Facebook is Taking Over!!

It’s amazing how quickly things change around here in cyberspace.

It used to be if I wanted to share photos with family and let them know what was going on with us, I’d have to email it all to them and then call them to tell them to check their email. Then, they got good at checking their email regularly and got online a bit more. So I started just posting stuff on online photo albums and writing on my blog. I could do it on Facebook… but nobody except my college friends had a Facebook account.

But then, whaddaya know… EVERYBODY got on Facebook! So now my blog is redundant, my seperate online photo albums are redundant, and that’s great! I get to simplify and it makes it easier for me to make it convenient for everyone.

So from now on… all our stuff will be on Facebook. Photos, video, notes, etc. If you want to see it, get an account and add me as a friend.

I will also maintain a website with information about our mission to Honduras. It will be updated roughly every month. Check it out at http://smithhonduras.weebly.com

Nothing more here.

Baby Corbin on Twitter

Follow Corbin on Twitter to see what he’s up to and to (eventually) catch a steady stream of photos as well.

http://twitter.com/babycorbin

By the way, you will be able to view past photos on our Facebook profiles as well, but the daily action can only be found on his Twitter page. If you don’t have Twitter and don’t feel like signing up for another web account, you can subscribe to the RSS feed and keep up to date that way! Same content, just without the cool Twitter look.

Bastrop State Park

This weekend Abby and I went out to Bastrop State Park with our friends Collin and Laura Beck. We had a good time camping, hiking, taking photos, and discussing matters of faith.

I will be putting all our photos on Facebook now instead of Picasa, so go check them out if you like.

Honduras Zipline

A little overdue, but here is a short video made from footage taken on a zipline in Honduras:

God Provides!

I want to share a really cool thing that happened today!

First off, a little background… Abby and I have started looking around for things we can sell before we go to Honduras; things of value that we can’t or wouldn’t take with us, and that we would not want to store for whenever we come back. A few days ago I listed my bass guitar for sale, thinking I could get about $200 for it.

Today, I was at church waiting for Abby to come downstairs after working with the youth, and an older hispanic gentleman noticed the Honduras t-shirt I was wearing, and struck up a conversation with me. He proceeded to share about some missions work he was doing in Mexico, and other tidbits of how he does ministry that were really interesting. Just talking to him reminded me of the Spanish service that our church has started doing during the 12:30 hour. While the regular English service is going on downstairs, a Spanish service takes place in the youth room upstairs. Abby and I decided to check it out.

During the service, when they were collecting the offering, the pastor mentioned that one of the things they will be purchasing soon is a bass guitar for the Spanish worship team. I immediatly felt led to offer them mine, thinking it couldn’t be a coincidence that I was selling one, they needed one, and I just happened to be there today. I kind of had a little doubt, because after all, the money that I would have gotten from it would have gone towards Honduras missions, and wouldn’t God want me to sell it to raise money for the orphanage? But I still felt led to donate the guitar, so after the service I approached the pastor and they gladly accepted the gift.

Later that afternoon, I drove to First Baptist Church in Castroville to speak about missions and being a missionary to a group of about 20-30 children. I was invited to speak by my uncle who attends there. I didn’t know what to expect, really, and I haven’t done a presentation like this many times before, but I put a slideshow together, wrote a few notes, and gave a nice little talk. They really enjoyed it and I thought it went really well. Unexpectedly, towards the end of my time there, one of the leaders told me that the kids had been collecting cans and doing other fundraising activities to raise an offering for the Honduras missions work. He told me they didn’t have the final count yet, but it would be right around $200. The same amount I could have sold the bass guitar for!

Amazing! In one day, God tested me to see if I would freely give, even though the money from the bass could have gone towards missions. I had to trust that God would provide for our needs and I had to let him be in control instead of me taking everything into my own hands and trying to get all the money on my own. After I gave, he confirmed to me that he really does have everything taken care of; I don’t have to rely on anyone but him to provide for our needs.

There are many parts in the Bible that talk about relying on God, but two specific passages come to mind:

• Matthew 10:28-31
• Matthew 6:25-27

I know that it can be hard to trust in God, especially in economic times like these, and especially when what he asks of us doesn’t always make sense to us. I hope that this story is encouragement for you to step out in faith and trust in him! It is through experiences such as these that I KNOW he is the one, true God. You can’t take this experience and so many others like it and chalk it up to coincidence. God is definitely at work in our world today, and he can work through you if you trust him.

Bass guitar + PlayStation2

As we prepare to go on a long-term mission sometime in the near future, we have been looking around the apartment for things of value that we will not take with us and would rather sell. I listed a couple of them on Craigslist today… let me know if you want them:

Play Station 2 package

Bass guitar package

Fredericksburg and E-Rock

Over Easter weekend, the Smiths and the Mills converged on Fredericksburg, TX for three days of outdoor adventure and relaxation. My sisters, my parents, and Abby’s parents met us in the quaint little town on Friday afternoon. We walked around town some and then headed out to Enchanted Rock for a hike to the summit. It was not too long before it began to get dark, so we drove back into town after a few hours at the rock. The next day we split our time between hiking and rappelling in the park and walking along Main Street checking out the unique shops. Sunday morning found us at Denny’s enjoying an amazing breakfast, after which we visited Wildseed Farms just outside of town. After walking around the grounds and taking a few group photos, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend, especially since we got to share it with family!

