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bak2345
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Name: Becky
Gender: Female
Interests: Jesu Cristo, singing super loud in my Hetta (aka Jetta), practicing different types of laughs, laughing long and hard with my best friend (aka Sonio), playing intense games of Scattergories, getting random calls from friends who should be working, finding something after a long time of not knowing where it is, writing music and putting tunes to lyrics, thinking about the good old days of childhood and entering into adulthood, and finally pursuing a life lived only for God.
Expertise: Being Shabooqua.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Public Health
Website: visit my website
AIM:  bak2345
Member Since:
10/24/2004
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| Wow. It's been some time.
After 10 long years, I finally took a trip to India with the family this past December to January for three weeks. It was an incredible trip filled with new sights to see, places to visit, people to meet, unfortunate sicknesses, and memories to remember for a long while.
One story, or miracle I should say, that I want to document here, and never forgot is that of a lost bag. This is no ordinary miracle...it is one that brings me back to the moment where I realized the true power of faith and seeing God's hand work to the T.
It began on our first day in India, Christmas night, with our arrival at the Bombay Airport -- one of the busiest, most crowded airports in all of India. As we waited for our relatives to pick us up, my mom and dad went to a nearby phone booth to make some calls as these relatives were running late. Greg, Susan, Josh, and myself waited on the sidewalk standing guard around the 12 parcels of luggage that we brought with us. A few short minutes later, our relatives finally arrived and we walked towards the cars where we would be loading our luggage and making our way to the guest house where we would stay. Upon arriving at the guest house, all of our luggage was unloaded from the car, and we began our usual count of the 12 pieces of luggage. Much to our shock, one of the bags was missing. This was not just any bag -- this was my dad's laptop bag filled with ALL of the money and expenses we would need for our trip, along with his laptop. We were sure this bag was missing as we double checked the cars, and immediately my father remembered where it had gone. With all the hustle and bustle of meeting relatives at the airport, my dad unknowingly placed his laptop bag in a lonesome, empty cart near the taxi stand where we waited for our ride.
When we finally realized that the bag was still at the airport, most likely in someone's hands, my dad, brother, and uncle jumped back into the car, and made their way to the airport, hoping and praying that the bag would by some miracle, still be there. Back at the guest house, together we held hands, and prayed with an intensity that I hadn't felt in a long time. My brother-in-law, Greg, prayed these specific words, that God's angels would charge over this bag, and not a single person would lay a hand on the bag. We prayed several times like this, holding onto God's word that by faith, this bag would be retrieved.
The whole span of leaving the airport, coming to the guest house, and my dad going back to the airport to see if the bag was still there was about 1 hour. In other words, 1 hour of being away from this bag left behind for anyone to pick up and run with. On the way to the airport, my brother continuously prayed, assuring my dad that the big would still be there. Once they arrived at the airport, my dad got out of the car, and ran towards the area where he remembered his bag had been left. Miraculously, from a far distance, he could see the laptop bag sitting in the same empty cart, and immediately when my dad stretched out his hand to retrieve the bag, 3 armed guards surrounded the bag saying, "Don't touch that bag!" God not only secured the bag, but He answered the prayer to the T by having the guards literally protect the bag! Not even my dad could touch the bag! Later we learned from the guards that the bomb squad had been called and police were coming to search the bag. My father identified himself and was finally given his bag, with everything still intact, money and laptop still secure. We heard this story was even in the Bombay newspaper the next morning! Isn't God amazing? This was such a test of faith for us, and as I relive the experience, I can't even begin to express how faithful God was and still is in our life. The rest of our trip was so blessed and this experience taught me that having faith in Christ is an important tool to hold onto. This is a miracle that will never be forgotten.
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| I am officially an alumna of the University of Maryland, Class of 2008. Wowsers.
