Life has been full of crazy as we adjust to our new life on the glorious West Coast. We are loving the consistent 20-24 degree range this summer has brought. We have loved adventuring in new playgrounds, beaches, and photo shoot locations. The littles are growing and fast! School starts on Tuesday and I genuinely cannot be any more excited for some routine and consistency to return to our life. The past few years our world has been a whirlwind. I didn't expect to love the kids in school, Adam working 9-5 (and then some =)) lifestyle. The summer has been exciting, we have spent many hours getting to know the young adults in the church over games nights and lots of food. It has been fun, but hard to keep any sense of normal. So needless to say, yay for a routine and life to start back up.
This post isn't really about that though... It's about the next thing God has been stirring within our hearts and minds.
We have been processing...
There are particular things in life I feel strongly God has placed on my... our heart. What does He want us to do with those? That is the season we find ourselves in.
One day, I hope this is a place I can share all the details of what that could mean.
One day, I hope I can post exciting updates.
One day, I hope I will be asking for help, for you to come along side and support and pray for us.
One day, I hope I will have a crazy amount of other work to do that sitting here blogging and researching seem like a distant memory.
One day is not today. Today I will sit and process and pray and research and seek out God's guidance and direction. What do these hopes and dreams and passions mean for me, for our family, for our future.
Monday, 4 September 2017
Thursday, 13 April 2017
Do Not Give The Devil a Foothold
Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
My ladies Bible study group has been doing a study by Priscilla Shirer on the Armor of God. Because we will be moving away (next week) I decided not to pay for the book. Having made that decision, I am studying the armour of God in other ways. He leads, I follow. It has actually been a pretty sweet deal for me, thus far God has shown me many interesting things.
Ephesians 6:10-19
The Whole Armor of God
My ladies Bible study group has been doing a study by Priscilla Shirer on the Armor of God. Because we will be moving away (next week) I decided not to pay for the book. Having made that decision, I am studying the armour of God in other ways. He leads, I follow. It has actually been a pretty sweet deal for me, thus far God has shown me many interesting things.
Ephesians 6:10-19
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
Vs 10 to 12 are clear that we cannot fight this battle - and oh boy is it a battle - on our own strength. It is God's armour. Also, the devil in all his butt headed-ness is scheming. He literally is out for our destruction. What a butt. Seriously. But we CAN stand against it, with GOD'S STRENGTH AND MIGHT! Praise the Lord!
Vs 13 Gold! Let me repeat it for you... Therefore [what's it there for? Because we know the devil is plotting against you and wants to take you down] take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Verse 14 is where I want to park myself for a while (probably because that's as far as the study has gone so I have not done much more - yet!). We need to be standing, not sitting, not watching from afar. We are in a battle whether we want to acknowledge the reality or not. We can hang out in the field of complacency and the devil is totally cool with that. He doesn't want us growing, or listening, or fighting. He wants us to just block out any form of spiritual growth. In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us to move. Ephesians 5:1-2a Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love... Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called... Ephesians 5: 15 -16 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
We cannot sit on the sidelines and expect to win.
In our meeting time we talked about the belt of truth, but right now my focus is the breastplate of righteousness. So I'm skipping to that to share my two realizations...
1) The breastplate... it is in no way a weapon. A breastplate holds you tight, it covers you and protects you. There is nothing the breastplate can do to hurt your opponent, it's only purpose is to protect. How often do we... no... I... how often do I use righteousness as a weapon? I am nothing, without Christ I am absolutely nothing. So why would I try to pump myself up to others and use anything "good" I may have done as a weapon? Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
It is all because of Christ, and I am useless. That leads me to my second ah-ha moment.
2) The breastplate of righteousness, it is God's righteousness. Nothing we can do or will do, it is all His righteousness protecting us. It is in salvation, through Jesus Christ, that we are saved.
There has been a whole lot of rambling here, and I will admit it is hard to follow. But I need it. I need it as a reminder for myself of the many things Christ is teaching me.
Back to the first verse. Satan is trying to attack, and he is going to use the place that hurts the most. Don't give him a foothold. Be so prepared that he can't get a grip on your life. We have the tools, we just need to get up and stand firm and fight back.
