Powerful

I crave music...need it. It's like an addiction I just can't kick (but a good addiction, nonetheless). :) Music is very powerful to my heart and my mind. Not only does it speak to me on an intellectual level and is such a brilliant way to get a message across or speak truth, but music also speaks to me on an emotional level. It has the ability to floor me & bring me to tears. It revitalizes me, encourages me. So much so that I can't really explain it in words. Even simply hearing a tune, any tune, can change a foul mood. Lately, these two songs have been the type that simultaneously kick my butt & bring me to tears, but also makes me feel like William Wallace preparing his troops as I get ready to go to India. I will leave you with the lyrics. Be inspired and blessed!

• "God of Justice" by Tim Hughes:

God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Came to serve and not be served

And Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received now freely we will give

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go

Fill us up, send us out

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in every way
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us what You require
Freely we've received now freely we will give

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go

Fill us up, send us out
Fill us up, send us out
Fill us up, send us out Lord

To act justly, loving mercy
We must go, we must go
To the broken and the hurting
We must go, we must go

We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken, we must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go

Fill us up, send us out

• "Jesus Our King" by Todd Proctor

You are the King upon the thrown, the angels now attend

Your sovereign will alone sustains the world we're in

You're the God of ages past, who was and is to come

You alone are first and last, You are the Holy One

Jesus our King, we lift You high

Be glorified, be glorified

Jesus our King, we bring our lives

To glorify you now and forever

You are the King who walked the earth in fragile flesh of man

Came to give the widow worth and touch the leper's hand

Knew the pain that was to come, Yet still endured the cross

That Your Fathers will be done, to seek and save the lost

Death could not defeat

The grave could not contain

You rose in victory, now in glory reign

I was like, baby, baby, baby, oh

I've been thinking about this past week a lot, because it's been quite funny and interesting. It started off last Monday with me planning to get off work and see my wonderful friend Kristi. Little did I know that she got a new puppy spur of the moment that day. She was going to Starbucks on her lunch break and there was a lady selling a litter of these adorable puppies outside. Kristi had been wanting a puppy for a while and in thelitter of puppies was one that she just couldn't leave behind. Interweb, meet Chai!

She's half Pekingese, half Shih Tzu. Chai is the sweetest, most well mannered puppy; and she's the biggest love bug. I'm a proud aunt :) The funny thing is that while I was hanging out with Kristi, my little sister text me with a picture of her new kitten she had just gotten. So, again interweb I want you to meet someone. Here's Peanut:

I got to actually meet Peanut because my sister came down from Chico to surprise the family and show everyone the kitty. She got in really late Friday night, so she actually stayed at my apartment and then I drove her to our family's house and she surprise everyone there. Here's a video of it ;) (I know it's not very bright or HD, but I think you can get the surprise element)

Another really huge thing that happened this week was that I got published on Rage Against The Minivan about having Turner Syndrome. It was powerful for me to even post on a blog, and to know Kristen, who writes the blog. She is such an example to me and I am blessed to know her family and get to spend a good amount of time with them. They are seriously something special. It was also powerful to witness what has come out sharing the post...more than I could expect. So encouraging and I just know God is using it for good :)

On Friday, I had a free evening I had a free night and had wanted to visit my friends who just had a baby. They are dear friends of mine (April & Nick) and it was their first baby. April had a C-section so was going to be in the hospital & I figured that she could use some extra company. Their little girl Ella is so precious and beautiful. Look at that hair!

I also worked a lot this week as well! But, it's such a blessing to have the provision of work. But, my heart is full and I have a smile on my face from being able to spend quality time with people I love and to also be filled with love (baby love) :)

p.s., the title of this post is dedicated to Steph and Amanda (and Owen) :)

My Journey to India

My mission trip to India is approaching fast! And, if I'm honest I have a ways to go with raising support. I wanted to put this up on my blog again to see if anyone would want to partner in prayer and financially for my trip. Here's my letter again (with a correction...because I actually get back January 8th, 2011) and the chipin.com link. (and you can also click the chipin.com link on the side of my blog too :)

