New Year Resolutions

I heard a quote once that said...
"If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, Let it."

I feel like after Christmas there are two groups of people.
1-Those that spend a huge amount of time trying to think of a quality new years resolution they can stick to.
And
2-Those that never have the idea of making a resolution cross their mind.

I have to admit, I rarely consider it. I have always thought of resolutions as sort of silly commitments that no one sticks to. We make them and stick to them for a few weeks and then the business of life takes over and we forget about those promises we made to ourselves to '...Do better at work, To do better in school, lose that ten pounds...'
But I was thinking today as I was thinking about my life right now and I wondered...what if we made resolutions for our LIVES and not just the new year?
What if we resolved...determined and made up our minds about something that REALLY mattered to us?

What is that thing for you?
I know you have something.

It's 2AM here in Vancouver, Washington where I am spending the holidays and I cant stop thinking, for some reason, about the people all over the world who will be making these resolutions.
Here's a little encouragement--
I BELIEVE in you.
Wherever you are, whatever you are dealing with...
Whether you are hoping to be a better parent...Whether you are dealing with some sort of addiction...Whether you are depressed, struggling with your life, worried about the economy and caring for your family...whether it is school, or relationships, or habits or a lack of people loving you in your life...Please know..there are people praying for you.

People you don't know. People that don't know your name or where you come from..but people are praying for you.
I am praying for you.
I want to see us make resolutions that will help change our lives.
Once you figure out what that resolution is, please know, no matter how far fetched it may seem, there is someone praying for you. And believing in you.

If you get a chance, take it.
If it changes your life, let it.

This is your chance.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Are you home for Christmas??

I left Sunday afternoon to fly home to Portland to spend the holidays with my family.
I don't know if anyone heard, but flights had been cancelled to Portland for DAYS.
I got to the airport at 2 in the afternoon and at 5 pm my flight was cancelled. I caught a flight to Sacramento in hopes of getting on stand by to Portland. Slept in the airport that night and at 4:15 AM got on the stand by list. Around 1pm all the flights to Portland were cancelled again. I cried. A lot. I couldn't stand the thought of being stuck in the airport for Christmas. Determined, I switched to Seattle Stand by and switched my bags and went through security (that was the third time that day). A plane was a half hour late leaving and luckily, SO VERY LUCKILY, they had one open seat and out of all the people waiting..I got on.

I got to Seattle, got a hotel room and my parents picked me up the next morning. The whole city is COVERED in snow. Everything is white. It is so beautiful.
I just wanted to write a little quick blog and remind you to be thankful for what you have right now.

There are so many families that I know personally who are stuck at home with no way to get to their families, no presents for the kids, and trying to think up ways to explain why Santa didn't come. There are hundreds of people stuck in airports until christmas day...If you can do anything this Christmas, appreciate the people in your life that love you, are there for you, and make the Holidays warm.

Merry Christmas from the Dream Center!!

On to the Next

Have you ever seen the face of a little girl who had just been handed the only Christmas present she would get that year?

I heard a story this week about a mom who was scolded by her friends because she refused to tell her children that Santa was real. It wasn't because she didn't want them to believe, or to imagine. It was because, come Christmas day, she couldn't bear to look into the eyes of her little ones when they saw that there was nothing under the tree for them. She had tears in her eyes as she watched her little girl open a package wrapped in snowman paper and saw a huge gleaming smile come across her daughter's face. "Some people come out to these toy giveaway's just because they are free...." She told me. "But some people come out because this is the only real Christmas that their kids will experience." My heart dropped a little as I looked down at the cute spanish girl who probably lived in one of the areas we bussed in for the show. She smiled up at me and held up her new toy to show me. I smiled back and wished them a Merry Christmas.

I haven't been able to get that woman out of my head. I don't know her name, or her daughter's name. It was the only Toy Giveaway I went to after the shows. We had 7 of them. Can you imagine how many ecstatic children there were? And not only that...but can you imagine how many grateful parents there were?

There are only 9 days until Christmas.
9 more days.
What can you do in 9 days to make a permanent difference in someone's life?

There are so many opportunities here at the Dream Center to get involved that sometimes we take it for granted. Don't miss those opportunities where you are. They are all around you and people are just waiting and praying for you to come and be the person that makes a difference in their life. You can be that person. Stop waiting, and just go do it.

Figure out what is holding you back and then get rid of it.
Christmas is a good time to make a difference.
Right now is always a good time to make a difference.

Opening Night

Tonight was opening night of Joy of Christmas.

The show was great but let's be honest, the tickets and organization were a bit rough on the end of our team.
I have spent most of the week stressing out about getting things printed, getting things on time, making sure things are in order...and guess what? I still didn't have things printed, I still didn't have things on time and things were still a bit chaotic.
What good did worrying all week do me?

I was standing in the back of the auditorium tonight watching part of the show and it was so beautiful. There is a scene where two fantastic singers sing a song called "The Prayer" and a ballerina dances, and it is one of the most powerful parts of the whole show. The whole time I am standing back there I am wondering, "Who is realizing right now, for the first time, how passionately and deeply in love with them God really is?" If we put aside the busyness and calm ourselves down long enough...we can remember why we are doing what we are doing.

To let people know.
To tell them.
To help save them.
To give them the greatest Christmas present they will ever receive...Everlasting love, salvation, peace and hope.

It has been so easy for me to get sidetracked.
I love what I do, but on those days when you are confused, frustrated and just find yourself wanting to cry and give up, it is so so easy to do just that. Give up. Throw in the towel. Walk away.
But I think, and this is just my opinion, that those moments are the ones where we need to remember the most.
We are doing this for Him. We are working and trying to get things done on time and trying to get things accomplished so that more people have the opportunity to hear about Jesus.

