on my way home

I am living in Birthville.

2012-01-10T01:49:00.002-05:00

How did I get here? If you would have told me last year that I would be scheduling my life around prenatal visits, postpartum visits and birth right now, I would have been up on your rooftop shouting "BLASPHEMY!"
I probably would have jumped at the opportunity to never be around childbirth. I would have told you that I really just love adoption with my whole heart and birth is not my cup of tea.

HILARIOUS FACT: My life currently revolves around prenatal visits, postpartum visits, and births.

Jesus brought me to this place. He gave me this door to walk through and this beautiful calling to be obedient in. You see, I was in the midst of almost moving to Tennessee for the 5th, or 7th or 23rd time, when God spoke to me on the Pearce's giant blue and white couch. He turned me at a crossroads that kept me in North Carolina and had me doing something quite different than I had envisioned.

It was a typical evening over at my sister's house for tea and cookies and heart-to-heart conversations {that I am SO going to miss now that that they are moving away!} anyway, she told me a story of some missionary friends at our church who were building a birth center in Papua New Guinea. Women were dying left and right due to lack of maternal health care. They had to walk 3 days to get to a hospital if they had complications (Think about that. Who wants to walk for 3 days straight when they are not having a complication in pregnancy/labor?) The only other option would be to take a taxi which most people would never be able to afford. This birth center would save mommas and babies for the glory of Jesus in their lives and in their entire village.

It was like a match struck a small light on the flint of my heart. I had been praying nearly non-stop for the Lord to show me a skill that I could use to serve others for His glory. A skill that I could use to care for orphans and whoever else He wanted me to serve.

I began to feel that this was it. Who was going to be there for these precious women and babies? Wouldn't I want someone to care for me? If I don't go, who will? But...really? Me? The childbirth fearer? The one who stifled small gags at the mere thought of birth? YES. This was it. God was calling me to take a quantum leap of faith and trust Him with the rest.

A deep question in my heart throughout all of this stirring and whirlpooling was "What about orphans, God? I know you've called me to spend my life for them. How does this work if I am busy helping women have babies?" The answer came almost as soon as I asked it. "Orphans are just children who's parents have died. Keep them from having to be orphans in the first place." Oh. You're right. I guess that settles it.

From UNICEF: "Healthy children need healthy mothers. A woman dies from complications in childbirth every minute – about 529,000 each year -- the vast majority of them in developing countries. A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a 1 in 4,000 risk in a developing country – the largest difference between poor and rich countries of any health indicator. "

1 in 16 women in sub-Saharan Africa will die due to complications in childbirth, leaving behind motherless children if they don't die along with her. I have African sisters. I would want someone to help them.

I began googling "What exactly does a doula do? What does a midwife do? Which should I be? How do I do any of this? Am I crazy? " Google stopped answering me but God continued to lead me out on the water.

I kept remembering that I had all these random friends that happened to be Birth Doulas/ Midwives and they were SO gracious to answer my 354,098 questions. Before I knew it, I was signed up for Birth Doula training workshops and attending Childbirth Education courses and chatting about water births and cord prolapses and placentas in rooms full of midwives. I was reading childbirthing books constantly and getting wonderful looks from people that clearly said "How wonderful that you are studying how to assist women in childbirth. I don't question your character or your marital status." HA. Funny joke.

But the even funnier part of this big non-joke is that I LOVE CHILDBIRTH. How did this happen? WHO AM I?
You see, the deeper God brought me into this journey, the more I have been able to see His miraculous work. He is a magnificent designer and He is insanely good at creating life. The process of birth is one miracle after another. I don't know how one could be in the birth-world for longer than 5 minutes and not recognize that there is something much bigger at work than humans. We have a wise Creator.

So, in the time between the last time I wrote on this blog and now, I officially became a birth doula, I'm nearly finished with my Christian Childbirth Educator Certification, I am applying to nursing school and then midwifery school after that. YAY!
I am completely in awe that I get to have a job where I constantly witness insanely beautiful miracles. I get to love, encourage and support beautifully strong mommas as they work through the process of bringing their new babies into the world. I get to be one of the first people to see and welcome a brand new person into the world and I get to pray over their lives. This blessing filled life can get exhausting but it is just SO beautiful. Sometimes I get called out of my bed and get dressed in the dark, subjecting myself to glorious surprises the next morning when I realize just what I am wearing. Sometimes the births last for days and sometimes they are one after another, but God is my strength and I count it all joy to be a part of His plan for these new families.

This is my life turning inside out. This is what happened when I surrendered my plans to Jesus and trusted Him to equip me for all that He is calling me to. I fell in love with the thing that I was deathly afraid of apart from Him. Africa, and Childbirth were two of my largest fears growing up. Now I want to mix the two together. HAHA. You can't explain Jesus out of that one. Isn't it incredible what God does to our fears when we give them to Him?

In the words of Louie Giglio this past week at the INCREDIBLE Passion Conference..." The only fear that we should have is that of living an insignificant life."

I don't want an insignificant life. I know that even if I were to do vastly incredible things in life, my name will still be eventually forgotten. I know that this life is fleeting and the only worthwhile thing to do with the time that I have been given is to live for the glory of Jesus. His glory will endure through all generations and His kingdom will never come to an end. The cry of my heart is to store up all of my treasures in heaven where thief will not come in and steal and where moth and rust will not destroy.

My favorite head scarve is disintegrating. My guitar strings are wasting away. The tires on my car are balding. My hair dryer is close to combusting into flames. CLEARLY, material things are not good investments. Even the best of investments on earth are left behind when we close our eyes for the last time. In light of this, what will we do with our lives? What will we do in light of the coming of Christ and His Kingdom and all of those who do not know His grace?

What will we do for the men, women and babies who are dying every single minute due to lack of proper health care? What will we do about the 16,000 children that died today from LACK OF FOOD?
What will we do about the 27 million people who are living their lives as slaves?

If I was one of them, I'd sure want someone to come rescue me, speak up for me, to come feed me and care for me. Jesus makes the answer to these questions really simple. He says in Matthew 25:40 that whatever we do for those who are in need, we do for HIM and whatever we don't do for those in need, we DON'T do for Him.

We have two choices. 1. Serve Jesus and care for those in need. 2. Don't serve Jesus and don't care for those in need.

I was a captive and Jesus came for me. I was an orphan and He reached out in Compassion{ A mercy that leads to action},adopting me into His family FOREVER. I was sick and He came to heal me. I was His enemy, a hater of Him and all that was His, but He loved me anyway. He left His perfect life to come and save me, His enemy. He had everything He could ever want or need, He is Almighty God for pete's sake, and YET He came for me, gave up everything and took the punishment for MY sin, bore MY shame and gave me the righteousness and holiness that He earned. Is there any other love that can even compare to this? Tell me if you have found a love that even casts a shadow on this! This kind of love is so big and so grand that my heart swells at the thought of it. How can this be true? That the Holy, Just, and Merciful God who created the world and everything in it would come to take the punishment for my crimes against HIM. If this is true, then surely I can no longer live for myself.

When I have been given so much love and so much light, I cannot sit in my comfortable life, loving only those that are easy to love and shining my light only in the broad day light when I will blend in with the rest.

Jesus came for me with a huge and tangible love. How can I do anything less?
To whom much has been given, much will be required.
Much is required of me and I pray for the grace to give all that I have for the Glory of Jesus, wherever and however that may be. Here's to bigger obedience and bigger faith in Jesus in 2012.

What fear is God calling you to trust Him with this year?

Word from the previously fearful: give it up early, the beauty and freedom come more quickly that way.

The Biltmore Bench Picture...

2012-01-09T04:18:00.000-05:00

So sweet, yet clearly not destined to be a life long tradition. Our hips don't lie and they were screaming "NOO..." in this most recent picture. We'll have to find a meadow for next time. :)

Coming back to revive this blog soon!

Gideon and I.

2011-08-19T00:12:00.005-04:00

There is a story in the Bible {in the book of Judges} about a man named Gideon. He had a pretty extensive army of about 20,000 men that was all set to go fight the Lord's enemies. His battle plans were probably all drawn out and their bags were probably packed. Everything was working out great and it all made sense. They were on the track to victory and success.

Until God told them to cut down their army to 300 men. He told them to check their plans at the door and trust His plans instead.

Umm..come again? From 22,000 down to 300. {Picture the intensity of Lord of the Rings here, just for a minute. Terrifying, right?}

Gideon was being called away from having everything making sense and lining up, and being called into what seemed to be straight up madness. WHY? Because God had a greater purpose. Because he wanted His people to trust Him with the battle and not put their hope in their circumstances.

In our minds, we think that God ought to prove everything is going to work out great and then we'll step out and trust Him. When He calls us out on the water, we'd like to know that it's only 3ft. deep and the temperature of a jacuzzi. That way, you know, just in case we fall in...it will be safe and comfy and we can still touch.

Newsflash of my summer. God doesn't work this way. He works in ways that don't make sense to us because His ways are so much greater than ours. His ways seem backwards to us more often then not. Gideon had to trust that God's seemingly backwards plan was going to work. This was exactly how God was going to show Gideon that the strength of his army isn't what determined the result of the battle, but the power of God. The wisdom of man, is not the same as the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians chapter 1)

God doesn't promise that trusting Him will be easy, but he does promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He does promise that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Does that mean that everything that happens in this world will always be good? No. But He will weave a tapestry of grace in our lives if we trust Him with the story that He has given us. He will work even the confusing things out for good if we allow Him to. The ugly things, the hurtful things... the ashes. He can make them into beauty if we let Him.

Life is like a cake. or a box of chocolates. but for now it's like a cake.

When making a cake {the good ol' fashioned way} you add flour, eggs, sugar, salt, baking soda, etc.

I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't eat any one of those things in their beginning state. Flour is nasty stuff to eat. But without flour, what would a cake be? Mush. Without sugar it would be bitter and with out the other things in between, it just wouldn't come out with the baker's desired result. We ought not to stop and doubt the result of the cake when we taste the individual items that are going into the process. Instead, we must trust that the baker does have a plan for the things that don't make sense. This is the part of the story where God works everything TOGETHER for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The bitter and the dry has a purpose in this story of ours and this story has a tasty end if we can trust the One who is in control. These things that we have been entrusted with have been entrusted to us by a faithful God. A God who is faithful to complete the good work that He has begun. A God who is conforming us into the image of His Son. (Romans 8:28-30)

I am labeling the past 6 months of my life, The Gideon Era. Everything that I thought was going to happen, didn't and everything I thought would never happen, did. I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness in Gideon's story so that I can trust God with mine. Guess who won the battle in the end? Gideon and the 300. The battle was the Lord's way back then. The battle IS the Lord's today. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous {made righteous by the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ alone} runs to it and is safe.

I know that I am beneath the tapestry being woven and the threads that seem tangled to me now, will one day be revealed as a beautiful masterpiece that bring glory to the Designer. I know that one day, my Jesus will return and set all things right. Until then, may my days bring glory to the Maker, Keeper and Ruler of all things. He knows what is good.

Even in the midst of confusion, there is no better place to be than in the fellowship of Jesus Christ, my Strength and my Redeemer. Peace that surpasses all understanding is the real deal in Christ.
His ways are higher than our ways. Sometimes so much higher that I cannot see how they are ever going to work out. However, we walk by faith, and not by sight! I am learning through this journey that my "300" surrendered wholeheartedly to the Lord is more powerful than any number of well thought out, man made, man centered, man executed plans that are not lead by the Lord. He doesn't need our ducks in a row to be able to use us for His glory. {Hello. He makes ducks. He can certainly line them up better than me.} Praise Him for allowing us to be instruments in the story He is writing.

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To HIM be the glory forever. Amen."- Romans 11:33-36

Where in your life might God be asking you to trust His plan above your own?

"If we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we meet, whether it is just or unjust. Jesus says - Go steadily on with what I have told you to do and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance. The most devout among us become atheistic in this connection; we do not believe God, we enthrone common sense and tack the name of God on to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts." - My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

P.S. I graduated! More on that to come...

8 years of abundant life.

2011-05-28T02:55:00.008-04:00

It has been nearly 9 years since my family adopted my sweet baby brothers as special needs preemies. The journey to get them was more than adding members to my family. The Lord used that journey to bring me to a true understanding of what the Gospel is.