We cannot sit on the sidelines and expect to win.
In our meeting time we talked about the belt of truth, but right now my focus is the breastplate of righteousness. So I'm skipping to that to share my two realizations...
1) The breastplate... it is in no way a weapon. A breastplate holds you tight, it covers you and protects you. There is nothing the breastplate can do to hurt your opponent, it's only purpose is to protect. How often do we... no... I... how often do I use righteousness as a weapon? I am nothing, without Christ I am absolutely nothing. So why would I try to pump myself up to others and use anything "good" I may have done as a weapon? Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
It is all because of Christ, and I am useless. That leads me to my second ah-ha moment.
2) The breastplate of righteousness, it is God's righteousness. Nothing we can do or will do, it is all His righteousness protecting us. It is in salvation, through Jesus Christ, that we are saved.
There has been a whole lot of rambling here, and I will admit it is hard to follow. But I need it. I need it as a reminder for myself of the many things Christ is teaching me.
Back to the first verse. Satan is trying to attack, and he is going to use the place that hurts the most. Don't give him a foothold. Be so prepared that he can't get a grip on your life. We have the tools, we just need to get up and stand firm and fight back.
Saturday, 19 November 2016
Direction and Guidance
This week I was feeling quite conflicted. We have applied for a youth pastor position that would send us 12 hours away from where I was born, raised and from all of our immediate family. The moving part kind of excites me although I always thought when I did move it would be across the ocean to Africa... In time ;)
So Wednesday morning I sat down with my computer, journal, and Bible. I wrote "Lord, give me the direction and guidance I need. Either to encourage Adam or give reason and caution if that is what is needed." Funny how I thought I needed God to show me how to teach Adam - you know God loves letting me think I am helping others when really He is getting ready for a big lesson for my own heart!
I read a few Psalms that all sang of God's goodness, and He totally knows what He is doing.
Psalms 3:3 says But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
Fitting as my prayer has been, 'soften my heard Lord, for this season is for Your glory."
I decided, perhaps watching some of this church's sermons will give me some insight into how they operate. Will we align theologically, will we feel connected and be able to find community there? I prayed for assurance that God would speak to my heart. He smiled. I'm sure of it. I found a sermon titled "Life", I figured it was fairly basic. I would say in the depths of my heart, although I want God to mould me I was looking more for an excuse that this couldn't be the place for us.
The sermon began and not only spoke to a specific situation that Adam and I had walked through the previous day, but spoke to my most treasured heart topic. In the sermon the Pastor brought up the Cecil the lion situation. (If you have been hiding in a cave for a few years - Cecil the Lion was shot by an American dentist and everyone freaked out about it. I won't speak about my opinions of the lion and the dentist because that is besides the point.) I am sure the Pastor said word for word what I had said when the whole thing went down. "The international outrage over poor Cecil, while there continues to be complete disregard for the life and welfare of Africans themselves. One lion, freaking out, millions of Africans, who cares?" He brought up Africa - the importance of African lives. That's my jam. That's where my heart is at and has always been. So, God used my area of greatest passion to connect with the sermon.
The next point that hit home is a more sensitive subject because it is not pertaining to just myself. To preserve the sensitivity of the subject I will only say, he shared a story of him and his wife and a situation they were presented with and their response. The day before listening to this sermon I saw someone post a prayer request on our church ladies site, it hit my heart in a way I didn't expect. I shared the prayer request with Adam who was in class talking about intercession. His and my heart both felt the same way, our response was not one I had expected in any way but it was undeniable that it was God's voice and guiding. The two situations, although not something often heard of, were almost identical. Our responses, also identical. And the outcome of both were devastating and identical.
That doesn't just happen. God used that situation to teach me. Needless to say, after listening to the sermon and letting God whisper softly into my heart, I knew He has everything under control. Whether we get the job or not, whether it works out or not, at this moment, I am called to trust. And obey.
Proverbs 3:11-13
My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.
So Wednesday morning I sat down with my computer, journal, and Bible. I wrote "Lord, give me the direction and guidance I need. Either to encourage Adam or give reason and caution if that is what is needed." Funny how I thought I needed God to show me how to teach Adam - you know God loves letting me think I am helping others when really He is getting ready for a big lesson for my own heart!
