Copy of Updates

Facebook Syndication Error

Facebook.com — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 20:59:48 +0000

This feed URL is no longer valid. Visit this page to find the new URL, if you have access: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=68604306">https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=68604306</a>

what have I been doing in Haiti? check out this video

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:19:24 +0000

This video showcases a school World Vision put a computer lab in.

Definitely going to miss this and these people!!!

One of my weirder job hunting experiences

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:23:11 +0000

On the side of the freeway

The Latest from Lucas and Alicia – you want to read this :)

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:42:35 +0000

Hello all!

Ecstatic and dumbfounded, we write to tell you that we are pregnant!! We are overjoyed to begin on the journey to becoming parents. We are stunned that our heavenly Father has chosen us for this immense task of raising a child for His purposes and in His delight.

I am about 10 weeks, due date Aug14. We have the privilege to have excellent care here in Haiti. We have been in to see the best OBGYN in Haiti, Dr. Guichard, twice. He has given me ultra sounds each time, and rightly so, has the nick name The Ultra Sound Dr.

Since we are first-timers, and because of our overwhelming desire to be near family during this special time, we have decided to come back to CA. We plan to be back by the end of March. Lucas has started up his program that auto-applies to jobs for him on Craigslist and has already sent out 300+ resumes and he's also had a couple great job interviews in the LA/OC areas.

See you soon!
Alicia + Lucas
www.experiencesinhaiti.com

wow what a spacious airplane

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:32:18 +0000

cute kids

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:21:49 +0000

santa!!! i know him!!!

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:56:06 +0000

some cool looking tourist site

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:11:04 +0000

the dedication of the first rock of a school building

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:27:28 +0000

if this was true, i wouldnt be seeing this sign

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:07:59 +0000

blan! blan! ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:22:17 +0000

the mind behind the subject

alicia mae simmons — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:13:00 +0000

i have been looking at objects lately and wondering about their creator.

like the 3x5 card. What genius person created that nifty little note card that is so helpful for studying things or holding treasures like scriptures or recipes.

like the valentine card on my desk from my aunt. someone drew that kitty cat and was it the same person who wrote the little message? (on the front: "you're simply meow-velous!" inside: "and i hope your valentines day is too.")

how about the computer and the internet? how do pieces of plastic and metal, rubber and copper wire, and electricity mix together to make this machine? like i wonder who created bread. who thought to mix flour and water, oil and yeast etc together and through it in an oven?

really as you look around everyday we are encountered by maybe 1000s of objects and ideas that were created by someone else. i never used to think like this. a card was just a card. and bread just tasted good. but lately i am looking behind things wondering what made this this way? a real individual person took time and energy to think this up and then put bring it into reality. it really is incredible.

sometimes i look in the mirror. what a strange creature! or i gaze at the small succulent plant on my doorstep. or a turtle. what oddly beautifully very odd creatures! what was behind the creation of these!? i love God for his amazing creativity.

i was just in washington dc with lucas. we visited an orchid exhibit. incredible. did you know there are 10,000 - 17,500 species of orchids?? i am convinced these are God's favorite flower too. some of them made me wonder "what was God thinking when he created this?" they are just so wonderfully strange and different. absolutely love them.

back to the human being. seriously a fabulously wonderous creature. think of the genius and the creativity behind it. how does a physical body have thoughts and feelings? how does it learn and process? how does it use substances we call food and an action we call sleep to fuel our energy? if only we could transfer this to a car! just let it rest over night, and it is ready to go again in the morning!! i was talking to a friend about the incredibleness of our skin today. our skin is pretty tough, as well as really fragile. without it we would be a sloppy pile on the ground. it is also has an incredible amount of sensors that tell us hot, cold, pleasure and pain.

it is just all so mysteriously incredible.

so am just in wonder at all these things. i imagine meeting the creator of the 3x5 card and being bewildered by the ingenuity of the mind behind the subject. i cant imagine meeting the Creator off the natural world. of music and beauty, love and orchids. its like meeting your favorite author, tv star, artist, speaker x50 bazillion

highs and lows

alicia mae simmons — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:12:00 +0000

today's highs:
1. watching Clairmond go through a kids devotional bible and tell us about almost every bible story from adam and eve to the good Samaritan.
2. watching Alex, Schnider, Walgens, and a few others, in our team's business class get excited and dreaming about beginning a business.
3. starting to work on some gardening at the guest house.
4. praying with the Child Hope staff.
5. bible study with the girls.

