On The Border . . . Thursday Day 9

So, we stayed two days in Grandbury, got to have some more great memories with the Logozzo's before we left including a little worship music time and just goofing around. Tati and I left their house this morning at 2am so that we could meet Marconi, our guide through Mexico, at the border.

We met him and his crew of three other guys, all related to him actually, and altogether our caravan will consist of a yellow school bus towing a jeep cherokee, a big ford church van towing an astro van, and another big ford church van towing Tati's car. Tati and I will be learning how to not only drive through Mexico, but also learning how to tow a car . . . . not exactly ideal for this setting, but we can't complain. Not at THIS point! We are staying at a hostel-like place on the border and actually leaving to cross the border tomorrow morning! PLEASE pray for protection and hiddenness as we travel as quickly as we can to Belize!

  notice the change in scenery! 

A mama dog just scavenging around . . . sad to say I couldn't find any puppies!!

  the guys hooking up tati's car to the Van to tow it

 that whole leaving at 2am caught up with Tati

My parents asked me to buy a baseball cap, to look more manly - here's my proof guys :)



So, knowing that tomorrow we are going to start this whole driving through Mexico thing - I do realize it is a big deal. Of course many people have expressed their fears, shared facts and asked me to reconsider - and I want to thank everyone so kindly for all the care and love and protective hearts. Please keep us in your prayers. It is likely that I will not be able to blog for the next 2-3 days until we get to Belize.    Psalm 91

Day 7 - Grandbury Send Off (Tuesday)

I think I found a new Psychiatrist . . . this is Jessie, the Wilson's sweet dog, and my running partner for the day

So, today we said goodbye to the Wilsons, attended the Convergence Ministry School, and then met the Lagozzo Family in Grandbury! Another amazing family, and we are FINALLY getting ready for our send off. The Convergence school was so refreshing, and we got to be prayed and prophesied over, and they even took up an offering for us which was so unexpected, but blessed us greatly!

Ok, so I woke up this morning and told Tati about how I had this dream that was really weird . . . among other weirdness that I don't remember all of, the end of my dream was me and another person sitting at this table, and we had two bananas in front of us. We had no choice but to eat them, and one was the banana of life, and the other was the banana of death. I ate one, then woke up . . . . hahaha, SO on our way to the Convergence school, I was feeling kinda down on myself and low for some reason, and we stopped at a Racetrac gas station to get coffee, and I bought a banana . . . and I said, "Tati, I will choose to eat the banana of life." . .  so.... Something hilarious that happened, is that when we were being prayed over by this school of young and older people, Matt, the president of the school, gave me a word and told me in front of everyone that the Lord had given him a picture of a banana! And something about how the Lord wants to peel back old layers and . . . basically Tati and I started laughing so hard that I barely heard the rest of his word for me . . . anyway, it was slightly embarrassing to share my dream with the whole school from the night before, but I did!! hahahaha

Matt and Sonya, the presidents of the Convergence School of Ministry

So, we got to see Steve and Marci Fish, the Pastor and pastor's wife of Convergence, our friend Danielle, Sonya, and Amber, people we had had meetings with earlier in the week, which was awesome! We then came here to Grandbury, and I realized very quickly that the familiar faces and places (my cousin Natalie who I stayed with 2 nights, the Wilsons who we stayed with 2 nights, and the Convergence people who we saw throughout the past week) were now transitioning out, and a new pre-Mexico chapter is beginning. . . time to not trick myself into getting comfortable for long is the reoccurring theme I am encountering.

Me, Danielle Martin, Tati, and Amber White!

Tonight we went out to eat with Angie and her son Cade, and on our way to Walmart, she got a call about a house fire of a friend of their family's. Terrible! We stopped by the house, and it was quite an unexpected scene to be coming up on for the night. Definitely will be praying for this family!

Tonight I got to talk to Brad Kinney on the phone for a good while, about his driving travels through Mexico to Belize, on the same route we are taking, but he went all the way through to Costa Rica. It was very informative, and helpful! Thanks Brad!! -Right now it looks like we will be leaving at the butt-crack of dawn on Thursday morning, and meeting our squad of caravaners at the border and begin the drive down through Mexico! The most dangerous spots will be closest to the American/Mexican border and the first Mexican state. We will be trying to get through the country as fast as possible - definitely no messing around!