Check out the photos on Picasa:

Enchanted Rock 2009

Three Incredible Weeks – Part 3

It’s been a while since my last post… and with good reason! The past several weeks have been action-packed like no other! Every time I think I’ll have time to sit back and reflect on what just happened, another thing starts up! So until recently, I haven’t had much time to process it all, much less blog about it. So before anything else happens, I’m taking the time to give you the Cliff Notes version of my past few weeks.

Grandma Johnson’s Memorial Service – March 27-31

It was Friday around 10:30am when I got the call. Mom hardly ever calls me during work hours; I could tell she was sobbing when I answered the phone. I knew what was next.

Grandma battled ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, for over 10 years – much longer than the doctors said she would. Even though she eventually became a quadriplegic as a result, she remained strong in her faith and kept a positive attitude. However, the last year, and especially the last several weeks, were especially painful for her. When I got the call I knew she was walking with Jesus, completely pain-free! Though there was extreme sadness in my heart knowing she was gone from this earth, I was filled with even more joy knowing she was in a better place, and that someday I will get to spend eternity with her in Heaven.

It was amazing how quickly the family got together. Many people (including us) drove or flew great distances to be together that very same day, and the rest were in town by Saturday. I was reminded of how blessed I am to have such a tight-knit family. As we reminisced over the many wonderful memories of our grandmother, we realized how much we are in debt to her for investing in us. We would not be the individuals or family we are if it had not been for her love and encouragement. 

The memorial service was held in their small, local church on Monday at 5:00pm in the afternoon. The sanctuary was past its regular 300-person capacity; my best guess is around 350 people in that room. There were about 150 more people in a second overflow room where we streamed the audio and video of the service. All of the grandkids had a part in the service. The granddaughters shared her life story with a slideshow, and each of the four grandsons (including myself), spoke for a few minutes on what she meant to them. [Read my segment] Grandma would have loved the service; I felt everyone involved did an excellent job at honoring such a wonderful woman.

To those who are reading; thank you for your notes and prayers. Thank you for supporting the family through this difficult time.

- read the obituary

Three Incredible Weeks – Part 2

It’s been a while since my last post… and with good reason! The past several weeks have been action-packed like no other! Every time I think I’ll have time to sit back and reflect on what just happened, another thing starts up! So until recently, I haven’t had much time to process it all, much less blog about it. So before anything else happens, I’m taking the time to give you the Cliff Notes version of my past few weeks.

Rooted – March 20-22

The weekend after we returned from Honduras, Abby and I helped out with Rooted, a weekend retreat of sorts for the youth at Grace Point Church. We have each been helping out with the youth since January; Abby has a class of 8th grade girls and I have a crowd of 6th grade guys. Still, we hadn’t had much of an opportunity to spend much time with the youth outside of our designated hour every Sunday morning. Rooted changed that… quickly.

We both volunteered as small group leaders, which means we were assigned an age group and got to hang out with them all weekend and lead them in a handful of reflective Bible study sessions. They intentionally put all the volunteers with age groups they normally do not get to work with, so Abby got Junior and Senior girls and I got Junior and Senior guys. We had a blast! Sure, the music was great (Jeff Johnson & band), the speaker was inspiring (Matt Smith), but most importantly, I got to really connect with the guys and get to know them better. It was really great seeing how God was working in their lives. Some of them had grown up in the church and had been a Christian since they were young. Others came from broken homes, from destructive lifestyles, and were brand new in their faith. I felt privileged to be a part of their spiritual growth. God has great plans for all of us, no matter where we came from or what we did. It was an uplifting weekend!

Three Incredible Weeks – Part 1

It’s been a while since my last post… and with good reason! The past several weeks have been action-packed like no other! Every time I think I’ll have time to sit back and reflect on what just happened, another thing starts up! So until recently, I haven’t had much time to process it all, much less blog about it. So before anything else happens, I’m taking the time to give you the Cliff Notes version of my past few weeks.

Honduras – March 7-14

Three weeks ago Abby and I went with nine others from Grace Point Church on a mission to La Ceiba, Honduras. We taught Bible stories and played with the children from several churches and schools, helped with construction on a new orphanage, put on a coaches’ basketball clinic, and more. Though the ministry we did as a group was very impacting – both for us as well as the people there – Abby and I had a more pressing quest.

Ever since we met on a mission trip to Guatemala while in college, we have known that global missions and evangelism would characterize our family and our life. Since then, we have been patiently following God’s plan and seeking his direction for our lives. First, he led us to each other and into marriage before we graduated college, something neither one of us had planned for ourselves. Secondly, he led us to San Antonio and Grace Point Church, where we have experienced tremendous growth through the love and devotion of the people around us. About a year ago, he exposed us to the work he was leading in Honduras through the service of Teresa Devlin, a missionary from Grace Point. We learned of the plans to build an orphanage just outside of La Ceiba. Immediately we wondered if this is where God was leading us to serve on a long-term basis. For a year we looked forward to this trip; once it finally came time to go, we were anxious to see what God would reveal to us.

The trip was nothing less of an overwhelming confirmation of God’s desire for us to serve him by serving the people of Honduras. By the end of the trip, we both knew it was the next step; the next chapter in God’s story for our lives. It was incredible how naturally both Abby and I fit into the Honduras scene. There was a real connection with the people, a real sense of unity. We were in awe at how God opened doors for us to share our faith with so many people, both young and old, and how receptive they were to our story. We also received direct confirmation from Teresa, John Walters (our missions pastor), and others who went with us. There was no way we could miss this; God is calling us to Honduras.

For now, we continue to wait – on the completion of the first buildings of the orphanage, on the arrival of our first child – but we have a peace knowing that God is preparing the way.