today's lows:
1. mosquito bites
2. not being able to fit it all in a day
3. missing walking the kids to and from school
4. missing the feeding program again
5. gathering people

it was really cool to go around and share about our highs and lows at our team meeting tonight. great idea lucas! people in our team are being profoundly touched. we love watching that!!

first days in haiti

alicia mae simmons — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:12:00 +0000

since we arrived yesterday afternoon i keep looking around and realizing i am going to be here for a whole month. right now im a part of a team of 13, including lucas and i, who are leading. we have been learning SO much through being in leadership. we didnt really ask to be here, but fell in love with haiti and were asked to lead teams, of course, we said yes. its a ton of work and responsibility... but it comes with great rewards! we are almost just like the planes that physically brought us here. lucas and i simply pave the way for people to come to this place and experience what God is doing here. its nothing special. its like planting a seed, watering it in and then coming back a week later and seeing the sprout... knowing you had a small part in it, but taking joy in the beautiful mystery of the growing. peoples lives are deeply impacted, not by us, or anything we do, but by the Lord doing His transforming work of love in people lives.

john mcchouls sermon today was about life. the most precious commodity that one can ever give, because it is the most precious thing we have ever been given. i hope that our lives would be poured out here this week as a team, in sharing, in giving, in being together, and in doing Gods work. and i hope that my life would be poured out into this place over the next month. maybe i wont see big results, like it is so easy to see results a team's new experiences, and projects, but i will plant and water, trusting that God is at work making things grow!

1 corinthians 3:7
so, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

make me

alicia mae simmons — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:21:00 +0000

totally pure i want Him to make me
frustrated and shamed is my reality
anyway that i try to see
anyway i try to be and be
i cant be anything but a scared fraility
my lists of accomplishments only hinders
me from the dare to totally surrender
to the one who calls himself Love
to the one who created all here and above
to the one who all my sin he carried
up calvary to make my heart clean
only to have me disregard Him
not believing east and west now separate me from sin
not believing His power can come in
side me and redeem all that has been condemned
to the fire and raise me up again

so i cry out to you Jesus
who says you never leave us
why cant i connect to the vine of living water
so my heart can be built on rock and never totter
and then He says to me I am your Father
yes i will not leave you
but you must understand that there is nothing you could do
to earn this love i hold out before you
i gave my Son to all so all could come to me
i freely give this gift why is it that you cannot see
that the only thing that stands between you and being free
is your tight hold on your grasp of reality
let go and let me show you what is real
I am the I am and I will break the seal
and rule the new earth with an ever righteous zeal

crumbled and humbled i see You for who You are
how have i stumbled again to get so far
away from the truth of your amazing grace
lovingly lifting the veil from my faded face
You look into my soul and and my heart you replace
with flesh from stone like the stone was rolled away
to reveal your mystery and glory on one simple day
suddenly again i remember why you came
to earth and lived and died and rose and call my name
to follow you in faith and hope and love
to give my life back to you for i am simply of
dust you put together and breathed life into
my flesh with a purpose and a plan to use
my life to magnify You
and so i give up to you my severed divided heart
to make me totally pure from the finish to the start

didnt get the job

alicia mae simmons — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:34:00 +0000

so i had a job interview at an awesome non-profit last thurs. it went real well. volunteer coordinator at 'giving children hope'. i am super qualified for it. and am super stoked on the organization and what they are doing. i was thinking it would be a good fit. it would have been an excellent challenge as well. not to mention it would be using my degree... imagine that!! so i got the call today. they thanked me for coming in and said they enjoyed meeting me. but they decided to choose another candidate for the position.

i dont think i could have prayed more or trusted more that God would lead me. So i have to take this as His leading.

