Mission Day with the Kids of Dayspring...

This morning I had the joy of teaching about 20 kiddos from Dayspring about Missions. We sang a few songs, I shared about missions, and then we made tortillas...La Barra style! It was so much fun to see the little kids roll the dough between their hands and smash it in the tortilla press!! While we were making tortillas, the other kids were playing 'Tina' (pronounced teenya), the spanish version of 'Tag'. Good times...

Lead Me To The Cross

Song Lyrics by Hillsong:

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

This song is so simple. The simplicity of the gospel preached brings such joy and peace. Oh that God would lead us to the cross every waking moment of our lives. Oh that our hearts would be inclined to the heart of God every waking moment of every day. I join with Paul in struggling for all believers, including myself, at Colossae in chapter two: that we would reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is CHRIST, in whom are hidden all the TREASURES of wisdom and knowledge (vs 2b-3). Oh that we would exhaust the treasure chest of Christ and that all the wisdom and knowledge we glean from Him would result in a life of praise to the King, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Father. The gospel is simple but filled with inexhaustible joy and treasure found in Christ alone. May our lives reflect the Treasure we contain in these feeble jars of clay.

OK...so I LOVE Cheeze!

Well, this last Saturday I GOT ENGAGED! It is amazing what the Lord is doing. I am sitting back and just marveling at His awesome works!! I quote with the Psalmist:

"This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

I can't begin to explain the progression of our relationship and how fun it has been to wait on the Lord and follow His lead in our lives. I think even we are shocked and amazed at how the Lord has brought this about so quickly. His timing is perfect and so right and it is a blessing to walk according to what He has for us.

So, here is the story...the night began with dinner at Peasant Village in San Angelo. I had some incredible Chicken Parmesan. Afterwards, Jason took me to the Huckaby's house where we meet for small group on Sunday nights. They have a beautiful back deck that overlooks the state park. Not to mention we had already shared some incredible times of fellowship and worshiping the Lord together on that back deck with all our friends. We arrived and of course no one was home but the front door just happened to be unlocked...we went to the back deck and Jason asked if he could read me a letter he wrote me. He proceeded to read it to me and just before he finished he mentioned getting into the word a little bit. He had to go get bibles though. He came back with his bible and with a new brown bible for me...with Cara Arnold printed on the front. I opened the bible to where the bookmark was placed, in Proverbs 31, and the ring was tied to the ribbon. Jason then told me he loved me for the first time and asked if I would marry him...but I said no. Just kidding. I said yes! We then read Ephesians 5 together before he took me to the place where this blog began, Baker Street. We both love cheesecake and chocolate and Baker Street has Turtle cheesecake, which is the best of both worlds, so we took off! Little did I know that an engagement party was awaiting me! I walked in and saw two of my friends from college. Not a shocking thing because that is where we always hung out. But then my nephew Jacob came and hugged me. I thought, that is odd...and then I rounded the corner to a room full of people staring at me. Yeah...not so used to that! The sweetest moment of all was when I saw my mom walking towards me! And then my Dad!! Jason invited them to come all the way to San Angelo to share this incredible moment with me! It was the biggest blessing ever and I am still beaming with joy and thankfulness for that moment. For the actual facial reactions you can go to a blog my sister has already created at:

bebeearnoldwedding.blogspot.com

We enjoyed fellowship with our friends and family and some good turtle cheesecake. This past week my sister, who is multi-talented, took our engagement pics. Here are a few of my favorites!









I will keep you posted as the journey continues. I am still working with Mission Fuge this summer. I leave June 6th for Ecuador and arrive back in the states from Canada on July 29th. I will then get married four days later on August 2nd!! I mentioned that my sister was multi-talented...she and my mom will be planning my wedding. I am so excited that I get to leave and not worry about plans and then just come home and get married! Not much of a wedding planner. After the honeymoon, we will move up to Kentucky and Jason will start seminary at Southern on August 18th! So excited about being a seminary wife!!! I will find a job as a nurse and get the much needed medical experience I have been wanting. Well, pray for me this summer as I have the privilege and opportunity to invest in many students lives as well as the people we go to with the gospel in Ecuador and Canada. I'm excited to see what the Lord has planned for this summer. I love to watch Him work!! Love you all!!