lisa_marie_eggert's Xanga

The Yang Family

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:17:03 GMT

I haven't been on xanga in quite some time, but I wanted to share a very special family with all of you faithful xanga readers Meet the Yang family.

I met this wonderful family in January and have enjoyed spending time with them ever since! Chen Sheng (left) was a visiting faculty at UNC from Taiwan this past year. He and his family came to Greeley, CO in August 2006 and will be leaving next week back to Taiwan. Over the year, I was blessed beyond belief to be friends with these people. I started spending every Sunday evening with them, working on English, playing tennis, eating yummy Chinese food, learning about their culture, and just enjoying time with good friends. We've done lots of fun things together over the past 6 months and they have become some of my dearest friends. They will be missed...BIG TIME!!!

Spring break in South Dakota

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:39:16 GMT

Spring break week spent in Mission, South Dakota...and what a week it was! We (Nate and I) took 8 students to Mission to spend four days working at a church there on the reservation. I had never been on an Indian reservation before, so I was not quite sure what to expect. Now that I've been, I feel like I could talk for hours about what it was like. I'll try to be quick

Really, it was like being in an inner-city. Gangs, poverty, drugs, alcohol, etc. Only, they don't have the city. We spent our first evening walking from door-to-door inviting all the kids to come to the church the next evening for a special kids night that we were putting on. Those two hours were two very eye-opening hours for me. I've seen poverty, drugs, etc. I've been in those inner-city environments before. But something about being on a desolate reservation and still seeing all of that. It's hard to explain.

We had our kids program the next night with over 75 kids! Basically, it was mass chaos (with a hint of organization). We had a great time loving on all the kids, though. They are all so very desperate for attention. One side note/story from the evening: As we were singing Every Move I Make with the kids and teaching them motions, one kid punched out the screen of the church and made a move right out the window! No joke! Not the move we were hoping he would make!

The next evening we did the youth group service (where another screen was pushed out, I might add). Three of our students shared their testimonies. The kids are tough. They really don't want to hear what you have to say, but I think that they were actually listening to the three students as they shared their hearts and lives. It was a sweet moment.

During the days, we packed food boxes and served meals to the street people. The church that we stayed at has a meal program. They serve breakfast and lunch to the community and hand out food boxes. We packed several hundred boxes of food and served meals to 30-50 people a day. We also did some odds and ins type things around the church for the pastor. All-in-all, it was a great four days. Our team was awesome and it was so cool to see how the Lord used each one of us and how He brought us together as a team. I was so very impressed by each one of the students we took. The went with a heart to serve and they did just that. Although it was a short four days, I believe that God taught us all a lesson or two about loving people right where they are and about serving in whatever capacity is needed -- no questions asked. Thank you to those who were praying for us!!!

Here are some pics from the week:

Our team with the Pastor infront of the church before we headed back home

A few of our "helpers" as we were learning a memory verse with balloons

All the kids wanted to do was get piggy-back rides!

Making food boxes, and more food boxes, and yes MORE

We became quite the cooks while we were there

Status Quo

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:33:38 GMT

I am reading Brennan Manning's Abba's Child with one of my girls this semester and wanted to share a small excerpt from our chapter this week.

The false self specializes in treacherous disguise. He is the lazy part of self, resisting the effort, asceticism, and discipline that intimacy with God requires. He inspires rationalizations, such as, "My work is my prayer; I'm too busy; prayer should be spontaneous so I just pray when I am moved by the Spirit," The false self's lame excuses allow us to maintain the status quo.

I have found myself in this place recently; listening to that "false self". What brings a person to that place? For me, I think that it is a lack of time with God. Not just setting aside time to read or pray, but truly finding myself lost in His presence. I find myself getting so wrapped up in everything going on around me and loose sight of the eternal perspective that God has put in my heart.

Status quo is not okay with me.

Huntsville meets Colorado!

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:16:40 GMT

Picture time!!!

These are just a few pics during the amazing weekend that I just had! Eli and Mary came out to speak at our spring retreat in Estes Park, Colorado. It was so wonderful to see them! I was truly blessed by the time that I got to spend with them. We found a lovely little tea and coffee house and had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours together on Saturday. They were such an encouragement to me. Definitely a God-appointed time! PTL! They students were all very grateful for their ministry, too. It was a really neat weekend watching students encounter God and build deeper relationships with each other.

I also got to share the weekend with a very special friend! As you can see, I had my dearly missed Indian out here, too! That pretty much made it one of the best weekends ever! We had so much fun together and it was so fun for me to get to introduce her to the gang here. AND I got the coolest thing ever from India (pic above)!!! I know, you could almost mistake me for an Indian, right???

