Not able to sleep

There is so much I want to say I don't even know where to start...There's not even enough room or time to write everything so I will try to narrow it down to the most important...

God has shown me so much in the last few months its insane. These last three weeks in Mexico especially. There are so many things in life that you know in your head but you don't really know them in your heart. For instance: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can be a slut *in a drama people, don't get any ideas*, eat more food than should be humanly possible to consume in one day, pray for people that don't even speak my language, tell my testimony in front of lots and lots of people, be confident in who God made me to be, and completely trust God with absolutely everything. You know what else? Just try to wrap your mind around this. The God that created the universe, the God that spoke mountains into existence, the God that is so big he is everywhere at the same time loves me, and chose me to be in this program and to go to Mexico and tell people about Him. Out of all the people in the world, I got to do that. Dude.
Have you just sat there and tried to wrap your mind around how much God loves you lately? I think that too often we forget exactly what that love entails. Too often we just know it in our head.
We wrote down goals today and one of mine is to never forget and just know in my head that God loves me, but to always know it in my heart. To never get used to the fact that the God that created this entire world and everyone in it loves me. Me, ZuZu Ford. Every time I think about that, like really think about it, I have this major wow moment and I want to go tell everyone so that they can realize the same thing.

So these are just a few things and when you read most of them you're like, ya duh I've known that my whole life but there is a big difference between knowing something and knowing something. That is something I'm learning, to never let yourself get used to the things of God to where they don't amaze you anymore and they just seem normal.

There is so much more I want to say but now I need to sleep. I will write more later.

Hopefully soon I'll have pictures I can put up too.
Later
Zu

Off to Mexico I go!

Hey guys just wanted to post really quick before I leave. I have to be at the church in like half an hour and I think I am done packing....I took my last shower this morning and straightened my hair. I should take before and after pictures lol

Anyway I better go I've got some things to clean before I leave but feel free to leave me lots of messages on my phone to come home to!

God is going to do some freakin awesome things and I get to be a part of it. How cool is that? Dude I'm excited!

Later yo! I'll be back on the 31st!

2009

Wow I haven't posted anything on here in a really long time.
Well it is now the year 2009. I cannot even begin to describe how I excited I am for this next year. God is going to do some crazy awesome things and I get to be apart of some of them.

So this is the last day of Christmas break before we go home tomorrow. It's been a good relaxing break, maybe a little too relaxing. There were a couple of days where I got so bored I about went crazy. It was good getting to spend time with my family. We are actually getting along now so that is awesome. I am however ready to go back. I miss my 24/7 family. I miss having things to do every day. I miss Blends coffee. I even miss working out with everyone cuz working out on your own sucks.

Ok well I have things to get done today before I leave so I will leave you with this quote from a book I've been reading this week.

"A leader fails his disciples when he fails to help them progress from disciples to leaders." -Rick Zachary

Wheat thins are amazing

Wow so much has happened sInce I posted last...For one thIng my computer Is freakIng out and for some reason every tIme I type the letter "I" It Is In caps and so for every word that has an "I" In It, the spell check thInks Its mIsspelled because theres a capItal letter In the mIddle of the word. Its drIvIng me crazy.

Other than that thIngs are goIng pretty well. There Is drama wIth one of the gIrls on my team wIth the fact that no one lIkes her and we're gettIng In trouble for IgnorIng her.
Pastor RIck saId yesterday that the people you don't lIke are the people you're goIng to learn the most from In thIs program. He saId that anyone can love someone you get along wIth but It takes a true ChrIstIan to love someone you thInk Is a paIn In the butt.

I thought about that and realized that he's right. I've learned so much from this girl whether I like it or not. I've learned how a lot of the things she says are the things I think but would never say, things like when we hear about some crazy thing we have to do she will say "what? are you serious? oh gosh this is going to suck." it's honestly what most of us are thinking but when said aloud its the stupidest thing ever. I've learned to change the way I think, to take my thoughts captive. I'm also learning how to be patient and love people who are not exactly the most loveable people. I know that God put her on my team for a reason.

So ya things are interesting here...I know about some stuff that's coming that I'm not supposed to know about and I don't know everything about it, just enough to make me anxious and nervous about it and kinda wish I didn't know about it...that made no sense but thats ok...

I'm experiencing bloggers block at the moment so I'm going to continue this later...

Later

really quick

Hey guys I promised a certain someone that I would post a picture of me with my new hair for all to see so here are a few pictures really quick.




This is the new hair. And that's Monica


This is what my team does in the van when we get bored


This is Monica and I at the garage sale very early in the morning


Laurie and me at the church before I dyed my hair


And this is Livi, she loves me.

Ok that's all folks. Sorry I didn't have time to make much of a post but I promise I will soon.

I miss....

Hello bloggers....
I have a lot to say but not much time to say it right now and I won't get it all out right now....I don't even know how to start...

I miss my best friend....I hate being this far away...I hate that when something big happens I can't be there. I can't rush over to her house when she needs me...I can't hug her when she needs to cry...I can't laugh with her when she's happy...

