I have a confession....

I have a confession.  This morning I am having some serious struggles.  Questioning. Doubting.  Seeking.  Praying. Trusting. A few days ago, I checked FaceBook, saw a post from a good missionary friend serving in Togo, and this is what I read:

 

"Tuesday evening 11:30 p.m while we were sleeping, I got stung by a scorpion 3 times. It woke me up with a sting to the inside of my left hand, but before I knew what was happening it got me again. I threw it and it landed on my bellie and stung me again, then I got it off, but I could not find it, and did not want to be in bed or step on it, and finally found it by the wall. John was asking me what was wrong, and before I even seen it I told him it was a scorpion. He told me to kill it with my shoe, which I did. John got on the internet to see what to do. Isn't much you can do. I was in intense pain for 24 hours, IBP and Tyn. every 2 hours and ice on it, just helped enough so I could stand it. At 2:00 a.m. this morning the pain finally left. Thank you Lord. I have been drinking lots of water to get the poison out."

 

I have to be honest, this terrifies me...not for myself, but for my children, my babies.  My biggest hesistancy in returning to Togo has been the kids.  I know they are not really my own...the Lord has simply entrusted them to me for a short while.  They are His.  However, the Devil knows my weakness (my children) and has sought to plague me with fear and doubt since I read this.  BUT I will not give him the victory.  The Lord has called us to Togo and we will NOT be distracted from doing the will of God for our family.   The perfect place for my children....the safest place for my children...the best place for my children is in the very center of God's will.  That is easy to say, but the Lord is putting me to the test.  Can I live what I claim?  I claim to trust Him in all things.  Can I live what I say?  I say I will go where ever He calls us.  Can I give what I say I will give?  I say I will give everything for Him.  No, I can not.  But He can accomplish it in me.

 

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

What a Way to Spend a Saturday Afternoon!!!

I LOVE our church.  It is a vibrant, growing church that has not compromised on Scripture or standards.  There are alot of great churches out there, but I think our's is the best!  Last weekend at  church was our annual "Big Day" where a big push is made to get visitors and new people to church.  On Saturday, we had a special day just for the Bus Ministry.  These are kids that only come to church because someone comes to pick them up and bring them.  My girls see the buses and ask, "why don't their mommies & daddies bring them?".  Even they realize that it should be the parents bringing them to hear about Jesus.  I worked on the buses as a teenager and I am so thankful for this ministry that seeks out these children to let them know that Jesus does love them....even when no one else seems to.

Brother Myron preaching to the kids about the ABCs of salvation.

Passing out candy.....always a hit!

If we don't tell this little girl about Jesus, who will??

All these little faces just amazed me.  So many of them from broken homes, homes where no one even notices if they are gone for the afternoon, home where no one shows them love, homes that never tell them about Jesus.

The pinata was fun!!

Eliza and Meredith, one of the bus workers.  Eliza had fun helping with the kids and showing them were to sit!

Tim & Mary Ann Wiggins, just 2 of many of Faith's wonderful bus workers.

Larry Hudson, a Child Evangelism Fellowship missionary...the kids all love him!

Some of the buses lined up to bring the kids back home.

This sweet little boy prayed to accept Jesus as his Saviour!  I think they were around 50 people saved last weekend!

I was one of the workers in the auditorium and so I didn't make it over to the gym where they had huge inflatables and pizza for the kids.  John and I left and he commented on how much he enjoyed the afternoon.... it reminded us of the  Kid's Club we helped with in Togo. So thankful for Faith Church and how it reaches out to others!

I don't want an appointment!!!

Wow!  It is so hard to believe that we are at the point where we need to get passports.  Since mine & John's were renewals we were able to simply mail the renewal application in.  For the kids, we had to make an appointment at the Post Office and bring the whole family in. 

Of course, the only appointment time they had for the next several weeks was right in the middle of nap time!  But the kids were all troopers.  Poor Livi cried on the way there. She kept saying, "I don't want an appointment!!!"  It took me a while to figure out why she was so upset, but then I realized she thought this was the appointment where she gets a shot!  After I assured her this was not going to be that kind of appointment she was all smiles.

Eliza was excited she got to carry the papers in! And Olivia was happy once she knew no one was getting a shot!

My brave girls walking in, hand in hand.  I am nervous and excited to see
 how they handle all the changes over the next few months.

Poor Aiden was alseep and had to be woken up for the appointment.

Livi waiting for the PO worker to return with our papers.

Once he woke up, Aiden loved playing with the pen that was chained to the counter!

It should take 4 to 6 weeks for the kids passports to be processed and mailed to us.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly and quickly.  Next we have to apply for Visas!  

Forsaking Strawberries!!!!

I noticed the big tent from a couple blocks away.  Every year, about this time, I begin to search for it, knowing that it should pop up any day.  It calls me.  It beckons me.  It knows that I can not drive by without succumbing to the temptation.  And today, like every other time I see it, I stopped.  I gave it.  I could NOT help it.  They were calling out to me!!!

 I absolutely LOVE strawberries...almost to an unhealthy point!  Literally, I could have eaten the entire flat of strawberries in the car before I got home, but the little ones were with me and I wanted to show some self control!  And now the kids have that same intense love for strawberries.  Our family can go through 8 to 10 quarts of strawberries every week!

