Depuis vingt-trois heures...

In 23 hours......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Thats all. :)

A day in infamy...

I have always bragged at the fact that I have NEVER shed a tear in a movie before, which i follow up quickly with the fact that it almost happened in Finding Nemo the glorious underwater Pixar film.
This streak was broken on Monday.
My family went and saw Blindside. Holy moly. Let me just tell you. This film was amazing. I cannot put any words to it that can describe it better than that. It was a movie that touched me and touched the hearts of many people in the theater. You could just sense it. It brought to life poverty within our own country and its story of hope. I strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I shed large amounts of tears of joy multiple times throughout the film and it just hit the right place in my heart. It is a true story and those always hit home the most for me. This one is definitely worth your money.

Greatest day in December :)

About a week and a half ago, I was privileged to accompany a part of the Griffin Family at Disneyland! I told Josh(the father and my awesome mentor) that at some point in the near future I would love to sign him and two of his four kids into the park! So we went! It was so awesome! It was a gloomy Friday, which is perfect Disneyland weather! There was some rain off and on, but for the most part it was very nice weather! Josh met me at Starbucks promptly at 12:32, the time I told him to meet me at because that's how long it would take me to get to my car from school and drive to the meeting spot. We dropped off my car at home and then we were off! I looked into the back seat and I saw two elated children who were staring at my front lawn and were in awe of Mickey and Friends who were caroling! Princess Alexis was wearing her Snow White Dress and my little buddy Jadin was wearing his new Transformers rain boots. From the minute I stepped in the car they were very excited! According to Josh, Alexis ran and jumped into his bed that morning with her Snow White Dress already on and ready to go! We stopped for some warm drinks and then we were off to the happiest place on Earth! When we got there, Josh gave Lexy a little present for the day; a Snow White crown! Jadin got some donuts! haha. We then hopped on the tram for our first ride of the day. Upon arrival, we met up with my Auntie Robyn and my dad who got us all into the park and we chit-chatted with them for a bit. Auntie Robyn talked with Princess Alexis for a while about just princess stuff and Lexy was just so excited! We then got onto the Disneyland Railroad and took it all the way to the Princess Fantasy Faire! We only had to wait in line for about 45 minutes to have our personal meet and greet with five princesses! Lexy was soo excited and ready to go every minute we were waiting in line and Jadin was getting antsy so he and I were coloring with Lexy's new princess pen on the showtime schedule for the park! It was the best past time activity to try and guess was he was drawing. I think i may have only got one right. :) While standing in line I got a bit worried because I overheard a woman say that only a few of the princesses were out at any given time, so we were hoping Snow White would be there for little snow white! Sure enough, when we got to the front of the line and they sent us in, as we turned the corner, there she was! Lexy was elated! She couldn't believe that she was talking to Snow White! They got to talk for a little while and then I was able to take a picture with Snow White for my mom! The other princesses we saw were Cinderella, Bell, Jasmine, and Mulan. After we left the meet and greet area Lexy was overjoyed that she got to see all the princesses and get their autographs and take pictures with them. That was what made the day for Josh, Lexy and I. To see her face just light up before, during and after just brought joy to all of us! The rest of the day was pretty great also! We went on Its a Small World, the Tea Cups, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours, Monsters Inc., we saw the Aladdin show, but the story of the day with my little buddy Jayjay goes with Buzz Blasters. We had all just finished with dinner at the Pizza Port, Jadin hopped in his stroller and Lexy was holding Haley's hand, who joined us about half way through the day, and we were headed towards Buzz when all the sudden right after we passed the churro stand, Jadin hops right out of the moving stroller and Josh asks him where he was going and he pointed to me! He was signaling that he wanted to ride Buzz with me! It was the greatest thing for me with Jadin that day!
The bottom line over all about this day was that it was magical. The family I got to share it with was amazing, the happiness and joy on their faces brought joy to my heart and the interaction between them and I was amazing. Lexy and Jadin are truly the little brother and sister that I never had. I love them very much. There is so many more awesome things that I could say about this day but i'll leave it at that. :):)

Oasis of Hope Fundraiser Night

Oasis of Hope is located in Kitale, Kenya. It was founded in 2004 and has helped children who are orphaned, in need, living on the street, and living in extreme poverty. The programs assist approximately 150 children ages 5-18.
Current programs include: a Drop-in Centre, Group Homes, Family Assistance, and Vocational Training.

A team of high school students will be traveling to Kitale in March of 2010 to work with the children at Oasis of Hope. This event hopes to raise funds for the supplies that are needed for this organization to continue to change the lives of these African children.

Please join us this holiday season! This is a FREE open house event so feel free to come and go as you please between 5 and 9pm on Sunday, December 20th, 2009. This event will be appropriate for ALL AGES (parents there is no need to find a babysitter- children are welcome)! Come enjoy friends, live music, and food all while getting some of your holiday shopping done!

We will be selling assorted hand-made gifts such as: aprons, headbands, jewelry, etc...

Contact me with any questions you might have! Hope to see you there!

Update: Kenya!