You see, God had put it on my heart to pray for a baby brother or sister (preferably both and in the form of twins...) constantly since I was about 3 years old. I would often cry myself to sleep begging God to bring a baby to my family. I used to go on walks in my neighborhood hoping to either find an abandoned baby or a puppy. (There were neither in my fairly conservative neighborhood... which was so disapointing to me. What the heck kind of neighborhood has no lonely puppies or babies wandering around? Most of my friends lived in the backwoods where people dropped off puppies all the time. Apparently nobody does that sort of thing in historic downtown. anyways. no longer bitter about the lack of puppies. we had dogs. i just wanted to find one! you know?)

I was 9 years old when my parents felt God leading them to adopt a baby boy domestically. I was overjoyed. I began cranking up the twin prayers and begging God to allow us to have two babies that didn't have a family instead of just one. {Plus, i didn't want to have to fight my other siblings over who got to hold the baby. You know. Logistics and such.}

Well, 8 months later, we got a phone call that changed our world forever. We had twin baby boys waiting for us at the hospital and we had until 2pm the next day to decide if we wanted them. There was just ONE little thing. They were born at 27 weeks gestation. {as opposed to the normal 40 weeks that babies are supposed to be inside the womb.} They could possibly be blind, and deaf and have severe learning disabilities. "Baby B" had also had a Grade 2-3 {1-5 scaled, 5 being the worst.}Brain Bleed at birth which could mean he might have Cerebral Palsy. They were also supposed to have Asthma, severe lung issues, etc.

God gave us overwhelming peace about bringing them into our family and my parents went to pick them up at the NICU where they had lived the first 7 weeks of their lives.

It was exciting and lovely and amazing for me for the first few weeks. Our living room became a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and we learned to chart cc's, work apnia monitors, heart monitors, oxygen machines, etc. We learned how to remind babies to breathe as they turned blue while drinking their bottles. We grew and they grew.

However, after a few weeks of machines {that sound similar to the screeching eels in Princess Bride} beeping every two seconds because of a loose strap on a baby's foot, it started to get old for me. Really old. You see, when I prayed all those years for a baby brother or sister, I meant the kind that you could hold without having to remain within three feet of the wires that they were strapped to. I meant the kind that I could play with and not have to wonder if they would ever be able to sit up and see me play peek-a-boo with them. I thought that God had chosen a pretty rude way to answer a kid's prayer.

That's when He spoke to me.

You were helpless and I took you in.

You had nothing exciting to offer me, but I loved you anyway.

You had no hope of survival, but then I cared for you.

You were an orphan that was outside of my family. Now you are my child.

Love these babies the way that I love you.

With Agape Love.

A love that is not self-seeking. A love that hopes. A love that perseveres.

1 Cor. 13:4- 13
1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

God gave me such a deep love for them through this revelation. So much so that I wouldn't take all the healthy babies in the world for my two scrawny baby brothers. They may have been sick. They may never be able to talk or play tag or ride a bike, but they were hand picked for my family and hand delivered in answer to my prayers. Loving them didn't depend on whether or not they could play with me some day. I need only love them because they were created by God and given to me to love.

I was to love these babies that He decided I was to be a sister to. I was to trust Him with whether they would ever be able to understand anything that I would say to them or try to teach them. Those things were too big for me to deal with. God would handle them for me. All I needed to do was trust Him and trust that His plan for them would be a good one, no matter what...

God taught me who I was and who He was through two sick baby boys. I was an orphan and He was a Father who loved me past my unloveliness.

He has taught me more about His Love through this journey than anything else. Everything else will pass away but His love is what remains.

Today these sickly baby boys are running around outside with perfect health, catching lightning bugs and talking to me about going to the pool tomorrow where they will swim underwater as long as they possibly can. Holding air in the little lungs that were never supposed to function properly. With funny little goggles on their eyes that were never supposed to see properly and listening to each other laugh and say funny things with the ears that were never supposed to hear. Praise Jesus.

James-"Baby B"- Is the family thinker.

We call him "The Director". He analyzes situations faster than anyone and before you even know what's going on, he has three possible solutions to the crisis at hand and he's telling you about them. He thoroughly enjoys swimming, cooking, playing with his brothers in the woods, building with legos and memorizing Bible verses for AWANA.

He memorized all of Psalm 23 last month with the brain that was not supposed to function properly. If you need help with something, ask James. He's a smartypants with a servant's heart. He is also hilarious.

His life verses are James 1:22 " Do not just be hearers of the word, but do what it says." and 1:27 "Pure and faultless religion in the sight of God our Father is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unpolluted from the world."
He shared his testimony of how God healed him with a Sunday School class a few months ago and asked that they all pray for orphans... Then He shared about how He ran into the wall and got a brain bleed and had to have stitches on his forehead...that was a little bit of blending of events but the kids seemed to get the point. Haha.

Jeremiah -"Baby A" is compassionate.

He is funny and so sweet and He has a smile that brightens up your entire day. He loves to read, go to the creek, swim, slide down the water slide and play Monopoly. He has a heart for the Congo and we've never even been there. {He got to meet a Congolese man at Disney and He was so excited.}

He loves to build and create things.

He loves serving others. He has a quilt that I made as a youngin' that has a pocket on the back for books.{ you know, for late night emergencies when you can't sleep but you're supposed to sleep.} He can often be found with a flashlight and a book far too late at night.

{Ok, so maybe I used to hide him in the pocket too. tiny man. haha.}

He told me a few weeks ago that he read the entire children's Bible to James the night before and then He showed me the page where there was a picture of Jesus on the cross. "We both cried when we got to this part." Their hearts for the Lord as so precious and I am so grateful for the gift they are to our family. I can't wait to see what the Lord does in and through their lives that were predicted to be so very different than the life that God had in mind for them. Jeremiah's Life Verse is Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

These verses were what God used to lead my parents to adopt. They were going to name one baby boy "Jeremiah James"...but then my faith filled prayers sabotaged their name and we got two babies! Jeremiah and James.

Had they not been sick, I might not truly know the Lord.
Had they not been sick, they would not have the story that God has given them.
Had they not been sick, the three littlest kids would never have been adopted. The Lord used a special needs tax credit from Jeremiah and James' adoption to provide for the other three Littles to come home 4 years later.

God worked the hard things together for good.
God is a God of miracles. He is Jehovah-Rapha. The God who heals.

But, even if they were still sick...God would still be good. He does not make mistakes. He IS trustworthy. If Jeremiah and James were never able to communicate or do the things that they are able to do today, God would still be mighty and His plan for them would still be good. I know that with all my heart. God's love is not based on what we offer Him. He chose to love us and that is what makes us lovely. That is what gives us the ability to love others. The season of sick babies gave me a bigger glimpse into God's glorious Love than any other season of my life so far. If they had remained sick, God would have been just as faithful.

This week, 8 years ago, these precious Boys were born. I can't wait to see the next eight years, and the next, and the next. My Boys, may the Lord bless you, and keep you, and make His face shine upon you. I pray that He uses you for His glory in the nations and that He blesses you with a long life of service to Him. I know that He holds every day in His hands and He has a good plan for you. I'm so thankful I get to know you and be your big sister. I love you so stinkin' much.

In the words of Meshach Shadrach and Abednego as they faced the fiery furnace for refusing to worship anything but the One true God...(Read full story in Daniel 3)

Daniel 3:17-18
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They were thrown into the furnace and the men who threw them in were even killed by the flames, but Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego were seen within the furnace, walking around with one who appeared to be 'of the gods'. They came out without even a hair on their heads singed. This is the response of the King who sentenced them to the furnace...

Daniel 3:28-30
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

When we obey the Lord and trust Him to carry us, even through the fire, He works in ways we could never imagine. Disobedience results in consequences as well as missing the blessings that God has in store for those who wait for Him. When we choose to worship Him instead of ourselves {or any other thing that we may put first,} we get to see His faithfulness to us come out in ways that we could never expect or even imagine.

Be encouraged if you are facing the furnace today. Seek the face of God and follow Him. He is the only one worth following and He will see you safely through. Trust Him and He will be glorified. It might take a while to see any fruit, but obedience to the Lord's calling, even when it's hard, always results in blessing. Maybe it won't be the blessing you were hoping for, but always blessing. Just you wait and see. God's ways are so much higher than our ways. We don't have to understand His ways, we just have to trust and obey. He will show us His good will in His good timing.

Beyond thankful for 8 years of incredible life with these treasures. I'm so glad that God knew better than I did.

"God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption..." 1 Corinthians 1:28-30

Jesus is with the lowly and the brokenhearted, the sick and the orphan. The "things despised by the world" are the things that God loves and uses for His glory.

May He grant us all His eyes to see what is truly precious. May He give us the grace to love with Agape.

Baby Rapunzels

2011-05-05T02:49:00.000-04:00

Jesus LIVES!

2011-04-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. {1 Peter 1:3-7}

Twitter.

2011-04-13T16:05:00.000-04:00

Follow me on Twitter!

Walking by Faith.

2011-03-27T03:28:00.002-04:00

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

So, guys...I'm a Senior.

Do you know what that means?

That means 3 more months until I get to dress up like a judge with a square hat and receive a piece of paper. A paper which tells me that I may now go out into the world and become somebody. {Well, after college of course.} My mom will cry, my dad will say kind words that will make everyone else cry and I will say good-bye to a lot of my friends. It will be the closing of an amazing chapter in the story of my life, and the opening of another.

Wanna know something hilarious? I have no idea what is going end up happening in my life. But that's 100% ok. You know why? It's not my life.

If you've ever read Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis, you might remember the part of the story when the Pevensie children are wandering around in the forest, trying desperately to find a way to get to where Prince Caspian would be waiting for them.

Lucy sees Aslan and knows that He is beckoning to her to come, but it doesn't make sense for her to go. Nobody else saw Him, and He was across a deep gorge. Two pretty big problems. She tried to convince the others that they should follow Aslan, but their voices of reason made more sense than her words of insanity about seeing a lion beckoning to her to come follow Him off a cliff. Well, they ended up going a different way and almost getting killed and then decided to try the Aslan following deal. They went back to where Lucy saw Aslan and she ends up accidentally falling off the cliff...off the cliff and onto a trail that they couldn't see from where the were standing.

This trail would take them right to where they needed to be. It was a path that couldn't be seen from their vantage point, but it was a path that Aslan was obviously leading them to the whole time. Who cares if it wasn't logical...it was THE path.

That's basically this chapter in my life. I know that God is calling me. I also know that right now, He's not calling me to go to college. I know its not very logical in our day and age to skip out on college, but I DO know that my God is faithful to lead me on the right path. The path that is going to allow me to be used by Him, for His glory in the nations.

In the past 6 months, I have had two doors open to work in two different ministries {Working in orphan care, community development projects, etc. Try not to get too confused here in a second.}

Last October, I was planning on moving to Bristol, TN to work with the ministry that was headquartered there.

Then a door opened for a possible internship in Nashville, TN with another ministry.

November 2010: I felt like the Lord was calling me to stay home another 6 months to care for the Littles so my mom could finish writing her book. I almost had to say no to both opportunities.
{God stepped in. Don't worry Ellie! I won't make you say no. They'll both say no to you! Ha.}

Internship #1 that I was supposed to do was postponed.
Internship #2 was also a fail.

God loved me so well and brought me to a whole nother level of trusting Him.
I wouldn't trade the months that I've had here at home with the Littles for anything. They have been such a blessing to me and the Lord has taught me so much.

December 2010: I feel like the Lord is calling me to go to Nashville to serve in ministry there ... except, there is no opportunity for me to go there. Tricky? Yes.

February 2011: Some doors started to open for Internship 2 in Nashville again. Still didn't work out.

March 2011: I hear from Internship 1 in Bristol saying that they are back on track and launching their intern program in July...this time they are trying to do it in Nashville. WHAT? Yes.

Do I feel like God is moving the whole ministry of Safeworld Nexus to Nashville because that's where He's calling me to go right now? Sometimes, yes. ;) Sometimes the details are just so crazy that I think God might only have time to work out my life's details and no one else's. And then I remember that He is just that good and that big. He orchestrates things together so beautifully. It's astonishing to me. In fact, he was probably just preparing my heart back in December for this very thing.

So, does this mean that I am moving to Nashville? At this point, I think so! However, if I've learned anything in the past 6 months, its that I'm not in charge of the game plan. God is. The earth and all it's inhabitants are the Lord's and He is faithful and just. All His ways are good. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. {Romans 8:28} Therefore, I know that every bump and curve and 'glitch' in my mind, are just opportunities to trust in the faithfulness of a loving God who is working all of those things out for good.

