Dear family and friends,

I hope that this letter finds you all doing well! I am deep into my fourth year of teaching choir at Paul Revere Middle School, and the Lord has graciously blessed me by allowing me to attend Grace Community Church for that same amount of time. I am being challenged spiritually in many ways and continue to grow in my understanding of the Word of God daily. As some of you may already know, the Lord has placed a budding desire in my heart to serve in Spanish-speaking countries. This July, I have the blessed privilege and honor of serving on the Mexico City short term ministry team.

Mexico is wrought with many challenges. The sinful natures of 35 million people all converge upon a small area. Crime and smog are just a way of life to most. Yet these challenges are not what concern us, but rather that the Gospel be proclaimed.

Aztec paganism, Catholicism, and Postmodernism all collide in Mexico City. For this reason, I am very grateful that God has provided an opportunity for me to go and stand alongside our full-time missionaries in their work for the kingdom. Please pray with me, that God's power in the Gospel would conquer the challenges and rescue the perishing. Please also pray that we may be a tremendous encouragement to our missionaries who daily fight the good fight.

We are well aware that the success of this trip is dependent on the Lord and your prayer support. Along with your prayers, if you would like to partner with us financially, please send a check payable to Grace Community Church with "For the team of Vanessa Ling" in the memo line. Your tax-deductible donation will go toward covering the costs of the trip, which is about $1,250 per team member.

Thank you so much for your support! I look forward to reporting back to you on how the Lord used our team for His glory this summer.

By His grace,
Vanessa Ling

SINGLENESS.

so i went back to my old home church, mbcla, yesterday for my cousin shanna's baptism. of course all of my mom's generation were gossiping about their kids, etc... and turns out that most of my old friends from back in the day are all single right now!

on the ride back to her house, my mom and i had a little talk about why... first of all, it seems that generally, a lot of people are getting married at a later age than before. 25-30 seems to be the new 21-25. what's going on? marriage aside, why aren't we even holding onto boyfriends/girlfriends? are arranged marriages really the solution? where does the gift of singleness come into play? we all can't be gifted with singleness... so what's the conclusion or resolution if there is any at all?

WE REFUSE TO SETTLE.

and i'm waiting for God's best for me, so i will rejoice in singleness, and i will rejoice with all of my friends as we move on to different stages of life at the Lord's divinely appointed time. in the meantime, i will strive to be content in all that i have right now, and i will strive to grow in the knowledge of Him through His Word.

back from ACDA in beautiful miami beach...

ghetto hotel, expensive taxis, sun, hot dogs, cinnamon-sugar almonds, pizza, humidity, mansions, yachts, beautiful people, topless women, beach volleyball, la jeune, calle ocho, crystal-clear blue waters and white sandy beaches, caribbean cuisine... all to a latin soundtrack playing somewhere in your hearts...

and a whole grip of choir performances, mini reunions, name dropping, choral big wigs, workshops and everything else that make you feel both inspired and incompetent at the same time.

thank you, miami beach. we had a grand time...

maybe i'll visit again, but maybe not. i had my fill, and i'm ready to see other places and other things! it's just like how you picture it in the movies - gangsters, bling, nice cars and everything... wow, that totally rhymed.

Lord, save them from their immorality because oh, there was so much of it to behold!

take a peek...

what can i say? though He slay me, i will trust in Him. no more running away, Lord...

Amp'd Busted Commercial (better quality)

hilarious =D

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. how/'>http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

update time. let's be brief, shall we?

school has started - things are going VERY well. kids are ok... apathetic 8th grade class this yr. i have to stop comparing to my bomb group last yr! *sigh* different challenges, and 2 fights already btwn boys... why do boys have to beat each other up?!

ingrid and i opened our apt up to an iranian homeless woman that lives in westwood... wow, what an experience.

my principal has lymphoma, so he'll be on leave for awhile...

i love my church and my brothers and sisters there!

amen.

check out my pics!!

back and ready to attack!!

i had a really great summer with the cons (yay, tour c) and with my family (yay, whistler!) check out my pics and family pics for a great picture diary of everything!

this pic is of tour c (us) and the costa rican continentals at a host home btwn concerts for lunch and relaxation. we had just done 2 concerts at a church, and we were about to do another one in a few hrs.

praise God for always growing me in the most amazing ways... bring on the new year!

well, i'm off for another adventure...

follow along: Tour C - U.S. and Costa Rica)

pray for us. see y'all late august...

congratulations, revere c/o 2006!

and just like that, another yr is almost over. my first group of 6th graders are graduating...

how emotional these past few wks have been. the spring concert was AMAZING and flawless for the first time in 3 yrs. it's also the first time i've cried (and keep crying) over a graduating class that i will genuinely miss.

