Seriously, its' so about time!!! :-)

Some amazing people...

This is Tanele and her two little brothers. She is about 7 years old. She carries her baby brother on her back all day!! She also wears a huge smile on her face all day!!
This is Lindo. She is so so cute!!! She's writing, well trying :-), to write a letter to her sponsor...
These are Lindo's feet. She walked barefoot to the care point in the rain so she could write a letter to her sponsor...



This is Gugulethu sawing wood with her little baby on her back. Her name means 'our treasure'.She really is a treasure. Gugulethu lost her baby a little while back...



This is Lindiwe(on the left). She is one of the most amazing people I know. She is a teacher at our largest care point and serves over 300 children everyday with all her heart not so men can see and reward her( a lot of people don't see or take her for granted) but out of a heart filled with His love and joy!!!


There are several other things I could be doing with my life right now. There are many days when I have questions, doubts about where I am and what my life is 'supposed to' look like. Today, though, right now, I feel privileged to be in a place where I can rub shoulders with the likes of Tanele, Lindo, Gugulethu, and Lindiwe. I am blessed to call them friends and even learn a thing or two from them about what it means to love Jesus and to be loved by Him!!!

la la la :-)

“From one man He made every nation of men that they should inhabit the earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ‘We are His offspring.’ “

Acts 17:26-28

Some of you know how I often struggle with wondering where I belong? I just feel that I don't fit in, anywhere!!! Each time we've gone to Zambia(where I'm originally from) I've been told I speak Nyanja (my Zambian vernacular) with an accent, and that I'm now 'Swazi'. And yet in Swaziland I have constant reminders that I am not Swazi -from people's 'innocent' comments to stupid government offices(don't even get me started on that!!!! :-)). I have a lot of American friends( my brothers constantly make fun of me for being a 'Bush lover', again that's a topic for another day... :-)), and I love them to death and am so thankful for them. They joke about me being half-American, but I'm not( I am pretty much banned from applying for an American visa until 2010!! but let's not get into that!!!!!!!)...I have questioned God often- Why did you bring me to live in a foreign country? (I didn't choose to live here; my parents brought me here when I was too young to have any say!), and why did you keep me here?I want to be Zambian, but I didn't grow up there, I don't live there, and my parents never took us to visit often enough for me to 'keep in touch' with all that's going on there...I am in Swaziland...there are several benefits to being a 'foreigner'. I am such a better person because of it an I love that, but I still have asked God why I cant' just be in a place with people like me, a place where I 'belong'?

I read that verse above just now, and He answered me. Why? So that you would seek me. I know God has ordained every day of my life, in my head, I know, but just now, He spoke to my heart- everything concerning me, every decision He has made concerning my life, He has made because He loves me and He wants nothing more than for me to love Him back!!! i am a Zambian living in Swaziland with a lot of American friends :-) because He wants me to seek Him, to want Him; He is pursuing me, again, I am worth pursuing!!! He is good!!! I am in awe....

Adventures are generally more interesting than fairy tales. They introduce us to travelers; pilgrims rather than princes and princesses- real life men and women, boys and girls. We meet people to who we can relate- people just like us. They fight battles and don’t always win. They’re not always strong or pretty. They don’t always live happily ever after. They cry real tears; they feel very real pain. These are not heroes lifted high above so we can admire them from afar; they are our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, our friends. We don’t look from afar and wish we could be like them. We stand beside them; walk with them through their joys and sorrows; learn from their successes and mistakes. After we have been with them a while, we realize that we are changed for the better. We realize that we have been inspired, not by ‘great and mighty’ deeds, but by ‘little’ acts of kindness and timely words of wisdom and are better now that when the adventure begun.

I love fairy tales. I have a copy of the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. :-) I have indulged in a good amount of chick flicks!! But there are few things I love more than taking the journey with Sam and Frodo all the way from the peaceful, safe Shire through dangerous and strange places all the way to Mordo, the most evil place. Something stirs inside of me when Frodo, at the end of the Fellowship of The Ring says to Sam, “I’m glad you’re with me, Sam.” Something in me comes alive as I watch Boromir (who just previously failed the ‘test’ and gave in the evil of the ring) fight with all his might to save two little hobbits (his friends) and is killed as a result. I watch with excitement and expectancy as Erwin chooses mortality so that she can be with the one she loves (even though she is uncertain of what their future holds). And I breathe out, greatly relieved as Sam and Frodo sit on a rock in Mordor, the ring destroyed the battle won, but not without much sacrifice- tears shed, blood spilled, real pain, very real heartache!!!

There are many times when I want life to be fairy tale. I want to magically ‘fix’ everything that’s broken. I want to make is so we all ‘live happily ever after’. I want it so that there is no pain no sacrifice and not just for my sake, but especially for the sake of those I love and care about, some really close to me, others not so close, but close enough that I care. I am slowly learning that pain, sacrifice, and tears are not fun, but they are the stuff that adventures are made up of, and that’s what life is- an adventure. From Genesis to Revelation, we read about the adventure called life. God is not a hero, above beyond reach; no! He is right beside us, experiencing life with us. He doesn’t have to, He chooses to because He loves us. He says to us,

“My lover spoke and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
The season of singing has come…
Arise, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.’”
Song of Songs 2:10-13

Yes, God is a romantic!!! He pursues us, yes, we are worth pursuing, so worth pursuing!!!!

7 more days!!!

The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation

This is the topic of one of 3 essays that is due of the Bible class that I’m taking. As I was typing the essay I was struck by something.

Ephesians 1:17“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”(Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus)

Isaiah 11:2“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him- the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord-“(a prophecy about the Lord, Jesus)

Revelation 4:5 “…Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.” (John’s vision of the throne of God)

. In all of the above Scriptures, we read about seven spirits and are told about those seven spirits are. (This is not a big theological something, I promise!! Jgave up on big theological ‘somethings’ a while back and am more into falling in love with the King who relentlessly pursues me!!!) Back to what I was saying. The thing that struck me about these Scriptures is the unity of God. He blends everything and everyone together in a way that is beautiful, right and pleasing to Him. The different, ‘spirits or anointing’ mentioned above work together in perfect and beautiful unity; the Father, Son, and Spirit dwell together and work together; the Lord Jesus prayed that we, His disciples would be one just as He and the Father are one. ..God delights in unity; not in holding hands because someone told us to, but in dwelling together, loving, living working in a beautiful harmony that reflects Him and allows Him to do His work. Unity isn’t this cheesy, fake thing; no its’ a powerful, beautiful, very God-like thing that I am just beginning to learn about….and so ready to learn so much more about…

Psalm 133

“How good and pleasant it is

when brothers live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.”

*random mandatory picture :-)...forgot to include one in my previous blog :-)

" To starve is to feast, less of me, is more of You. Lord I want it all!!!!!"
Shane and Shane

9 days until Prison Break!!!...Mr. Miller!!! :-)

New Year’s resolutions:

1. Remind myself that I’m not the Savior of the world, Jesus is!!
2. Leave work by 5.
3. Post a picture with every blog I post. :-)

Dancing Queen :-)

I started off the year not really sure what lay ahead...I ended up spending a lot of time here... :-)
I did a lot of profiles!!!
and community meetings...
and more profiles...
but all that work was worth it for moments like these...



and of course it wasn't always work, there was a lot of play!! :-)

no comment :-)...



I like birthdays! ;-)...
I love great friends!!...

The year would just not have been the same without moments like this!!...


And of course the infamous nose ring drama!! :-)