Together We Can Make a Difference!

It all began last Fall as I was working one day in the comfort of my home. My eyes were on the computer screen but my thoughts were very far away. "If I am doing what I love and enjoy, then why do I feel so empty inside?" was the question going around in my head. I tried to brush the thought aside, but as the days went by, the more I felt a strong burden growing inside of me, making me feel like my life had no true meaning, and no other purpose than only benefiting myself. 
While seeking the Lord about it, I came across the verse that says: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10)
I was speechless. That was it! God had been putting in my heart that I needed to stop living only for myself, and start returning Him the gifts that He has given me by serving others.
I began to look for a way that I could do this. I really had no idea what the Lord wanted me to do next. But I prayed, and searched, and prayed some more! And it wasn't until March 29th 2015, that He sent the organization Arms of Jesus into my life. 
I still remember very well the words of Pastor Sam Martin, founder of AOJ, as he spoke the words:
"If any of you feels like God is calling you to surrender your all to Him, lift your hand, and I will pray for you."
Even though he was all the way in Guatemala, and I was only watching the live streaming of his sermon, I lifted my hand along with the others, and in that moment my life seemed to take a whole different direction.

As we sang this song at the end, I knew what I had to do next:

"I'm building an altar for You oh God, to lay my life upon it.
I'm building an altar for You oh God, to sacrifice my all.
I give my whole heart to You oh God, 
and choose to embrace Your will for me,
I give You my life for Your glory, take it now I pray."

The Arms of Jesus Children's Mission (armsofjesus.org) is an organization based in Ontario, Canada. And it's purpose is to provide food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, homes for the homeless, healing for the sick, as well as send teams from North America to participate in medical work, construction, relief, development and evangelism in different parts of the world, including: Guatemala. Where I am from.
God has called me to return to my country and serve Him there. I am not sure exactly all that lies ahead for me, but one thing I know for sure: "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps." (1 Peter 2:21)

I will be joining a team that leaves from Calgary, Alberta on October 1st, 2015 and will be working at the mission in Antigua Guatemala as a translator and part of of the missionary team until October 11th. 
My hope is also to document the lives of the children while I'm there, with the desire of helping people realize just how blessed we are here, and how so many people in the world are in need our help. I will create a video and photo-book to share with you when I come back to Canada on November 7th, 2015.

I am asking for your support on this immense new chapter in my life. I simply cannot accomplish it on my own.
Most importantly, I'd like to ask for your support in prayer. Please be praying that God would start preparing me and my team to serve Him wholeheartedly there, and that we may be able to make a difference, not only by helping with the children's physical needs, but by sharing God's love with them, and leading them to the arms of Jesus!

If you also feel led to give financially, you can do so online, on my website, or by mail. Any amount would be greatly appreciated! This will help to cover the 11 days that I'll be at the mission. And if there are any funds that I don't end up needing during this first trip, it will go to help the Arms of Jesus Children's Mission.

Online Fundraiser: YouCaring.com/laurasguatemalamissiontrip 
Website: www.laprostudio.com/mymission
or Mail cheques to:
Box 808
Milk River, Alberta
T0K 1M0
Canada

Thank you so much for reading, and for playing a role in this story. I so appreciate you!

Together we will make a difference!
Laura Maldonado

A Voice in the Wilderness

Have you ever wondered why God decided to place you in this time in history? 

As I think back on all the different time periods, significant men and women come to my mind who made an impact during their lifetime. And I can't help but wonder, could I ever become a person that will be remembered as someone who impacted the 21st century?

My answer for that is yes. YES! because I believe that every Christian's goal should be to make an impact during the time that we are given on earth. 

I never like to read the news, it literally makes my stomach sick every time that I do. But last week I decided that it would be a good idea to educate myself a little bit on what's going on in the world. Well, I wasn't too surprised when I noticed that page after page was filled with bad news, and the more I read, the more it hurt to see the condition that this world is in....And as I read I thought: "If it hurts me to read this, how much more must it hurt you Lord?" I couldn't continue. I shut it off and angrily thought to myself "If I was God, I would've destroyed us already!!" but then an answer seemed to reach my heart saying "For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath." (Deuteronomy 4:31) 

That is when I began to reflect on the amazing love that God has for the human race. Just to think that He came to suffer and die knowing that we would one day turn away from Him and constantly reject Him, makes me infinitely grateful. Yet His heart is grieved, and ours should be too.

Just because He is a merciful God, and hasn't wiped us off the face of the earth, doesn't mean that He isn't a righteous Judge, and that one day we will wake up and realize that His judgement has come and that it's too late for us to listen to the warnings that He lovingly sent our way time after time.

"For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, 
so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

Matthew 24:37-39 

The answer to the question I had been asking myself, what can I do to make an impact on earth? seemed to come while I reflected on all of this.