I read a few Psalms that all sang of God's goodness, and He totally knows what He is doing.
Psalms 3:3 says But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
Fitting as my prayer has been, 'soften my heard Lord, for this season is for Your glory."
I decided, perhaps watching some of this church's sermons will give me some insight into how they operate. Will we align theologically, will we feel connected and be able to find community there? I prayed for assurance that God would speak to my heart. He smiled. I'm sure of it. I found a sermon titled "Life", I figured it was fairly basic. I would say in the depths of my heart, although I want God to mould me I was looking more for an excuse that this couldn't be the place for us.
The sermon began and not only spoke to a specific situation that Adam and I had walked through the previous day, but spoke to my most treasured heart topic. In the sermon the Pastor brought up the Cecil the lion situation. (If you have been hiding in a cave for a few years - Cecil the Lion was shot by an American dentist and everyone freaked out about it. I won't speak about my opinions of the lion and the dentist because that is besides the point.) I am sure the Pastor said word for word what I had said when the whole thing went down. "The international outrage over poor Cecil, while there continues to be complete disregard for the life and welfare of Africans themselves. One lion, freaking out, millions of Africans, who cares?" He brought up Africa - the importance of African lives. That's my jam. That's where my heart is at and has always been. So, God used my area of greatest passion to connect with the sermon.
The next point that hit home is a more sensitive subject because it is not pertaining to just myself. To preserve the sensitivity of the subject I will only say, he shared a story of him and his wife and a situation they were presented with and their response. The day before listening to this sermon I saw someone post a prayer request on our church ladies site, it hit my heart in a way I didn't expect. I shared the prayer request with Adam who was in class talking about intercession. His and my heart both felt the same way, our response was not one I had expected in any way but it was undeniable that it was God's voice and guiding. The two situations, although not something often heard of, were almost identical. Our responses, also identical. And the outcome of both were devastating and identical.
That doesn't just happen. God used that situation to teach me. Needless to say, after listening to the sermon and letting God whisper softly into my heart, I knew He has everything under control. Whether we get the job or not, whether it works out or not, at this moment, I am called to trust. And obey.
Proverbs 3:11-13
My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.
Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Resentment - softening or hardening of the heart
The other day I told someone that perhaps for our 10th... or 11th anniversary we will be in a less stressful season of life. But that time is not now. So many positive things are happening in our home - right? Adjusting to four littles has by no means been a walk in the park. C spent his first week of life in the children's hospital because he couldn't keep his oxygen levels up. He then spent the next seven weeks of life on 'at home' O2, which means we carried a tank of oxygen around. Needless to say that was a unique set of circumstances to adjust to.
Adam lost his job due to our crappy economy. He then returned to Toyota where he worked a million hours a week and made next to no money. After struggling to see where God wanted him and what God was asking of him we made some crazy drastic (yet thought out) life changes. We sold our house and Adam applied for school to attain his Master's in Leadership and Ministry. (Side note: how crazy is it that 10 years life experience qualifies you for your master's... all those poor students who have done the work to get their B.A...) Now in life we are renting from my parents, it's a pretty sweet gig. We have the three upstairs bedrooms and the bonus room while my parent's have made the basement a delightful studio apartment for themselves essentially, and sharing the main floor. Does it suck not having our own space? Whenever I am remotely frustrated with the situation I remember - WE ARE DEBT FREE!
Anyways, all these crazy changes are for the better. Although it will be a long challenging process. Resentment is my weakness. I love life, I love my sweet little trouble makers. I love my husband. I love that we are teaching Abbi at home, it is the best way for her to learn and to learn things we believe rather than imposing our government's social agenda on her naive, mouldable mind. I love that Adam is in school and learning, that he is being challenged to be a better believer, husband, father, and human. I love that in a few years we could be anywhere, we are totally dependant on God's guiding because we have no plan. At. All.