I know that wherever He calls me, wherever I am, I have that moment to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are in front of me. Whether that means the 6 children that I currently spend most of my days with, or if that means the people I will work with in TN and Uganda { Lord willing}. I am learning that life isn't about the next step. Life is about each moment and how we steward it.

I am so beyond thankful that He is teaching me to lean less and less on my own understanding. Thankful that He is teaching me how to acknowledge Him in all my ways, and to trust Him to direct my paths in the ways in which He wants them to go. {Proverbs 3:5}

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Until Jesus comes, no matter what, no matter where, no matter how.

I don't know where I'm gonna end up, but I know I'll be there with Jesus. He promises never to leave us, nor forsake us. And that's enough for me.

P.S. I wouldn't trade in any of the confusion or changes of plans that have happened in the past six months. God has taught me so much about His fatherly love for me, about His sovreignty and His timing, that I am beyond grateful for those weird flip-flopping plans. They are priceless now because of the things that Jesus spoke to me as a result of these events. He's working them together for good already and I haven't even left North Carolina yet. What a Savior.

I love my super cool sister.

Flah-duh.

2011-03-04T22:30:00.002-05:00

My sweet great-aunt passed away this week. She was a sweet, sweet woman. She was the spitting image of the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. The Fairy Godmother...with a New York accent.

She lived ten hours away from my family so I only saw her when we would go stay with my grandparents {when they lived in Florida}.

My Grandpa and most of his sisters lived in the same neighborhood at the time and they would visit each other in their Florida rooms for iced tea most days. It was always so fun to go visit them. My Grandma and Grandpa's house was always cold enough to house penguins and was impeccably clean. My Grandpa's workshop would be full of odds and ends that he'd collected at yard sales all year long. It was like the cave in the Little Mermaid. Except better.

The first day we got into town, we could always expect to be welcomed by the aroma of homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs.
Grandma kept a little tin on her kitchen window sill with the word "love" written on it. She always told us it was her secret ingredient. {I snuck over and opened it one day to discover it was empty. I thought she lied. I didn't get the whole sweetness of the analogy until a few years later. I know, I know. don't be so uptight ellie. sheesh.}

My brother and I would ride bikes all around their little neighborhood and stop off at all the relatives houses. They usually fed us and then we'd go back outside to catch lizards. My sweet little Aunt Pat {She was a good deal shorter than me last time I saw her and I'm only 5'1". } had one of these in her shed which she let use.

Needless to say, she was probably our most frequent stop.

Once when I was in middle school and feeling so lame that all of my friends were growing by the foot and I...wasn't...She told me "Ellie, don't chyoo evah forget..dynamite comes in smawl packages." :)

She was a sweet woman with a heart full of kindness. She will be greatly missed.

We're all going to Florida tomorrow for the funeral.

We realized as we were preparing yesterday that Solomon and I are on Spring Break all next week and Jonathan has most of the week off. So, what do you do when your going to Florida with your whole family and you don't have to be back home for a few days? You go to Disney World. Thats what.

I've been asking to do a family excursion to Disney for my graduation celebration since... my freshman year of high school. So, next week is a combo: Spring Break vacation, Last Hoorah for the Mestas Big Kids being able to vacation with the rest of the family, and, Celebrate-Ellie-Being-Done-with-School trip. It's going to be a party. {I wish Melissa, Randy and the Pearcelings could come with us! :( }

BUT. Shhh.. Solomon and the Littles don't know! {THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING TO THEM!}Solomon and the youngest three have never been and the older twins have only been to Disney Land.
Commence: Mission Impossible. Aka...keep the secret until Monday. We have been speaking in Spanish and spelling things out and doing everything possible to ensure that we don't spill the beans...but I'm probably going to blow it because its all my brain wants to think about. {I have dreams of making my home above one of the shops in Downtown Disney Land.} While spelling things out today my dad and I had this cute conversation.

Papa: "Do you know what I'm most excited about? What my favorite part is?"
Me: "The r-i-d-e-s's?"
Papa "Nope. The looks on your f-a-c-e-s's." AWW. My cute Papa. I love him to pieces.

But for real. I just want to tell them all and see them freak out with excitement already!

The Happiest Place on Earth is about to get a whole lot happier. The joy level is going to burst the roof off Cinderella's castle. I hope they have castle insurance.

Life is a spontaneous adventure.

4 years of life with the Twinnettes.

2011-02-16T01:23:00.001-05:00

I can hardly believe that these little babies...

Have transformed into these hilarious, girly, dress-up loving, ladies.

These girls are such treasures. They are so full of life and spunk! They currently love: eating, brushing their teeth by themselves, running,

dancing on anything that can be used as a stage, drumming on things, loading the dryer with the clothes from the washer, telling made up jokes, cracking eggs for breakfast, being helpful with anything and everything, changing outfits {12 times a day}, singing, and feeding my fish {...that i was given as a gift for Christmas and is shockingly still alive.} They love playing pretend games with each other where their pretend names are both "Ella". I don't know how it works, but they both have the same name in every game...somehow it just works for them.

I am so excited to see the women that they are going to become. God has huge plans for them.

They are so fearless. Literally. Nothing will stand in their way.

They are leaders. {They come up with some of the most creative schemes known to mankind. In fact, they come up with schemes that no man has ever even contemplated and they execute them with extreme precision.}

They are innovative. {When its six am and you think you're home alone- but really everyone is just sleeping- go to the neighbor's house. They'll bring you back home and wake up your family for you.}

They ask the hard questions. {"Do you have a baby in your tummy?"}

They speak up when no one else will. {That lady's hair is not good. Mmm. It's crazy."}

They have a profound sense of justice.{ "Kezzie has 4 grapes and I only have 3."}

They are so full of joy.

They are SO full of life! There is more personality wrapped up in these four year old twins than you can even imagine. They keep us on our toes and they bring so much joy to our hearts.

Keren always has something hilarious to say. Usually about somebody "being a pancake" for doing something she thought was rude.

Keziah always has a new statement to make with her outfit. Keziah especially loves her shirt with the little pink dog on it, paired with her pink tutu. She is Fancy Nancy personified.

They make an amazing team. They recently decided that they wanted to try going to some of the things that the boys go to...and then just as quickly decided it wasn't for them. I understand completely. They recently did what I only dreamed of doing as a small child. Jason Bourne style. When they were taken to AWANA for the first {and only} time, they simultaneously decided it was no longer cool. One got the first teacher in a headlock {more or less}, the other kicked the remaining teacher at the door and then they both made the great escape out the door to find my parents. About 6 months later, they wanted to try Sunday School at Church. {they normally sit in the regular service with us.} They lasted about 30 minutes before we heard running in the halls. Keren bolted and got in the elevator, Keziah took the stairs. Someone asked me last week at Taekwondo if that was my sister that came running to the service crying and calling my name. Yes! It was. My very own sister. Right in the middle of a sermon on sanctity of human life/ adoption. I thought it added a nice effect though and sort of brought everything to life. Way to go Kez. They go against the flow. Who cares if the other kids stay in Sunday school? The world is full of those other kids.

{With a little channeling in the right direction...}
These girls are going to change the world.

They've changed my life forever and i'm eternally grateful that God decided these little African Ladies were meant to be my sisters. They have changed my world.

God has taught me so much about love through them. He has shown me so much about the way He loves us. He loves us with a never stopping, never giving up, bigger than our attitudes towards Him, bigger than our behavior, bigger than everything we could ever do for Him kind of love. This is the love that I have been shown. This is the love that He teaches me how to give. And man, do I love these little boogers.

God has His hand on them. He protected them through so much, and is continuing to do so. He has brought them to our family for a reason and He is going to use them to impact the world for His glory. I just know it.

Watch out world. Here they come. {Maybe to a Sunday School near you...HA. Just kidding. :) }

Happy Birthday Ladies! I love you more than I could ever tell you. You stole my heart the minute I saw your picture. You are the little sisters I always dreamed of, and so much more.

"For this {these} child{ren !} I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him."
1 Samuel 1:27

MLK

2011-01-17T22:31:00.002-05:00

Today, I took my brothers and sisters to the park. My black brothers and sisters, and my white ones. There were no signs that said some of us had to stay out because of the shade of skin on our bodies. Nobody tried to stop us, nobody called us names. Dr. King's dream was realized a little today in my life. Just a simple act of freedom that I take for granted, was a merely a dream 50 years ago. I am indescribably grateful that Dr. King and so many others deemed it a dream worth fighting for.

I am beyond thankful for the work God has done in so many hearts because of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others who spoke out for the oppressed, despite persecution. My life in the South with four African siblings would look so much different had they not been so courageous. To think that I could have missed out on most of the biggest blessings of my life due to the amount of melanin in their skin breaks my heart. It's shameful to think that such a thin layer of substance can create so much dissension among those who are meant to be brothers. And yet, despite the depraved nature of man's heart that would choose to see color as a distinction of value, God came for us in love and chose to offer us forgiveness. He brought justice to our sin through His Son, rather than us. What a merciful God.

My heart is full of thankfulness that God has brought us from segregated bus seats and water fountains, to integrated families, government and Churches. Praise God.

(phone pictures from the glorious park visit this afternoon.)

May we always see the people of this world the way God sees them. May we always look at the heart of a man, rather than the appearance. May we always do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

Out with 2010, In with 2011.

2011-01-11T00:55:00.001-05:00

2010 was such a beautiful year for me.
Not because everything went according to the way I thought it should have, or because there were only fun times to be had and never any troubles. Quite the contrary. It was a wonderful year for me because it was so completely not the way I thought it would be.

I feel like I aged about 5 years in 2010, but in the best of ways. God proved Himself to be so faithful to me everysingleday. I felt God loving me so deeply in the midst of the chaotic parts. I felt Him guarding my heart and protecting me. I felt Him giving me the courage to stand for Him, and I felt Him nudging me over every proverbial cliff in my life. He gave me the courage to jump, and then caught me every time. This year I fell in love with my Jesus so much more. I began to know Him so much better than I ever have before. He held my hand and walked me through the year with such abundant grace that I .just.couldn't. keep from loving Him.

I wouldn't trade 2010 for all the tea in China.

I am so excited to see what God is going to do in 2011. I am so thankful that even though I have no clue what this year holds, I know the One who holds it... and He is trustworthy. He is not held within the boundaries of our dates or plans. He is the same, year, after year, after year, and He is good. I choose to trust Him with 2011. It'll be an adventure, no doubt.

My New Years Resolutions:

Follow Jesus in faith, wherever He leads me. He knows what's up, even when I don't.

Study God's word more diligently.

Love others fully, even when its not easy.

Engage my culture for the plight of the orphan in ways that I haven't before.

Improve my Spanish skills.

Give sacrificially.

Improve Taekwondo skills.

View others as more important than myself.

Share the Gospel more.

Read more.

Run more.

Help Mom finish writing her book by caring for the Littles.

Serve God wholeheartedly wherever He has me.

A brief overview:

At the start of the year, I was a mere junior in high school that was studying the Industrial Revolution and reading Charles Dickens. I started driving myself places, which was so lovely and convenient. Started preparing a group of young people to go to Uganda in the summer for a missions trip.

God called me to speak up for the orphans He's taken me to meet around the world. Surrendered my freaking-out-heart to His will and watched Him move mountains. I am so grateful for the opportunities He's given me to speak up for His glory and for His heart. What a blessing.

I began to love Taekwondo more and more.

Traveled to Uganda where God spoke volumes to my heart about His world, His people, and His plans for my life. God began preparing my heart to move out of state to work with orphan care ministries.

Got a new brother! God performed 10,000 miracles and Solomon had a 24 hour notice that he was coming to live in America.
No way. I'm still in shock and its January.

Solomon and I went to Precept Ministries International's Boot Camp in TN and had a fantastic time.

Spent all of July and August having friends visit, traveling with friends, traveling with family, and staffing at different camps.

Solomon saw the ocean for the first time ever!

One of the boys' many experiments/ grand ideas/ projects this summer was :

They created a butterfly conservatory in our kitchen and we had butterflies flying everywhere. It was pretty impressive. They would spend hours catching, drawing, reading about, and watching them. I was impressed.
I started my last legitimate semester of high school in the fall! Took classes at SEBTS and learned SO much. I'm so thankful for the time I had there.

Mom went out of town and I had the Littles. The Twinnettes saw Tinkerbell's latest movie and were obsessed with the idea of catching a fairy. Well, late night Target runs can make wishes come true for little girls who put little tissue box houses in gardens. :)

Utter joy! :)

Had fun friends come to town for fall break and met "old" friends in person!