Crazy sky picture before the big storm that hit the same night 

I am typing this pretty quickly, and have not forgotten about my huge need to write out all the info on this trip on that tab, in order to inform people who do not know or understand what this trip is about, and why we are going to Belize, why we are driving through Mexico, and what our purposes and intentions are, and the origin and story of this trip for Tati and me separately and together. I type pretty fast, so I can very easily type our a blog update, but I have been putting it off because for one, I don't really know if anyone is actually reading this blog, but also because I know I have to really be tactful and detailed about how I word it all. Nevertheless, it's something that there is no excuse for, why it is not already up. Regardless, I am not on vacation - I really am following through with what I believe the Lord has put in front of me. . . . more details soon!

Day 6 - brief update

So - it is Day 6, we are back spending the night in McKinney, TX, with our friends the Wilson Family, and since we left Athens we have been in Brownsboro, Arlington, Fort Worth, Grandberry and McKinney TX. We have met with lots of people, to talk about our trip, share about our lives, we have even met with a great couple who started an organization called Count Me In, which is a Christian youth camp for underprivileged kids, and we are bringing it to Belize in 2013! Tati and I have been able to visit Convergence Church in Forth Worth, which is the "mother church" of The Awakening, our house church/church plant in Athens, GA. It was so cool to see where Jessica and Travis (pastors) came from and to meet all of their amazing friends who miss and love them like crazy.

I am slowly building this blog, and I know as time progresses, it will be harder to not update, but I will do my best!

As of today, we have spoken with Marconi, the main contact we have in our caravan through Mexico, and we will be meeting him in Houston Wednesday night, and crossing the border Thursday. Please pray for us during the 3-4 day trip through Mexico to Belize.

It has been such a blessing to have almost a week of traveling under our belt, and preparation together before we actually cross the border. Tati and I could not be more of an unlikely couple! We are opposites in so many ways. She is a planner and organizer, whereas I am more go-with-the-flow, she is a way better multi-tasker, whereas I am many times focusing on one thing at a time; but it has been really good. There will be a lot of refining and sharpening happening throughout this WHOLE trip.

We have been blessed to have a family help us get work done on the car we are driving, as well as tint the windows, and help us buy the rest of the items we needed for this trip. It has been so cool to walk in the provision the Lord has had all along. We stayed with a family on a farm in Brownsboro, and the husband Roger, had a surprise rescheduling for a surgery, and if that hadn't have happened, we would not have had a place to stay on our way through TX. Also, Mrs. Susan Wilson had just dropped her daughter off at Seminary school, and was "jones-ing" for her daughter, and the fact that Tati and I were coming through was exactly what was able to bless her and fill that daughter void - which was so great for us. We have loved Susan, our spiritual mother these past few days.

We met with Matt and Sonya, a couple who are presidents of Convergence Church's ministry school, which we will be attending tomorrow (very exciting), and with some more of Jessica and Travis' very best friends Royce and Danielle Martin - awesome couple I wish we could've spent more time with.

I got to stay with my cousin Natalie, who is an Aerospace Engineer at Lockheed in Ft Worth, and she got to show me around the mile-long base, and I got to see the newest classified stealth fighter jet, the F-35. SO awesome - I wish I had pictures, but I would be in prison for life if I'd even tried. I also met a new cousin of mine on the Marcopulos side (mom's side) that I had never met, named Kathleen, who was SOOOO amazing. A very sweet addition to the family I've had but never knew about!!

I am registering with the State, letting the gov know I am traveling beyond borders, thanks to all the info and resources from my Aunt Deborah, who has the hookups. I will be free to talk/skype/chat/text etc from now until Wednesday night, so I will continue to love hearing from you guys and keeping in touch. I will definitely let everyone know when I get to Belize, and hopefully will blog again before Wednesday night.

Tati and I have had a lot of fun so far, this week just taking the dive, packing up, getting in the car, and going - and the times in Texas have been a blast - but also very strengthening and team building for us - SO much better than just going straight from Athens to Belize.

Though some still have fears and doubts and love to express their opinions about this trip- the trip will speak for itself and already is. I am learning about blogging, and I would be fine with a journal in my knapsack, but in no way is this blog a means for attention- it's necessary and wanted. . .and despite the craziness that this journey sounds like, there have been far crazier things done (for the Lord, and for man alone), but unless I truly knew, confirmation after confirmation, that I was supposed to come on this trip, it would not be happening. And I do. So here we are.


Hopefully this blog will be updated with pics, and descripts, and info within the next few days!!!
Love you guys.

Tati - trying to figure out which gps will be better!