All those changes are blessings, although when we are following Christ the devil works hard to deter us from His' voice. He hits us where it hurts. My joyfulness depletes when all home stresses are left on my shoulders. I know that the responsibilities on Adam, including being a full time seminary student and working as much as possible plus crazy volunteer involvements, are weighing on him. I don't want to discourage his obedience in doing this schooling. I don't want my children to suffer because of my stress level. I don't want to resent Adam for being unavailable. I don't want our kids to resent the church because it has taken their dad away. I don't want school to be a negative for Abbi because of life's distractions.
Do I not trust that God is big enough to sustain all our needs, emotional and mental included? Where is the line between personal needs and family needs? When does taking care of kids win and when does taking care of self win? I strongly believe the self care might not happening until the baby is three or older. So in three years, when our kids are 9, 7, 5, and 3... When Adam is finished his schooling. Just make it through these next three years right? My struggle is I don't want to survive, I want to thrive. I want my kids to know their mother loves the Lord, loves life, and loves their daddy - even when there are a lot of life's pressures weighing them down.
Isaiah 43:2 says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." What a blessing to know that through all the awful, HE WILL BE WITH US. He stands in the fire with us. Yes there are struggles, but we are not alone.
Psalm 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." This season, along with every season of life, I am not alone. God never once asked me to make it through this without Him. He wants to uphold me, and encourage me, and be my accountability and strength. I CANNOT FORGET THIS! For if I do, I will surely fail. I will fail my jobs as wife, teacher, mother, daughter, sister, friend, follower, maid and chauffeur ;)
Adam lost his job due to our crappy economy. He then returned to Toyota where he worked a million hours a week and made next to no money. After struggling to see where God wanted him and what God was asking of him we made some crazy drastic (yet thought out) life changes. We sold our house and Adam applied for school to attain his Master's in Leadership and Ministry. (Side note: how crazy is it that 10 years life experience qualifies you for your master's... all those poor students who have done the work to get their B.A...) Now in life we are renting from my parents, it's a pretty sweet gig. We have the three upstairs bedrooms and the bonus room while my parent's have made the basement a delightful studio apartment for themselves essentially, and sharing the main floor. Does it suck not having our own space? Whenever I am remotely frustrated with the situation I remember - WE ARE DEBT FREE!
Anyways, all these crazy changes are for the better. Although it will be a long challenging process. Resentment is my weakness. I love life, I love my sweet little trouble makers. I love my husband. I love that we are teaching Abbi at home, it is the best way for her to learn and to learn things we believe rather than imposing our government's social agenda on her naive, mouldable mind. I love that Adam is in school and learning, that he is being challenged to be a better believer, husband, father, and human. I love that in a few years we could be anywhere, we are totally dependant on God's guiding because we have no plan. At. All.
All those changes are blessings, although when we are following Christ the devil works hard to deter us from His' voice. He hits us where it hurts. My joyfulness depletes when all home stresses are left on my shoulders. I know that the responsibilities on Adam, including being a full time seminary student and working as much as possible plus crazy volunteer involvements, are weighing on him. I don't want to discourage his obedience in doing this schooling. I don't want my children to suffer because of my stress level. I don't want to resent Adam for being unavailable. I don't want our kids to resent the church because it has taken their dad away. I don't want school to be a negative for Abbi because of life's distractions.
Do I not trust that God is big enough to sustain all our needs, emotional and mental included? Where is the line between personal needs and family needs? When does taking care of kids win and when does taking care of self win? I strongly believe the self care might not happening until the baby is three or older. So in three years, when our kids are 9, 7, 5, and 3... When Adam is finished his schooling. Just make it through these next three years right? My struggle is I don't want to survive, I want to thrive. I want my kids to know their mother loves the Lord, loves life, and loves their daddy - even when there are a lot of life's pressures weighing them down.
Isaiah 43:2 says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." What a blessing to know that through all the awful, HE WILL BE WITH US. He stands in the fire with us. Yes there are struggles, but we are not alone.
