Cup of Blessing

A scripture that I have been trying to hold on to lately is Psalm 16:5-

Lord, You are my portion

and my cup of blessing; 

You hold my future. 

It's good right? The title of the Psalm in my bible (Holman Christian Standard Bible version) is Confidence in the Lord. I lack a lot of that for some reason. I think I just get caught up in all the things I want (not need) and how I don't have some of those things right now. Marriage. Kids. Those are the big two. And some days I do not have confidence that God is going to fulfill those things in my life. But when I am pursuing Jesus, pursuing time with him, pursuing friendships that speak truth over me then I remember that the Lord truly IS my portion. He IS my cup of blessing and he HOLDS my future. Sigh. So good.  I wish I had better theological things to say about this, but all I can really say right now is that I know Jesus is good. I know that he is more than enough for me every day and that the only reason there is anything good in me is because he is in my life. Oh yeah-Psalm 16:2- I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." Hello-story of my life!! This is something that I have really been and continue to struggle through. I don't think that anyone ever overtly taught me that I need to please God through doing things or that what I do is what makes me worthwhile, but through some really good conversations with others in my life right now, I am learning that I find a lot of my worth in the things I do. That I work with foster children, that I love refugees, that I am good somehow because of these things. Ugh. Not true! I think I have equated these things with part of the reason why Jesus loves me. Or that somehow because I do these things other people will know how much I love Jesus. I have placed my value in these things. And I have left Jesus out of it and started to believe that somehow I could meet others' needs. Right... So the plan is that I will pursue Jesus daily because he has pursued me because he loves me. And he loves you. And the first commandment is: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." So this is what I will strive to do. Ask me if I'm doing this next time you see me! :) 

Stuff going on in Vickery lately-

Lots of babies! Two of my friends have had babies over the last two months. And they are beautiful, sweet Nepali babies!! I'm so proud of the two moms and how they are doing! Both babies are precious and healthy. 

Angelica and Saneesh 

Random fun times with kids in the apartments. One of my little friends, M, is really into listing out homophones (which if you are like me, you don't really remember grammar things-homophones are words that sound like each other but are spelled differently such as: ate and eight.) See how that works? One of our games lately is to be able to list out as many homophones as we can think of. M is a smartypants for a 1st grader and she can think of way more than I can. Love her. 

Sweet brothers (ok, most of the time...)

I spent a few hours with my Burmese family last Sunday. Played Go Fish for about an hour outside their apartment. Then the mom came home and she invited me in to eat Lepetho (no idea how that is spelled) but that's what it sounds like when she says it. Basically it's a leaf from Burma that is cooked and then mixed with a dried bean mixture. Very interesting and actually I thought it was really good! We ate it out on their balcony of their apartment and also had sugar cane candy and tea. It was awesome! And it really is so fun to sit and hang out with their family. They very much treat me as family I feel like, although they like to tell me how great I am -which is not good for the pride and value thing I was talking about earlier. So I always just say-Jesus is good, not me. And they know that ultimately that is true. I am so thankful for them and how they invite me into their home and expect nothing from me. This week I was sick and I got a text from the father today asking me how I was feeling. Family!! I'm so thankful for them. 

Burmese snack. :) Mmm

I went to Florida for Spring Break with my friend Katie. We went to visit our friends, Matt and Bethany, and it was a blast. I read through the Hunger Games series (just in time to see the movie), we spent time in Miami at the beach and played tons of games. It was such a nice break from work and Dallas. 

Miss this girl! 

Thanks for reading.... 

jess