I love my new friends and we have a lot of fun but after a while I need a break from them...I miss being able to hang out with my best friend constantly and never getting tired of her...

I hate that I'm busy all the time and never have a spare min to talk to her when she needs to talk...

I'm sick of drama and having to get along with all different kinds of people with personalities that clash and having to deal with them. I miss being able to just spend time with my best friend and never hafta worry about drama because the only time we fight is about stupid things.

I miss playing guitar all the time and hearing her sing constantly...I miss taking stupid pictures and making crazy videos...

I miss midnight runs to taco bell and dying eachothers hair and watching buffy the vampire slayer for hours and hours.

I miss having someone around that knows me better than I know myself and knowing them just as well...

I miss Brittany Noel Padilla...

The continuation....

Is that how you spell continuation?? it looks funky but the lil spell check thing says its right. oh well



K so right now I am sitting like right by the window stealing internet from some house near by cuz my internet is still screwed up. Where's Christopher when you need him??

I just got back from church. 24/7 was being introduced to G-Life which is their jr high ministry here and so the three teams did their intro skits that we made up and then just hung out with the jr highers. I've decided I totally love G-Life. Their pastor lady is freakin awesome! She is so flippin hilarious I about pee my pants. I would rather listen to her preach than the college and young adults pastor guy that we listen to sunday nights (is that bad??) anyway it was kinda funny/ironic cuz she preached on purity.

Not the usual save sex for marriage kidna purity but like keeping your heart pure in general. Something I honestly hadn't thought a whole lot about and she told this story about this jr high kid a few years back that had been told by his parents that he is not aloud to have a girlfriend. He says ok.

Ya so then he meets this girl at G-Life and they "fall in love" (of course) so he decides to make her his girlfriend anyway. (of course) and they come up with this sneaky way to communicate by as soon as she emails him she will call his house and then hang up and then he knows to run to the computer and check his email and then reply and delete it really quick. (through all of this I'm having hardcore flashbacks and going omg I totally did that) so needless to say this plan didn't work for very long and they eventually get caught and he gets all mad and is talking to the jr high youth pastor lady (oh her name is Amber btw) so he's all mad and saying how unfair it is and they don't understand and he loves her and all this and she says to him.

"I'm not denying that you have feelings for her, I'm sure you do and I'm sure they are real. But do you love God?"

and he's this great kid and is totally in love with God and he's all like "yes of course I do."

and she says "do you believe that everything in the bible is true and we should do everything it tells us?"

and he's all like "ya of course"

and she goes "well did you know that the bible says you gotta honor your parents?"

and he says "well ya but..."

she cuts him off, "ya there's no buts. Sorry kid if you really believe that the bible is God's word and that we need to do everything it says you can't have but's. And I know that honoring your parents sucks sometimes, but you know what if you honor them, and by doing so you're honoring God, then he will bless you for that."

She went on with saying that so often with God we will tell Him that we give Him everything and we wanna serve Him but....we wanna hold onto this....

God you can have everything....but this...



I was on the edge of my seat the whole sermon. She said a lot more but I didn't have paper to take notes with so that was all from my shaky not reliable memory. But anyway that really hit me hard and I wished so so much that I had heard that when I was in jr high. I'm sure I had heard it but not in that way. Not in the loving way. So ya I'm really excited about their jr high ministry I think it's gonna be awesome.



I had this thought. If we could get jr high kids saved and really living for God while their still in jr high, think how much easier the sr high youth pastors are gonna have it. Why not get them saved and discipled before they get too screwed up? Wouldn't that be easier? That way they won't hafta go through and do a lot of the things that we all had to.

I don't know I just had that thought the other day on one of our long hikes where I didn't have anything to do but walk and think and try to not fall on my face.



Anyway...I really hope I can retain all the information that I have in my brain right now and everything I'm learning until this is all over so I can write it all down cuz there is so much I don't want to forget that I just don't have time to write or type. But for right now that is all I have time for.



Thanks for reading, sorry I ramble a lot.

Peace.


P.S.

Dude ok you would not believe what I had to go through to post this stupid blog! As I hit the publish post button my internet dies...(of course) luckily blogger is wonderful and saves drafts every like 2 seconds or I would be very angry...anyway so I go searching for internet and finally find a connection at the days inn motel. So I am sitting in my car in the days inn parking lot using their internet...is that sad?...don't answer that.

On another note I discovered a secret that I am going to share with you but only because I am a very nice person and I love you. (that and all of like 1 person reads this) You can go to starbucks and buy a venti iced whatever for like 7 bucks....or you can buy a tall hot whatever you drink (in my case the white moca with extra expresso) and then ask for a venti cup of ice and pour the hot drink into the cup of ice and what do you know...you pour it in and its exactly enough. So you get the venti size for the tall price. ITS A BARGAIN! I feel so sneaky like I cheated the system or something I love it.

Ok ok that is all I promise I'm done, now I must download a whole buttload of music.
Goodbye