There is definitely something you and I can do to impact the world during our lives. We can pray for the condition of the human race, we can pray for each other as we battle against the pressures of the world day by day, we can rise up and be voices in the wilderness crying "Make straight the way for the Lord"!
There are people all around us who need to hear about His love for us, who desperately need our prayers for their hearts to surrender to their Creator. Oh yes, we can make an impact in this world!

Weekly Reminder:

"When I say to a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood."

Ezekiel 3:18

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So that is something that has been on my heart for a while, and I wanted to share it with you.
As always, thank you for reading, and for your messages of encouragement to continue sharing a bit of my life on this blog.

Visiting the Remington Carriage Museum with friends.

Horse shoe tournament for Father's Day.

"Oh hello there!"

Canada Day fireworks!

Spending some time with friends in Montana!

I did very little editing to this picture I took the other night, the color of the moon was incredible!

Have a great week!

An Important Lesson on Humility

Two great men of faith, George Whitefield and John Wesley disagreed on some theological matters. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied:

"I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him." 

While reading this today I was even more aware that God wants me to learn a lesson on humility. I cringe as I look into my heart and discover all the moldy pride in there. 

Pride is such as sneaky enemy! It can be found anywhere...it's in success, it's in beauty, it's in talents, it's in riches....but it's also in poverty, in failure, and even in "humility"! God uses things such as reproach and defeat to take us to the lowest place, but if we're not careful, pride can even be found there too. 

We should never come to the point of saying "I have no pride", but that we may learn from all the great men and women of faith, including the apostle Paul, who said:

"I am the least of the apostles." 1 Corinthians 15:9

"I am the very least of all the saints." Ephesians 3:8

"I am the foremost of sinners." 1 Timothy 1:15

And to know that without Him, we are absolutely nothing. But in Him, we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation!

"That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 1:31

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Weekly Reminder

"For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled,

and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Luke 14:11

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Be Still...

"Be still...and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

"What have you been up to?" you may be asking. 

Well let's just say that I've been trying to outrun a storm. 

But I am learning to stand still and watch the beauty within the storm instead...because by trying to run along with it, I will never be able to escape it.

And surprisingly, if you squint your eyes and try to look beyond the strong winds and freezing cold, you will suddenly see the beautiful work of art that the storm is actually leaving behind.

Life is such a fascinating adventure isn't it? And even those storms in life make it all more exciting!

For those of you who are really interested to know what I've been up to, (other than chasing storms) I've been working as a photovidesignographer, (I had to come up with some kind of a title for myself) and then the rest of the time I've been helping my family run a zoo...

well, not quite, but getting close! ;) 

Seriously though, a lot of things have been going on that have kept me from doing weekly posts. But I am finally getting back to posting regularly during the summer months (don't be too hard on me if I miss a weekend though! :P)

I have a couple of videos in the making, but I haven't had the chance to finish them yet, so come back next week to check them out!

I also wanted to let everybody know that my website (www.laprostudio.com) will be down for a couple of days, but will be up and running again soon.

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Weekly Reminder:

"When there is nothing left but God, 

that is when you find that God is all you need."

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June has arrived once again...and with it, there also comes beautiful sunsets, striking thunderstorms, and magnificent starry skies! I'm so excited to share this summer's pictures with all of you!!

The farm is blooming...

Preparing a home for our new bees. 

(I told you we've been beesy!)

Chatting, laughing, and just having fun while riding on the prairies with some of my favorite people is absolutely wonderful!

The Goose Family :)

Mother's Day...

Tea time!

On our way to checking the cows out in the pasture.

One of my favorite things about spring is seeing all the different baby animals!

Meet Milo....

He was badly injured by one of our dogs when he was only two weeks old. Ever since we have been trying to care for him as best as we can, and miraculously he is still alive and getting better each day!

I am not a huge cat fan, but this little guy totally stole my heart. :)

A colorful summer day coming to an end....

Thanks for stopping by.

I'll see you next week!

~Laura~

Springtime in the Rockies

Spring is such a beautiful time to see how even after a long and hard winter, God brings life once again! it's a good reminder whenever we feel like we're stuck in a trial and it seems like we're never getting out! 

Like 1 Corinthians 10:13 says...

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

Sometimes we're seeking answers....and they're right in front of us! I have been reminded lately that the Lord may speak to us through Creation many times, so we need to learn to pay attention to the little things that we can so easily ignore and take for granted.

Here are some pictures of our latest ventures :)

Camping with these awesome girls...

Road trip to Missoula

Bible Quiz Competition!

As a photographer I've learned to appreciate both clear and cloudy days....but somehow, when it's cloudy, light seems to be captured in a special and mystical way.

We went on our first summit adventure of the season! 

We camped beside a beautiful lake and climbed up to the top of a mountain close by.

All the snow was melting in the mountains which made it really fun to do some off roading!

Spotted some wildlife on our way up.

This guy seemed to be laughing at us as we struggled our way to the summit while he effortlessly  made the climb up!

On the top!

Back in camp relaxing by the fire.

Another beautiful day!