Almost Christmas

It is almost Christmas and I still am not in the holiday spirit. I want to be but I am not. In fact, it does not feel like Christmas time at all. I am hoping I switch in Christmas mode on Christmas Eve when all the festivities begin. I think it is fun that there are two babies in the family that will have their first christmas and two other kidd0 that have the energy and joy to bring life to any get together. Being able to spend Christmas with them is special for me.

I am missing my Kenyan friends especially now. I've never spent Christmas in Kenya but I guess the holiday of giving brings them to mind. With my heart trying to be in two countries at once, it is always an inner battle.

I wish all you that read this and that love and support me a very Merry Christmas. May your hearts be full of love and thanks this year for the birth of our Savior. God Bless!!

I am certain of this....

I am certain of this...that God answers our prayers! Within the past two months, the Lord has shown me that since He answers those "silly" prayers that I speak out to Him that He most certainly will answers the big ones....those prayers that are at the forefront of my mind and heart as I follow Him in obedience.

I have two great examples of the Lord answering my somewhat silly and simple prayers (even though nothing is silly to God). My shower head fixture had been broken for a long time (and had been super glued without success) and therefore I had to hold the shower head myself. On one particular day not so long ago i spoke a prayer in a sigh..."Lord, it would be nice to have a shower head that worked." Wouldn't you know, a few days later I saw a new fixture upstairs that was needed to do the trick. The person who bought it did not hear my prayer but the Lord moved him to buy that shower fixture that week so I would know that He was listening!!

A few days ago, before I left for a trip, I had every intention to do my dishes but, as things usually go, I ran out of time. I saw them sitting there before i left and said.."Lord, I wish these dishes were done and that I didn't have to leave them here a mess." Well, I came home 4 days later....breezed in and out quick to get to work...and then on the ride home said to myself.."Were the dishes there that I left??" Got home and saw that someone had washed and put away all my dishes while I was in Texas. My Lord was listening to me and I was blessed.

So now, I am going to be really honest with what I need...a big prayer request on my heart. I am praying that the Lord provides a team of people to rally around me and really help me as I move forward to establish this children's home. I need and so desire people to tap into that part of me and help me to be comfortable to live and share that passion daily. I am praying for accountability and assistance. I am praying for people to bounce ideas off of, to join me in prayer about decisions I make, to become just as passionate about what the Lord is doing in Kenya through me as I am etc.

" Lord of heaven and earth, I know you are listening and that you love this child of yours. You know my heart and my needs. I rely and depend on you with my entire being and I am seeking to make Your love my constant center. I give this request to you...knowing you will answer it...in your timing..in accordance with your will. Amen!"

I see Jesus!!

I am going to keep this post simple....not as wordy as I can sometimes get. I want to just share some of the ways in which I saw (and felt) Jesus this past week. Here we go:

I saw Jesus when...

• I spent time with a friend...the Lord has provided a friend who gets me and I get her.
• I watched a video by Lou Giglio with the girl's at bible study.
• An old favorite verse from Psalms came alive to me because of the video.
• A good friend texted me the same verse the next day...too perfect.
• I was able to picture 6 empire state buildings on top of each other and Texas covered in 22 inches of golf balls and realize how MUCH God LOVES me (you had to see the said video).
• I was able to go to Texas..spending time with awesome friends and making new ones.
• I was encouraged in my calling and was surrounded by people who had been to Kenya and understood my heart for Kenya.
• I attended a benefit for my friend's missions organization and was reminded how He is Jehovah Jireh
• I went to Sunday School had a really great discussion and time of sharing with two girls. We were able to relate w/ each other and uplift each other.
• I accepted a blessing than the Lord showed me had already taken care of things.
• I heard the testimony of an older man who started a children's home in Kenya.

I think I could list so many more. I love how the Lord knows just what we need and meets those needs. The Lord is really showing Himself to me powerfully. I feel His love immensely and am just trying to live every day with that as my center and focus. With His love as your center, everything else falls into place and you have a proper perspective.

In closing, I want to say that the number one way I have seen Jesus this past week is in other people. Thank you, my friends, for being His hands and His feet. Thank you for being His voice piece, speaking truth and encouragement into my life. Thank you for helping me to see that He cared about me through the care you showed to me. Thank you for loving me and being amazing brothers and sisters in Christ.

My Heroes

Hello All,
I know lately I've been a blogging fool! I'm really starting to enjoy it. I don't know how people actually read this because I have a total of 1 follower but I'm gonna keep on writing and sharing.

Okay, so in my previous blog I talked about how I have been so inspired by those in Kenya I have met and become friends with who have disabilities. Their love for Jesus and their enduring spirits have encouraged and inspired me. I would like to introduce 3 such people in my blog here.

Richard, my Kenyan father - I have known Richard since I first came to Kenya in 2005. He was a neighbor in our culdesac and worked a phone booth that we frequented often. We'd share hellos and small talk back then but I did not have a real chance to get to know him. It wasn't until I returned to Kenya and February and then again this summer, that we got to know each other on a deeper level. He truly is a hero of mine.

Richard is in a wheelchair due to a road accident that happened almost a decade ago. At first, he struggled with depression and did not understand why God would make such a thing happen to him and his young family. But he allowed the Lord to teach him and reach him during his suffering. He knew that God could use him to reach others with disabilities so he decided to take classes in psychology so he could become a counselor! He is one of the most caring and loving individuals that I have met. He is a wonderful father, a wonderful husband (who loves his wife soo much), and a wonderful friend. I could write a lot more about him but i will leave it to a paragraph for now.

