In You.

“In you, Lord my God, I put my trust…. “

That is the first verse in Psalm 25, it sounds  nice and spiritual, perhaps simple and easy, yet when it comes down to it - when it’s gut check time, something,  I think, we all struggle with on some level.   As a general blanket for everything we can say “Yes, I trust the Lord”  but what about when we get into the nitty gritty…

In you, Lord my God,  I put my trust …to take care of my family, even though my husband and the father of our young children has just passed away…

In you, Lord my God,  I put my trust to in this uncertainty of my husband cheating on me and asking for a divorce…

In you, Lord my God,  I put my trust to guide me to pick the right path for my future…

In you, Lord my God, I put my trust when my passport and all my documents, cards, and cash gets stolen before trying to board a flight to Costa Rica…

In you, Lord my God,  I put my trust even though my father has just passed away and I’m not sure he knew you…

In you, Lord my God,  I put my trust in the processes that seems to be never ending…To keep me safe and provide for me… To keep my family healthy and taken care of… To save my friends and family who don’t know you… In the uncertainty… In the vulnerability? 

These past few months I’ve watched friends grieve loved ones, struggle to make decisions, been hurt on such a deep personal level, deal with loss and crisis.  There’s confusion, sadness, frustration, fear, and yet in the midst of it all – if we go back to Psalm 25,  there’s verse 3:  “No one who hopes in You [God] will ever be put to shame…” 

It may not always be easy, but I’ve seen His faithfulness, not just in my own life but in each of the above examples I’ve seen the Lord comfort, guide, bring joy, healing, and clarity.  To love on each and every one of my friends in their struggle.  1 Thessalonians 5:24 “The One who has called you is faithful…”  He is trustworthy and He never abandons us, even though we may feel lonely, confused or like no one understands what we’re going through.  He does and He will not let those who love and trust in Him be put to shame!

Can I get an amen?!


The month of May!  Some would say May is the best month!  Those people would be correct!  This year May brought me not one but TWO visits from some dear friends, it was so nice to see each of them and get out of the city to enjoy the beauty that is Costa Rica!  AND of course what is May without celebrating my birthday!

June, while lovely, still cannot be trumped by May *swoon.  June started off a bit rocky with me getting food poisoning and being pretty sick for about a week.  A little mandatory bed rest, was actually kind of nice, to be honest.  Then we had a past Strider, Jana, come out and visit – it was so nice to see her and reconnect

Now, we are into July and my 2019 Step team has just arrived on Tuesday morning.  They’re super delightful and I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better and seeing what God does in each of their lives while here and in the future!  Here’s the link their updates (there should be about 1 a week): https://www.latinlink.org.uk/blog/report-1-05072019







Prayer/Praise

1. Step team – for their health and safety, morale (they’ve only got ice cold water for showering), and that they would experience God in new ways, be encouraged, challenged and see growth!
2. CANADA!!! – That’s right Canada, I’m coming for you!  I’m looking forward to renewal and refreshment!  

It's Gonna be May!

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

 and you will find rest for your souls” 

Hello hello my friends, no I have not forgotten about you! I have just been all over the place.  The verse above is Matthew 11:28-29 and really resonated with me this morning as I sat down to fill you in on all my comings and goings from the past few months.  Sometimes, life can feel so overwhelming there are so many things to get done, so much busyness, things grabbing for your attention, stress, wanting to be that person who can help everyone but knowing and having to accept your limits, comparison,  realizing that community is positive and wonderful but also comes hand in hand with conflict and frustration, dealing with the reality that many things are out of your control – you can fill out the right forms, communicate clearly, hand things in on time but at the end of the day you just have to wait and pray…

It’s easy to feel beat up, discouraged, not good enough especially if you forget to keep yourself yoked (aka connected) to the Lord.  God uses the Bible to literally tell you “Come to me.”  The Message (a translation of the Bible that uses a more contemporary language) says:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

I don’t know about you, but when I read that first opening I was like “Tired? Yes… Worn out? Yes… Religion? YES!!!” An escape with the Lord and real rest sounds pretty appealing at the moment!  So maybe you’re asking, “great where do I find the Lord and get me some rest?!”  Well, the easiest place is none other than the Bible! Taking some time to go through the Bible and apply what you’re reading; to recognize that your worth doesn’t come from what social media or others say, but rather, recognizing that you are  “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)  God made you special!  There is purpose for you!  You were meant for something meaningful! Huzzah!! You’re on the road to rest!

These past few months I have been to camps, conferences, meetings, evaluations, traveling…

…visiting host families and mentors,  becoming part of the mobilization team leadership for the Missions Cooperation in Costa Rica (CMC)…

…Assisting a young family dealing with the husband/father’s aggressive cancer, more meetings!  Hosting visitors, keeping up to date with my striders, prepping for the Step teams and new Striders!   

Being in a wedding party, tending the garden, getting myself a flight to Canada! Not to mention English classes, translating for a visiting team from Canada, doing some conflict resolution… ooh! Dare I go on?!?

It’s no wonder I’ve been feeling a little tired…all the more reason to celebrate that my friend is coming on Saturday to take me to the beach for 5 days!!!  She surprised me last week! As someone who struggles to vacation this couldn’t have come at a better time!