Traveled to TN with Mom and the Twinettes for a girls weekend to work through some plans for the future.

Traveled to Hershey, PA with the family for the Mid-Atlantic Orphan Summit.

Spent such a fun Thanksgiving and Christmas with my whole family.

I then headed off to Florida for New Years! My sweet friends, Bradley and Kirk, got hitched! It was a blast of a week and their wedding was beautiful...a wedding deserving of its own post. :)

So thankful for 2010 and the memories, lessons, and friends that came with it!

Merry Christmas. Feliz Navidad. Melkam Gena. Happy Birthday to Jesus. Sheng Dan Kuai Le.

2011-01-10T22:47:00.004-05:00

The most beautiful story ever written. A Holy God - Creator and judge of the Universe- came to us, an unholy people who chose to reject His love and His perfect ways. He chose to redeem us and make us His children while we were still His enemies and wanted nothing to do with Him.

He chose to send His son as a baby into a world full of evil. He chose to come to us, not as a mighty King, but as a baby, born in the most humble of places.

He walked among us, healed us, loved us, taught us. God knew we could not save ourselves. He is Just, and He is Merciful. He chose to pour out His overwhelming wrath of our sin and wickedness upon His one and only Son, so that we might be saved through Him.

Jesus bore God's wrath over my sin so that I could be washed as white as snow. He died for us, but He rose victoriously from death on that glorious third day, conquering sin and death forever.

Because of Jesus, I have been completely forgiven. God looks at me and sees only the blood of my beautiful Savior who washed me clean, not who I was without Him. Because of Jesus, we can each have a relationship with the Holy God of the universe. Because of Jesus, an unworthy people, can be called children of God, living in victory over sin, and with the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Because of Jesus, God offers all of us a free gift of Salvation. Of Redemption. Of Peace with Him.

This is the Miracle of Christmas.

Emmanuel: God with us. God with me. Every single day.

Mmmm...classic.

Solomon's first Christmas ornament! We gave it to him via skype last year and it hung on our tree, just desperately hoping that he would be here one day to hang it himself. Praise the Lord, He was here to do it this Christmas!

Mmm...even more classic.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

               The fireplace has witnessed a few affects of adoption as well.
                          Dear Santa, we need a bigger mantle next year.
                                           Love,
                                              Ellie

Raleigh had it's first White Christmas in 63 years. My heart nearly exploded with joy.

This was about the time she decided she would really like some hot cocoa.

Why yes, we did utilize the Yule Log channel on our TV. Our Christmas tree refused to drink water this year so it probably would burst into flames if we used the real deal. The Yule Log channel was such a wonderful idea.

My newest brother!

Kiki, African Snow Princess.

Jackpot Present: A huge Dora the Explorer doll house and castle with 10,345 people.

It was SUCH a beautiful Christmas. It was filled with thanksgiving to the Lord, love, and tons of fun. I am so grateful for Jesus, the most tremendous gift that I, and the world, was ever given. He is my love, my best friend, my redeemer, my everything. {And His birthday is a pretty fun deal around these here parts.}

My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Oh praise the One, who paid my debt, and raised this life up from the dead!

Photos courtesy of Melissa.

Sweet Friends of 2010

2011-01-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

Depraved Indifference

2010-12-13T01:11:00.001-05:00

(Go to sidebar of my blog and turn off music.)

Orchestra Living

2010-11-30T04:03:00.001-05:00

Our lives are like one giant orchestra. We each have so many different gifts, talents, roles, responsibilities, and seasons of life. We have so many facets of life that are wrapped up within you and me.

You and I are orchestras. The conductor of this orchestra is God, whether we choose to acknowledge this fact or not.

Have you ever heard an orchestra tuning their instruments before a big show? It can be pretty, but it basically hurts your ears at the same time. It's a beautiful mess of sounds all jumbled up and out of order. However, as soon as the conductor lifts His hands to direct the song he knows so well, all goes quiet. Each instrument and its steward recognize the role of the conductor and they wait for His direction.

There is a peace in knowing that there is someone in charge who knows what he is doing. Someone who knows the music and will lead you where you need to go.

Waiting for the direction of the conductor is key to the beauty of the song. If even one little section gets impatient and jumps the gun, it kind of smudges the whole effect and distracts from the beauty of the plan for those who wait.

When each musician in the orchestra surrenders their will to be in charge and decides to follow the lead of the one in front who holds the master plan, that's when the true beauty begins to manifest itself and begins to fill the air.

When each instrument is in accordance with the plan of the Conductor, and is content to trust His all knowing hands, everything is in order to bring forth the beauty that glorifies the writer of the song.

Its SO easy to compartmentalize our lives into areas we feel matter to God, and areas we feel do not really matter so much at all. i.e. what we say with friends from school and what we say with friends from church. How we treat our friends and how we treat our family.

Separating our lives into categories like this is like letting only half of our orchestra participate in the song He has for us. It is so not how He designed the music, nor intended it to be played.

It is not always easy to surrender the will of that little flute that I feel already plays my song so well. Or the violin that matches its song with my whining spirit that would rather have things go my way. Or the drum that plays my own beat so comfortably and easily. But if they do not give up their comfortable ways and conform to the way of the Conductor, then there will be a noticeable difference between the song of the Conductor and the song of mine.

His song will be beautiful always, but the sound of my little beating drum and my little whining violin will taint the song of His and will not give it the glory that is due. My song cannot thwart the song of His; His will go on. However, I can taint others view of His ability to conduct music well. I could be a poor representation of who He is and the beauty of His plan if I choose to ignore the tempo and the key changes and the sharps and flats.
That would be the worst realization of all. To know that because of how I ignored His instructions, His beauty was not allowed to be portrayed in that area of the orchestra.

We are all given a life to live. A symphony to play. A choice of how we are going to choose to play it. Who are you playing your symphony for?

I am choosing to trust that even in the midst of the difficult parts of this song He has given me to play, the parts where I don't know if they will just end in dismal, melancholy keys, I choose to trust that He knows where it will end. He has promised that it will end in hope and life.

I am choosing to trust Him in the easy parts where all is sunshine and roses, because He has promised that It gets hard. And I am choosing to trust Him in all of the crazy parts in between. I choose to trust Him to direct each part of my life and to work it all together for His glory. I know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Who can help but play His song with joy when we realize the goodness of the Lord?

May He grant us all the grace to trust His ever loving hands to lead us through the dark shadow filled valleys, to those green pastures and quiet waters where He restores our souls.

And I know this Conductor is not half as cool as Jesus, but I love this song. It makes me want to close my eyes and dance all around my house.

Thankfulness of 2010

2010-11-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

I am SOsoSOsoSO blessed.

Beyond Measure. All the measuring cups in the world can't contain the blessings that God has poured out on me in the past year, let alone in my lifetime thus far. These blessings aren't always glittery and exciting from the start. However, not all that is gold glitters. I have seen the most grungy of circumstances turn out to be the most lovely times of trusting God's plan to bring beauty up from ashes. He is truly worthy of our trust. I am learning to live with faith in the one who sees all that I cannot. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things that I cannot see with my eyes.

I have seen God perform miracles the way He did for Moses and Daniel and the Old Testament men of Faith and All Things Good. And I'm not even cool like them. I am the chief of sinners, the lamest of the lame, the weakest of the weak, the fearing-est of the fearful. Yet God has allowed me to see Him move so mightily. I am so undeserving...but I am so thankful.

I am so undeserving of the family that God has given me. He put quite a bit of effort into bringing my family together. He had to find us all in remote corners of the earth- and boy am I glad He did. I sometimes feel bad that He put so many extremely wonderful people in my family though. Sometimes I feel like some of them should be less cool, just to be fair to the rest of the world's families. Oh well. Sorry yall.

I am so thankful for God increasing my faith in Him and deepening my relationship with Him this year. I have seen Him working and moving in ways I never saw Him move before.

I am so thankful for my new brother, Solomon! He's the greatest.

I am so thankful for Taekwondo. I'm so thankful for the wonderful friends I've made and the helpful things I've learned. :)

I am SO beyond thankful that God took me to Uganda this year..and with my brother Jonathan! It was an incredible journey and being able to experience it with my big brother was such a blessing that I will always treasure.

I'm thankful that my family has clean water and a mosquito free house to sleep in at night.
But I don't want to just sit and be thankful that My family doesn't have to worry about those things. I pray that God uses me to help bring these worries to an end for the beautiful families of Uganda.

God has surrounded me with the most amazing circle of friends who love me so well and hold me to a very high standard.

I am thankful for all of the opportunities that God has given me to speak up on behalf of orphans this year. Three years ago this past week, I was crying on an airplane out of Ethiopia, begging God to use me to help all of the children that were not able to come home with my parents and I. Nati and Meron and Selam. Haileyesus and Habtamu and Solomon.
He has answered my prayers by allowing me to speak up for them and I hope that He continues to do so.

I am thankful for Our Ethiopian Littles who have been home for THREE YEARS! They are such treasures and I can't imagine life without them!

I'm thankful that God is speaking still and is not silent and impersonal. I am thankful that the Bible is His inerrant word. I'm thankful that the Gospel is true.

I'm thankful for the classes I've been able to take at Southeastern this year. I have benefitted so much from them.

I am extremely thankful that even though I don't know what next year holds for me, God knows it all and holds it all in His hands. He has a perfect plan. He has orchestrated my past, my present, is is orchestrating my future as well.
My hope is that I never lack in trust and faith in Him, and that I would allow Him to conduct every part of my life. I want to live a symphony of praise to my King...Jesus.

Mary {Nalongo}

2010-11-02T16:19:00.002-04:00

I don't even know where to begin telling you about this incredible woman. She was one of the most vibrant, joyful, caring, loving, people I have ever met. I only knew her for two short weeks, but I grew to love her and respect her deeply. People who knew her called her Nalongo- "Mother of Twins".

She went to seminary in Uganda to be able to better teach those around her about the good news of Jesus. She wanted to be a missionary to her people- and she was. She LOVED Jesus. She served faithfully, she visited those in need, she shared the Gospel almost constantly. She played the African drums quite nicely. Almost every time I saw her she was dancing and singing. She laughed so sweetly and would bend over to slap her knees when something was especially funny. She was a beautiful, beautiful woman. She could chop up a tree better than any woman {or man} I've ever met. She was such a strong, hard worker.

I am so thankful for the words she spoke to me about Jesus that day as she held my hand and walked down that orange dirt road on the other side of the world. She called me "'Ow-ah'{our}Smallest Missionary". A title I didn't feel worthy of, but it blessed my heart.

I was looking forward to seeing her again one day when I return to Uganda.

She went to her true home yesterday to be with Jesus. This side of the veil, we are so sad. But I know that she is rejoicing and has been made whole. The Gospel is so true. Heaven is so real. God is so good. We are so very redeemed and we have such a beautiful inheritance. We have such a hope in Christ. We have been redeemed and adopted into God's family. We are heirs with Christ.

I can't wait to see her in heaven, dancing and singing, walking down streets of gold- no longer just talking about Jesus together...but seeing Him face to face. She is truly alive and I will see her again.

We have this hope as an anchor for our souls.

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Romans 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

{Photo cred: Hayley Catt}

Kung Fu Fighting

2010-10-31T23:03:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, we put jackets on multiple people and then make music videos. Please enjoy Josiah's facial expressions as much as I did.{Go to sidebar playlist and hit pause for full effect.}

Starring:

Josiah's Face.

Ellie's Hands.

James as back-up dancer/ninja?

Glimpses of Jeremiah as photographer.

Life Lately...

2010-10-31T22:57:00.001-04:00

Hey Friends and Families.

How are you?

I hope you are doing marvelously well and are getting excited for Christmas! I'm just kidding. It's not really time for that yet, but I'm excited all the same. (I have been listening to Christmas music quite a bit already... but don't tell anyone.)

Mom, The Twinnettes, and I ventured out to Franklin, TN this week for my interview at Show Hope and we turned it into a girls-weekend-in-the-middle-of-the-week. It was glorious.
Here's a few pictures from my phone...Sorry about the lighting being weird in basically everysingleoneofthem.

It was so Autumn-y! Breathtaking views for 10 hours in the car made it seem soo much shorter. {mostly.}

This is me and Kez the Goober at Carabbas where our waiter happened to be the husband of a woman I met in China. Its crazy when you find out you know your waiter's wife because you met her on the other side of the world one time.