God has definitely been speaking to me about having a grateful heart. Recently, I don't think I've truly been grateful for what the Lord is doing in my life and here at UNC. How dishonoring that is to God to not live a life that is truly grateful. I want that to change. Thank you Lord for this weekend and for opening my eyes.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:44:00 GMT

I know, I know. I have been a horrible xanga-er! It's been almost a month since I've last posted. Please forgive me!

Well, since it has been so long, I feel like I could share so much. I won't, though. I'll try and stick to one thing. I have really been hungry for the Lord. Over the Christmas break, He definitely spoke to me and convicted my heart about some very practical things concerning ministry and my heart towards Him. I am so grateful for His unconditional love and gentleness; even when I'm being so dumb!

I feel like the Lord has given me one word to apply to many areas of my life right now and that is INTENTIONAL. It continues to come up, over and over again, in many different situations. The Lord is calling me to be more intentional with my relationship with Him. He is also calling me to be more intentional with my resource group and my small group girls. I shared my heart with my leaders yesterday and it was amazing to hear that God had been speaking to several of them about the same things over break. I feel like we've spent this last semester working so hard on building relationships -- and they are doing an amazing job. But I feel like it's time to go forward. To really challenge the students in their relationship with God. To ask the hard questions. I feel like sometimes it becomes almost formatted, Thursday night Chi Alpha, resource group, small group, one-on-ones, etc. I began to loose sight of God in the midst of all this "stuff". I have several girls in my life right now who do not know Jesus. How intentional am I really being with them? What is the conversation that I choose to have when we sit down together. Am I really listening to God and letting Him guide the time, or am I thinking about the next "thing" that I have to get done. I want this ministry to be one where people are intentional. I want my relationship with God to be one where I am intentional. One that I am actively seeking His direction in situations and in conversations with people.

Just some thoughts. There are many more floating around upstairs...

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 15:33:56 GMT

"Declaring a 'State of Emergency' and calling in the national guard is rare to have to do once every two years, but to do it twice in two weeks is really something!"

--Colorado State Governor on the news this morning

round two...

Our first official BLIZZARD!

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:33:40 GMT

Well hello again! I have had a little time on my hands lately, so I wanted to give you all an update. The update is: we're snowed in our house! No joke! We can't even open the door! We have more than 20 inches on our porch! And my car, well, I don't think I'll be going anywhere in the next day or so! Our lovely blizzard of 2006 has given quite an exciting couple of days! Yesterday by about noon, most major highways were closed from here to Kansas, all schools were closed, flights were being redirected, and my roommate and I were taking the opportunity to wear our snowpants and have a great photo opt! Ha! Being snowed in yesterday was fun (especially because my friend Amanda was stuck here with us for a while), but I don't think I'm looking forward to it again today! Oh well! It's great weather for hot tea and reading...

Amanda, Katie, and I enjoying the start to our first snow day!

Me and my roommate Katie gearing up for a little playtime outside! I was so excited to finally get to wear my eskimo hat!

This is our house at about noon yesterday...you can still see my entire car! Not for long...

Why not have a good time playing outside?

Now my car is beginning to go under... Bye for now!

This is our back door. We just have a screen, so the snow is definitely coming through our house! 20 plus inches out there! Ha!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:25:27 GMT

I was talking to Faith last night and she informed me that you Texas folk are experience muggy, 80 degree weather. I thought of you all this morning while I was searching for my car underneath lots of snow and thought I'd make a little snow angel for you to enjoy while you're roasting down there

Monday, November 20, 2006

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:14:21 GMT

Remember that time that we had a roommate date? I sure miss these two

Accountability

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:14:03 GMT

I've been thinking a lot about accountability lately. Probably because that is what everyone is talking about these days here in these parts... If you have heard about Ted Haggard and New Life church in Colorado Springs, you've heard about the "shock" that the Christian community is facing with everything that has gone on in the past couple of weeks. Of all the lessons that people are learning through this situation, it seems like accountability is one of the biggest right now. Our pastor talked about the situation this Sunday (as is pretty much all churches around here doing right now...). He talked about accountability and about it's purpose in our lives. It was almost weird for me to hear because accountability seems so "normal" to me. I was talking with our campus pastor's wife about it after service and she said that it would be safe to say that probably 90% of an average church body does not engage in accountability relationships. I feel like we in Chi Alpha are just wired to know how important accountability really is. I know that Chi Alpha is not "real life", but to think that so many people do not have those people in their lives to really share on a deeper level. We continued this discussion at our staff meeting today and it just got me thinking even more about the actual relationship that we call 1-on-1's or accountability. I don't think I've ever really stopped and thought just how crucial these relationships are. I mean, I know they are, but I really feel like God is revealing a whole new level to importance. There is a huge responsibility in these relationships. I think I get that when I think about my students, but I often don't think about it for myself. How important it is to allow myself to be vulnerable to others and to allow myself to be held accountable. I feel like I have lots of thoughts about this right now, but they are still pretty fresh and jumbled, so I'll be done for now