Rachel Hampton

Fruit May 25, 2010

You know what makes my heart so happy? To see or hear about the fruits of serving God. Whether it’s me or someone else, it doesn’t matter. There is so much joy in simply seeing how God is working.

Last night I went to dinner at a friend’s house (yay for wonton soup!) and was able to meet her roommate for the first time.  She was excited to learn that I had lived aboard the Doulos and began to tell me why. Thirteen years ago in 1997, the Doulos visited Manila. A small team of three went out into the community for outreach ministry. They spent time with kids outdoors teaching them how to make balloon animals and performing dramas. The female on the team was focused on one girl in the audience, the woman sitting before me now, telling her story. Her life was changed that day. She heard the gospel for the first time and accepted the gift of eternal life that God offers to every one of us. Since that day, she has continued to grow in her relationship with Christ and is so thankful that these three Doulos crew spent time that day, no matter how short, sharing about what brings them so much joy.

It just goes to show, you never know how God is going to use your life. There may be a soft voice inside you that tells you to do something that seems insignificant or even ridiculous, but God can use it. And most likely, He will…whether we’re aware of the fruit of that obedience or not. That is what is so great about serving a God that I am incapable of understanding. He does not fit into a box. I cannot comprehend why he does everything that he does. But I can trust. That is all I am tasked to do. Obey…and trust God with the rest.

Exhale.

That’s pretty freeing. I don’t have to force solutions or outcomes for situations. Or even know how they turn out. God has it under control. I’m so thankful for that today.

God, allow us to live in complete obedience to your leading and leave the rest in your hands! Amen.

Just call me Usain Bolt May 17, 2010

Just a little Olympic trivia for you. Remember the insanely fast (and slightly cocky) Jamaican runner?

I’m only making this highly false comparison because I ran a “marathon” this weekend. Technically a 3K does not really qualify as a marathon but it was promoted as such so I’m just following their lead. Plus it sounds cool to say ” Yeah, I ran a marathon this weekend.”

Because it is summer in Manila and HOT, I had to wake up at 3:45am so I could meet my work colleagues (It was a office bonding event and many of the staff participated) for the beginning of the race which started at 5:30am.  The sun was not even foolish enough to be awake when I got up. I’m pretty sure it was a little sad that day. Part of it’s PURPOSE in life is to wake me up with it’s happy sunshiney goodness. It didn’t get that opportunity Sunday. No one was more sad about that then me.

Lining up to start the race

Look at this crowd! We were definitely not alone.

Filipinos love for their skin to be light so there were many people walking around offering sun block to the runners. Interestingly enough, no one offered it to this white girl. I burn, people! But I figured, it’s 3K…how burnt could I really get; so I let them pass.

The race started with an enthusiastic guy (of course he is, he doesn’t have to run) counting down from ten and then yelling “Go!” Enthusiastically, we cheered and started to run.

About 3 steps.

It’s called traffic, people traffic. So we were forced to just kind of run in place. It felt wrong to just stand there and not do SOMETHING.

It wasn’t long before the way was cleared and we were off.

Let me interject by saying–I am out of shape! I really mean that. I don’t remember the last time I went running. Or did any serious exercise. It’s not that I dislike working out…I just hate to run. So you may be wondering why I was in a marathon. Don’t ask me to explain how my strange mind works. I’m more of a martial arts, kickboxing, tae bo, dance, kind of exerciser.

Still, I am quite stubborn and competitive so I was determined to run as far as I could without stopping. That equaled about 1.5K…about a mile. That may seem weak to you. Please, I encourage you to read my disclaimer above. If you’re too lazy to scroll up or just have really bad memory (might want to get that checked out), I’ll tell you again….I am out of shape.

The last half I alternated between running and walking. I hilariously tried to sprint there at the end. Unfortunately, I seriously misjudged the remaining distance. I didn’t make it at a full sprint. In fact, panting, I had to walk a bit. I’d be embarrassed about that if not for the fact that…

I AM OUT OF SHAPE!

But I did push myself. I will not share my time, it is not important. The important thing is that a big guy who has at least 100 pounds on me sprinted past me at the very end. No wait, that is not the important thing. The important thing is that I finished. And got free stuff!