"... because i knew you, i have been changed for good."

thank you for the memories, revere class of 2006!

what a yr it has been...

oh yeah, and go see revere's production of GUYS N' DOLLS this weekend, may 5th-7th!

what an incredibly relaxing weekend away from all things revere...

ingrid, ba and i went to malibu and pondered how the houses there are built on the (unstable) sand b/c i've been encouraging my pessimistic father to move closer to the ocean when he retires. that's when i began to sing the old, Christian kid's favorite "don't build your house on the sandy land..." with an added comment, "well, they all must be non-Christians!" i love the beach...

we then passed a woman on the drive to the wonderful polish restaurant warszawa. let's just say, she paid a lot of money for the work done on her boobs. so my dad comments, "at least she won't have to worry about her nose if she walks into a wall!" hahahahaha...

and then my celebrant friend nancy and i went to disneyland today. while we were waiting for an animation show to start in california adventure, she saw a man in a row ahead of us and said that his head looked like it was smiling b/c he had a crease in the back of his head that looked like a smiley face. and it did... so she goes and asks him to put his sunglasses on the back of his head to make a smiley face. we were contemplating making eyes and a nose out of cotton candy, too, but refrained from that. then nancy says, "it's the happiest place on earth. even your head smiles." haha! and then, on our way out, we ran into dt and mike! what a great weekend it has been...

it's good to be held accountable by such respectable, Godly women in the Lord... thank you for your gracious rebuke the other night.

i've been given a lot of lessons in humility as of late - praise the Lord.

another wise quote: "why do you live your life waiting for something to happen?"

so my students weren't supposed to wander off by themselves at magic mtn yesterday where we went for a music festival. ingrid, milt oberman (teacher) and i ran into a 7th grader named jessica outside the gotham city gate area by batman the ride...

me: jessica, why are you by yourself?
jessica: i lost my friends
me: how did you lose your friends?
jessica: i lost my friends because i followed a large stuffed animal!

and the best answer to the "which rides did you go on, ms. ling?" question...
chicken tenders, funnel cake, 3 scoops of ice cream, roasted corn, hot chocolate and french fries!

oh so quotable naoko: like I told...someone...I wish BTSA was a person so I could punch it in the face

wow, the trip to florida was great. i was feeling burnt out at the end of the week before spring break, and i was fearing hanging out with kids for that chunk of spring break, but it ended up being a wonderful experience all around. praise God for these wonderful kids and for this opportunity...

many thanks to miranda and ingrid for giving shaun and me rides to and from the airport. you guys are the best!! thank you for your graciousness and sacrifice.

looking forward to all events leading up to resurrection sunday! =)

life is busy, but good.

~ kids are awesome; i'm really enjoying this last part of the yr for some reason. i really am going to miss these 8th graders a lot. bah, i get too attached... what a girl =P

~ new york was great! thanks to everyone that made it relaxing and special. you guys rock. i'm sooo proud of dr. kano. the new york city master chorale is amazing!! y'all should check them out if you get a chance to. mucho thanks to dixit for being a gracious host. new york is a great city yo.

~ guys n' dolls rehearsals after school, fri nite Bible study, worship practice, core group and choir practice all make for busy weeks that seem to zoom on by... june is only 2 months away!? then off with the continentals in july... wow, already.

~ florida in a wk for spring break with kids and 3 other teachers from revere. stay tuned for some crazy stories =)

~ praising God for every moment of life!!

love ya, tor! DISNEYLAND ROCKS!!! =D

so last two weekends/weeks were great... check out my pictures to get a glimpse into what's been going on. i am truly inspired by my blessed brother josh to take and post lots of pictures. and dropshots is great, too. God is SO good. He has given me such opportunities to travel and experience things...

i celebrated my dad's bday with an all-day trek to santa barbara, solvang, camarillo then sushi @ go's, dessert @ roy's and a romp around 3rd street! what a great day it was...

the hanks played a marvelous set at the knitting factory on the 27th. it was pouring rain that night, but there was a great crowd there. big japan, adam brody's band (he's seth on the oc) played as well... ingrid got a flat tire on the way to the show, but thank the Lord kenny was around to help! he saved the day, er night?

i went to the american choral directors association's western division conference in salt lake city this past wed-sat. it was in salt lake city, utah. what an amazing time i had there. people are so much nicer when you leave the big, crowded city. we had amazing choirs to listen to, great interest sessions and it was just nice to get away from la. i got to explore the city a bit on my own and ventured into lds and utes territory... ah, how i love exploring on my own!

it's funny how i felt completely inspired yet completely incompetent at acda... but it's the kick i needed to get me through the rest of this yr. and, as an added bonus, i got to see chris rhodes (ex-samohi choir), cecile blanchard (jams) and heather gold (manhattan beach ms). yay for getting to know more and more people in the profession!!

it was a great "retreat," but now i'm ready to get back to the grind! =)

...wah, nobody comments on my blogs =(