We're home for a few days and then we're off to Hershey, PA for the Mid-Atlantic Orphan Summit!

Mom is keynote speaker Friday night and I have a breakout session on Saturday. {Pray for me. Haha.}

You should all come! Its going to be amazing!

Facts of the Day:

2010-10-16T20:56:00.000-04:00

1. Nothing is predictable in this life. Nothing.

2. I know the one who plans my future and He is trustworthy.

3. God opens doors that I didn't know were there.

4. God knew the details all along. The Ever-Changing details are in the hands of a Never-Changing God.

5. He knows the next thing that I won't predict as well.

6. Life is so much more than the words I speak and you, he, she, it, speaks.

7. Hard is ok. Impossible is non-existent.

8. God knows. He knows it all. Everything is His. And He is good.

9. Life's not about me... No its not. Its not. Its not. Its not. Too bad I forget all the time.

10. I have time to use wisely. and I don't have time to use it foolishly.

11. If my "normal" is never my "normal" again, I can trust God to be faithful in the new "normal" that He brings, the same way He is faithful now.

12 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...( most frequently used sound in my vocabulary.)

Psalm 90:1,12,16-17
1Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

2Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
12So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
16Let Your work appear to Your servants

And Your majesty to their children.
17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

i am severely comfortable. for three more months.

2010-10-11T01:19:00.002-04:00

I live in the cutest town in the world with the best family in the world. The food is good, the friends are the very greatest, the neighborhood is perfect (except for the one house of drug dealing neighbors...ehh.) Southeastern is the best school, I have the best Taekwondo School, the best Church, the best Goodberry's ice cream, the best Chickfila. The cute ladies at the bank know my name and ask me about my life. No matter where I go, I see friends or meet someone who knows at least someone in my family. It is so unbelievably homey here. I am well loved, well fed, and well clothed.

If you want to go anywhere or do anything (providing its a small town type of thing...), it is five minutes from my house. You wanna go to the coolest old farm-turned-into-a-park? Turn left. You wanna go eat Chinese food? Turn right. Wanna go to the library? Go straight. Wanna go to the best thrift store ever? Turn left. Wanna go to the farmer's market or hear a little Irish man sing songs? Go straight on Saturday. {Just don't go too late or the Irish man will be replaced by the belly dancers...which are just plain creepy.}

I love this place. I always knew I'd be leaving someday to be a missionary in a far off land or something along those lines. I just expected 'someday' to be somewhere around five years from now. Not three months from now. I always expected to leave my family and friends and comforts at some point, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, or this bittersweet.

Who the heck would ever want to leave this place?

Who in their right mind would leave, when they could stay?

It is so comfortable. It is so warm and fuzzy. Sure there are problems, and things that get annoying, and there are rude people (probably only 3.) But in the grand scheme of things, this is a goodgoodgood place to live life.

Why the heck am I leaving?

Why the heck am I leaving my family, and my friends, and my poodle, and my bed, and my cute little town?

When I was in Uganda and had just heard about this internship, I was praying for God to show me His will on whether or not I should even consider going. Whether or not I should consider leaving everything so much sooner than I had planned to leave it. My family that I love so much. My friends.You know, especially since I was gonna go off and be a missionary after school and all. Anyways, here is what I looked down to see on the page of my Bible:

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:36-39

Bam.

Oh hey, Ellie. Guess what? Lame excuses.
Christ didn't give me life, and then save my life, to have me do that which I deem worthy. I live for a greater purpose than comfort. I live so that others may know Christ and live as well.

This whole thing sounds pretty foolish if it was merely my idea to pick up and move to another state in my senior year of highschool. However, I know that this wasn't my idea. I know that the God who holds my life in His hands has a goodgoodgood plan for me, and my family, and my friends. And if that plan involves me leaving, then that has to be good.

I've been around a bit , but I've always come back home after a few weeks. It just hit me a few days ago that a year is a long time. Especially when you thought you knew what you would be doing, and all of a sudden, there is this massive thing on the radar thats going to take up a year of your life. Even though it is an amazing thing, it is still going to be a hard thing.

There is a quote that keeps coming to my mind when I start to count up the cost of following Jesus in this next year of life though...

"He is no fool that gives that which He cannot keep, to attain that which He cannot lose."- Jim Elliot

This is not my forever home. I am not alive so that I can be comfortable. I am alive to bring glory to my creator. I am alive to love Him and to share the good news of His son with the world.

I am excited to be transplanted. I know that God is going to show Himself to be my El Shaddai - all sufficient one - more and more with each day. This is the part where Jesus gets to be my very best friend. This is the part where I get to see Him holding my hand and walking me through the good, the bad, and the ugly parts.

I'm choosing to trust. I'm choosing to obey. I'm trading in fear and worries and comfort and norms and all that ~~crap~~ stuff for the all surpassing peace and joy that comes from knowing that the God of the Universe loves me and has a GOOD plan.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.

I'm gonna miss a whole lot of this...

...But I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard all that I have entrusted to Him.

So...bring it Tennessee. I've got Jesus and Skype.

fall break, fall pictures, mmm mmm good.

2010-10-06T11:17:00.000-04:00

Fall Break = ~~Work~~ Productivity

I LOVE fall break. I have gotten so many things done this week, it's not even funny. I think we should have fall break all year long.

On Monday, I repainted/redecorated my bathroom/broke the toilet with the cord from my lamp. {lame? yes.}

On Tuesday, I sewed cool things, and then sparred with people, and then we got the toilet replaced.

And today, I decorated our house for fall, finished the bathroom decorating, and wrote a song on my lovely ol' piano.

And I still have three more days of fall break...yesss. I need to make another list of things to do.

Here are a few shots from our family photoshoot! If you have jealousy issues, you may not want to look at these pictures of my cute family.

Family Photo 2010 Preview.

2010-09-23T22:58:00.002-04:00

I have a feeling these will not make it on the Christmas card.

P.S. http://tesoro-photo.com/blog

The Beach and More.

2010-09-22T02:28:00.008-04:00

Have you ever walked into your room after being gone all day and inwardly screamed...

"OHHSWEETBABYMOSES!!! I'VE BEEN BURLGLARIZED!!!"

Only to realize that {sadly...oh-so-sadly,} you were the one that vandalized your room and threw clothes on every available inch of everywhere?

Me niether. Psh.

~~~~ On another note, my handy blog has just notified me that over 1,000 people have viewed my blog in the past few weeks... And about 3 of them have left comments. I love people, especially those who show their faces on my blog. Please be a man {or lady} and comment once in a while. I promise not to bite you or stalk you. Unless you have a really cool blog-then I might stalk you.

~~~~

My Family spent the last few days at the beach and it was GLORIOUS! It was like the summer's last hoorah. {Except--it's still 90 degrees here which is pretty lame. It might be just me, but I feel like the first day of fall ought to include a breeze or two. My only consolation is the fact that all of my classrooms are kept at thirty-two degrees below zero. You could simultaneously house penguins and hang meat in them.} These past few days were so much fun and such a blessing! I just love my family.

It was Solomon's first time seeing the ocean and he LOVED it.

This kid's curly hair collects seashells for him.

No fish were caught- but they caught 6 crabs!

And I will leave you a video to explain these great pictures. {There was grass growing on top of this sand which was quite deceiving. Turns out- it was really sand under there.}

2010-09-22T01:03:00.008-04:00

Today I am thankful for the African man who works at Walmart late at night.

He sings African songs at the top of his lungs while he stacks things on shelves. It makes Walmart feel more like a lovely village home and less like the shady place that it really is.

I wonder what his story is, and why he loves to sing, and what the words mean that he sings so joyfully. I wonder if he grew up in a village, singing songs while gardening; the same way that I have seen so many Ugandan children do.

I want to be like him and sing about even the mundane, monotonous things. In doing so, those things will no longer be mundane and monotonous ...

and they might even suddenly turn into an African dance party.

I hope he never stops singing his songs.

{I also hope they move him to the day shift and give him a microphone.}

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless
and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day
of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain." Philippians 2:14-16

Baby Ninjas are my Favorite...

2010-09-22T00:43:00.001-04:00

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Out with the old, in with the new.

2010-09-13T02:39:00.009-04:00

My whole life I've hated crying. Probably because I had an older brother that I had to seem cool to all the time, and crying isn't something you do when trying to appear cool. Every kid knows that. Hello.

Crying is something vulnerable people do. Something that the not-tough people of this world do. You know...the wimps.

Up until a few years ago, I was able to control tears and somehow swallow them back into my eyeballs. {Or pretend I had allergies, or even pretend like I was just missing our old dog. Because it's alright to cry about a dog. Just not anything else.}

Something has changed in my heart though. You see, Jesus came in with a giant wrecking ball, knocking over my tower of pride that I have been building since the day i was born. He has laid me low and built me back up, starting from the very foundation. He has rescued me from myself and has gloriously ruined "my" life. He has shown me who I was, and who He is. And the best part, who I am now IN Him.

Ezekiel 36:26 says this: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Isn't that marvelous? He makes us all the way new. He doesn't just give face-lifts and nose jobs. He gives heart transplants.

Jesus has taken my dry bones and breathed life into them. He has taken away my old, rock-hard heart and replaced it with one that can feel compassion. He has raised this life of mine up from the dead. He has shown me things about how to love and how to live. He is still showing me things, and will always be showing me things because I will never completely get it in this lifetime.

One of the best side effects of this heart transplant that I have undergone is... this new heart has made me a crying fool.

I have grown to love crying. I love it because it is so contrary to how I was before Jesus saved me. It is so uncomfortable and so ugly and so not cool that I love crying. I love basking in my vulnerability and wimpiness. I love basking in the invulnerability and strength of Christ. I love crying without fear of the thoughts of brothers, or friends, or random neighbors. { Let's just set this straight now as well...I am not one of those cute cryers. I'm the kind of cryer that people are like "Wow Ellie. You've been crying. When did you become Asian? Do you even have eyes?" }

I cry when I see sweet mothers with their babies. I cry when I see babies with no mothers. I cry over hearing stories of God moving in foreign lands and in my own backyard. I cry over my family picture. I cry over my siblings lost families. I cry over those who have believed and been saved by Jesus. I cry over those who have not yet believed. I cry over who Jesus is and how great He is. I cry when I think about all that He has done for me. Ellie = a crying fool.

This new heart of mine is something to rejoice over. Each day, it breaks a little more for that which breaks God's heart. And each day, it beats a little more for the things that God's heart beats for. I had nothing to do with obtaining this heart. It's only because of grace that I have been made new. {Lord knows, grace is all that could have done it. } And the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of God's tremendous glory and grace.

Cool and composed and dignified have kost their pedestal in my life. If those things don't allow for tears, then good-bye dignity. I don't even know if we ever really were friends anyway. Good-bye cool. You're definition is always changing and you're too difficult to keep up with. Good-bye composed. {composed? heh?}

The Lord is such an amazing redeemer. If you have not allowed Him to come in and take over your heart and life, do it now. There is so much grace, and freedom, and love...you'll be a crying fool too.

"I'm Mary Magdalene and tonight is a bottle of perfume There's not enough dignity to hold me now When I know You're going to meet me here There's not enough gravity To keep me away from You

Cause I'm breaking down I don't even care if there's anyone else around Cause I'm breaking down I always fall to pieces whenever You're around"

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQI4PbKM9kE )

{Cinturon Verde}

2010-09-07T22:00:00.004-04:00

Today, I became a green belt. You see, Jesus is cool and works out weird details for me all the time and I SO do not deserve it.

My family had planned our beach vacation for last weekend but a hurricane named Earl came along and kinda wiped out our plans.

Josiah turns 6 YEARS OLD (!!) on Friday which is kind of why we're going to the beach... but we were supposed to go last week... because this Friday I was supposed to test for this lovely green belt. And If I didn't test this month, I wouldn't be able to test in December.... and then I'd be behind when I leave for Tennessee in January... and then when I come home, I won't be as close to getting my black belt. You see the problems? Yea.

But...GUESS WHAT?! Master Jamie is the sweetest person in the whole world. I went to pre-testing tonight (a practice test on everything you're supposed to know to promote...they tell you if you are ready to move up or not and give you pointers etc. No new belts or cool things.) thinking that I would just get ready for testing in October and still be a green belt when I leave for TN. Master Jamie then informs me that I can do a private testing with the Masters when I get home from the beach. SUPER exciting! (yet, slightly terrifying.)

