Sunday, May 23, 2010
She Did It!
Well, life's been crazy around here. You probably thought I would never return to this blog to post anything, but I'm back at least for a few minutes.
Elizabeth was bald until she was probably almost three. She finally got some hair and she decided she loved long hair. She thought it made her look like Princess Aurora...but I thought, this hair can be a blessing to someone else. So we've been talking for over a year about 12 inches of hair and donating it to someone else. She has been a little sad thinking about cutting her hair.
But the morning daddy left for Nicaragua, I told her, we're going to get your haircut today. She teared up...just a little...and said, today? So off we went. Deep down I felt like a bad mommy. Is this really right that I'm kind of forcing her hand, but as soon as Jodie cut the hair, Elizabeth looked in the mirror and yelled, "I'm going to be so cute". Oh yes she is! And the best part, she wants us to send her hair to the children in Africa. Somehow I don't think it would look right on their heads, so we'll opt for Locks of Love instead.
I absolutely love her heart though...she was thinking of those sweet children in Africa!
Thanks Jodie!! We love it!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Are We Willing?
Derek left for Nicaragua in the wee hours of the morning last Saturday. This is his fifth time (I think) to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua.
Since he's been gone....
The flood of the century happened in Nashville. This affected us in several ways. Our roof above our kitchen started leaking which leaked into the ceiling which then leaked onto the kitchen floor. Of course it did. We're now sporting some long oval water stains above our kitchen table.
Our church flooded twice both on Saturday and Sunday causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Of course it did.
Most of the roads in Spring Hill were shut down Sunday afternoon because of heavy rains. We were stranded at my parents for a little while with no way home. When we finally got home, Elizabeth decided to vomit all over the bathroom floor, wall and cabinet. She hasn't vomited since 2008. The stomach virus decided to hit while Derek was out of town. Of course....
My dad started having some chest pains and had to go into the hospital Thursday morning. They did a heart cath and inserted yet another stint. This is the second time this has happened while Derek has been in Nicaragua. One time right before I went to Africa. Three times right around missions travel. Of course....
And the fan/blower/air conditioner in our less than year old van decides to act up on the hottest week of the year. We drove home with windows down the other day and were all pretty much sweaty by the time we got home. Of course...
Now the positives of all of this. No one else got the stomach virus this week...praise the Lord. My bathroom floor is sparkling clean and sanitized.
Our church is rallying to get the worship center and children's building completely fixed. People have sacrificially given hours of time to this. It is uniting the hearts of the people.
My dad is doing great and I'm thankful for the doctor that decided to do some extra probing during the cath, because initially nothing was showing up. After going into the other artery, he found the problem.
And, I'm sure our homeowners will cover the leak in our kitchen and I'm sure our van is still under warranty.
And so, it was an unusual and hard week in so many ways. But our God is faithful and honestly as soon as Elizabeth got sick on Sunday evening I started praying fervently. For me, for the other families whose husbands were in Nicaragua doing ministry and for the men in Nicaragua who were there to tell others about Christ and to build a church. Satan wouldn't be messing with our family or all the other families, if some serious spiritual work wasn't happening in Nicaragua. Derek and I didn't talk at all this week, but I heard from some other wives' that Emmanuel in Nicaragua is a very "dark" place according to the guys. Emmanuel means "God with us". May God be with those people and the seeds that have been planted in that village. May the seeds fall on fertile ground and reap huge harvests for God's kingdom. The enemy obviously thought his territory was being threatened.
Someone said to me this week, Derek needs to stop going to Nicaragua so all these bad things don't happen while he's gone. I thought, "No way. I'd tell him to go later this year and next year and the year after that until all of Nicaragua has heard the gospel" (Thanks Sumer for the phrases in that previous sentence!) The enemy is harassing us into quitting. He's saying the price is too high. The call is too great. It's too hard, but we will not relent. We feel the need to go and tell and we'll keep going no matter the cost. The enemy has been defeated. We have the victory and the battle is the Lord.
We are willing....I hope you'll run into battle with us!! Our God is worth every pain and inconvenience. He gave it all for us!
Since he's been gone....
The flood of the century happened in Nashville. This affected us in several ways. Our roof above our kitchen started leaking which leaked into the ceiling which then leaked onto the kitchen floor. Of course it did. We're now sporting some long oval water stains above our kitchen table.
