Countdown...

So Megan & I leave for Sierra Leone, West Africa in just three days!  I can’t even begin to share with you how much this means to me!  As I sit here and think about how much Africa has consumed my thoughts and my heart the last 2 ½ years, I just am amazed by God’s providence and prevenient grace in my life.  Orphans nor Africa were even on my radar then… you can read about how I became aware of the plight of the orphan here, and about the book that opened my heart to them on my book blog.

Once I decided to take the plunge and sign up to go on a mission trip, Jeff & I discussed the logistics of it all.  With a job, four kids and a husband who works a crazy schedule, it is no easy thing to leave the kids and travel half way around the world for 12 days.  But I knew I would do anything to be able to go. What I didn’t anticipate was having my pride dissolved and my heart completely humbled in the process. I was blessed with funds and loving, encouraging notes from so many people and I am so grateful and overwhelmed by the generosity, love and support that I have gotten from my family, my church family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, clients & vendors. 

So if you clicked on the link above about how I was introduced to TRS, you know it caught me completely off guard and pierced my heart.  Hearing the co-founders share their story of opening up an orphanage in Sierra Leone and specifically the life and health of one little boy named Festus broke my heart and convicted me to support them in their fight to save the orphan.  To read more about Festus, please read this. 

Now, can you imagine my joy as I read the updates from Erica & Kelly as they brought little Festus to The Covering?  Then they asked for help to sponsor him!!  Guess what? Yeah, I know you already know…. Jeff & I are now sponsoring this little boy who's story broke my heart 2 ½ years ago!

I got to skype with Festus for the first time this morning, and I will get to meet him in just a few days! (Sorry I know the picture quality is awful, but that is how it looked on Skype this morning, too :) Fatmata was reading me a story and Lawrence & Festus were listening so sweetly.

I just can't wait to meet these three beautiful children who have changed my life forever!  Thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible.  Thank you to all of you who are praying over Megan & me as we travel and experience the next two weeks together.  I love you all.  

How AWESOME is our GOD?

How AWESOME are his PEOPLE?

How AWESOME is His LOVE?

Bigger than all of Africa <3

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Women of Faith 2010

I had a wonderful weekend get-away to fabulous Las Vegas (I know, it's in my backyard.... but a world away at the same time....) at the end of April to attend the Women of Faith Conference with 100 women from my church and 5000 other random women!  I stayed with a couple of friends at the MGM (kindly comped by a client of one of my friends, YAY!) and got to have some "girl time" as well as some "God time"!  It was much needed and I have made some good changes in my life because of it!  Here are some of the highlights for me:

• A day off of work (friday) and a day off of chores (saturday) to go enjoy speakers, music, skits and of course, book shopping in between sessions!
• A night away from the responsibilities of being a mommy and wife to spend time with good friends, enjoying good food, good drinks, high heels (and the inevitable sore feet that Vegas brings), and some face time with Elvis impersonators, haha! Not to mention the laughter, time to relax, and a good old cab ride... too bad we didn't get to play Cash Cab; although I think that our ride topped that!

• One of my favorite speakers was Marcus Buckingham who has a book called Find Your Strongest Life.  He has an online test you can take here Find A Stronger Life which will show you how to focus on developing the strengths that God blessed you with so you can live the life He intends for you.  It was wonderful to hear him speak about not worrying about your weaknesses, but finding your talents and your passions and working into them!  I loved that he wasn't just about "to feel good; do your best, be perfect, blah, blah, blah..." but gave very practical advice on how to change.  I am really enjoying his book as well.  I took the test and am amazed at the results; it pinpointed my strengths exactly! I am a "Caretaker" first and an "Equalizer" second; which means I want everyone to be happy and I want everyone to do the right thing because its the right thing (oh, yeah... it also says I love organization and I might have a fondness for spreadsheets..... !)  Told ya, it was spot on! 
• There were many other wonderful speakers including Sheila Walsh, Lisa Harper, Karen James, Lucy Swindoll, drama by Nicole Johnson and an amazing performance by Mandisa of American Idol fame (she was dynamic & I don't think there was a dry eye in the place!). 
• Natalie Grant!!  I was so looking forward to seeing her perform, and she was unbelievable!  I loved her and hope I have the opportunity to see her sing again.  She ended with a gospel song "His eye is on the Sparrow" and it was so moving.... My favorite song that she performed is Held, I only wish she would have performed In Better Hands.  Next time, Natalie?! Still, I Will Not Be Moved!
• Rich Stearns!!  He is one of my favorite people right now and I was like a kid at Christmas ready to see Santa.... I don't think some of my friends quite got why I was so excited to see him speak, but his book changed my life.  You can read my blog about The Hole In Our Gospel for why I love him so.  It was an honor and privilege to see him speak.
• I am now the proud sponsor of a new World Vision child who shares my youngest daughter's birthday and lives in Indonesia.  I can't wait to get to know her....