However, it didn't come to that. Three hours of pre-testing later, I go to see if I passed. She asks me to recite some Bible verses and then.....she hands me my green belt.

WHAT?!

HALLELUJAH!

Master Jamie, if you even know I have a blog and if you are reading this, I am extremely grateful.

Bradley and Kirk

2010-09-06T00:52:00.018-04:00

Bradley Bass and Kirk Chambers are two of the most precious people I have ever met.

They seriously love Jesus and have such splendid hearts to serve Him.

We traveled to Uganda together this summer and became fast friends. Kirk, Bradley, My brother Jonathan, and I instantly got along so well together that we decided we must become friends forever. A few glimpses into our friendship: Bradley and I found showers in every bizarre airport in every country we traveled in,

We shared a twin bed (in the not-so-bat-infested room under one mosquito net) to try and hide from the shrieking, pooping, bats from hell... ( Luckily, the bat ordeal was only two nights of our trip and the hilariousness outweighed the emotional scarring. :)

(This is Jonathan and Kirk's mosquito net over their bed...please observe the large quantity of bat poo. "dive bombing bats"...needless to say, when bats are excreting waste upon your mosquito net, or even just flying around your bed and squeezing in through the windows, you tend to bond emotionally, spiritually, etc.)

Bradley and I swapped Jesus stories on the bus and in our rooms every night. We all hung out together at cool places like the Nile River and London, England...

We went with Jonathan up in the sky when he was preparing to fling his body into the Nile...Kirk documented it. Bradley and I watched.

Laughed for probably 300 hours straight about different things... "Missionary Bus Ride" is the name of this cool band...

...such as these two crazies who chopped up trees to make room for the new village church with these...(Jonathan holds a machete, Kirk holds a slashahhhh. or a slasher, but nobody calls them that.)

Braved a bug storm in a zoo, arm in arm...

distributed mosquito nets... and Brad and I, of course, squeeled over cute brown babies together.

These things make for a pretty fun friendship.

Kirk and Bradley have had a long, tough, journey together... but their story is beautiful.

...and today, THEY GOT ENGAGED!!!

I am so excited to see where God will take them and how He is going to use them. They are such a sweet blessing and I am so thankful that they are my friends. This Bridesmaid is super excited!

Love you Bradley and Kirk!

Apple Farms are The Best.

2010-09-06T00:02:00.002-04:00

Apple Farm Day Trip!

2010-09-05T00:01:00.002-04:00

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Today I am thankful for...

2010-09-01T22:03:00.008-04:00

The wonderful woman in my Ministry Management class who taught me how to search for periodicals on "Stewardship" in the library of three billion periodicals.

The kind man in the campus security office who forgave me of my parking violation and enlightened me of the three square feet of the campus where I am permitted to park my car.

Almonds. They are a beautiful creation of Jesus that my belly is fond of.

Sweet little boys proudly wearing AWANA vests.

Mr. Bissette from The Grain Mill, who delivers our eggs and other natural, organic, goodness on a bicycle.

This Song, My lovely friend, Kenzie Jackson, who shared it with me, and my Savior, who makes beautiful things out of dust.

My Best-Friend-Since-I-Was-Two-Years-Old, Amanda. She's great. She just pulled off (with some help from her siblings...) A huge surprise party for her parents 50th Birthday/28th Anniversary. It was so fun and thoughtful and well planned and... she's just basically like that. I like her a lot.

My amazing friend Paige who just turned 18 YEARS OLD! (BAHH! CRAZYY!) Her mom threw her a surprise Luau and it was so cool. I love surprises. They're just so..surprise-y.

My Family. I love learning how to love them better, and watching them inspire me to love others better. They are the best gift in the world. I wish I could live with them forever and always...

Oh wait...Ha! Thanks Jesus! I will live with them again someday and together we will praise You. And when we've been there for ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing Your praise then when we'd first begun.

David Platt- What Happens to Those Who Never Hear the Gospel?

2010-08-30T14:13:00.006-04:00

Please go watch this video. Take that half an hour that you would have used reading blogs and go watch this. Listen to it while doing whatever you were doing before you got on the computer or whatever you are actually supposed to be doing right now.

http://apps.sebts.edu/multimedia/?p=796

This is radical truth that needs to be screamed from the rooftops of our houses. Enough mamby-pamby Christianity. Enough living with our God-in-a-box who is ok with our busy lives and just pours down blessings when we need them. We live in a fallen world that is groaning for something more. Fulfillment. Love. Mercy. A sense of belonging.

They are groaning for the God who created them and loves them and MADE A FREAKIN WAY FOR US TO BECOME HIS CHILDREN!!! We, who were the poor, broken, ugly, wretches of this world, have been made His children through the blood of Christ. We were filled with sin and shame, too filthy to be in the presence of a holy God. There was absolutely NO WAY that we could ever make ourselves right with God until He stepped in in His great love and MADE THE WAY FOR US! HE did it. He sacrificed His one and only beloved son to come be the perfect sacrifice. He sent HIS son to come be the scapegoat for our sins. Not because of anything we did or could do for God. He didn't say "Oh hmm, these humans can help me out. How about I save them so they can help me out?" NO! we had nothing to offer Him and He sacrificed what He loved best to save us. "Us" being- those who hated Him and wanted nothing to do with Him. That is a God who is worthy of being praised! God poured His wrath upon His lovely, innocent son...all for our sake. To give us a chance to be washed white as snow and to be adopted into HIS family.

Why aren't we celebrating?

And If we are celebrating...what about the rest of the world who God made the way for... who have just never heard that this good news is for them as well?

What about the orphaned street child who is stealing food to survive and living the only way the world has taught him to live? WHAT ABOUT HIM?! What if He is never told of the God who loves Him and is waiting with open arms to heal and forgive him of His sins? The God who longs to show him that He is his TRUE FATHER? What if He goes through life miserably, never hearing this amazing truth that we celebrate and keep hidden to ourselves? WHAT IF WE NEVER TELL HIM?!

It doesn't matter so much that we feed orphans, and clothe them, and give them toys and mosquito nets if they never know of the love of Jesus! Orphan care is not truly orphan care until we bring them the Gospel. They need to know the good news that although they were sinners, unworthy to be in the presence of a Holy God, they have been adopted into a His family forever, have been forgiven, cleansed and redeemed. They need to have the hope that, although this life is hard and unfair, and injustice is rampant, this is not all there is. One day Jesus is going to come wipe away all of our tears and set all things right! He is going to make all things NEW! No more evil, no more injustice, no more exploited children, no more dying parents, no more not seeing Jesus face to face. We will be with Him forever. Safe, loved, with no worries...because those who believe and have trusted Him, are his children forever.

I want to spend my life for this orphaned street child. I want to spend my life telling others of this transforming, life-shaking, heart changing, good news.

This good news is nothing to be ashamed of. Let's quit living our lives, content with the amount of Jesus that makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Let's start living and loving the way He did.

God is transforming my idea of Christianity. It turns out, praying "The Sinners Prayer" isn't what its about at all.

(This is Henry. He lives in a village in Uganda. He is an orphan. Jesus died for him.)

Watch the video. Right. Now.

P.S. If you live in the Wake Forest area, David Platt is coming to speak at Chapel at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary on Sept.9th. Come.

Blackening of the hair? Whaaa??

2010-08-26T01:27:00.007-04:00

Mix up in the hair department. Black is the new brown? Maybe not. It's more shocking in person. i promise. I saw myself in the window at school today and nearly screamed. Hopefully I won't scare away small children.

In other areas of life, there is just as much craziness.Yay school! I am honestly more excited for this school semester than any other before it. I am taking classes on things that I am genuinely interested in! Amazing. It probably helps that this is the home stretch for high school! I told someone I was a senior today and it almost felt like I was lying. Sometimes I feel like I'm 12 and shouldn't be graduating, other times...i feel like it's about time school starting wrapping itself up.

The Littles have all started school (homeschool) and may just be the cutest little learning children ever to learn anything. Fo Real. They just started AWANA this week as well! Those little Bible verse spouting children in vests will be too much cuteness for me to handle!

How are your school plans turning out for this lovely fall semester?

Speaking of the Oh So Glorious Fall! { I am almost afraid to mention its name, lest it see me and my black hair and run away in fear.}

Sweetest season of all, please come quickly so that I can wear boots, and play in the leaves, and actually breathe when I walk out the front door. Thanks a million.

Mukama Yebazibwe {5-30-10}

2010-08-14T22:36:00.015-04:00

Today was a glorious day filled with the presence and praises of God, clean water, sweet children, beautiful widows, and a precious little man named Marvin.

Church:

The Lord used to meet people in a tent in the wilderness. He never stopped. We had church in a tent made of orange tarps in the jungle. We used drums and our voices to Praise The Living God who works miracles in my town in America and in this impoverished village in Uganda. He is the same God that I praise at home, except here we praised Him in another language.

We didn't have to wear shoes or have air conditioning or even have a chair to sit in. We came as we were to praise God for being our deliverance, our redemption, and our hope.

I held a sweet little baby in my arms and I saw the story of the Widow's Mite in real life. She gave abundantly despite her need and danced all the way back to her seat. I want to give as joyfully as her, even if it means I might not be able to afford the things I had wanted, or maybe even needed. I want to trust God so much and love others so much more than myself that I will give without hesitation.

Please pray for this sweet church and for God to reach their village for Jesus in a tremendous way through them.

Marvin: Marvin spreads joy like no one I have ever seen. One of our Ugandan translators described him perfectly. "Mar-veen. Oh Mar-veen. He smiles unceasingly. He nevahhh speaks, only smiles...and that is enough."

He's a joy to be around. To say that he is less valuable than those of us who can speak is an outrage to God's heart. Marvin is fearfully and wonderfully made and I will treasure the moments that I got to spend with him.

The Well Dedication:

The Well Dedication was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. TONS of people from Namasujju and the surrounding villages came out for the celebration. It was an African Jungle Party and I've decided that these are the very best kind. There was music and dancing{...and when I say dancing, I mean dan.cing.}

They had put on their finest clothes and their brightest smiles.

We sang and played games with the kids, and then one of our team members, Kirk, beat boxed for them. {For the next few days when we would walk around the village, kids would see him, point and giggle and start "Pchhh, boom, kkshh"- ing. Then we would laugh with them and they'd run and hide behind something.}

After we'd all been there a few hours, I was walking to get something when the sweetest, most hilarious elderly woman I have ever met, grabbed my arm in a death grip. Our conversation went like this except in Luganda:

Me: *whiplash of the arm* "OH. Hi!"

Her:{ with the largest, brightest smile ever}: "Hello, girl! Please get me some water!"

Me: "Water? Oh, Ok..Ummm...I'll be right back."

Her: "AHHHHHHH!! You speak Luganda?!?! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" as she laughs hysterically and nearly falls off her chair.

Me: "Haha! Only a little bit!"

Her: "AHH! NO! YOU SPEAK LUGANDA! God bless you!!"

I found water and brought some for her and about five other widows with her and they bowed as I handed it to them. It was humbling and such a blessing to have the privilege of serving them. SUCH a blessing.

We became instant best friends. The original sweet woman grabs my wrist again and pulls me in to hug me. She asks me how long I am staying in Uganda and I tell her I'll be there about two weeks. She yells" AHHH two weeks?! NOOO. ONE YEAR! Stay one year!" She hugged me again and we talked for a few more minutes until I ran out of useful Luganda. Then we just laughed some more. For the rest of the day, when she would see me she would throw her head back and yell dramatically: "AHHH, GIRL!"

She was beautiful. Later, as she was leaving, she found me and hugged me/danced with me and began dragging me off. I wasn't sure what was going on until suddenly she snatched another woman's child and handed it to me. It was a sweet baby boy who was only two weeks old and was all swaddled in a pink blanket. They all stared at me and smiled their huge white smiles for a while and laughed hysterically whenever I would tell them how precious He was. Then they would all nod bashfully in agreement that their baby boy was indeed, a ham.

They were beautiful and I love them. We all laughed and hugged again and then they were off to their village a few miles away with their new mosquito nets. They would go to sleep tonight without fear of mosquitoes or malaria.

We distributed several hundred nets on this beautiful day.

Late in the afternoon, a member of Ugandan Parliament came out...

...as well as several other local government leaders such as this hilarious man.

...and soon the more organized festivities began. There was more music and more dancing and then each of the leaders went up and spoke..for a while. They thanked SafeWorld Nexus profusely for helping their people and for assisting them in bringing clean water to this remote area.