Well Hello there followers! Here is just a quick update on where the team is at with raising funds and support for Kenya 2010! As a team we must come up with about $111,000 which may seem like a large number, but with incessant prayer financially, the team has faith that God will surely provide! I have about $1000 more to raise personally, but the good news is that over $1500 has been provided by all my awesome supporters. I thank you all so very much!

We also had our first team meeting this past Sunday that was combined with the adult team that will be in Kitale at the same time as the High School Ministry team. They are all very nice people! They taught us some cool things about their past experiences in Kenya. The adults all come from a medical background of some sort and are focusing mainly on the hospitals and streets of Kitale in hopes of providing assistance to those in need of medical attention. The meeting overall was great! It was great to meet some of the people on our own team also that I had never met before. I can really already sense that God will do something great with our team.

Some things you can pray for:

-Pray for the members of the team who are struggling financially to raise support to get them to Kenya. Pray God will open their hearts and give them hope that God will provide if it is meant for them to go on this trip.
-Pray I will raise enough money by the deadline to get me to Kitale.
-Pray for the students that are not going on this trip, that really wanted to go with our team. Pray that they will continue to be on fire to serve globally and pray for their understanding that this may just not be the time for them.

As a team we have already been thrown some curve balls but we have been turning them into base hits. No home-runs yet, but we are satisfied with the simplest of success. We are all pumped to get out and go! Just as we learned in October, we are on fire with loving God AND loving others. Pray, that this flame will burn constantly and that we will remember why we are participating in such a experience.

Caption to picture: This is a picture my dear friend Nicole Leever took while she was in Rwanda a year and a half ago. I was privileged enough to receive a large copy from her and it is hanging in my bed room always reminding me of this trip. Always making me think about the fact that this trip isn't to better myself, but to brighten the lives of others and love on children like this little boy.

"The" Support Letter.

Thought you all might enjoy seeing the support letter that I sent out to a few special people!:

Within the last few years, God has been moving in me and shining his light through me in many ways. I have been given a multitude of opportunities through the High School Ministry at Saddleback Church, and those opportunities have helped me grow through Him in ways that I could never have imagined. Ever since December of 2007, my heart for those affected by poverty has grown significantly. It was at the Youth AIDS Summit during my sophomore year of high school, where it all really hit me how grateful we should be with all that we have. When there are families and orphaned children living in cardboard boxes in sewers not but a few miles from where each one of us Americans reside, I continually ask myself, “what am I doing to fix this?” The images of orphaned children give me chills and bring tears each time I see them. When another opportunity arose in my church for a group of high school students to reach out and connect with the inhabitants of Kitale, Kenya, God pressed it on my heart so much that it is where I will be serving in March of the close and coming new year. This trip will enable me to serve God in ways I would have never imagined.

The HSM (High School Ministry) Kenya 2010 team, while in Kitale, Kenya, will have the opportunity to:

- Evangelize in schools, hospitals, drop-in centers, group homes, city streets, churches and prisons.

- Create and run a 3 day summer camp for Oasis of Hope street kids.

- Participate with mobile clinics, training, evangelism, service, worship and outreach.

- Minister in different capacities to students, orphans, street kids, pastors, church leaders, and the sick.

As you can very well see, this trip will definitely challenge me in ways that I have never been challenged before and will also open my eyes even wider to the image of poverty first hand. I am so stoked to see how God will use me on this trip and how he will use our team to impact the people of Kitale.

/// Here is how you can be a part of this opportunity \\\

Prayer/// I would greatly appreciate your prayer support. Many of us know that prayer is the only way that this trip would ever be possible; completely turning everything over to God and letting Him transform my heart as He pleases. Some aspects of the trip you can pray for are:

//Safe travels. –to and from Kenya and also when we are out and about on the streets.

//For the summer camp –that kids lives would be changed by God.

//For the hearts of the team to be in the right place.

//For great conversations to be made within Kitale and also within the team.

//Strength in the midst of exhaustion/Health while in Kenya.

Financial/// If you feel led, I would love your support financially. I need to raise $3000 by December 15th to make this trip happen. It seems so soon, but this deadline is only placed in order to be able to purchase plane tickets at the best rate. Donations can also be retrieved after this deadline and would also be greatly appreciated. This donation is tax deductible. Checks can be made payable to Saddleback Church and for your own tax deduction purposes, please do not write my name anywhere on the check. Please use the blue envelope provided to return your donation to me for the trip and I will make sure that it is deposited in the proper church account. I would forever be grateful for your partnership in this area of my trip. Donations of any amount would be greatly honored and deeply appreciated.

Thank you very much for being who you are in my life…

I will keep you posted with continual information on the trip.

View my blog at cory-matthew.blogspot.com for updates regarding my ongoing

journey through life in addition to keeping you up to date

on how the preparations for Kenya are going.

Thank you so much! Lots of love!!

Cory Tomlinson

“Then these righteous ones will reply,

‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?

Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

Or a stranger and show you hospitality?

Or naked and give you clothing?

When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?”

“And the King will say,

‘I tell you the truth,

when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,

you were doing it to me!”

Matthew 25: 37-40