All the above made for a great weekend for me;
but this is why it was amazing to see God in Sin City: 

• 462 Women committed their lives to Jesus!
• 787 Children have new sponsors through World Vision!

Countdown is on for next year....

Women of Faith Las Vegas April 29-30, 2011

The Raining Season

I have been moved.


I went to a missions meeting at church a few months ago; ok I really had a staff parish meeting at 6:30 and knew there was a missions meeting at 6:00 and thought I'd attend for a few minutes before my Very Important meeting to meet our new Pastor.  I wanted to get missions information for the summer because I knew that the church was planning to go up to the UMCOR facility in SLC, UT to package and sort emergency supplies.  They had all been depleted because of the major earthquake in Haiti and I thought it would be a fantastic way for our family to go on a mission trip and maybe see some extended family along the way.  Instead, I heard the heartbreaking story of thousands of suffering orphans in Sierra Leone, West Africa.  Our Missions Lay Leader had arranged for the founders of a new orphanage in Africa that he had been interested in joining on a trip there to come and speak to our church and share their story.  I tell you, after the 30 heart-wrenching minutes I was there, I had to tear myself away and my heart stayed right there in that room with those amazing Godly women.  


At the time, I was reading the book The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, who is the President of World Vision.  Hubby had just finished the book and told me it was a MUST read and boy, was he right.  I was in the middle of the book when I attended the missions meeting and I know that God was preparing my heart for the message that The Raining Season was to bring to my secure, comfortable, safe environment to shock me into action.  


I have not been able to get the amazing stories I heard of how The Raining Season was founded out of my mind and how God moved in two women's hearts to cause them to step up and save the orphans of Sierra Leone.  I have read and re-read every word on their website and their blog and my God will let me rest no more.  Hubby and I went on a date Sunday night and had a very good conversation and decided to sponsor a child, we weren't sure how much to commit to or if we should sponsor one child or two.  


I must admit that I had a crisis of faith on Monday before committing to sponsorship.  Their were rumors of lay-offs at work (4 people did in fact get let go on Friday and I am heartbroken for them all) and I was nervous about that and decided to pray about it for the remainder of the day.  I prayed every moment I thought of it (which was a lot!) and had been reassured by God that he is in control and that I needed to surrender control and show him my faith in action.  When I came home from work and got the mail (like I do every single day), there was a letter from our little World Vision child in Albania.  He had sent us a thank you letter for gifts we had sent him for Christmas and told us how much he loves us even though we are half-way around the world and have not even met in person.  


Thank you, God!  I love it when you speak to my mind & heart and then back it up with tangible evidence of what direction you want me to go in.  You are an Awesome God!  I love your timing - how perfect to get a letter from Albania just hours after I had decided to leap out in faith!  Thank you, thank you!  


Hubby and I have signed up to sponsor two beautiful children at The Covering (the name of the orphanage).  They are brother and sister who only have each other in this world.  Our family has had several evenings this week just looking at the website and google earth-ing and wikipedia-ing Sierra Leone.  We decided to give up some of our luxuries so that we can assist these children into having a chance to grow up loved and healthy.  There is hope - I can't save them all, I certainly can't save them on my own, but I CAN make a difference to one (or two)!  


I have been blessed so abundantly......

http://www.therainingseason.org/

Christmas 2009

Happy Birthday, Jesus! The Q-Crew had a wonderful day

celebrating your birthday and getting presents in your honor! 

Thank you for this season to indulge in food,
toys, music, and each other! 

The twinkling lights, a tree decorated
with ornaments from years gone by;

 the food, the !Candy! the spirits :)
the presents wrapped with ribbons,
the candy canes, hot chocolate and the carols sung off-key!

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring on our piano keys;
tiny hands playing with our Little People Nativity.
Advent candles and calendars decorate table tops and walls;
Christmas Cards arriving daily with pictures of loved ones
to hang on our bulletin board for the year to come.