Farewells, Roadtrip to TX, & New Faces and Places

Goodbye hang out time with friends from the ICU

Goodbye hang time with Morgan and Taz

Farewells from the Awakening Family

Truth

Farewells at the casa de Tom y Ellyn y Violet

Loving Send off by this Sweet Couple

Two Paler Friends (Jessie and Missy) We Miss So Much!

She was the first to come unglued

Hour 10, headlamp-check, the Word-check

What it is

Hour 11 . . getting creeeepy

Hour 12 . . djembe headlamp craziness

Our new friend from the Berry Family in Brownsboro TX!

Thank you Stacy and Roger for being complete strangers and opening your home up to us! (crazy and cool story I will actually blog about when I have energy and have processed)

We are in TEXAS... on our way to McKinney

Need that Joe - 

This bow (thank you Lisa Thomas) is placed on the dash to remind us of a few things:

1. To pursue his Presence and Presents* (its a pun of course)
2. To practice our spiritual gifts
3. That Tati and I are a gift to each other
4. *To BE PRESENT*

AMAZING AMAZING couple - the Wilsons whose house we are currently at and will be back at in a few days; they have BEYOND blessed us and are such a gift. Most generous people I have yet to meet, maybe in my life!

Tati at Walmart . . she found a raisin

ummm....

Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, says, "No LJ, I can't drink your cough syrup - my eyeball might fall out!"

Mrs. Susan (Shooby) Wilson with her dogs. After Ben thoroughly taught us how to Dougie, Jerk, Shuffle, and ... something else lol

OK! SO! We are in TEXAS! Tati blogged more legit-ly... me, I am sooo pooped, and on an overdose of blessedness that I will have to blog tomorrow, but wanted to put these photos up just.... cuz. I can't wait to share the tremendous things the Lord has already done for us and through us. Today's theme verse was Luke 18.27 and it is proving true.... We have had so much fun today, although tomorrow I will share the reality of where I am at in life and what is actually going on in my heart and what the Lord has been speaking to me about!! Basically James 4, Romans 12, Romans 8 and Romans in general lol, and well I am just so tired I need to stop right now and probably edit this later. Ciao!

Books, Hammocks, Percussion and Bug Spray

*my good friend and little bro Drew training me how to use my new ENO hammock*

(I think the Lord is going to teach me some lessons in this thing)

So I prayed that the Lord would bless me with specific books to bring and read during this trip, and I am ecstatic about the one I have started as well as the few others I will be bringing and meditating on. The book I just started is by John Sandford, and it is called Healing the Nations. John and Paula Sandford received a vision from the Lord for their ministry and life, and were told to write 7 specific books. The first five related to their inner healing prayer ministry "Elijah House," and the other two have to do with bringing healing to a macro level and less introspective. After about two years of learning more and more about EH, and being set free in ways that have changed my life, I am so excited to learn about how to heal a nation, and not just myself! I love what John says in the Introduction:

"Each of the first five books, which have been written and published, concern the maturation and sanctification of individual Christians. The last two books present a departure from individual (perhaps even self-centered) concerns to corporate, altruistic, others-minded service to the Lord, to mankind and to earth. These call for forgetting about one's self and one's own sanctification and laying down one's life for others. The earlier five books direct our gaze inward, then outward. This new book and the next call us to look inward only when we find our flesh interfering, and then merely enough to get the flesh out of the way. Those who come looking for something for themselves had better put this book and its sequel down until they are ready to serve others unmindful of their own needs . . . "

I love that because of how amazing and intense personal inner healing can be, but it is easy to get so into the process of dying to one's self that you look for ways to be sanctified and transformed - it can become distracting and even heavy, but the process is what is important to know, for when it is time to deal with sin that comes up, but I am thrilled to learn more about applying myself to the larger body and standing in the gap for a hurting world.

Anyway, the other books I am bringing are: Humility, The Journey Toward Holiness - by Andrew Murray, and The Inner Voice of Love, by Henri J.M. Nouwen. I'm sure I will also bring my favorite books The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, and The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, but we will see :) The books I brought came to me in very interesting ways, one through stumbling upon, one through revelation, and one as a gift from a wise world traveler who happened to come through Athens.

