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.

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!

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!!

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.

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!

A Question

If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

I'm still thinking on this...some days I would say yes, other days unfortunately, maybe not so much!

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

The Rest of the Story

So Monday, I debated all day about whether I should've given her consequences for her actions (the previous post explains Elizabeth's lying). She truly had a repentant heart. I heard someone say the other day though that "God never removes the consequences". I don't know what I think about that. Part of me disagrees with that. Part of me agrees with it.

Parenting is hard work!! I was thinking I have one kid who has an attitude, a second kid who complains about just about everything and a third one that has started lying. Honestly, sometimes I just think we're not doing this whole parenting thing well, but then I have to remind myself that the end result will be when they're adults and if they're serving the Lord, then we've had success in parenting!

Monday night I had Bible study and a few of us went to Starbucks afterwards. A lot of the conversation revolved around parenting. How can we do it better? Where's the balance of respect and love in parenting? And on and on the conversation went. I got home around 9:30 and Elizabeth ran down the stairs and said, "Momma, I asked Jesus into my heart."

Bam!! God hit me over the head. The resounding question was, "Do you trust Me?" God is always working on our behalf even when we can't see it. I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn't trust God enough to take our messy parenting and use it to bring about eternal good for His glory. But if we're wholeheartedly seeking Him, I think that's exactly what He does.

And so...this is the sweet note that my daughter wrote to God.

Dear God,
I am sorry to lie. I am a sinner but God I love you. You see I fine, but I see you make me your daughter forever. I am your son. God, why do Satan trick Adam and Eve? Satan is a big fat liar. My God, you are the Lord our God. One day, you are the King. I love you Lord. When I see you I am going to be so happy. So happy I am going to jump. From Elizabeth

To God,
God is our Lord our God. God is alive forever. God you die on the cross for our sins. God you are Lord our God. There is no way that Satan can break you, no way.

And then because we serve such a sweet, sweet God. She ended her note to Him with
Here am I, send me. Isaiah 6:8
(Derek had a Nicaragua tshirt on yesterday proudly sporting that verse)

And that makes this momma so happy!!

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10

Joy, great joy, unspeakable joy!! For my sweet Elizabeth was lost, but now she's been found by a precious Savior who promises never to leave her or forsake her! I'm so happy I could just JUMP!

Half Truths

I saw this on the sign of a church the other day, "Beware of half truths. You just might have the wrong half." How true that is.

So begins my story about lying. We met friends at Pancho's on Sunday. I noticed that Elizabeth had a little gold ring on her pinky. I asked where she got it. My teacher gave it to me. I began to ask which teacher, why did they give it to you, etc. I started to think that she wasn't telling me the full story, but then I let it drop and thought "we'll talk about this later". I took the ring and put it in my purse. There was something fishy about this conversation.

Then later that day, I probbed some more. The story then became that she found it and she tried to give it to her teacher, but the teacher wouldn't listen to her, etc. I then talked to Elizabeth about how she had stolen the ring because it wasn't hers and that she had lied to me and how disappointed I was. At this point, she was a little irritated with me, not mad, just irritated. Elizabeth's top lip disappears when she gets irritated, just like my dad's does.

We had devotions and I sent the boys upstairs to bed. Elizabeth and I talked some more and I didn't lecture, I didn't yell, I just told her that she had made two bad choices. Then she said, "I have a secret and I don't want to tell you." I told her that she could tell me anything. She then told me that she had found the ring in the drawer of the preschool kitchen and that she had taken it. At this point, she is crying as she's telling me this story. She definitely is full of remorse and I'm debating about consequences. Is the remorse and repentant heart enough or should there still be consequences? I prayed with her and asked God to help her make better choices next time. I told her I loved her and that she was very special.

She was still heart broken. She ran up the stairs and covered her head with the covers and cried. I went into her room and told her that it was over and done. We just need to learn from our mistakes and make better choices next time. She told me that she had another secret...through tears she told me that she and her friend MC went into the bathroom at Pancho's and kept waving their hands in front of the automatic towel dispenser to get lots of towels. Inside I was chuckling, but also think that Pancho's prices are going to go up because of the cost of paper towels! But I told her not to do that again and off she went to sleep.

Then I wondered....Did I do the right thing? Should there have been some stiff consequences for the lying and the stealing? You'll have to read tomorrow to find out the rest of the story....