I was going to have to sacrifice a few things for the job.

slow mornings. i never work before 10:45am. i still get up around 7 but take my time. go for a walk. pray. read. make a breakfast.

the next thing i would have to give up is my hip hop classes. i keep wondering if this is something that i should dive head long into... if its worth it.

traveling. lucas and my fun getaways couldn't happen often.

part time work. going to costco, target, and the bank somewhere between 9-5. time to stop by the ocean shore and reflect on life. time to schedule breakfasts with girlfriends.

pomodoro. dont get me wrong. i wouldnt be too sad to say good bye to the serving job itself. but i would be sad to say good bye to the staff, the flexibility, the ocean view on the patio... my ministry there too would probably get sacrificed.

and then there is haiti. which may be the reason that they didnt hire me. lucas and i are committed to the ministry. as many of you reading may know we may travel there 3 or 4 times a year. this winter i will be there from nov 20 - dec 26. even though the ministry of 'giving children hope' would include aid to haiti... i think they need a volunteer coordinator who is going to be in the country.

all in all. i was bummed. but i was praying for the Lords guidance and i have to believe that this is part of that guidance right?

inspired

alicia mae simmons — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:12:00 +0000

after reading a bunch of blogs... do you ever get inspired to write one?? well this is what just happened to me. i need to be finishing a support letter for lucas and my next trip to haiti. somehow i got to reading blogs of some incredible young women that are living there in haiti now. dana and ari. i was reading and trying my darndest to put myself in their shoes. living in haiti. what would it be like?? i do get a tiny test run. soon. from nov 20 - dec 26. 36 days i am planning to be in haiti... working alongside these girls whom i am admiring. what will this do to me?

so many possibilities are always right in front of me. the joy of being an american. i think it the curse of being an american. how do i discern what is right or best? for me? for everyone? in Gods eyes? jobs. ministries. opportunities. seize the day? how do i do that when my day is already seized before i get to it? pray? ask God for direction? am i ready and willing to accept his direction?

i have been a true follower of Jesus for 10 years now. i am always thinking that i should be in a better place spiritually than i am. more knowledgeable. more trusting. more discerning. more encouraging. feeling the Lords presence. confident in faith. leading others to Christ. being salt and light. being an ambassador. walking in truth. being stong and courageous.

i know im hard on myself... but then again... isnt the Lord hard on us?

"but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." Luke 12:48

"So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:12

"Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." 1 Corinthians 3:12-1

hello?

alicia mae simmons — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:02:00 +0000

hi blog world. i havent been here in a while. nice to see you.

later.

weary and heavy laden

alicia mae simmons — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:48:00 +0000

i feel this way this morning.

i have been pursuing Gods voice. i have been praying for a silence and peace of my heart so that i will be able to hear when His voice comes. i want to KNOW what He sounds like. i want the confedence that the Holy Spirit has to offer.

during prayer is such a difficult time to be still and listen and wait. especially since starting this pursuit. i began, and my heart was so burdened for susette i was praying for her and almost nothing else (other than my usual remorseful cry over my own sins). this week has been very ruff... as soon as susette was home and better. a friend was in an accident. james. but i saw Gods protection and provision for him. he walked away with just a bruise and a realization of how many people he has in his life that care for him. i was told of a grave sin of my great uncle. jack. he is in prison. my mom asked me to pray. but i think he will be just fine. he confessed his sin and now is paying the consequences. my aunt needs the prayer more. our life group wants to be a place where people can open up and be real. why dont i feel like i can do that? then my gramsie calls me. she has been diagnosed with lymphoma. my instant reaction was to encourage her with susettes success story. she asked me to send prayers her way. i said i would. she lives in australia. i hope to see her before she returns home. and lucas.

as i was praying this morning i couldnt even get to all of this because of the remorse of my own sin. an hour later i was drawn back to prayer. a scripture came to mind...

Matt 11:28-30

come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

susette

alicia mae simmons — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:00:00 +0000

she is recovering quickly thanks to God's grace and our prayers!! she ate a cheese enchilada yesterday!