Butterflies in tummys and ribbons in pretty hair
Princess dresses for dainty girls is a treasured indulgance every year.
Handel's Messiah played by an orchestra,
Christmas Cantata by the choir;
and an annual Nutcracker Suite Ballet night out.

Christmas Eve traditions include the Children's Worship Service
some dress as angels, shepards, wisemen and even Mary and Joseph.
 We sing beloved songs as well as listening to the story of Jesus' birth.

Then Smore's, laughs, lots of speculation and anticipation
proceed cookies left for Santa as we snuggle in new PJ's.
Lots of lullabyes to lull little one's to dream of sugar plums,
as busy elves finish preparation and perhaps a glass of wine!

Christmas Day dawns after children have been up
and sent back to slumber;
finally time to share our bounty, stockings are stuffed to overflowing!
Things long wished for, worked for, bought with much care and love;
a day full of joy and laughter, dreams come true, a Christmas Feast!

These are the moments we hope and pray for;
treasure always, live for, love.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!
The presents were wonderful, but not as great as Your presence!
The gift of importance is our Messiah, King of Kings, Emmanuel.

God with us!

All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day, which up until today meant absolutely nothing to me.  After today's sermon, I see it all much differently and much more personally than I did before.  Our Pastor, and new Associate Pastor (a 25 year old woman; fresh out of seminary and oh so amazing!) had placed two tables on the stage with lace coverings and about 200 lit tea-light candles on top.  It was beautiful and seemed very traditional, so I knew a surprise was in store for the sermon! 

The Pastor started off talking about saints and those that have gone before us who have made significant impacts on the Christian faith.... this is a little unusual for my protestant church... we don't worship or pray to saints like other religions do.  We believe that we may have an intimate, personal relationship with Christ Jesus and do not require intercession. Then he asked us to make All Saints Day more personal by looking into our own walk with Christ and people or persons who led us to Him.  He asked us to come forward and say their name and light a candle for them because this day represents their being in the presence of our Savior.  I named my Step-Mother (Smother!) because she was integral in my becoming a Christian. 

My Father & Smother 2002

Smother and I had many conversations about religion when hubby and I lived with them after transferring from Utah to California for a job in 1994.  We stayed with them for a wonderful 3 or 4 months and had marathon "Spite and Malice" games and popcorn by the bucketful!  Over the years, I attended Midnight Mass with her on Christmas Eve and drilled her on religions, culture, musicals, books and anything else she would tolerate.  I loved that she was so smart and could remember vivid details at the drop of a hat and loved to tell stories of her many insurance fraud investigations.  And that woman could COOK!  Oh, just thinking of her jumbalaya, cheesy scalloped potatoes, seven minute frosting, coffee smoothies, mimosa's.... makes me gain ten pounds!  She passed away in 2005 from Lung Cancer and I miss her so much. 

My family has a "theme song" that we play before and after family time bible lessons and I would like to dedicate it to Nanny / Smother's memory today because her Lifesong gave me a glimpse of what My Jesus looks like.  Thank you for sharing your faith and your love with me.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEwB0pkes7U

Casting Crowns Concert Weekend!

One of my favorite bands is Casting Crowns and I have been wanting to see them in concert for a few years now.  It seems they aren't going to come to me, so I decided to go to them!  I looked on their website and found they were going to be in Southern California on a weekend that my family could schedule in!  Yay! 

 Family Vacation Weekend 2009! 

Oh, it was such a perfect weekend!  One of those that makes you go, WOW, this is what I always pictured when I was a little girl and wanted a husband and children!  Sorry so Polly-Anna, but it was a

much MUCH MUCH MUCH much

 needed weekend getaway that only laughing, tickling, music, ocean, movies, junk food and the people you love most that makes the daily grind worth it all! 