Psalm 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." This season, along with every season of life, I am not alone. God never once asked me to make it through this without Him. He wants to uphold me, and encourage me, and be my accountability and strength. I CANNOT FORGET THIS! For if I do, I will surely fail. I will fail my jobs as wife, teacher, mother, daughter, sister, friend, follower, maid and chauffeur ;)
Thursday, 7 January 2016
Wrestling With The Creator... again
Little update on life… it’s crazy. Chaos. Emotion. Busy. We are about 7 weeks out from baby #4’s arrival. As of two days ago we pulled Abbi out of kindergarten and began homeschooling (more on that later? maybe). And some extended family situations have been stressful to say the least. Add that to the list of typical financial stress, Adam adjusting to a new - but better - job, and a time in which I feel more disconnected because of this busy season of life. Processing has been a good description for the past few days of mental awareness. What is going on in life and how do we not only make it through, but thrive?
In the processing I have wrestled with a question and realization - but no answer. Growing up I heard over and over the testimony of Phil Vischer, he spoke about the dream he had of talking vegetable speaking Biblical truth becoming as big as Disney taking God’s place in priorities. He spoke of Abraham and Isaac, where Abraham’s dream of having many descendants was tested when God told him to sacrifice Isaac on a mountain top. His words hit my naive heart, I knew it would be easy for me to let my dream of moving to Africa become my focus. I assumed at some point God would test me and I would be ready! I wrote in journals “planning to go, but willing to stay”. Did I really mean that? Or was it just for show - so it would appear as though my heart was in the right place? My back up dream was to have a large family, large in my mind is 5 or more babies. I didn’t focus my attention on that dream as much because - like I said - I was planning to go.
Fast forward ten years and I am reminded of that testimony. I was taught that everything in life is a lesson, you can learn from every experience and grow in every challenge. With most things I would say I observe and achieve both learning and growing. When it comes to my dreams, it is a much, much harder realization. I am still living in the city in which I was born. I haven’t been to Africa or been involved in overseas missions the way I envisioned my life for a long time. Why did God take that dream? It wasn’t just a test of is it more important… He completely stripped me of the chance to move there. I’m not saying I blame God, I made choices that kept me here. But if He put such a great desire to serve children in Africa on my heart as such a young age - why didn’t He make it possible?
In the past couple weeks I have been faced with another battle of the mind. I was respectfully informed by my doctor that it would be wise to get a tubal ligation during our upcoming cesarean. Being diabetic, three previous sections, and the stresses implicated on my body, the risks of having a fifth baby would be far greater than he thinks wise. I have always trusted doctors, my life depends on it. I truly don’t want to put my life or an innocent child’s life at risk because of my own selfish desires. But seriously God… why! Why would he take away my “back up” dream too?
I know many people cannot be blessed with the number of children we have. I know that life is crazy stressful the way it is, and that I’m insane for even being saddened by the inability to have more babies. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids more than words can say, and I am so very thankful for each moment I have with each of them.
But tonight - be it the pregnancy hormones, be it the emotional overload of the past few days and weeks… I wrestle deeply with what God is trying to teach me by taking away the two passions the way I had understood them. The ones He placed on my heart at a young age. Who am I to question what the Creator of the Universe is doing? Who am I to be annoyed and disappointed when I truly have been so blessed. Popular yet powerful, I need to constantly remind myself of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” I know God has a plan, I know I can only see a tiny fraction of the picture. Tonight I wrestle and struggle with what I do see. However, I am thankful. Tomorrow is a new day, a day in which reality won’t change, but my perspective can!
Thursday, 14 May 2015
A Heart of Bitterness
Occasionally a day like today occurs. I am bombarded with all my (and Adam's) dreams for the future, and the realities that they will not happen. A few weeks ago I was challenged by my Ladies Bible Study lesson. We were talking about God's ability, how God goes way beyond our way beyond. The whole premise was;
Ephesians 3:20-21 God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us. May we see His shining-greatness in the church. May all people in all time honour Christ Jesus. Let it be so.
So what is my problem? I know God is able, I know He CAN do more than I can comprehend for His glory. But He won't. Not right now. My heart is full of bitterness... Through my childhood and teen years, all I wanted was to grow up serving Him. I wanted to take car of His widows and orphans, James 1:27 was my motto verse "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. So is that it God? Did I pollute myself with the world and now the dreams You gave me, the ambitions You burned into my soul are just there to haunt me? I want to love those kids in Africa who don't have love, those who's governments, teachers, and parents are not focused on setting them up for success. I want to share Jesus' love with them and fill up their love tanks!
