Gone Too Soon

She was a very brave, dedicated and talented young woman, only 26, gone too soon. Repose en paix, Camille. My deepest condolences for her family and friends.

Camille Lepage was a French photojournalist doing a project in Central African Republic. Her body was discovered by French peacekeepers patrolling in the Bouar Region in the west of the country driven by militia from the anti-balaka group. An investigation is ongoing to shine light on the circumstaces of this murder.

In an interview with the photographic blog PetaPixel last October, Lepage spoke about her ongoing projects, You Will Forget Me and Vanishing Youth, that capture the violence of South Sudan.

"Since I was very little, I've always wanted to go and live in a place where no one else wants to go, and cover in-depth conflict related stories … I can't accept that people's tragedies are silenced simply because no one can make money out of them."

Of her life in South Sudan, she said: "The fact that I live in South Sudan for a while really helps. I live in a local house in a local neighbourhood, with no electricity and little comfort, so I don't see myself as being very different from them [local people]."

She ends the interview: "I'm currently in the Central African Republic, working on a new photography project there for a few months before heading back to South Sudan and Sudan." ~ The Guardian

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Because they are so cute. Just look at that smile!

Farm Life

Last Sunday my family and I went to our grandparents' for a visit and to celebrate Easter with them. I'll be posting photos of my grandparents later, first I want to show you what I saw on the farm. I live in a city and these got me all excited. :)

I missed this calf. He's only a couple of months old. Last time I saw him he was half his size. He's really friendly and playful, and loves to eat vegetables so they have to keep him away from the vegetable garden. Haha!

Here's a hen with her chicks. She laid and hatched her eggs in the neighbor's property. They locked her up and claimed her as her own. My grandmother fought for her and eventually got her back. My abuela is one tough cookie. :)

A crown fit for a queen.

/

Can you now guess what this is?

A baby pineapple. :)

Whom Do You Seek?

Text: John 20:11-18, Jeremiah 29:13

Mary.

She looked for Jesus even after she saw that the tomb was empty. I could only imagine what she felt at the time. Maybe she was afraid that her Teacher's body was stolen. I could imagine that she was confused. I could imagine that she had little understanding of what was happening. Peter and John reached and inspected the empty tomb, they believed and went back home. Mary Magdalene stayed and looked for Jesus. She did not know what was happening at the time, she did not know that the Son of Man must die but will rise again on the third day after his death. She looked for Him and found Him.

God does not hide from us. If we seek Him we shall find Him.

I love the prophet Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon. Hebrews that were taken from their homes, their families, their country. They might have felt terribly alone, fearful, and sorrowful. But here is what the Lord told them through Jeremiah:

I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring you back to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 ERV)

  Not everything or everyone we seek will give us hope. He is our hope. We can trust Him for He has plans for us, plans that will prosper us and not hurt us. When we don't understand let us seek our Lord with all our hearts, and we shall find Him.

He Is Risen!

I am so excited to start this new plan from She Reads Truth. 

I can hardly wait. :) 

I hope you join us. :)

Miumiu Cat

I know it's shallow, but today I got a Miumiu Cat phone pluggy. It's soooo cute and it makes me happy. Plus it looks like our cat Mien Mien. See for yourself. :)

Day 8: Alive!

Text: Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15; Isaiah 25:6-9; Matthew 28

I am so excited that I do not know exactly where to start. Participating in this Holy Week plan for the lenten season by She Reads Truth has been very meaningful to me. The texts from the Bible in this plan are not new to me and yet, in some amazing and awesome way, they are. I just feel that the Holy Spirit is with me in this, teaching me new things, bringing to light truths that I have taken for granted. I have been guilty of not finishing plans, but I am so happy that I stuck with this. And it isn't really something so hard to do. I feel the love that the SRT community has. I feel welcome, even though I don't comment often. And I learned a lot. Thank you, sisters.

I have been waiting for Easter to come! The devotionals each day for this week has been leading to today - the climax! He is risen! He is alive! My heart is overwhelmed with so much joy that we are a witness of this event, this truth. The gospel is true!

We need not be afraid of death anymore. Our faith has meaning because He lives! 

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die— but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.

 Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

 It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! (1 Corinthians 15:51-57 MSG)

 You can stop searching the graveyard for the hope, the love, the life you long for. HE IS ALIVE.

Resurrection Sunday is more than the miracle of a man coming back to life.
It is the fulfillment of a promise.
It is the irremovable seal on God’s vow of love to His children.
It is the resurrection of hope.
It is the definitive declaration that the Love we long for is not dead. ~ She Reads Truth