So in the midst of a night where maybe some things could have gone smoother, I have to just breathe and remind myself of what REALLY matters. And that's despite our mistakes, the message was strong, the message was loud, and the message was clear.
God loves you.
And people heard it. People listened to it. And people reacted to it.
There were people saved tonight. People that came home to God.

I think that at the end of the day, THAT is what he sees and though it is so important to thrive in what we are doing, we have to remember why we are doing it.

This is only night one. It can only go up from here.
Don't miss the show!! Whatever you do, make sure you get to show!!

Shan

Where Are You?

I was standing in this trash dump in Jalapa, Guatemala taking in my surroundings. There have been very few instances that have left me utterly speechless, but that was right up there with watching my Dad walk out on our family and flick his cigarette butt out the window when he drove away. I didn't know how to respond. I stood in the trash and let my feet be attacked by flees as my gaze stayed on a little girl with brown curls and browner eyes. Her feet were bare. Hair tattered. Face hard and emotionless. But she was beautiful. She held the hand of an older girl in torn up pink pants and looked at me with a look of confusion. We just stared at one another. Clutching the side of my bag, I watched, horrified, as dozens and dozens of flies crawled over her perfect face. She couldn't have been more than 4 years old. But she just kept staring at me. What was she thinking? What was going through her mind? Our gaze was broken by the older girl shooing the flies from the little girls brown skin. My steps faltered and I returned to reality.

The reality of the whole situation was sinking in. Children, as young as two, being drug through dirty trash. Walking barefoot on glass and things that could only harm you. I didn't know what to do. I immediately called out to God and asked Him, "Where ARE you in all of this?" It didn't take long before God replied quietly to me and asked me, "Where are YOU in all of this?"

And that's the true question isn't it?
We look at our world and we look at the horrible things going on in our world, and we say 'How awful. How terrible. How dreadful.'
We want to see change. I think a lot of people WANT to see change. But I don't think a lot of people want to go through the work to CREATE change.
Why do we sell ourselves short? Why do we expect so little of ourselves? Why do we think things are so impossible? Why can't we trust the vision, pursue the ideas, live the passion, make the difference?

Where are we in the mess of the world? What are we REALLY doing?

Because what happens if one day I look back on my life and I ask myself, "What did I do?" And the answer really is nothing? I went on a couple trips...helped a few people...gave some food out...But what real difference was made?
When God asks me, "Where are you in this?" I want to be able to stand confidently and say, "Right here. Holding the hand that needs me."

So...who's ready to be in it with me?

-Shan

Home Sweet Home

It's been a couple days now since the World Missions Department and the team we had in Guatemala have been back in L.A.
We got back to the Dream Center around 2 AM on Thanksgiving night.

No words can describe the intensity of the month we spent there.
It was heartbreaking, incredible, touching, hard, amazing....People were healed, lives were saved, individuals were changed.
There are so many stories and moments that it's hard to think about writing it all.

I don't think I will ever have the same view of things again. Its so different to spend time in a place that is so desperate for so many tangible things and spiritual as well. But they don't know how to get it. We go down and we help. We do what we can and we pray for God to move, and He does. But then we leave. I find it a very hard thing to deal with that we go for a small amount of time and then we just leave. Its a struggle to remember that God calls us places and He asks us to do as much as we can in the time we are there and then the rest is up to Him. He will bring more people to water the seed you plant, but it's a struggle, huh?

I am amazed at how God works. Had I not been at The Dream Center for the time I was and experienced the things I did before going to Guatemala, it would have been an extremely unsuccessful month for me. Would God have still succeeded? Of course. But would He have accomplished what he wanted out of my life? Doubtful. He had been preparing me for that long before I knew.

Be careful in tough situations. Every choice we make affects our next opportunity and whatever you are going through now, God is preparing you for something bigger. Buckle up. The ride is sometimes bumpy...but the people you meet, the chances you get, the blessings you get to give...make it so worth while. God is big. Don't forget He sees the whole picture when we see just a cropped version.

love,
Shan.

P.S. JOY OF CHRISTMAS Is right around the corner!! Order advanced seating so you get great seats, the show is going to be amazing and you wont want to miss it.

Turkey and Thanks

In a couple days it will be Thanksgiving. I cant believe that!!

I wish we could all take a moment every day to think about all the blessings we have been given, instead of just focusing on it once a year.
Have you thought about that lately?
Have you told your kids how much you love them today or your wife or husband?
Have you looked at the food on your table and thought, "wow I am blessed that I can have this"? Have you looked at the place where you live and thought about how blessed you are to have somewhere safe to go home to??

It's easy, as humans, to be unsatisfied with what we have or where we are in life.
It's easy to look at the things other people have and wish we had them.
I have only been out of highschool for a year and a half and in that time, and since coming to the Dream Center as a volunteer, God has shown me so much.
How can you see a child working in a dump, barefoot, sick and starving and still be selfish enough to wish you had more?? Personally, I am finding it hard to do.
Maybe this week and this holiday season, instead of focusing on the stress or the presents or the lights...we should focus on something a little more permanement.

Can we look past what we struggle with to see what we have been blessed with?
Can we see our families that love us, or our friends that challenge us? Can we see God's provision in our lives and trust that He has everything under control? Can we see the sky a little bluer and smile a little bigger?

YOU ARE ALIVE!!!
You have the opportunity to do ANYTHING with your life...Dont waste it.
Be Thankful that God has placed you where you are at for a reason and He knows better than us what is good for us.
Notice your blessings, because not everyone is fortunate enough to have those blessings.
Enjoy your Turkey and eat an extra scoop of stuffing for me!!

Shan