But then I got pregnant... so I guess I screw it all up. I decided to follow the way of the world, I turned my heart away from Christ's leading and words. Is there no redemption in forgiveness? Will we never move past it? Five years later both Adam and my dreams are just that. Daydreams.
Is this the result of us not having enough faith? Do we not have God's power in us to accomplish those amazing things? Are our hearts just selfish and we use God as an excuse to make the dreams seem good? Over and over I struggle, why would God give us these passions if they will never come to pass? I know Jesus was 30 before He started His ministry, the Israelites waited 40 years to get into the Promiseland, and Abraham had to wait until he was 100 years old for Isaac's birth. But when I highly doubt I will leave -that- long, will any portion of our dreams ever happen? Will we ever have the chance to serve God in those ways? Will we ever be good enough? Have enough money? Be qualified? So many questions in my troubled heart. So I leave myself with a passage...
Psalm 37:5-7 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Wrestling With God
This week God spoke. He revealed to me a heart of gold, that of a young woman who had a similar dream.
In 2006 God brought two young women to Africa. Different ages, different places. Same result. A deep love for the people, the children, the land, the culture. One returned the following year, began teaching, began an organization, and nine years later has adopted thirteen precious children as her own. God spoke to her heart, God led her on an adventure, she followed.
The other returned to Africa twice more, coming home both times, became a young wife and mother and remained in North America while a portion of her heart remained in Africa. Praying one day to return, to share that love for the children of Africa - Uganda especially - with a younger generation. I am she. And I pray that the Lord will open a door for me to share His heart, that which He has shared with me. Whether it be with my own children, or other youth.
The first young woman is Katie Davis. Her story is incredible. When I read her blog I feel as though I am peeking through a spy hole into a life that could have been. Meanwhile I am here, my ministry is to three little people. Little people who need attention, constant directing, constant encouragement, and so many other needs. My husband also needs my attention, he works hours upon hours to meet the financial needs of a growing family in a busy and expensive city. Some days I think perhaps I would rather the difficulties of a missionaries life. I think I would rather have no money, be lonely, carry the burdens of those I am serving, sickness, and the many other struggles a missionaries life entails. But God reminds me quickly, with a sweet cheeky smile from a three year old, a snuggle from a sweet baby boy, a conversation with an eager four year old mind, or a warm embrace from a husband who tells me to slow down. My life is good. This is my ministry right now. God has placed me here and here is beautiful. This life is beautiful, and my struggles are meant for me to wrestle through.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 NLT
Be joyful always. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.
Read more about Katie Davis and Amazima Ministries at https://amazima.org
In 2006 God brought two young women to Africa. Different ages, different places. Same result. A deep love for the people, the children, the land, the culture. One returned the following year, began teaching, began an organization, and nine years later has adopted thirteen precious children as her own. God spoke to her heart, God led her on an adventure, she followed.
The other returned to Africa twice more, coming home both times, became a young wife and mother and remained in North America while a portion of her heart remained in Africa. Praying one day to return, to share that love for the children of Africa - Uganda especially - with a younger generation. I am she. And I pray that the Lord will open a door for me to share His heart, that which He has shared with me. Whether it be with my own children, or other youth.
The first young woman is Katie Davis. Her story is incredible. When I read her blog I feel as though I am peeking through a spy hole into a life that could have been. Meanwhile I am here, my ministry is to three little people. Little people who need attention, constant directing, constant encouragement, and so many other needs. My husband also needs my attention, he works hours upon hours to meet the financial needs of a growing family in a busy and expensive city. Some days I think perhaps I would rather the difficulties of a missionaries life. I think I would rather have no money, be lonely, carry the burdens of those I am serving, sickness, and the many other struggles a missionaries life entails. But God reminds me quickly, with a sweet cheeky smile from a three year old, a snuggle from a sweet baby boy, a conversation with an eager four year old mind, or a warm embrace from a husband who tells me to slow down. My life is good. This is my ministry right now. God has placed me here and here is beautiful. This life is beautiful, and my struggles are meant for me to wrestle through.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 NLT
Be joyful always. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.
Read more about Katie Davis and Amazima Ministries at https://amazima.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)