I have the exciting opportunity to share with you about my returning to India on another mission’s trip with ROCKHARBOR church! This will be my 3rd time going to India, and my second time as a leader for the trip. The Harvest India staff, and the people of India are very dear to my heart. Over the past several years, my relationship has grown closer with Harvest India staff-I even had the privilege of having Suresh, the President of Harvest India, celebrate the 4th of July with my family while he visited the U.S. this summer. I am continually amazed at the work they are doing to show the love of Christ and serve the untouchables in India. And I’ve had the privilege of being on the leadership team at Rockharbor for the past year and am excited about the team I am going to India with. Our team of 31 church members from Rockharbor will be traveling from December 26th,,2010 to January 8th,2011 During our trip we will be: helping provide villages with clean water wells with pure drinking water, giving food and medical aid to the poor, people with HIV/AIDS, and those considered untouchable, hosting a VBS for several hundred orphans, aiding the pastors in evangelist events to reach many villages with the hope of the Gospel and also giving support and hope for a better life to a local orphanage Rockharbor sponsors. Our first and most important support needed is prayer. We are asking for prayer: · For our team safety while traveling, and during our time in India · That we are spiritually prepared for any spiritual battles that may be encountered · That we may share the Gospel boldly & with the love that Our Savior Jesus has shown us · For unity, support, flexibility and compassion within our team · That people we meet will have hearts prepared to receive Jesus as their Lord & Savior, and One True God · That all the team members will be able to raise the financial support necessary to go · That the pastors, church planters and people of India will be encouraged and strengthened as followers of Christ. Secondly, there is a need for financial support if you feel called to also participate financially. I have committed to raise $3,500. If you would like to make a donation to my trip or know of others who would, please make donations payable to ROCKHARBOR Church. Please do not write my name or the country anywhere on the check. You may use the included return envelope, which is already addressed and indicates that the donation is for my trip. If you use your own envelope, please mail it to:

ROCKHARBOR Church.

Attn: India/Brittani Ehrhorn

3080 Airway Ave. Suite A

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Please note that donations are tax deductible and are non refundable. All donations will go towards the overall cost of the trip, and any excess funds will first help to cover the team’s costs and secondly will be gifted to the ministry we are going to serve. Thank you all very much for your support of this ministry. I’m so blessed for you to be apart of it alongside me. Brittani Ehrhorn (behrhorn@alumni.uci.edu…feel free to contact me if you have any questions)

oh, poop!

So, in the last two weeks I've done a lot of babysitting. I've even done a few overnights one weekend. It all went well though...of course not without a few stories to tell. I warn you, there are no gory details but I will talk about bodily waste...I'm just sayin'.

One of the nights that I did an overnight, and I had made homemade pizza bagels. The kids loved 'em. I also let the kids have a tiny bit of ice cream (it seriously was a small portion size) afterwards because they ate well and also ate veggies. Of the four kids in the family I was sitting for, the 4 year old boy ate all his dinner plus an extra half of a pizza bagel. And boy, did he scarf down his Neapolitan ice cream I let him have. I got the kids in the bath, got them dressed in PJ's and relaxing in the living room. Then, the 4 year old boy threw up on the couch. Literally, it was one second he was smiling and laughing with no signs off feeling ill, and the next he upchucked his dinner. I quickly got a "throw up bowl" and took him into the bathroom. He finished throwing up as we got to the bathroom (I was sort of amazed and proud that he used the throw up bowl, btw). Luckily the couch cushion was the only thing that got touched with throw up, and it was removable so I took it off and washed it. I kept the little guy up for about 10 minutes and he was seeming really tired and groggy. I couldn't tell if he was really sick or ate to fast and/or the food didn't settle well with him. So, I put him to bed with the throw up bucket with confidence that he knew how to use it. Because he shared a room with his brother, I used a portable kids mattress in the house and had him sleep in my room with me. I went to bed a couple hours later and he hadn't thrown up or gotten up. Seemed good. He ended up sleeping through the night. I was relieved for him and happy it didn't turn to be anything worse. I heard him starting to wake up at about 7 in the morning and I woke up too. I asked him if he wanted to snuggle and he said yes (I figured if he hadn't been feeling good he'd want some affection or a hug that he'd normally get from his mom or dad). So he hopped into the bed I was sleeping on and we hugged and snuggled. He turned and looked at me and I asked him if he felt "good or yucky"? He said "good!". It's hard to explain at that moment the exact feeling I felt, but it was somewhere along the lines of what it would feel like to be a proud mama for him feeling better and me doing my best to handle the situation as well as comfort him the best I could, and also being thankful this sweet little boy was feeling better because I saw his little personality shine through again in that moment. :) What I was probably feeling was joy.

Another funny story from that week: I was babysitting a little girl who was having problems going to the bathroom. Her mom asked me to not feed her certain things and make sure she ate other things. And she also asked to let her know if there was any "movement". After the little girls nap, she did go to the bathroom. So, after she was done etc., I texted her mom "S went poo! It was rounds, but it was a good amount". Now, before you come to any conclusions about me or this text, please be advised that I knew the mom would text me back and ask for details so I included them to begin with. About an hour goes by and the mom didn't text me back, which I thought was unusual. So, I check my text and low and behold I text the wrong person that same message. Holy backpedal Batman! Luckily, the person I sent it to was a 1) mother, and 2)just about 2-3 weeks earlier had the same problems with her daughter too. Needless to say, the three of us all had a good laugh about it.