Daniella-Daniella is a woman I met this summer when I attended an outreach with Richard. She has a vibrant personality and was so friendly to me right off the bat. I could tell that she loved Jesus and others so much and that sharing Jesus and caring for others was her life mission. Although she suffers from CP, she never let it stand in her way. She has a good job (where she oftens faces people thinking she can't do something but she shows the differently), spends her free time visiting homes and schools for the disabled to encourage them, and helps out at the church as well. If i would have to pick three words to describe her I would say: she is fiesty, friendly, and on fire for Jesus. She has allowed Jesus to use her disability to bring Him glory!! What an amazing woman of God.

Tom- Tom is also someone I met at an outreach I attended with Richard. Tom was born healthy but when he became sick as a toddler, he lost his hearing. Although there are many challenges he faces as a deaf person in Kenya, he has a jubilant personality and untiring spirit. Honestly, he is one of the most sincere people I have met in my life. He works so hard is and is a teacher at a college. The Lord has opened doors for him to visit different places and meet deaf people from all over the world. I am glad that the Lord continues to encourage him as he has been such an encouragment to others. He exhibits the joy of the Lord whereever he goes.

So there you have it, three of my heroes from Kenya. I am blessed to call them my friends. Please, if you think about it, pray for these 3 individuals. Thank you for allowing me to introduce them to you.

Joni

It wasn't until recently that I started to read more about Joni Eareckson Tada. She has an amazing testimony and an amazing spirit. Her story really spoke to my heart; reading about her ups and downs with dealing with her disability and then how God brought her through and used what happened to her for His glory. I was so captivated reading her book and her honesty was greatly appreciated.

Over the summer, working with so many disabled people it made me appreciate my ability and helped me to realize that He gave me ability not to use it selfishly but to use it to reach out. For Joni, she questioned why God allowed her to have an accident to make her disabled but God had His purposes. She has been such light, encouragement, and inspiration to both those with abilities and disabilities. She states herself that it was very likely that without the disability, her life would have taken a totally different path. Her disability brought her to the end of herself and thats where she truly found and experienced God.

I am in awe of Jesus and how He gives people that capacity to endure and therefore lead others to Him through their testimony. Being able to met and talk to so many people with disabilities has given me the utmost respect for them.

I want to share one story that relates to some of what I've been talking about. While in Kenya this summer, I was able to take part in Challenger's meetings, a group that was composed mainly of people with disabilities but also with families of the disabled and those who worked with the disabled. Sometimes that Challengers would go to different places to encourage other with disabilities. I went on one such mission with them to a school for the physically handicapped. It is the case, because I am American, that when I go somewhere I get a lot of attention whether I want it or not. What I loved about going with the Challenger's to this school is that all the kids paid attention and wanted to know all about them...they were even willing to stand in line for a chance to talk to them. It warmed my heart and made me realize how powerfully the Lord was using the disabled to speak truth into other disabled people. They can reach them in a way I cannot.

And that is why I know that I must continue to have those with disabilities be a big part of the future home. Plus, I know that I have a tremendous amount to learn from them and so I want to surround myself with such fellowship. What a honor and a blessing to be able to get to know so many wonderful, strong individuals.

I had a dream....

Yes, I had a dream. I went to sleep on Tuesday and had a lovely dream that carried me into Wednesday morning. But then, I WOKE UP. I was annoyed because it was not reality and a funk started to develop in my soul in those waking moments. I should have given it to the Lord right there but I didn't. The funk turned into incredible discouragement from morning to mid-afternoon. Then my Mighty Warrior intervened and showed me His great love for me was the true message of the dream.

I was in the midst of texting a friend, still in funk, and I wrote "He delights in me...that is the truth that is getting me through this day." I've read in the bible He delights in me...I've even blogged in May about how He delights in me but I had forgotten. Yet the Lord implanted that truth in my head and then in the following hours taught my heart what it meant.

Using my dream, He made it crystal clear how He feels about me and who He wants to be to me. He taught me so much and brought the Truth so alive to me...that I could not help but share it. I downloaded on the girls last night at bible study and it was amazing! We focused on the verse in Zephaniah 3:17....it was really cool.

Haha..to be honest with you, I have a cold and I wanted to take nyquil last night before I went to bed. But I didn't because I figured that might stop me from having another dream about the amazing love of Christ. Regretfully, I do not remember my dream from last night but today He has me encouraged and enthralled with Him. In addition, He has helped me to have a productive day and to get things done that I've been aching to get done since I've been back. Woohoo...Hallelujah!

Growing Pains

Have you ever experienced growing pains?? For some of us, its been a long time since we have had physical growing pains but its when your legs or sometimes your arms would hurt when you were a child because you were growing. I recently had a conversation with a parent who said their daughter was not sleeping well and waking up crying from what she thought might be growing pains. It was after a conversation I had with a dear friend the other day about things I've been going through, that I realize that I am having spiritual growing pains. Like physical growing pains, spiritual pains hurt...I am being stretched... I feel uncomfortable...I feel sensitive...but the outcome is worth the pain.

Often times when we have great struggles, what comes is that we experience great amounts of growth. We grow in trust, faith, love, confidence, peace, etc. True, i don't like the pain now but I am excited to see the outcome when God creates a much more confident and bold woman of God. You might be going through spiritual growing pains too. Don't get frustrated or give up, just ask God what He might be trying to do in you.

Similarly, I think of the refiner's fire. A fire that hot cannot be pleasant...its gonna hurt. But when you go through the fire and the dross is removed, you are so radiant & beautiful and you reflect Christ even more than before.

So praise God for growing pains and His refiner's fire.