4 Girls in Africa

I got to talk to the four girls who are in Uganda, Africa right now serving the Lord. (You can follow their blogs at http://loveforugandanorphans.blogspot.com and http://twogirlsonedream.blogspot.com. It was so encouraging to talk to them and to hear how the Lord is using them in a foreign land.

Their hearts all spoke the same message, "What is it going to be like when we leave? How can we continue to make a difference for Africa once we come back to the States?" These brave young women have left the comforts of home and have served faithfully and taken care of the orphans that the Lord commands us all to provide for as believers. They have had their faith stretched and been forced to ask, "How does this exist in the world we live in today?"

It is hard coming back to the states and comprehending how our world can be so different when we are just across the ocean. It is difficult to understand how we have water parks in America when in Africa people die wanting water. It is hard to believe that we decide if we want Mexican or American food when people in Africa decide if they will eat today.

I am confident that the Lord sent these four ladies, as he has sent me to show us a glimpse of HIS people that he desperately wants taken care of. I do not think that once you go, you stop serving God in Africa. I am committed to life to do whatever I can to take care of God's children.
I was able to talk to the girls and let them know a simple truth, "You will never forget Africa and the faces of the children you have seen. You will never forget what you have seen, touched, and felt, and God doesn't want you too." I believe that these girls will come back and that the Lord will continue to use them to bless and be blessed by the people and children they have met in Africa.

There is so much work to be done and their needs to be more laborers for the kingdom of God in Africa. My prayer is that God would continue to call people to go to Africa and serve and I would be humbled to be a part of helping as many people go to Africa as I can. Lord use me!

Run Back to Sin

My husband and I went miniture golfing on Friday and the lines were backed up at every hole so we had a lot of time to talk and watch people. I find myself LOVING watching people. It is so interesting to watch how people interact and what they do. I spent a lot of time watching a little boy who was delighted to be playing in a huge mud pit that was next to a baseball field. He would run to the mud and put it all over his sandals, and then run to the miniature golf course water and wash of his sandal. He would look around and make sure no one was looking and then cover his sandal again with mud.

I thought to myself, isn't that how we all are with sin in our lives. My mind got to racing and I thought of how many times Jesus had washed the stain that sin had left on my heart away, and how quickly I was to run back to it if no one was looking. It wasn't until the mom realized what her son was doing that he stopped running back to the mud pit. This is when God struck me with the importance of accountability in my life. I have to have fellow believers to hold me accountable so that I am not tempted to run back to sin.

I am blessed with many people in my life who hold me accountable and keep me walking with the Lord. My prayer would be that all believers would continue to lean on each other for support and be quick to offer a hand to other believers who are in need, and slow to judge.

Time Flies, I want to Make it Count

Life since college has gone by FAST. I can not believe that I have now been in the "real world" for a year and a half. When I was in middle school, I counted down the days until I was in high school. When I was in high school, I dreamed of being in college. Now that I have started my career, what next?

I am 23 years old and I look back on my life and think...have I lived every day like it was my last. Have I loved enough, have I served enough, and have I truly experienced life to the fullest.

It reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses of all times, it is John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

As time flies by me, I can't help but examine my life and ask....am I living the life Christ died for me to live, or am I allowing Satan to steal precious moments that I will never get back. Am I consuming my days with things that matter to God, or am I wasting my life on things that in the end will not matter.

I look back on moments where I have felt the most alive, moments where I had a glimpse of the life that Christ desires me to live. All of these moments are times where I have given when I didn't think it was possible, where I dreamed something that went against what the world was saying, and when I stepped out in faith and saw God work miracles.

I want more of these times. I want to go to bed each night knowing that at the end of the day, I did everything I could for the Kingdom of God. I want to spend more time on my knees in prayer and less time worrying about what tomorrow brings. Life is precious and sweet. I want to make it count!

I am Blessed!

I recently moved to Tulsa, OK because my husband's job got relocated. When I was in Kansas I had the opportunity to work with homeless youth with my first job. It was a dream job in so many ways, I got to work with youth that had left home or never had a home at a young age and were forced to face the world alone when most teenagers still had a family to guide and direct them. It broke my heart to know that in my own backyard there were teenagers who didn't have a place to call home. I had a similar experience with the work that I have done through Unveiled Women's Ministry in Uganda, Africa. I will never forget the way I felt when I say thousands of kids without families, with out a home, and with out the love that they desperately needed and desired. My next job in Kansas was with the same organization, only with a slightly different population. I worked with youth that were in the foster care system that were getting ready to "age out" of the system and had no place to go. These teenagers opened my eyes to a whole new problem that existed in my own country, that I was once blinded too.

I am now in Tulsa, OK and am starting a new program at a church for adults with special needs. To be honest, I never thought about families who had adult children still at home that they daily took care of. I never thought of how some parents never get to know what it is like to have an "empty nest." Yet again the Lord has opened my eyes to a different struggle that people face on a daily basis.

As I wake up each morning and go through out my day, I do not forget these faces and the challenges that they meet. I carry in my heart homeless youth, African orphans, youth in the foster care system, and adults with special needs. I daily think to myself, "Lord why have I been given so much?"

I have learned more from spending hours with different people and hearing their challenges then my years in school. Suddenly, I look at my life and think about the "challenges" that I daily face and almost laugh. When I think about a mother in Africa that is making a decision on which child to feed because the food is almost out and there is not enough for the whole family. When I think about a young homeless girl who is deciding if she is going to compromise herself and her body so that she has somewhere to sleep for a few days. When I think about a youth in the foster care system who has no idea what the next day will bring and their whole life is determined by a court system. When I think about a family who puts everything they have into caring for their adult child, I no longer see my life as "challenged."

I have found that the thing that brings me the most joy in life is to give to others. I have yet to find happiness in any material possession I have obtained. I want my life to be devoted to spending as much time loving people and listening to their needs.

I believe the Lord has brought so much attention to the suffering in the world for a reason. I want my life to matter and in the end I want to know that I did everything I could for the Kingdom of God in my time on earth.

Please join me in praying for ways that we can meet the needs of so many hurting people.