• The kids watched some great movies on the car ride down (whoever invented the built-in DVD player; I love you sooooo much!). 
• Saturday morning was full of driving around Hollywood trying to get our GPS unit to work with no success, so instead of geo-caching, we played tourists and drove in circles around the Hollywood sign; good times (it is a QCrew tradition to "get lost on purpose" so we see more sights, I truly love this part!)
• Saturday afternoon was spent at Zuma Beach in Malibu enjoying the sand between the toes, waves, and playing tag with little Man, I think we ran a 5k on the beach!
• Finally, time for the Main Event ~ Casting Crowns ~ BEST CONCERT EVER!!!  I would drive to Cali anytime to see them again.  My favorite part?  That my girls loved it when Mark Hall (lead singer who is also a youth pastor) spoke about his faith and told about their new album coming out November 17th, titled Until the Whole World Hears and how their mission with this new cd is to share the love of Christ Jesus with the whole world through World Vision (seriously??? This was their favorite part of our Hollywood / Malibu / Beach weeked???? ).  It was especially touching because we recently started sponsoring a child in Albania through World Vision and just received our first letter from his family!  It really hit home that we are trying to share our faith with others as well! 
• Sunday came way to fast, but we decided to drive to Malibu and up the coast a little then swing over to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  It was so much more than I expected, they had a full size Air Force One there and a piece of the Berlin Wall.  We spent all afternoon there because we just couldn't leave without seeing absolutely everything!  Of course we got home super late, but it was so worth spending the time doing all we did!
• The ride home was the icing on the cake!  We had an amazing, open, honest, serious life discussion with our teenager about life, love, friends, marriage, music, God, Jesus, family....... it was amazing and I am so grateful we have the family I always prayed for. 

Rose & Bella didn't come out of the water for hours!

Little Man and LaLa didn't make it throught the concert, Casting Crowns weren't as exciting as the beach!

piece of the Berlin Wall

I can't figure out why Air Force One is sideways, sorry to give you a crink (sp?) in your neck!

http://www.worldvision.org/

CastingCrowns.com

 *** Reminder!!  The new album comes out November 17, 2009

 & after hearing most of the songs during the concert, it is going to be aaaaahhhhhmazing! ****

Where have I been?

Time flies when you are having fun.

Don't know where I have been the last couple of weeks, it's a blur -

• Work work work... my assistant (a problem for the last 5 years) is in jail for repetitive DUI's and no longer works for my company. Is this an answered prayer or just consequence for action? Me thinks answered prayer that nobody got hurt, consequence that he is middle-aged and will have to start over after detoxing in a concrete cell. Didn't think I'd be this sad.
• New assistant! She knows how to do almost everything in the office and is a quiet, pleasant, wonderful girl! Yay! I taught her how to use an architectural ruler today and explained how plans are scaled, the different scales we usually use, how to see if the plan is printed out to scale. Such potential!
• Beautiful Boy is 5! Happy Birthday, little man! I love you desperately!
• Birthday party at.... Chuck E Cheese !! !*#@. Ha ha. It's not so bad, easy for me, dream-party for him!
• Funeral for a wonderful Christian friend from church. He had polio as a child and lived his life in a wheelchair and didn't consider himself handicapped. Had a beautiful wife and two adult children who he loved to camp and fish with and worked for the IRS. My hubby played with the praise band at his funeral and it ROCKED! The Pastor said it was a celebration of his wonderful life and we were to rejoice for him. By the way, our new, huge sanctuary was completely full and people were standing in the back. An old friend of his played "I can Only Imagine" on the piano, making it bluesy and changed the words to "Now I don't have to Imagine!" Unbelievable, and not a dry eye in the whole place. His life was a testament to Christ Jesus. Rest in peace, and dance for Jesus, my friend. Isaiah 40:31
• Oldest daughter is now a teenager. Happy Birthday my amazingly talented, funny, intelligent young lady! How did you get as tall as me? Don't grow too fast.
• End of the year craziness for school with awards ceremonies and crazy half day schedules. I am quite proud of my kids and their awards, this is good stuff!
• Parenting Conference. Learned new strategies on how to raise these four blessings by "Parenting with Heart" www.biblicalparenting.org/startwiththeheart.asp
• Confirmation!!!! I was blessed to mentor two girls, sisters who are 12 & 14, for the last four months. Wow. They really asked some great questions and we became very close, I guess that happens when you are discussing religion, politics, teenage issues, secular world issues, and not holding anything back. I love them and can't wait to see them grow in Christ and be there for them if they ever need me (or just want Sushi or Dairy Queen!) We also spent a weekend at the UMC camp in AZ for a retreat to discuss "Prayer, Presence, Service, Gifts & Witness" with kids from all over AZ and NV. Talk about preparing them for the decision to follow Jesus! On Sunday, 18 (EIGHTEEN) !!!! teenagers were confirmed members, including my two confirmands & my beautiful oldest daughter, Rose! Go God!