Our church flooded twice both on Saturday and Sunday causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Of course it did.
Most of the roads in Spring Hill were shut down Sunday afternoon because of heavy rains. We were stranded at my parents for a little while with no way home. When we finally got home, Elizabeth decided to vomit all over the bathroom floor, wall and cabinet. She hasn't vomited since 2008. The stomach virus decided to hit while Derek was out of town. Of course....
My dad started having some chest pains and had to go into the hospital Thursday morning. They did a heart cath and inserted yet another stint. This is the second time this has happened while Derek has been in Nicaragua. One time right before I went to Africa. Three times right around missions travel. Of course....
And the fan/blower/air conditioner in our less than year old van decides to act up on the hottest week of the year. We drove home with windows down the other day and were all pretty much sweaty by the time we got home. Of course...
Now the positives of all of this. No one else got the stomach virus this week...praise the Lord. My bathroom floor is sparkling clean and sanitized.
Our church is rallying to get the worship center and children's building completely fixed. People have sacrificially given hours of time to this. It is uniting the hearts of the people.
My dad is doing great and I'm thankful for the doctor that decided to do some extra probing during the cath, because initially nothing was showing up. After going into the other artery, he found the problem.
And, I'm sure our homeowners will cover the leak in our kitchen and I'm sure our van is still under warranty.
And so, it was an unusual and hard week in so many ways. But our God is faithful and honestly as soon as Elizabeth got sick on Sunday evening I started praying fervently. For me, for the other families whose husbands were in Nicaragua doing ministry and for the men in Nicaragua who were there to tell others about Christ and to build a church. Satan wouldn't be messing with our family or all the other families, if some serious spiritual work wasn't happening in Nicaragua. Derek and I didn't talk at all this week, but I heard from some other wives' that Emmanuel in Nicaragua is a very "dark" place according to the guys. Emmanuel means "God with us". May God be with those people and the seeds that have been planted in that village. May the seeds fall on fertile ground and reap huge harvests for God's kingdom. The enemy obviously thought his territory was being threatened.
Someone said to me this week, Derek needs to stop going to Nicaragua so all these bad things don't happen while he's gone. I thought, "No way. I'd tell him to go later this year and next year and the year after that until all of Nicaragua has heard the gospel" (Thanks Sumer for the phrases in that previous sentence!) The enemy is harassing us into quitting. He's saying the price is too high. The call is too great. It's too hard, but we will not relent. We feel the need to go and tell and we'll keep going no matter the cost. The enemy has been defeated. We have the victory and the battle is the Lord.
We are willing....I hope you'll run into battle with us!! Our God is worth every pain and inconvenience. He gave it all for us!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Talking Points
Sometimes I wonder....what was I thinking??? It's 11:20 at night and I'm supposed to share in my kids' chapel tomorrow morning about Africa. The problem---my heart is so full that I don't know what to share in my 15-20 minutes and how do you make it relevant for a kindergartner and a fifth grader? I really don't know what I'm going to share. I've been praying about it all day....I just need some points--bullet points really because I'll feel much better if I have those walking into chapel tomorrow. But sometimes God gives me stuff at the very last minute....just to make me trust Him even more and so I'll probably be heading to bed soon and hoping that He gives me something at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. :-)
Or maybe I'll just use Matthew's talking points regarding Korah. These renderings are from Korah night that we had last week. I was concerned that my kids wouldn't sit still and be quiet, but they were great! Matthew even took good notes.
This is Africa. Korah is in Ethiopia, Africa.
This is the trash dump where many of the children live or come for food.
And this is how you can help.
Sponsor a kid. Letters to the kid. Pictures. Bag collapsible (buy them one). Bible Verse. Encourage them. Small goodies. Gifts, clothes. $700 (a year for boarding school). No shoes. Girls large shirts. Live in the trash. Build their faith. No candy. Miss Sumer is moving to Korah.
Matthew won't win the spelling bee, but he wins the prize in my book for having a kind and compassionate heart!!
Or maybe I'll just use Matthew's talking points regarding Korah. These renderings are from Korah night that we had last week. I was concerned that my kids wouldn't sit still and be quiet, but they were great! Matthew even took good notes.
This is Africa. Korah is in Ethiopia, Africa.
This is the trash dump where many of the children live or come for food.