Aiden calls them "straw-bees"

People often ask me what food I missed the most when we were in Togo before.   I can unequivocally say, "STRAWBERRIES!".   I told John that this spring and summer I will have to eat all I can because it will be at least 2 years before I get them again.  

This morning I read this verse and it made me chuckle, "And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, (or strawberries!!!) for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Mt 19:29

So does that mean that I will receive a hundredfold worth of strawberries one day??  Will my plate at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb be piled high with bright red strawberries? Will I have a beautiful strawberry patch next to my mansion?  I don't know.  But I do know that as the Bible says just a few verses before that one, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible".  So can I forsake my beloved strawberries for the next couple years?  I can!

The Magic of One!

Last week my family had the chance to share our story of losing our home at a Heroes Banquet that the Red Cross holds every year.  The theme was "The Magic of One" referring to how just one person can make a difference in someone's live.  This banquet is for the people that volunteer and help raise money to enable the Red Cross to help people all over the country and all over the world.  This is a little bit of what I shared:

What do you think about when you think of the RED Cross. My first experience with the Red Cross was as a young teenager taking the baby sitting course.  My husband and I usually give blood with the Red Cross.  I have also dealt a little bit with the Red Cross in helping get a military family member home when they had a critically ill loved one in the Intensive Care.  I was like most people though when I thought about the Red Cross…..they are a great organization.  They do great work.  They help people…..but other people.   The people in those others neighborhoods.  Or those people in other towns that were wiped out by tornados.  Or those people in that 3^rd world country that experienced a massive natural disaster.  But on Dec 3^rd, 2011,  I became one of those people.  My family, my childrenl, we were the ones that needed help!

Me speaking to some of the Heroes that volunteer for Red Cross

Just a few minutes after I arrived, my husband and I were standing on the side of the road, watching the chaos, when I noticed a man in a jacket that said “Red Cross”.   Initially I thought, he must be here to help the firemen, to give them water or food.  But then as he approached us, I realized that he was there for us.

He took my husband to the side and they talked awhile.  And I guess I still didn’t understand what was going on.  I think in my mind I thought maybe they help with clean up or finding lodging.  But then my husband came back and showed me a gift card with a substantial amount of money that was for us to help with immediate needs for the family. We are like most families.  We didn’t have an emergency fund or a big savings account.  I work full time and John works part time and is in school full time.  We did not have the means that day to go out and  buy our neccessties, so that card was tremendously helpful.   Later that evening, we went to Walmart and used that card to buy immediate needs:  socks, underclothing, snacks for the kids, diapers, sippy cups, a book bag for my oldest for school, toothbrushes, toiletries, things like that,every day essesntials.  We also used it to buy clothing and shoes for the next day or two.  We used it to survive.

There is a Bible verse that my husband and I took on as our mission verse when we served in Africa.  It is Jude 22” And some have compassion, making a difference”.  It is interesting to me that the Bible doesn’t say that all make a difference.  It doesn’t say that everyone makes a difference.  It is those who CHOSE to act on their compassion that makes a difference.  Compassion without action is nothing!  The Red Cross puts action behind their compassion to reach out to those in need to make a difference in their lives.

So now, when I think of the Red Cross, I don’t think it for those people, or for someone else, because they touched my family in very real way.  And so we thank you, each of you, and we thank the Red Cross, because the Red Cross helped us to take the first step of many difficult steps on the road to rebuild our lives

The girls were VERY excited to meet a princess!  She is actually Miss Goldsboro,  Blaire Mozingo, but the girls saw her tiara and just knew she was a real life princess.  Blaire's pagent platform is the Red Cross.  She also was the recipient of Red Cross aide in the form of an emergency blood transfusion.

We were so grateful for the oppurtunity to tell the Red Cross how much we appreciate all their help and assistance after our loss.  The fire changed me in so many ways....I am thankful for that.  And I am thankful for all the wonderful people that have come into our lives since that dreadful morning.

The Perfect Storm

I am terrified.  For the last few days it is all I can think about....the upcoming ladies meeting at our church.  A couple months ago, I was asked to speak at Faith's ladies meeting called "The Perfect Storm" about the house fire and how the Lord worked in our family's lives.   I said yes right away....but now I wish I had said no.  I am not a public speaker....I hated speech class in highschool and college and now I am absolutely terrified.  My sole desire is to brag on Jesus.  I want people to look at me and see how good the Lord has been.  I don't want this to be about me, or our family.  My heart longs to honor HIM.  If you are reading this, would you please say a prayer for me?  So many people are hurting and I pray I can be an encouragement to them.  I know that HE will help me.  He has promised to "do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Eph 3:20).

We got in!!!

Just yesterday we emailed our application to Les Cedres, a Christian French langauge school in France, where we hope to study French for a couple months.  While we were in Togo for our previous term, we worked with a tutor to learn French.  However, this time around we felt like it would be beneficial if we knew more French.  Since John will be working as a Nurse Practitioner he needs to be more independent and not have to rely on a translator. 

Les Cedres comes highly recommended by several other missionaries that we know.  We were thrilled to know that it is a Christian program. They have courses designed for short term learning.  Our plan, Lord willing, is to go to France right after John finishes his master's program.  So we hope to be there September and October.

Well, I just checked email and there was an acceptance notice from the director of admissions!!  We got in!  We are so excited and thankful the Lord is opening doors.