Ok. That's what I was doing. I am taking off a couple of days next week to visit with my Cali-girl who is coming to her time-share to relax and play. Can't wait to get our boys (husbands & sons!) together and just watch all of the kids splash and play and eat and drink!

Beautiful Christian Sister

I have been in a real funk lately. My best friend from Cali sent me an email yesterday with this poem, by one of my fav poets, Maya Angelou. It really struck a cord because Cali-girl knew I needed a reminder that I am unconditionally loved by God, Family and Friends. Nice to hear because I am really, really tired and get bogged down by the fact that:

• Ok. Here is the obligatory bullet.
• I wrote about ten reasons and promptly deleted them.
• Gave them to God.
• I'm resting in him.
• No therapy bill.
• I feel better.
• The world doesn't need to hear me whine.
• Or know my hurts.
• God has them in the palm of his hand.
• Enjoy the poem!

Beautiful Christian Sister
by Maya Angelou

A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean living,"
I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far to visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain...

I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

_______________________________________________

P.S. I became a Christian in 2002. If you are a family member, you have my letter sharing my story. If you want to hear it again, I'm willing and I've grown in faith abundantly since I wrote it, it's all much more concise now. Love you all.

No candy for Lent!

I first heard of Lent when I had just moved to Wichita, Kansas (aka; The Bible Belt). I worked and was friends with a really fun girl who was Lutheran and was talking about what she was giving up for "Lent"... huh? Many thousands of questions later, I realized I knew nothing about any religion other that the one I was raised in. Here is the dictionary version of Lent:



Lent: n. Christianity, the forty days of fasting and penitence from Ash Wednesday to Easter.



uh. OK. boring. Here is my version told in a true story between my beautiful, innocent daughter and I this morning during our daily "mad dash" out the door (with a little history as well, so you understand what she has gone through the last three weeks).



My kids go to church every Wednesday evening. Our church is not a church that the kids go to kicking and screaming. They LIVE for Wednesday nights when they get to go to choir practice, eat pizza, then attend a bible study (different class for each child, more on that later, I'm sure). Belle announced on Ash Wednesday, after having ashes placed on her forehead in the shape of the cross by our wonderful Pastor, that she had decided to give up sugar for Lent. Whoa, little lady.... you.... give up sugar..... you do know that Lent is 40 days, right? Yes, Mother.



So after much discussion, she decides to give up sugar between the hours of 11:00 am and 9:00 pm (she reveals that she must have a very nutritious cinnamon roll and chocolate milk for breakfast at school. -gasp!) Then she decides that is not enough punishment, and decides to cut out all sugar. OK then, here we embarked on a very long three weeks of no sugar... well, no candy, ice cream, sugared cereal, etc. Everything these days has some sort of added sugar, so we decided to keep it simple. Every day gets harder and harder, and on Sundays, she forgets the self imposed rules and decides she can have one cookie during fellowship after church.

Mom & Dad have had lots of conversations re: is this really healthy for our child to think she needs to show God how much she appreciates what Jesus did for her? He knows her heart, she doesn't need to prove anything to Him, but she wants to so badly. Eventually we decide that she made this decision on her own, we will not push the issue; let it play out; support whatever she does or does not do in the next few weeks.

So, here we are three weeks later. Belle innocently, but with a pained look on her face, asks if I think it would be OK for her to have a frozen fruit smoothie at lunch. So that seg-ways us into a very deep conversation about why she has decided to give up sugar for Lent. So here is what we decided in the end:

The Q-Crew definition of Lent:

• Lent reminds us that we can never be perfect, not even for 40 days.
• This is why we need Jesus, we need a savior because we can't do it our own.
• He washes away all of our sins, not just the little ones like eating sugar when we said we wouldn't.
• He does not require we do anything but believe in his grace, day by day, minute by minute.
• Lent is a time to remember what Jesus did for us and reflect on what he gave to save us.

This is why He gave His life.... for ME and for my beautiful Belle.

Thank you God for the gift you gave me to be able to tell my daughter she is loved as she is, not for what she does. The tears that that statement brought to her eyes this morning gives me a tiny glimpse of what God must feel when we grasp his grace.

P.S. I am happy to report that Sweet Belle has decided to narrow down the no sugar to "no candy" until Easter. She very happily indulged in three (3!) cupcakes today, two at school and one at church. :)

P.S.S. I have a sneaking suspicion that God has a sweet tooth.....