Jesus loves this girl so much!!

you can read her updates here: www.susetteupdate.blogspot.com

six months

alicia mae simmons — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:08:00 +0000

we didn't even realize it had been six months. we had just spent the weekend in san diego. friday was cristina and asa's wedding. saturday we spent with a couple married couple friends. sunday our haiti team got together for a bbq. but mid-kiss on our couch back at home is when it dawned on me. somehow. six months had gone by? crazy.

significant days are just like any other days. we just choose to celebrate and remember things on certain days. birthdays, wedding days, deathdays, and days we are just thankful for something. that pretty much wraps up the significant days (let me know if im wrong). christmas, easter, thanksgiving, your birthday, the anniversary of a loved ones death, a six month anniversary, a baptism, fourth of july, memorial day, mothers day. the days themselves are not special for any other reason than God allowed the sun to once again rise. what is special is the thing we celebrate. we take time out to say "hey this is important to me," "you are important to me."

somedays are easier to celebrate and remember than others. Lucas' brother died almost 5 years ago. in my experience i have never had to encounter a significant day i was not looking forward to. it is unfathomable to me and my heart is searching for the way to be what he needs right now.

san diego

alicia mae simmons — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:43:00 +0000

(this was an attempt to post from lucas' blaskberry. all that showed up was the title and the time. maybe next time ill get it)

a friend of mine has been sick

alicia mae simmons — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:24:00 +0000

susette mannasero. i met her through my husband lucas. he met her years ago and is one of the first people to talk to him about Jesus. in 2004 she and her family sold everything they had and moved to haiti to begin an orphanage. christmas eve of 2007 susette was diagnosed with cancer. hodgkin's lymphoma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodgkin's_lymphoma
so she has been back in the states for testing and treatments. late jan she was tested and the results were cancer free!! an incredible testimony of Jesus' ability to heal still today! however, they were asvised to still go through the chemotherapy treatments. 6 months of chemo went by quite smoothy compared to many that go through this. i attribute this not only to the personal strength of this woman, but also her spiritual strenth, and the grace of God. you can read her update blog here: susetteupdate.blogspot.com
on the home stretch now susette has been going through radiology treatments. unlike chemo... these are daily. 7 days straight. one day of rest. and another 7 days. after the first 7 days she was having incredible pain while trying to swallow food, and then even water. it took two hours for a piece of quich lodged in her contristed throat to make its way down her esophogus. apparently, the radiology treatments had caused great damage to her esophogus. she couldnt eat for the next 7 days, and when they attempted to put a tube down her throat, they found it was bleeding. her blog asked us to pray.

i found myself this past week having susette so deaply laid on my heart. i dont think i have ever prayed for something so urgently. (except maybe for guidence about marrying lucas). as each day passed i was praying more urgently. sunday (yesterday) was a day of decision. they would try the food tube again, if that did not work... she would have to have a PICC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter) inserted until her esophogus healed enough to eat. sunday i attended my church's service on the beach. the message was on soul food. the pastor used the same theme scriputures and worship songs that have been on my heart for susette.

Matt 11:28-30
Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

John 6:35
Then Jesus declaired, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thristy.

ALL WHO ARE THIRSTY
all who are thristy
all who are weak
come to the Fountain
dip you heart in the stream of life
let the pain and the sorrow
be washed away
in the waves of His mercy
as deep cries out to deep

come Lord Jesus come
come Lord Jesus come
come Lord Jesus come
come Lord Jesus come

this somg, i believe, is from Isaiah 55. the whole chapter is really incredible. here is another song from the same portion of scripture:

COME TO THE RIVER
im waiting here for You
listening for Your voice
speak Your Word over me
and my soul will live

great are your mercies Lord
renewed for me everyday
you faithfully pardon me
i hear You say

come to the water
come to the river
come to the well
come if youre thristy
come if your broken
come and be healed

as sure as the rain comes down
as sure as the snow alls from heaven
Your promises are fullfilled
i hear You say

come and drink from the Saviors cup
come and be cleansed by the Saviors blood

i will go out with joy
i will go out with peace
the mountains and hills sing praise
and i hear You say

so... the news is: yesterday she was able to swallow some ice cream and jello! Praise Jesus! however she was unable to drink the protien drink, ensure, and she will have the PICC until she is able to eat/drink something more nutritous.

please pray for her. she is the mother of 53.

