonic.

I think my favorite part about being home is hearing how much God has been moving in my friend's lives. Story after story they tell me of how much healing and reconciliation has been happening. Maturing and growing up...they say. Whoa. We never thought that could happen...yet, it's here. I see my friends taking leadership positions in church and their homes, pursuing their careers and taking the "next step" in their relationships. We are really growing up.

(Well, kind of. We still are making "That's what she said" jokes and laughing at the word "butt" at times. Some of us are also still broke--Gracias, economy--and rely on church events and "student" discounts for food)

This leads me to ask myself some questions...am I growing up? Did I grow in my walk with God? Did I "mature"? Am I learning? Did I actually learn how to cook? Did I eat my veggies today? Am I becoming the woman of God that He has called me to be? Am I remembering to pay them bills? Can I make my own bed? Am I taking steps forward? Am I letting go? Am I educating myself in political and higher education issues? Am I procrastinating on my freaking thesis? Did I take out the garbage last night? (Crap, I need to do laundry...running out of underwear) Am I making a difference at all? Am I healing?

It's funny because I was able to answer those questions in a positive sense, but there were a some that I couldn't answer. I realized that I still have a heck of a lot of work to do in my life. (My cooking skills suck and I hate making my bed) There are so many faults and things that I need to change. I still need to let go of the past in order to move on to my future. My future as an adult. My future as a woman. My future as a Latina in higher education. My future as a wife. My future as a traveler. My future as a professor. My future as an amature artist. My future as an wannabe writer. My future as a mom. I have a lot of "future's" in mind.

In other words...it dawned on me. I still need to heal....for all my "future's", which lead me to realizing that God is not done with me yet.



Then I took a moment to freak out a bit.





I thought to myself: "Can God actually heal me?....the deep down, nasty, and ugly stuff...can God heal that?"





....What the heck?.................... Did that just happen?.....






.......Did I just doubt God's power?




.................................................Whhhaaaaaat?



.....................................................Crap. I just did................

(insert struck by lighting here)

...............Epic fail.

I also took that moment to beat myself up....a punch here...a headlock there....a karate chop here.

Then through the midst of the questions, punches, and convictions....He reminded me:

Do not limit me. Don't you dare limit my power. Where is your lack of faith? The more you seek me...the more you trust me. Just because you have some healing to do...you are still called to work with people. You still have your job with students. You still have to be the example. You still have to love others because I first love you.



You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ~Jeremiah 29:13




Boom...Ok, I got it.



Bottom line (This may sound the "Christian cheesy" to you...but it's the truth. So deal.): No matter where you are in your like and walk with God...He is not done with you yet. Continue to seek Him out. Also, just because you are still being worked on doesn't mean that He will not use you for His glory. You are still His child. So stop being a pansy and put yourself out there. Go to grad school, accept that job, travel to that country, shake your booty, take that family member in, lose those 20 pounds, turn off that tv, break off that relationship, start that relationship, read that book, change churches, vote for that person, break that habit, reconcile with that family member, pray more, love more, listen more, learn more, serve more.

Ya, you may get hurt or something may go wrong, but you will get over it. He is going to use you...like it or not.

I am not perfect. I am still healing....but I am still loved.

Remember How to do CPR

Yes, I am currently relocated back in the lovely state of Houston. After a bumpy ride and sitting next to the most rude and impatient woman, I arrived without a scratch. Also, the humidity and the rain were a nice welcome home gift. Oh, Texas you will always be humid and hot for me...thank you for reminding me how much I love air conditioners and how much I hate my hair. (Picture taken from here)

Also the World Cup will continue on despite the bumpy airplane rides and attitudes of grumpy old ladies. Let's just say that during the Uruguay and Ghana game, I had the time of my life yelling at the TV with my abuelitos (my real ones, not my Cuenca ones). I have the blessing of having my abuelitos here in Houston. They are a great and crazy. Even though they are half my height, they are the prime foundation of the family. During the Uruguay and Ghana game, I seriously thought they were going to break something. They were so intense. Throughout the whole game, I was trying my hardest to remember how to do CPR...just in case. (Picture taken from here)

I have to always continue to remind myself that I was actually in Ecuador. Looking through my pictures help but it's just crazy. Being in Houston and hanging out with my family helps, but it feels so surreal.

Thank you, Ecuador for being beautiful. Thank you, for your people and the love that they shared. Thank you, for the cool and funny stories I can share with others. Thank you, for your cool nights.

I shall return to you soon for you were so good to me. Keep it real.