PRAYER & PRAISE! 

• After 7 years of pain with a glomus tumour (not dangerous, just painful) in my thumb I was blessed by a kind member of my LAM family donating Photo Light Therapy to me so that, Lord willing, I will no longer have to deal with the piercing pain and distracting discomfort!  I started my first session yesterday!  Please pray for complete and speedy healing,

• For safety during my impromptu minibreak next week, may it be a time filled with joy, real rest, refreshing!

• For the many refugees who are without homes and food, particularly those coming to Costa Rica from Nicaragua and Venezuela.  May the Lord show me how to get Latin Link Costa Rica involved!

• Continued safety and growth for our Striders as they continue to learn how to navigate being in a different culture and all that that entails.  May they continue to search for God in all circumstances and be open to what God is trying to teach them!

Thank you again for being so wonderful! I appreciate each and every one of you who takes the time to support and connect with me!  If you are in the lower mainland I will be there, Lord willing!!!  So if you’d like to hang out, introduce me to your pastor, have me speak at an event or really anything else  let me know and we can put something in the books!   May the Lord bless you and keep you safe!  I’m really looking forward to seeing many of you in a few months time!

Big hugs!

Here I am vs. There You Are

Today, I was reading a book and it was talking about leadership and integrity and the idea of here I am vs. there you are; how many leaders walk into a room and are looking to be seen, noticed, to be appreciated (here I am!) – all natural desires but yet the Bible teaches us that Jesus came to serve, not to be served and how as leaders we should be focusing on others – how can I help you? What is the best for everyone?  Putting others above yourself…
I can remember a time quite a few years ago, I was working in a community  and one of the leaders came to me and said there was a small group coming to visit/serve us for the day and what were some activities they could help me with.  I thought about it and said “to be honest, right now the biggest blessing would be for them to help pick up all the garbage around the yard” it wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was genuinely one of the most pressing things needing to be done.  To my surprise I was briskly told that that was not an option and how could I even suggest that so and so pick up garbage!  Apparently, they were big donors and very important people – even the notion was preposterous to this leader.  I don’t remember what they ended up doing but I do remember feeling discouraged and confused… “weren’t they coming because they wanted to serve?”
It made me think about  ministry life and whether or not I fall into the here I am category, I thought about a conversation I had just yesterday where someone was telling me about a leader and their attitude – it’s something people really do notice, once you look past the ‘glamour’ of the spotlight.  Reality is, I think, we can all fall into the here I am category, it’s natural.  It’s not about judging others but rather being aware that we are human and sometimes we suck...but doesn’t that make the whole notion of grace and forgiveness that much more impressibe and valuable?!  I mean we screw up all…the…time!  Well, at least I do!  Yet, Mr. God still loves us, still hangs around to cheer us on and pick us back up… pretty exciting no?!

2018 wrapped up pretty nicely for me and 2019 has been off to a delightful start!  Back in November I finished up the Perspectives course (I passed! Woohoo!) it was a great experience and I had a wonderful time learning and making new friends.

My brother and future sister-in-law came the day after my last class and toured me aaaall around Costa Rica!  It was so much fun!  I love them so very much, it was a great way to unwind after a stressful semester!  I could go on and on spamming you with pictures but I will spare you! (mostly because my phone/computer and the internet are being difficult)

I spent Christmas and New Years here with one of my Tico families, which is always a good time!

January has been great so far!  A week ago, I went and picked up our latest Strider from Switzerland – haha well I didn’t pick her up from Switzerland, just the airport!  She’s here!  She’s absolutely delightful …may I present to you *cue drum roll* Zoe!!! 
Please keep her in your prayers as she picks up some more Spanish and settles into her new position in a local elementary/high school where she will be working with children with disabilities!

This past weekend I represented Latin Link at a youth conference called CIMA and it was super successful and a great testament to what a dork I am, can you even believe that I was discouraged at the beginning, feeling like people wouldn’t want to talk to me or care about the cool stuff God does through Latin Link?!  So ridiculous!  He proved me very wrong!  I literally had someone come racing up to the table and tell me she had been waiting for me to show up all week (the conference had started on Monday and I was doing the booth on Saturday) because it was exactly what she’d been looking for!  She told me part of her testimony and I told her all about what we do…*swoon* it was so amazing – I tear up basically every time I think about it, because it’s just like .. how amazing is God?!

What’s next you ask!
Well, next week I will be helping in the kitchen for the youth camp at church, then starting in February Zoe will move into her host family home, we’ve got the annual Latin Link Central America South (haha yes! It’s a mouthful!) conference, THEN I’ll spend the following weekend serving in the young adult camp for church (games team).  Aside from all those fun things, I also have my wonderful administrative duties, discipling, we’ve got TWO Step teams coming this year, plus I’ve got some Stride profiles to find opportunities for, plus I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of English students I have piling up...but all of that is nothing compared to the very exciting event and creator of joy within the Chandler family that is, the wedding of my baby brother later this year!!!!

2019 is shaping up to be an excellent year!  As always, I’m super grateful and blessed by each and every one of you who support me whether by faithfully praying, keeping in contact, financially supporting me, and all of the other ways you make me feel loved and cared for.  I am truly blessed!

Big hug!

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