The run was sponsored by Neutrogena and they had the best gift bags put together. We got a tank top and tshirt proclaiming we Chased the Sun (the slogan for the race). I also loved how the shirt lists 3k, 5k, 10k, and 15k. No one has to know I ran the shortest one. Muahahaha. Our bag included lots of goodies as well. They even had booths set up with lots of free stuff. We couldn’t resist jumping on the trampoline and posing for a free pic.

Carefree spokeswomen

I was proud of all of our staff for coming out and running.

And I was really glad I didn’t try for the 5k. But there is always next year…

Lows that bring highs May 13, 2010

Life is not a fairytale. Though it is filled with things that make your heart feel overwhelmed by the goodness and joy in it, we are only able to see how good life is because it is contrasted with the bad. No one can honestly say, “Oh I love it when Satan is attacking my life and everything seems to happen at once!” Those times are not fun, but they are necessary! For one thing, they make the good times a little bit sweeter. There is also this:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5

I don’t know about you, but when I come out the other side from those trials of life, I feel stronger. I feel more loved and protected by God. I find a new hope in his promises. I can feel him more closely and an intense appreciation for his faithfulness wells up in me.

This past week a few of those trials crept up on me and their remnants continue to surround me. Still, God never left me.  I was hurting. doubting. deflated. But I turned around there was God. I cried and he comforted me. I failed and he forgave me. I needed encouragement and he gave it. I still need those things, but there is a new joy in me. That even though some of those trials continue to stick around like those nasty cockroaches in my apt, I know who also is sticking around. My FATHER.

And last night as I thought through these things and started reading a psalm, the first verse jumped off the page at me. It was a reminder of how to live and then transformed into a truth that my heart could rejoice in.

Psalm 108:1

My heart is confident in you, O God;no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!

What a mighty God we serve! Praise Him today.

I’m not a liar! May 4, 2010

The above is just to clarify in case you’ve been wondering.  I know I told you two posts ago that I was going to talk about my job, but funny taxi driver was a story that just had to be shared! Now I will get down to business (ahem).

*pause to collect myself*

I’m sorry, I cannot take myself seriously right now. It is after 4pm, I’m in the home-stretch before the end of the work day, and I’m feeling a little random. Not like that’s a big shock to most of you, I know. Hush.

Focus Rachel. Ok.

My job. I am working for Monsoon, a communications office under Wycliffe International. The amazing people I work with have backgrounds in communications-related fields and focus mostly in consulting work for partners in the Asia-Pacific area. That cleared it right up, huh?

I am the electronic media specialist. This has meant a lot of research and thinking the past few months. Good thing I have that college degree under my belt! There hasn’t been a full-time staff person who has that background, so we’ve been trying to figure out how to best use my skills to help the need for translation throughout the area. I’m in recent contact with two partners and we hope to use local radio stations in their countries to not only promote their work, but get the Word of God onto the airwaves. I hope to continue working with our other partners to take advantage of the great resource that comes through radio.

In the meantime, I’m getting Monsoon set up with a social media strategy. Wow, there is a lot to consider that I never realized when you’re looking at social media. And it is blowing up in popularity. If you want to be on the cutting-age of communication, it’s important to recognize the role social media plays.

So hopefully that makes my job description a little more clear to you. It’s fun and I’m loving using my major to help with the Bible translation need!

Interesting facts about the past few weeks:

• I was able to use my own funding to get LASIK eye surgery. It’s a freaky procedure, but I’m very happy with the results. The first few days it felt WRONG to be going to bed with great vision. Poll: Should I put the DVD of my surgery on YouTube?
• I’ve killed three more cockroaches. I’m so ruthless I haven’t seen any in over a week. I guess I showed them who is boss. It’s ok for bosses to shriek and whine when they’re trying to discard cockroach bodies, right?
• Kelly Clarkson in Manila. Let me just say the opportunity to go to her concert was not passed upon. She was amazing!
• I epic-ly failed at ordering meat properly at the grocery store. I wanted a pound of ground beef. They don’t give it to you in pounds, they do kilos. My friend told me the conversion was 1 to 2.2. I didn’t ask which was which but instead ordered 5 kilos of meat. Wrong. Not that anyone would be foolish enough to make that same mistake but just in case; learn from me please. Save yourself the embarrassment.

That about does it. Next post in less than a month. Guaranteed. Anyone want to bet against me? If you lose, you send me a case of Dr. Pepper. Someone please bet against me. Anyone? Bueller…Bueller….