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| With one minute left in the game, 22 has arrived and it's looking like a spectacular year.. | | |
| Today marks a milestone. I stepped out of my last final (anatomy at that!), walked out the door to the dreary gloom of the day, stopped and looked around, and asked myself, "Is it really over?" I felt like I still had a million things to do or another exam to study for, but no, absolutely nothing. Have I really come to the end of 4 grueling, tedious, not to mention sleepless years of my undergraduate career? Did it really go by that fast? I still remember my first day of college, freshman year like it was yesterday. I still remember feeling under the "Senioritis Spell" from high school and thinking "here come another 4 years." I feel like the "All Aboard" college train picked me up and dropped me off in about 5 minutes! Did time really fly by? It surely did. I am happy to say that this Friday, I will officially be an alum of the University of Maryland. I definitely made some lasting memories at UMCP from making great friendships which I know will last forever (as cliche as that sounds!), growing spiritually in Chi Alpha/ICF and meeting other students who have that same desire for God, figuring out my career plans, walking/running the dreaded 15-20 minutes to get to a class, endless nights at the library which did not last too long because of the distractions left and right, waiting until the last minute to write or turn in a paper, paying student parking tickets, and man, so much more. I cannot believe its over -- the feeling is just glorious. But really, its only just the beginning. This here marks a new chapter in my life -- one filled with great expectations, great adventures and opportunities, and an exciting path only God knows for sure. I sure do hope this next adventure is as great as the first. :)
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| This post is one of recapping all that has happened in the last few weeks -- definitely an update long overdue. We had a blessed time with a visit from Pastor Dale from Carbondale for a discipleship seminar -- the time spent in learning and fellowship was an experience far and beyond any words could explain. We learned so much about the vision of disciple-making, the prophecies surrounding the End Times, and the Holy Spirit (with, in, and upon us). For 3 all-intensive teaching days, we soaked up what God had for us as individuals, as a church, and as the next generation of leaders for building up the Kingdom. I can truly say I was beyond blessed. The most amazing night of the seminar was the evening of the Holy Spirit teaching, where many of the young people, among others were baptized with the anointing of the Holy Spirit and received the gift of tongues -- I can say for the very first time, I was one of those youth. It was something I was craving for a long time, and the blessing just poured out even more so than I imagined. The best part was opening my eyes during the middle of the prayer session and seeing the large crowd of faces in worship, arms extended to our Father, and people praying, all with the same goal, the same desire, that one intention -- to bring glory and praise to the King. I have noticed such a difference in my prayer life and even in the smallest things, the Lord never abandons His people. I am so grateful for this blessing and pray that God uses me beyond what I even thought I was capable of. This past weekend, we were blessed to have Judah from Ohio with us to equip us with evangelism training for an all-out witnessing session in the heart of Washington DC -- in front of the Capitol and the Supreme Court building. I must say, I was pretty nervous to walk up to complete strangers, but the truth is, why not when it brings them one step closer to the Kingdom? So many people, friends or complete strangers, are struggling with the deepest, darkest things, and we walk by them everyday, ignoring the fact that they need Jesus. It's definitely something I need to work on. Sometimes it can be frustrating because you think the individual is not really hearing you, but its about planting a seed and letting the Holy Spirit finish up the work. Sony and I worked as a team, and finding the first lucky person to approach was probably the hardest. But after praying together, we found the courage to walk straight up to people and hand them very cool million dollar tracts (which looked very real by the way). We then made our way to the Supreme Court building where we broke off into groups and prayed for important decisions surrounding our nation. We sang songs outloud, Judah jammed on his saxophone and open-air preached, and we just prayed, with everything we had in us. It was an amazing time. We even met some Pro-Life IHOP-ers (http://www.ihop.org/) who stood in front of the Supreme Court with red-tape over their mouths, bearing the word LIFE and praying silently to end the horrors of abortion. What a testimony. Now, I am by no means an expert at this, but I know for sure that its our job to spread the Gospel as much as we can before its too late. We were given the book by Mark Cahill, The One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven, and from what I've read so far, that one thing is: WITNESSING. There won't be a need for it in heaven because we're all there for one purpose. So the time is now -- act fast to save people. Why not? 
This is the tract we would pass out to many people in DC. It asks life's million dollar question: "If you died tonight, would you be absolutely sure you would go to heaven?" Think about it. I had the chance to share this on the metro with a Jehovah's Witness--hard to come across, but again, I believe I planted a seed. Holy Spirit, do your thing :) | | |
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