{The children entertained themselves in various ways during this time of listening. Some held babies as big as themselves, some danced; my personal favorite can be seen below.}

I held the sweetest little baby who slept {and drooled} through the whole thing.

I don't know who it belonged to, but it was an extremely cute one that almost everyone had held by the end of the evening.

Matt shared with them about the seven other wells that will be dug in the area this year and they praised God. I got to share with them about God's heart for the orphan and how we will be back to care for their orphans and begin an orphanage there. They praised God.

I held several little girls' hands as we walked together to taste this "New Sweet Wo-tah".

We all walked across the dirt path to the well where all of the leaders had a chance to pump the water. I tasted the water. I praised God. We danced some more.

Photo Cred: Hayley Catt

Mosquito Nets, Namasujju, Wells, A Wedding, Bugs, Squatty Potties, African Friends and Big Plans...Oh My!

2010-07-19T13:28:00.008-04:00

(I do believe I need to work on my paraphrasing skills.)

Fact: Today at breakfast, I ate the most delicious banana I have ever tasted in all my days. Today we went to Gaba Community Church and picked up some volunteers from Gaba Youth. Martin's been with us since they got us from the airport but we went and picked up Angela, Eddie, Sylvia, Ivan, Andrew and Ms. Mary. They are hilarious and SO much fun.

We got to give out a few mosquito nets today in some of the villages after eating lunch at The Kasirey's house in Namasujju. It was delish. The people are all so lovely here and so beautiful! The kids are just SO precious!

There was a pretty big rainstorm and the roads became super muddy. We decided to walk the rest of the way to see the next well site. {Red dirt roads become Slip'N'Slide's after rain storms.} It's so exciting to see a little plot of ground that will bring forth life to so many people soon. I can hardly wait for them to have it.

Sadly, as we were walking to the well site, there were about three thousand and five flying ants buzzing around us at any given moment. In the hair, mouth, nose; everywhere. It. Was. Not-so-Awesome. The blondes on the team had the lovely advantage of visibility of the said bugs in hair. I love my brown hair when it comes to bug infestations. If I have ants in my hair, you can't even see them. ha! Also, if you run backwards with a scarf on your face, you can hardly tell that you are surrounded by bugs and they stay out of your mouth. But try not to run if it has just rained. Slip'N'Slide roads are not ideal for running.

We were going to distribute some more nets while we were out except there were no people around. Everyone was gone. Where were they? At a wedding! What did we become? Ugandan Wedding Crashers! It was the most exciting walk on a slippery orange road ever in my whole life. We showed up and the kids were laughing and yelling and so excited. Some of the older village men invited us to come speak. Matt got to share with them about the Well Dedication being held tomorrow at the Kasirey's house where we will be distributing more nets. We left enough with the village chief to distribute to the widows who would not be able to make the long walk to Namasujju tomorrow.

On the walk to the wedding today though,{the slippery one.} Matt began to tell me about the internship coming up next year. I am SO excited about it and can't wait to email home to mom and dad about it. Haha. How ironic. I've been praying for You to make your next steps clear for me Lord and You present this as I'm sliding and slipping and nearly dying all over a road. You direct my paths, even when they seem slippery to me. You hold my hand and you see every bump on the path. You are faithful to see me through! I'm so excited to see You continue to lead me where you will have me serve. Your will is the only place for me to be.

Uganda, May 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th (2010)

2010-07-15T22:02:00.007-04:00

A Few Journal Excerpts:

5-26-10

“On the plane from Atlanta to London. About 5ish hours away still. Right now there is a simply beautiful lightning storm below us. BEAUTIFUL. It’s amazing how from underneath the storm clouds, everything seems so threatening. From above, it’s so small, you can’t even hear its noise. It’s just a beautiful masterpiece. Ephesians 2:4 “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” We can see all things with a higher perspective because of Christ giving us new life and new eyes. Thank you Jesus. Give me your eyes to see what you would have me see in all things.”

5-27-10

Facts about London:

Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way…that’s about it.

We walked all around town today. We saw Big Ben, West Minster Abbey, and we went on the Eye of London. We ate some fish and chips at a precious little pub and then headed back to the airport on the tube. The architecture there is beautiful. Overall, a pretty great day trip with the brother and some new friends. :) Found a shower in the airport and I feel cleaner than I think I’ve ever felt in my whole life. It must be psychological but it’s still amazing. We’re now on the flight to Kenya where we will have a 6 hour layover and then a 1 ½ hour flight to UGANDA!!! I cannot wait! Thank you Lord for these opportunities.

Crazy eyes on the London Eye. P.S. That chocolate that I bought in London was the wisest investment I think I ever made.

Flight to Kenya is slightly delayed because of foxes on the runway. Our lovely pilot said so kindly in his African accent “It will be about five minutes until we leave because they are trying to chase off some foxes.”

5-28-10 Kenya Layover = extremely long and not very exciting.

Except for a miracle.

I went to exchange some money to pay for my visa for once we get to Uganda. I was searching my chaotic backpack (that I’ve been living out of for three days now) for my wallet and began attempting to reorganize it. Sadly, it was a failed attempt at reorganizing. I ended up putting my passport organizer on the money exchange counter and LEFT IT THERE. Epic lame move of the year. I had gone to the bathroom and an extremely honest man, who must have loved Jesus, found my brother and asked where I was. He was like “Umm, Whyyyy?” The man had seen us together and figured my passport would be safe with him. I had over $100, my passport, and my atm card in there. Luckily I had copies of my passport but you can’t exactly make copies of cash money. The Lord is a miracle worker for certain.

Who knows what date it really was...

Finally in Uganda! It’s breathtakingly beautiful. We went and got settled into our guest house, drove around the city a bit and went to the grocery store.

I had forgotten how heartbreaking it is to see babies begging in the street. There were multiple children begging tonight but one in particular ripped my heart in half. She must have been about 2 or 3 years old. My sisters’ ages. She was absolutely precious. Most people’s little girls at her age would probably be at ballet class right now in a pink tutu instead of in a street begging for money in shredded rags. Some things I don’t think I’ll ever understand. And I’m sure God can’t stand those things. She eyed us from the median and dodged two lanes of fast moving cars to get to our bus. Her little eyes didn’t even glance at the cars that were grazing her small body; I doubt anyone has ever taught her to look both ways before crossing. She came up to our window and reached up her little hands to our half open windows. It was all I could do to keep from sobbing or snatching her up to come with us. God, you know how many curly little hairs are on her sweet head and I just beg that you would protect her from harm and show her just how valuable she is to you. I thank you for allowing me to hurt for what hurts you. Move me to action and please don’t ever let me stop. Thank you for bringing beauty up out of ashes. Thank you for using what the enemy means for evil for good.

We also visited a mosque tonight. I hurt so badly for these people that have set their whole lives around something they believe to be truth. They are lacking joy and you can just see the worry all over each of their faces. My heart breaks for them and I pray that their eyes will be opened and that the good news of the freedom in Christ will reach their ears and hearts!

5-29-10

So, I just woke up in the complete dark to the sound of a Muslim prayer on a loud speaker and I’m soaking wet. (Hahaha. Oh where to begin explaining...) 1. Muslim prayer on loud speaker. I was heartbroken for them last night. This morning I’m even more heartbroken. That poor man is in such bondage that he has to wake up every morning before the crack’o’dawn and sing on a loud speaker. (some mornings the man was more talented than other mornings.) 2. It took me a while to figure out what in tar-nation has happened to make me soaking wet. Turns out, I fell asleep on my half opened, nearly full water bottle and it is now still half opened but only has a few drops left in it. I managed to lay on it and squeeze all the water all over me. I was terrified that I had somehow been in such a deep sleep that I had gone and peed myself. Praise you Jesus.

P.S. African soda is like, ten thousand times better than American soda. As in: I hate soda at home and love it here. We ought to use cane sugar in our soda. For. Reals. We also need to start importing Stoney…now that is what I’m talkin’ about. It’s a ginger root soda that is muy delicioso. And...Yes, sometimes I do praise Jesus in my journal for allowing me to not pee myself in a foreign bed in a foreign land.

Uganda. Numero Uno.

2010-07-13T12:19:00.003-04:00

The Lord laid Uganda on my heart about two years ago. I began praying that the Lord would take me there someday and allow me to serve the Ugandan people.

I had no idea then what Uganda looked like, where it was on a map or how incredible it’s people actually are.

May 28th, 2010 My brother and I along with 16 others from our group arrived at Entebbe International airport in Kampala, Uganda after 20 plus hours of travel. Most people would have arrived feeling grungy and gross after such a long time sitting in airports and on planes and traipsing about London. Not me. Was it because I was just so excited to be in Uganda? No, not really. My friend and I tracked down a shower in the Kenyan airport and with a three ounce bottle of shampoo, a few paper towels and hand dryers, we managed to become the best smelling people on our team.

As our plane was descending, you could see lush green trees everywhere and even a few monkeys in palm trees. It was surreal. There were men on Boda-boda’s, or motor bikes, driving down orange dirt roads with bananas strapped on the backs. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever flown into. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane.

Finally, we made it through customs, found our bags, and met up with our in-country hosts. They were so warm and loving and excited to see us. They weren’t the only things that were warm though. We stepped out from the airport and slammed into a wall of African heat. It felt just like summertime in North Carolina…Hot.

We piled into a greyhound type bus with Chinese lettering all over it and began our adventures in Uganda. Along the road to Kampala, there are banana trees, little mud houses and small children running around. Colorful clotheslines that go beautifully with the green trees, orange roads and houses. Men are outside making furniture to sell and people are napping under trees. My full blown excitement to be in this place that I had prayed for so long was just about bursting forth.

Soon I would see the true beauty of this place. I would see a living picture of the true beauty of Christ. It is truly like light shining out of the darkness. The beauty of Christ is among these people despite their circumstances. Despite Malaria, HIV, poverty and the scars of war, Christ is visibly working in lives and people are truly living. Soon I would see just how much God means it when He says He can bring beauty up out of the ashes of our lives when we allow Him to work. The Lord would use Uganda to shake my soul yet again and change me forever.

Where to begin...

2010-07-10T16:07:00.003-04:00

Hey Blogger Friends, I'm sorry it's been ten thousand years since I've posted. This has quite possibly been the busiest, craziest summer of my life.I'm going to give a brief overview of the past 2 months which I will elaborate on later.

Uganda is amazing and beautiful and you see God's hand just about everywhere. He is moving there in a tremendous way. The people are amazing and I have fallen head over heels in love with them and hope to work with ministry in Uganda extremely long term.
I will be moving to Tennessee in January for a one year internship with Safeworld Nexus. We will be working on a campaign to help eradicate deaths caused by Malaria in the region of Uganda that we worked in in May through mosquito nets and medication. We will also be working on some long term orphan care projects in the same region as well that I am overjoyed to be able to work on. The Lord is opening some pretty amazing doors and I'm excited to walk through them!
Solomon is home!!! He has been home for almost three weeks now! We are excited that he is finally here with our family. Everything is new!
Solomon and I spent a week in Tennessee at Precept Ministries Boot Camp studying 2 Timothy and had a spectacular time. I think it was a good introduction to school for Solomon!
I've been working various camps this summer that the Littles have gone to. It's been super fun but I'm pretty ready to just take care of five kids for a little while! :) We're off to the boys' track meet now....hopefully I'll get to posting more about Uganda soon. I can't wait for you all to hear the stories and see the pictures!

Uganda Update - June 6

2010-06-06T14:29:00.003-04:00

Awesome service at Gaba Community Church today. Those kids can DANCE! They put my white-self to shame. Cooking an "American" dinner tonight for all our Ugandan friends...can't wait!

Uganda Update - June 5

2010-06-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

Back from Bethany Children's Village! The kids are amazing and the house moms are too. Saw God in so may ways. "Aunt Betty" shared with us about the terrible horrors committed by Joseph Kony in North Uganda, where she is from, and then says " But our God's love is so amazing, that even if Kony came to God to be forgiven, God would forgive him." Amazing faith and joy despite circumstances

Tuesday June 1st

2010-06-03T20:20:00.002-04:00

Got to clear some land in the jungle today to make room for an amazing new church. Such a blessing. Held a sweet baby girl at a baby home named Cherish. She was found in a paper bag on the side of the road 3 months ago and now she lives in a place where she is truly cherished. God is incredible. Clearing more jungles for the new church tomorrow. The day after tomorrow we leave for Bethany Children's village for 3 days where I'm pretty sure there is no internet...its across Lake Victoria.