As I continue to prepare for this trip here is what I am up to externally:

• I am in the process of purchasing/gathering a Djembe Drum, maracas and a tambourine so we can party all the way down and back (and lead worship of course) - Tati will be on the Gee-tar, while I will be focusing mainly on my voice and obviously the percussion just mentioned
• I have dyed my hair dark brown, in order to remove any target of attention that being blonde may have put on me

• I am learning how to download and operate iMovie, so that I can create HD movies from this trip and put music to them and do the whole splicing editing thing (last resort I email them to my friend Phil and see if he will do/fix them for me) *I can't WAIT to make videos of baptisms and healings and miracles and everything else
• I am in the process of purchasing either an Iphone or an Ipod touch, and being able to skype/face time while I am out of the country - so send me your skype name!
• I need to find the strongest bug spray possible (have you SEEN the bugs in S.America?)

you just go ahead and see for yourself :    

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Arthropods/Belize/Highlights/index.html      aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Preparation H . . . . (holyspirit)

So, our proposed leave date is Jan 18th, a week from tomorrow- and we will be roadtripping to Texas, stopping at Convergence Church in Forth Worth, then meeting our people in Houston to cross Mexico. The Lord of course has provision to a degree beyond what our minds can conceive - He has set it up for us to be able to drive through Mexico with 2-3 spanish speaking men of God, each will be driving a bus to Belize, so we will have walking talkies, and have a bus in front of and behind our car :) Psalm 91 protection baby! Thank you Lord!

My blog will hopefully get cooler and cooler over time once Tati shows me some tricks haha, and I have pictures and videos to actually add from our trip. The title blurb that says: Leaving.Meeting.Seeing.Leading, I thought I would explain. . . Last winter/spring 2011, I was in a place in life where I had been stripped of every idol I had bowed down to in my life; in a place of major breakthrough, of rising from the ashes and learning who the Lord is, who I am in Him, and how to be His beloved. . . anyway, as I was learning about the Lord's voice and His plan for me, and one night I drove home from Elijah House, which is an inner healing prayer ministry that continues to change my world, well anyway - I was on my way home, and I very boldly heard the Lord tell me to put my name into a text message, and read what different words would come up under the T9 application, where I would enter 528736 which were the number combination for l-a-u-r-e-n, and anyway, the words in that order came up: leaving. meeting. seeing. leading.  no kidding! it was crazy. I know it sounds silly, but I know it was from the Lord. Anyway, I feel like the freedom I was living in in that time has now returned, as the Lord has set up a plank for me to walk down blindfolded and dive into the waters beneath. I'm not just leaving the country, I'm not just meeting new people, I'm not just seeing new places, and I'm not just leading my life - it's way more. It's so much more. Leaving the old life, meeting with Jesus, seeing the truth and leading others, through loving others to life and setting others free in Christ!

2012 Slumdog Trillionare!

So, it is Dec 31, 2011, and as we wrap up the end of an eventful and harvest-full year, I can't begin to explain the anticipation and excitement I have for 2012! It is going to be a year of major fruition.
 I really want to share what the Lord has been teaching me in the past few weeks, as well as some of the things Tati and I have been convicted of and instructed by the Lord to do on our trip. . . . 


Last Tuesday for our small group we did our monthly "treasure hunt", where we get together, worship and pray, and everyone writes down anything they "get" during this time, while asking the Lord what He is doing, where He wants us to go, who we are going to encounter, and what is going on with whomever we meet. We then share what we get, split into groups (based on common words, such as multiple people getting certain places or themes, people or objects etc) and then we go out in groups and find our "treasure". . . we always find them! having multiple things on our list (not always all)  - they could be a pregnant hunchback in pigtails and that is who we will run into!


So this past Tuesday, I got the word "Slumdog Millionare" and the Salvation Army Bell and some other things, and Phil got crutches and grocery store among other things, and so we found Virginia, on crutches, with arthritis in both her knees, and she fit the description and list of things we had on our list. We talked with her, prayed for her life and knees, and the Lord used us to majorly blessed her life. I shared with her about how although I know nothing about her life, the Lord told me to share with/prophesy to her that she has identified with the slumdog mentality, feeling stuck and insignificant, never being able to rise above her situation etc etc, and that the Lord wants to bless her life and that He wants to deliver her and just as the boy in the movie gets his lucky break - the Lord wanted her to know that she is not stuck, she is CHOSEN and going to flourish etc etc (and other things that meant something to her unbeknownst to me). . . . so before we met Virginia, we walked in and outside of Publix, and next door is Vision Video; and so I was like, "Well, I have the word Slumdog Millionare, I might as well go to the aisle of the movie and I dunno, just check it out." So I rented the movie and stuck it in my purse. 

