Catching You Up To Speed

To all those out their in cyberspace who tune in to know what's happening in my life and in the life of The Sky Mission...I wanted to catch ya up to speed. I'll be brief and to the point with it and if there is any questions...feel free to e-mail me (I like getting e-mails). Anyhow, here we go!

• I have a number of opportunities to share about Kenya and The Sky Mission before I leave. I have been raising the support I need for the trip this summer and additional that will go a trip that I will take to survey and purchase land.
• I will go to Kenya for 10 weeks from June 20th to September 6th. On the schedule thus far is helping with a team that is coming to Kenya from my home church (and surrounding churches), visiting a special needs/disabled school and home for a month, and staying with the people of Transformed International for about a month to get more focused information on how to start and maintain a home/ministry (I have been really impressed by the way they run and operate..I hope they can mentor me and show me the ropes).
• I hope to bring goods for Africa and start an Africa Store..so to speak. I will sell the goods for a bit more than I bought them for and the profit will go towards The Sky Mission. If there is any readers who have a forte for this type of endeavor, please let me know.
• I will return to my job next school year and I hope that by summer 2011, I might begin to full time support raise. Whenever I have the monies to purchase the land, it is then when I will make decisions about the move there.

As you know, this is all in the Lord hands. I am trying to not rush the Lord but be sensitive to His timing. He has opened doors thus far and continues to do so. He floors me by His provision and I am excited about all the people that are getting excited about The SKY Mission and how we are sharing in this endeavor together. Piece by piece, the puzzle is coming together.

I ask that you continue to shower The SKY Mission in your prayers. Thank you for joining me in reaching the broken children in Kenya through the love of our majestic and awesome Savior.

A Stubborn 4 year old

Let me preface this story by saying...I LOVE MY JOB! How lucky am I to be able to invest in the lives of these sweet children on a daily basis. I actually miss them during the weekends and think about them randomly and they make me smile. I don't have any kids of my own yet but for now, these kids are my kids.

There is one little guy in particular that the Lord taught me a lesson through a few weeks back. This handsome bugger is sweet and funny...yet can be stubborn as I'll get out. What I didn't know about him was that he doesn't like to take walks...especially if the walk delays playing on the playground. He walked nice for about two blocks and then PLOP!...legs went up and his butt went to the ground. As he was sitting on the ground..bent in an unnatural way...i was using all my tools to get him walking to which he responded "No..play playground." I tried to tell him that playing on the playground would require us to actually get there but no go.

He got up for a short bit (5 steps maybe) and PLOP! again. This time, he was scooting on his bottom down the sidewalk in an effort to get away from me. Since my legs go faster than a scooting four year old, i caught up with him rather quickly. When I did, in the middle of his defiance, he started singing a song that went something like this...."I looooove you , I lovvve youuu, I love love love you Lysha." (It was ELF like..if you saw that movie before). Hahaha..too cute..i almost gave in but I had to stay strong...HE HAD TO WALK..lol. When I could do nothing else, I carried him which was met by him cursing at me under his breath. Eventually, we got to the playground but the consequence of his stubborness was no play playground. Yep, I'm a big meanie..lol.

So how does this relate to Jesus?!? Let me tell you. So often we can be like a stubborn preschooler. We walk nice with Him for awhile but when we don't get what we want or a goal is blocked (through a trial), we plop down instead of trusting that we will get to where we need to be if only we persevere. We might have a resurge of reliance on God but our tolerance for the pushes and pulls of life is not so great and we plop down again. Its then when we scoot on our bottoms, saying we love Jesus with our mouths while not truly believing it in our hearts. All the while not, we are not being the child He made us to be. He didn't make us to scoot but soar.

In our defiance, He doesn't leave us or give up...He scoops us up in His arms and carries us through. We are not aware of this because we think He has left us, so we curse him. Truth is He has guiding us and keeping us from going nowhere.

In His great love, He teaches and disciplines us. He has great amounts of patience for us when we are scooting on our bottoms or cursing Him. He puts up with so much and we can be so stubborn that any human would have thrown in the towel and said.."Peace out!" But not our Lord, His grace abounds. We doesn't lose heaven for our defiance...we get to eternally go to the big playground in the sky.