thoughts as we leave for haiti

alicia mae simmons — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:45:00 +0000

i was thinking about sin and how terribly much i waist time seeking after pleasures that are so futile. a quote about mud pies popped into my head.

c.s.lewis (of course)

"If you asked twenty men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to the desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desire, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. We must not be troubled by the unbelievers when they say that this promise of rewards makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of rewards. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desire that ought to accompany those things. Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man a mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not a mercenary for desiring it. A general who fights well in order to get a peerage is a mercenary; a general who fights for victory is not, victory being the proper reward of battle as marriage is the proper reward of love. The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation."

pray that i would love above all else.

news

alicia mae simmons — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:54:00 +0000

our haiti team has a blog... www.haiticampinabox.com

keep up with the latest and greatest!!

26 isnt so bad

alicia mae simmons — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:49:00 +0000

i never wanted to worry about getting old. i decided at some point when i was a kid that i would always be proud of my age... whether i was 10, 26, 37, 64, or 99. well, we can all agree that getting older was fun back then. but i think its fun now and really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. i remember my grandma turning 39 over and over again when i was a kid. so silly i thought!!

im 26 now. i guess i thought id have kids and a career by now, but maybe thats what you bum out about getting older... you are thinking of what you dont have. well this year i was totally overwelhmed with what i do have!! it may be a little easier for me... being newly married :) but having lucas in my life this year made 26 so fun. we had a regular busy wednesday on the 7th so lucas planned to take me out to breakfast. 7am. Eat at Joes. im not telling you to eat there. that is what its called. i had oatmeal and that always reminds me of my grandad. he goes out for breakfast and orders oatmeal everyday. everyday. growing up i would decide against the pancakes sometimes and order oatmeal too. just to be like him. lucas and i went on a little walk, and took some random pics, enjoying the snipit of time together before the work day began. when we got home my phone rang. my grandma and my grandad sang Happy Birthday to me! i could hear them both. it was so special i was about to cry. i love them so much. throughout the day i got Happy Birthday texts and singing Birthday voicemails from close family, good friends, and even some new friends! my dad said a prayer for me that also almost brought me to tears too. women. what is it with the men on our lives? they almost always make or break any special day. come on. you know its true. when i got home from work lucas had cut me some flowers in our front yard and made me a card. when i saw them on the counter i got so excited (i knew where they were from). if you know me. i really dont want more than that. i love it simple. and so long as i get to spend some good time with you thats all i need. so i was all set to cook... but lucas took me out to dinner too! islands. one of my favorites. then it was time for our perspectives class and lucas insisted on bringing a cake. yum! so of course with the cake the Birthday song could not be resisted. and pastor dan and the class prayed for me. i had to choke back a tear again. class was about misconceptions that chirstians ans muslims have between one another (one of my favorite topics), and about thinking through how we want to be involved in Gods plan to bless the nations. since lucas was simply set on spoiling me, we went out to 7-11 for slurpees, took them home, and talked about what we want to do with our lives. is this really my life?

so when you are older maybe you are bummed out about the parts of life you are going to miss when you are gone. mostly time with the people you love the most. i had one of those times last night. my mom, sister, and grandparents came over to lucas and i's for dinner and pie. i sorely missed my dad (who was out of town) but had a really indescribable time with my family.

i have to say i just feel overwelhmingly blessed. again if you know me i can get bummed out on life pretty easy sometimes. the 6th i was feeling that way. burdened. worried. and i know through you people that love me, Jesus was showing me how much He loves me. you know. He really loves us.

when you get older, it must be much more real. the fact that you are going to die one day. you hurt when you stand too long, you cant pick up things without help, your hair is grey or gone, and you have great grand children. but you have a full lifetime of memories. good. bad. fun. hard. and they are all full of people. some of those people may be gone already. but they somehow must still be part of your life. so we should know that when we go we will still be part of the lives that we leave.

but! for those of us who believe. Jesus is waiting for us! open arms. with love. and the family of believers too. and we will be together without sin and death, with our Lord. forever. into eternity.

this is alicia's first post

alicia mae simmons — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:29:00 +0000

posted by lucas