Then days later, finding myself in Florida with my family, I felt the Lord pressing me to watch this movie that was overdue and unwatched. And that He wanted to speak to me through the movie. And wow, did He. I put the movie in and pulled out my journal. Here are some things He broke my heart about, showed me how I want and need to live my own life, and some great news to share with others :) I'm going to literally copy my journal entry:

• I'm in Gainesville at my folk's house- Just put on Slumdog Millionare- the movie I had come to my mind last Tuesday at small group- that I rented from Vision Video and shared the word/picture with Virginia. Lord bless and heal Virginia's arthritic knees; show her your will and the way you see her. As I watch this movie- The Lord wants to teach me something from this movie. Lord open my eyes and ears to hear and see what is in front of me. 
• Jamal had only known the life of a street slumdog, and his life journey lead him to the chance of a lifetime on Who Wants To Be A Millionare, and because of his story and even traumatic experiences, he was able to recall and know the information needed for him to be the champion. *The Lord equips us with our path in life, to be on our journey, in the appropriate chapter of our story- to know what we're supposed to know- exactly when and how we're supposed to know it for what is in front of us and up ahead.*

• "Do you want the life of a Slumdog? Or the life of a Man?" - the sly words asked by the man who guised himself as a helper to the street kids, but actually would blind and maim the children to be better beggars and make him money, that Jamal and his brother were able to overtake and flee from before they became like the others. *We have to use the knowledge we have about the enemy against him. We have to be quick - on our feet - professional flee-ers of evil *
• Luke 10:19
  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. *When we use the authority invested and bestowed up on us through Jesus, Satan's weapon is used to pierce his own heart. Woo hoo! *can't touch this*!

• We have to "rough-it" in order to be AWAKE. ALIVE. . .
• . . . The casual comforts around us are actually unpleasantries to our condition; they, in reality stiffen the flex mind, heart and spirit; they coat the limber and ready muscles in fat and make it little by little harder to move. Slower in running when being chased and pursued by the enemy. Every numbing of the senses, dulling of moral conviction - every puff of smoke that tightens the lungs and every layer of fat and slothfulness increases our distance from full abundant, created, potential and intended life. Physical and Spiritual collide in this principle. 
• EXERCISE YOUR FAITH. EXERCISE YOUR BODY. EXERCISE YOUR GIFTS. we have to; or we are not living full life!!
• From rags to raja - our destiny . . . it is written
• We are all slumdogs. chosen by God. He's offering us our big break - it's like winning a trillion dollars, and the rest of our lives, getting to spend it - getting our big break and spending the rest of our lives serving Him, living in the fullness of life and richness - surpassing all the fake promises and lures of this world and experiencing full abundant life.
• Jamal was a bearer of hope
• Risk it all, KNOWING it is WORTH IT ALL  (that is what this trip to Belize is about to me) *Jamal's last and final question he took a step of faith by guessing at the answer, trusting in his solid fate and destiny.
• His brother's love of money not only killed him, but ruined him. It ruined his relationship with Jamal, and in the end, letting Latika sneak out of his boss's house- though he did it to show love to his brother, he still used betrayal. It was all he knew. He lost himself and his identity to the false gains of this world. 
• At one point, Jamal ran into a blind kid begging. A boy he knew before who was blinded by the man making money off of ruined children - *in our lives, we are many times able to be humbled and sobered in encountering people and seeing where we would be if we had continued to deny and run from the Lord's pursuit of our hearts.

Bottomline, we have to realize that all of life is spiritual, and there is a battle going on of light and darkness. Our unawareness and slumbering spirits are weapons used against us. Why profess to be a believer and not be willing to do ANYTHING, whatever it takes, in order to fulfill our missions/duties/callings on our life? Comfort is a funny word. In the US it is not a word that is much affiliated with contentment and peace. It is a state. A state of being tucked into bed and having your pillow fluffed. Are we going after comfort? Or are we alive and awake enough to recognize our daily states of living half a life. Where we get by through coping. We decompress with retail-therapy, nicotine, alcohol, physical, mental, short-standing, very fleeting feel-goods; but what is the deeper truth? reality? Where are we at? Why throw back Goody Powder to alleviate the never-ending headaches and everyday pain you may have when there is a chronic condition that could be treated permanently? Working in the ICU, this is a great example of my point - we all up here know that Goody Powder can lead to upper GI bleeds, eroding the stomach lining. It is not an uncommon thing. People die from coping. Literally; spiritually. . . . I tell you the truth - To know that one is dreaming is to no longer be perfectly asleep. There is so much more to life. 

⁴ But^[c] God, being rich in mercy,because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2) .

                                                   

 . . . To quickly share what Tati texted me today: that our trip is going to be richly purposed toward sharing the gospel to unbelievers, baptize with water, and for us and others to be filled with the holy spirit. yee haw - here we come 2012