And this is how you can help.
Sponsor a kid. Letters to the kid. Pictures. Bag collapsible (buy them one). Bible Verse. Encourage them. Small goodies. Gifts, clothes. $700 (a year for boarding school). No shoes. Girls large shirts. Live in the trash. Build their faith. No candy. Miss Sumer is moving to Korah.
Matthew won't win the spelling bee, but he wins the prize in my book for having a kind and compassionate heart!!
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Bright Future and a Bright Hope
I haven't said much about my Ethiopia trip. It's funny how God works. Those of you who know me know that I love Africa...but I love Zambia, Africa and Uganda, Africa. The music, the people, their dark, dark skin, their dirty bare feet. This is the Africa that I fell in love with in 2008. This is the Africa that I would pack up and move to if we ever had the opportunity and call.
And so, I jumped on board for a trip to Africa traveling to Uganda and Ethiopia. I really knew very little about Ethiopia, but I didn't care because it was in Africa. When we arrived in Addis (capital of Ethiopia), there were so many things about it that I didn't like. It is dirty. It feels dark spiritually. Joy seems to be lacking. There are prayers being prayed over the loud speakers and they are not Christian prayers. The people look more middle Eastern, definitely not what I expected.
And so, I thought, I'd love for Derek to come back to Africa with me. I really thought we're going back to Uganda and if Ethiopia is part of the trip, that's fine. And then I found myself back in Ethiopia in March and nothing had really changed...except my heart.
I already had fallen in love with some of the guides--Yosef and Ephraim and Aki and Sammy. God connected our hearts, because I heard their stories when I was there in January and they have quite the stories! And so that's part of what made me want to go back. Oh and a sweet friend Sumer that happens to be moving there this summer.
The city was still dirty and there were still prayers over the loud speakers. But love is blind because it didn't bother me this time. The trash dump didn't smell quite as bad. The kids in the dump even though covered in filth capture your heart. The kids in a small village called Korah who probably have no hope apart from Christ are simply wonderful. The women whose lives are so incredibly difficult are so gracious and I just want to hug their necks because my life is so incredibly easy compared to theirs. I never ever ever have the right to be ungrateful. My life is so good compared to probably 99% of the world.
I love Psalm 34. Verse 8 says "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." I have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord...often! My prayer is that Korah will taste and see that the Lord is good and that they will find their refuge in Him.
And so, I jumped on board for a trip to Africa traveling to Uganda and Ethiopia. I really knew very little about Ethiopia, but I didn't care because it was in Africa. When we arrived in Addis (capital of Ethiopia), there were so many things about it that I didn't like. It is dirty. It feels dark spiritually. Joy seems to be lacking. There are prayers being prayed over the loud speakers and they are not Christian prayers. The people look more middle Eastern, definitely not what I expected.
And so, I thought, I'd love for Derek to come back to Africa with me. I really thought we're going back to Uganda and if Ethiopia is part of the trip, that's fine. And then I found myself back in Ethiopia in March and nothing had really changed...except my heart.
I already had fallen in love with some of the guides--Yosef and Ephraim and Aki and Sammy. God connected our hearts, because I heard their stories when I was there in January and they have quite the stories! And so that's part of what made me want to go back. Oh and a sweet friend Sumer that happens to be moving there this summer.
The city was still dirty and there were still prayers over the loud speakers. But love is blind because it didn't bother me this time. The trash dump didn't smell quite as bad. The kids in the dump even though covered in filth capture your heart. The kids in a small village called Korah who probably have no hope apart from Christ are simply wonderful. The women whose lives are so incredibly difficult are so gracious and I just want to hug their necks because my life is so incredibly easy compared to theirs. I never ever ever have the right to be ungrateful. My life is so good compared to probably 99% of the world.
I love Psalm 34. Verse 8 says "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." I have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord...often! My prayer is that Korah will taste and see that the Lord is good and that they will find their refuge in Him.
The March Team (Sammy is in the middle)
Kathleen, Yosef (love him!) and me
Some of the kids from the dump. Yasen is next to me in the tan color shirt. We are sending him to boarding school....giving him a hope and a future!!
Yes, this is the dump where they live and get their food.
But joy comes in the morning and He will turn their mourning into dancing! Help is on the way to change their lives forever for God's glory!
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