Hopefully these stories didn't gross you out too much, and were entertaining. All these things begin to make me feel like I have a lot of notches on my "mom belt" and I don't even have kids of my own. Haha. It's all preparation then, I guess :)

hard work now pays off later...

I've been trying forever to write a post! Wouldn't it be nice if it just wrote itself? I mean really? :) There is a lot going on in many different areas of my life. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Work, friendships, family, and also working on myself. You know when there are times in your life when some personally difficult things come up, and you have to take care of them. You can't shove them under the rug; you just can't. Just gotta deal with cleaning up what's dirty. It's a time of growing and maturing. It's not easy, but it only leads to healthiness and only benefits me in the long run.

For example, I have a new part time job and I want to be the best that I can be at it. But, that requires a good amount on my part to actually be intentional and do it well. Or, there's been a period of time this summer where my schedule was absolute madness and unorganized stress for me. So, I took control of it and now I'm not stressed by it. Or, learning/realizing that I have never had a good example of being financially wise, managing my money well and saving. To the extent where it's kinda (moderately) slapped me in the face and convicted me to want to do better and get out of that cycle. With the advice of my good friend as well as my roommate, I am getting (what I like to call) "financially buff". Also, I cannot begin to express how simply amazing my roommates are! Seriously amazing! They are looking out for me, have my best interest at heart, are so insightful, believe in me, love me, seek the Lord so much, are so wise, refreshing, have so much discernment and have helped me in so many ways lately. In such a way that blows my mind, and leaves me feeling like I know that they are in my life for a reason and they are so right in tune with God, and God is using them to speak into my life. One other thing that's been working on is getting accountability for getting my butt in gear for grad school an really making progress with being able to meet all the requirements. (Thanks Tselane!)

There is a lot of refining and big things and foundational things happening in my heart, and I am always encouraged during times like these and thankful for all the ways that God is so present in my life personally.

Support...it's what I need :)

Hi y'all! :) I hope you're having a fabulous Saturday. There's been some rain here, but it's made for a great day :) A low key one, definitely but also productive. I know that I've mentioned about my trip to India here. I also wanted to share with you how to give online to support my trip. And I also wanted to post my support letter. Thank you all for reading!

here's the link to my online giving page at chipin.com: http://brittehrhorn.chipin.com/my-3rd-mission-trip-to-india

Hi friends and familly,

I have the exciting opportunity to share with you about my returning to India on another mission’s trip with ROCKHARBOR church! This will be my 3^rd time going to India, and my second time as a leader for the trip. The Harvest India staff, and the people of India are very dear to my heart. Over the past several years, my relationship has grown closer with Harvest India staff-I even had the privilege of having Suresh, the President of Harvest India, celebrate the 4^th of July with my family while he visited the U.S. this summer. I am continually amazed at the work they are doing to show the love of Christ and serve the untouchables in India. And I’ve had the privilege of being on the leadership team at Rockharbor for the past year and am excited about the team I am going to India with.

Our team of 31 church members from Rockharbor will be traveling from December 26^th,,2010 to January 9^th,2011 During our trip we will be: helping provide villages with clean water wells with pure drinking water, giving food and medical aid to the poor, people with HIV/AIDS, and those considered untouchable, hosting a VBS for several hundred orphans, aiding the pastors in evangelist events to reach many villages with the hope of the Gospel and also giving support and hope for a better life to a local orphanage Rockharbor sponsors.

Our first and most important support needed is prayer. We are asking for prayer:

· For our team safety while traveling, and during our time in India

· That we are spiritually prepared for any spiritual battles that may be encountered

· That we may share the Gospel boldly & with the love that Our Savior Jesus has shown us

· For unity, support, flexibility and compassion within our team

· That people we meet will have hearts prepared to receive Jesus as their Lord & Savior, and One True God

· That all the team members will be able to raise the financial support necessary to go

· That the pastors, church planters and people of India will be encouraged and strengthened as followers of Christ.

Secondly, there is a need for financial support if you feel called to also participate financially. I have committed to raise $3,500. If you would like to make a donation to my trip or know of others who would, please make donations payable to ROCKHARBOR Church. Please do not write my name or the country anywhere on the check. You may use the included return envelope, which is already addressed and indicates that the donation is for my trip. If you use your own envelope, please mail it to: ROCKHARBOR Church. Attn: India/Brittani Ehrhorn

3080 Airway Ave. Suite A

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Please note that donations are tax deductible and are non refundable. All donations will go towards the overall cost of the trip, and any excess funds will first help to cover the team’s costs and secondly will be gifted to the ministry we are going to serve.

Thank you all very much for your support of this ministry. I’m so blessed for you to be apart of it alongside me.

Brittani Ehrhorn

(behrhorn@alumni.uci.edu…feel free to contact me if you have any questions)