Thank you Jesus for teaching me so much about yourself and myself through working with these kids!! Sorry for when I am a stubborn 4 year old!! Allow me to learn and change...so i'm not scooting around on the ground. Give me vast amounts of love and patience to give freely to these little ones.

Live in the here and now

So........I GOT THE JOB!!! After many phone calls and many days of patiently waiting, I was told that I could start this week. I have two days under my belt so far and I'm excited about the next few months. I will be learning a lot and have a lot of hands-on experience! I know this is what I am suppose to be doing right now...that this is part of the larger picture. As I am sitting here, sipping hot chocolate with my feet up (snow day already..lol), I am just thankful to have a God who is conducting the orchestra of my life and He is making it into a beautiful symphony.

From now until the summer...Here are some things (not an exhaustive list by any means) I'm looking forward to (that I would have missed if I ran off to Kenya before God's timing):

• Getting to know 15 great kids at work, learning more about special education, etc.
• Being able to spend more time with family. Being around for my niece's 1st birthday.
• Sharing more about Kenya at different places (Girl Scouts, Family Fun Night, etc.)
• A disability conference in April
• Spending more time with the youth and being able to take a part in the Famine etc.
• Continuing work with my two clients (and being able to then work with them after the summer)
• Having the chance to see some of my Kenya friends in America (two that I know of might be coming for different reasons)
• Helping with training/planning for a team that is coming to Kenya in June
• Preparation of heart and plans for summer
• Growing friendships and making memories
• Much, much more in store than I even know

There is a picture in my apartment that has a saying on it. It says "Every now and then, live in the here and now." In Ecclesiastes it says, "There is a time for everything..." I don't want to miss what's happening here and now...i don't want to miss the joys and blessings of today. I know all things will come to pass that the Lord has intended.....I need to slow my pace and open my eyes....living each day and trusting that it will work together to get me closer to where God has called me.

For instance, I realized that I would be suited to help in all areas of the future children's home. For example, during my college years, I worked at a pharmacy and also interned as a chaplain at a hospital. Did I do these things because I was like " Oh, the Lord will use this when he calls me to start a children's home??" Nope, I just needed a job and I also needed to do an internship. But when there is a clinic on the compound and they need help with patients .....I have the skill set to be able to assist them. I've lately seen how the Lord has had me different places at different times all because it will be of use for His kingdom work.

Okay, I am going to continue cleaning, e-mailing, resting etc. on this snow day. Have a blessed day, week, and month.

The Unexpected!

Thought I should bring you all up to speed on the recent happenings!! This is not an exhaustive account of the past 2 weeks but I give you the important details. A bunch can happen in a short amount of time when the Lord is moving things along. So here we go:

Two weeks ago, and for a couple months prior, Satan had my heart and soul in a bad place. I was believing lies and I was thinking about myself. I had put walls around myself and became very inward. I wanted to get out of America as fast as I could. I was busy pointing fingers at everyone else and forgot, like the old addage says, that 3 fingers were pointing back at myself.

But boy, am I glad that our God is a God of grace and restoration. He brought me to a place of realization then starting restoring my heart and relationships that had suffered. He got me in a healthy place for me to accept an open door.

I went to visit my old co-workers at a preschool and was offered two jobs in one day. In a time where many are losing jobs, it was a miracle in itself for that to happen. The one job seemed so ideal but I wanted to make sure that it was from the Lord. As I thought and prayed, I realized that taking this job in an autistic support preschool classroom would get me to Kenya faster in the long run. I was in a place where I was able to see clearly that I needed to focus on my responsibilities here and not just run away to Kenya as quick as possible. Yes, this my calling but the Lord does not be foolish about the steps i'm taking. So, I am going to walk through this door that I believed the Lord has opened. If it is not the right one, then He will close it and show me what I am to do.

Taking this job means that I will go to Kenya this summer to continue the work of the SKY Mission. While I am here the next few months, not only will I get more experience training, but I will also be able to prepare for this summer even more...making the most of my time there. I am excited!! It feels right to me.

Please pray as I am trying to contact those at the office so I can start this position as soon as possible. It is somewhat difficult to get in touch with them so I just ask that you pray for favor.

I just want to praise the God who works all things out for good and is never far away.

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.