Update from Uganda Monday May 31, 2010

2010-06-03T17:42:00.003-04:00

Today was our first full day in Uganda and it was amazing! The people are so lovely and welcoming, the food is delicious (particularly the fruit) and you can see God working here in SO many ways. Today we rode an hour and a half through the Ugandan bush to get to Namasujju Village; a place once ravaged by war, but full of hope for their future. We got to see the temporary church shelter that has just recently been purchased for the village. They were so excited that they would finally have a place to meet. We saw the new well and got to pump fresh, CLEAN water with beautiful Ugandan children. After lunch and fellowship with Pastor Timothy and a few others in Namasujju, they took us to show us the bad water sources that they were drinking from before the new well. It was heartbreaking and unbelievable and you can’t help but praise God for bringing Safewater Nexus when He did. We went to distribute some mosquito nets and were able to give them to several families. The people praised God and were so thankful. There actually weren’t many people around though and we were kinda beginning to wonder where everyone was. We asked around and found out…they were at a Ugandan Wedding. Our team can officially say that we crashed a Ugandan wedding reception. They invited us to speak and we were able to invite them all to the well dedication tomorrow where they would receive free mosquito nets. They were so excited and so quick to praise God. They followed us back to our bus and the kids chased the bus for quite a while..haha. It was quite the experience! Our team is bonding and unifying so well. We are all being so impacted by the people and what we are seeing and I am confident that the Lord is doing even bigger things here than we can see on the surface…and the things on the surface are pretty huge. I am beyond thankful that the Lord has chosen to allow me to be a part of what He is doing here through Safewater Nexus. Pastor Timothy told us how they had been praying to God for help since the Bush War in the 80’s and now the help has come. God is so faithful to His children in America and He is just as faithful to His children in the bush of Uganda.

Update from May 28

2010-06-03T17:37:00.004-04:00

We made it safe and sound with all of our luggage. Thank you for praying! It was quite a lonnnngg... coupleof days of travel but we're so excited to be here now! Our team is getting along so well! Uganda is SO beautiful and all the people have been so lovely. Today we will go to a village to spend time getting to know the people and pass out 150 mosquito nets. Baby house tonight ..can't wait. :) The internet is a little shaky...but what else is new? :)

LOVING Uganda! God is doing some amazing things in this part of the world.

Update from May 27

2010-06-03T17:32:00.004-04:00

We had a 10 hour layover in London. Here are some of our team riding the London Eye almost 400 feet above the city!

2010-06-03T16:44:00.002-04:00

Me and my big brother Jonathan at the airport getting ready to leave for Uganda! Notice the ever-present bag of Chick-fil-A...

Uganda...Tomorrow.

2010-05-25T16:28:00.003-04:00

Thank you SO much for all of your prayers and support! I am so excited and can not believe that we are leaving tomorrow! We will be posting on these two blogs while we are away:

http://etaala.org/blog

http://howwillyouchange.com

Thank you so much for your encouragement! I feel so well prayed for and I am so thankful for you all. Please continue to pray for us and check the blogs for updates!

Kerennie and Me.

2010-05-22T10:43:00.002-04:00

Lady: "Is she your daughter?"
Me: "No, she's my little sister."
Lady:"OH, ok. I could tell yall were related. You look a lot alike. you have the same eyes and mouth!"
Me: "Oh really? That's so awesome! Thanks so much!"
Lady: "Yep. Same eyes and mouth."
I decided that telling her Keren was adopted from Africa wasn't necessary. I wish I had Keren's eyes and mouth though. fo reals.

--------------------------------------------- Jeremiah's quote of the day:

"Ellie please take this and do not give it to Keziah...She tried...to kill me with it." (insert crazy eyebrow face here.)

Needless to say, I took the plastic orange away. :)

--------------------------------------------

I'm going to miss these precious boogers SO bad while I'm in Uganda!! Just four more days!

It's not often that you share a bunkbed with someone in Africa and run into them at a party in America.

2010-05-22T10:18:00.004-04:00

(Eyob, far left and Josiah is second to last on the right with the sippy cup.) Sweet miracles of adoption. Both these little boys started out their lives in Ethiopia and now it turns out that God has brought them to the same area, of the same state, on the other side of the world. Amazing. Josiah has been talking about this all week now. His "Ee-tyo-pya fwend" is in America just like him. Our God is the God who heals. He sent his son to set the captives free and bind up even the tiniest broken hearts. This little boy's heart is being healed over and over again and it's so lovely to see.

I leave for Uganda...In less than two weeks.

2010-05-13T16:30:00.002-04:00

My team and I leave for Uganda on May 26^th! Less than two weeks from now!

The time has flown by and I have watched the Lord provide in miraculous ways for this trip. The way he brought all of the team together as well as all of the resources- it’s been an incredible faith journey already and we haven’t even left for Uganda yet! I just wanted to thank you all from the deepest parts of my heart for your generous gifts and your willingness to be a part of this exciting journey that God has me on right now. You have all blessed and encouraged me SO much with your prayers, generosity, and sweet words of encouragement.

I can not express my thanks enough! Your gifts have been instrumental in the following things that we will be doing in Uganda:

We will be giving out much needed mosquito nets, holding hygiene clinics to train people how to clean their water jugs and prepare them for NEW CLEAN WATER!

We will be dedicating a new well that will be providing clean water for hundreds of people, we will be holding fun filled game days in orphanages, we will also be volunteering in a baby orphanage, building a structure for the local Church to meet in and much more!

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we embark on this journey. Prayer Requests:

· That we would have the complete unity as a team that only comes with Christ.

· The Lord would use us to impact those we meet in Uganda for HIS kingdom.

· For willingness in each of us to be used by God, no matter the cost.

· The Lord would work mightily in each team member’s heart and life.

· That we would show each and every precious orphan we meet that they are loved and valued by us... But most importantly, by their Creator.

· For health while we are there.

· For our families at home.

· Please pray that this two week trip wouldn’t just be a two week trip- please pray that it changes MANY lives with an eternal impact, the lives of those in Uganda, those on the team and even the families and friends of the team members when they return. May the Lord work wonders!

Thank you SO much for your part in this! I love you all!

I would love for you all to follow us on our trip blog and see what the Lord is doing over the two weeks that we will be there. You have all been such a huge part of getting us to Uganda, I’d love for you to be able to see some of the impact of your gifts!

www.etaala.org/blog

P.S. You can also pray that I will acquire an African Accent and magically turn brown. Muchas Gracias.

Prommy-Prom-Prom

2010-05-11T22:06:00.008-04:00

Soo..Prom was amazing. Our theme was Vincent Van Gogh's "A Starry Night". Our table cloths were navy blue silk with giant yellow twinkling center pieces. (cool shaped vases with yellow easter grass in yellow- food- coloring- dyed- water, and waterproof tea-lights. I wish i had a picture because I just made them sound pretttyyy weird. they were fantastic in real life, I promise.)

Some of my VERY best friends in the whole wide world! (By the way, Heather-the girl in the amazing, frilly, blue dress at the far right- she MADE her dress! Fantastic, right?)

First of all, we had it at The Sutherland which is a BEAUTIFUL venue. We had gorgeous white tents with chandeliers and twinkling lights all around. The food was fantastic, as was the DJ, and we ate and danced for hours. Not only did we have great time dancing and indulging, but we raised over $200 towards scholarships for Kolfe boys to go to school! We got to skype with Solomon from prom, raise awareness for orphans, give an Ethiopian boy a chance to brighten his future through education AND got to sing Happy Birthday to Solomon!

He's 19 now! Please pray that He will get the best belated birthday present ever...an approved visa to come to the United States. His visa is on it's way to Ethiopia...hopefully he'll have an appointment with the Embassy in the next two weeks where they will decide to approve him to come or not. We're praying for him to be home by early June! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to post soon. :)

WE LEAVE FOR UGANDA IN TWO WEEKS!

Best Prom ever? I think yes.

2010-05-05T01:01:00.004-04:00

Prom is this Friday and it is going to be the greatest prom ever. Why? Because the prom committee came up with the best idea that anyone ever came up with.

They said "Hmmm. Why not turn prom into an orphan awareness event/fundraiser?" So that's what they did. This is why they are my friends. Partially because of their amazing hearts for Jesus, partially because they love orphans and partially just because they are cool.

I'll be sure to give an update sometime this weekend on it's amazing-ness. P.S. We leave for Uganda three weeks from today. Excited? You can bet your britches I am.

"She will be like Beyonce."

2010-04-23T15:17:00.003-04:00

An odd man on a mountain in Ethiopia predicted about Keren { who was 9 months old and humming away} that "She weellll be like Beyonce!" as he looked up into the sky inspirationally. Maybe he didn't do that actually but it was pretty close to that. How does a mountain man in Ethiopia know who Beyonce is? Don't ask me. Shortly after that a man came running up the hillside with a machine gun yelling about some bees that were coming. (no. they really were. in a swarm.) It was all quite hilarious.

Anyways. Today at three years old, she was humming in her carseat and i think to myself... "Hmmm. That sounds an awful lot like Single Ladies. I turn around and she's doing the wave with her arms, shaking her tush as best as she can while strapped in a seat, and singing "Doo doo doo...doo doo doo doo. la la keena rara! la la keena rara!" She was pretty on key too, not gonna lie. Lord have mercy. I'll just be certain that when she's the next Jesus loving Beyonce, she actually wears clothes.

Sparring Gear and Spiritual Gear

2010-04-22T16:13:00.005-04:00

The world makes us all feel a bit lame at times, doesn't it?

The world screams at us everyday how lame we are for choosing to follow Jesus. How much we're missing out on, how we will never be as cool as them, or have as much fun as them. How we'll never have "freedom" like they have. {If only they knew of the true freedom and tremendous grace in Christ!}

Well. Believe it or not... :) I've listened to these cries before and even allowed them to get me down a time or two.. or seven. The well meant pitying remarks about how I must have to do a lot to help out with all my brothers and sisters. {Why shouldn't I? I prayed for siblings my whole life until i got a boat load of them!}

The not- so- well-meant remarks about how stupid it is that I won't date. {I don't believe in flinging my heart at every boy with nice hair that walks by. I believe God has a better plan that I'm just gonna wait for.}

The "wow, you must have zero friends because you don't go to public school like everyone else." {ha.} They go on and on and on and on and on and on and on...

I'm so glad that Jesus isn't a sugar coater. He doesn't make following Him out to be a fun happy clappy deal all the time. He promises that in this world we will have troubles. But He has overcome the world. He promises that there will be people who can't stand what we stand for. He gives the strength to endure.

Within the next two weeks I'm supposed to start sparring in Taekwondo. I will be learning how beat up and get beat up. {Hopefully more of the first than the latter.} Have you ever worn sparring gear? It feels pretty awkward at times and it really just looks hilarious. It. looks. ridiculous. Not even kidding. See above picture.

Back to sparring though... This is going to happen. I have been told again and again about this and they are preparing me and the others in my class for what is going to happen. We all have gear and it is our responsibility to use our gear wisely and put it on properly. We are going to be punched at, kicked at, etc.{with rules and guidelines, but still.} If I decide not to put on my helmet because it looks hilarious and someone might laugh at me, {pretty likely} I'm gonna be in a heap of trouble. {probably a heap on the ground.}

Our instructors have gone through all of the necessary precautions to train us and to provide us with everything we need in order to stay as un-injured as possible. If I just decide to skip all the classes and lose parts of my gear and expect to show up and spar successfully, without detrimental injuries and actually win...I'm just ridiculous.

It's basically the same with our walks with the Lord, he has prepared us in His word for what is expected of us. How to handle situations and glorify God in the process. He teaches us how to be in this world and not of this world, how to fight for His glory and win. He instructs us on how to put on our armor. "10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

I'm over trying to please the world. I'm sick of trying not to be ridiculous. I want to be ridiculous in the eyes of the world if that is how I'm going to be successful in serving the Lord and furthering His Kingdom. If that's how I'll win the fight for Him. Even though that comes with ridicule.

I'm sick of looking at "everybody else" and trying to be like them. The world is just full of "everybody else". My life isn't mine. My life was bought with a price, my life was bought by the perfect blood of Jesus which was the only cure for cleansing my sin-stained heart. He loved me so much that He underwent looking ridiculous. Being mocked...for me. Being killed...for me. And because of His great love, He did so willingly. He endured ridicule... because of me. He gave me a new life. A beautiful life full of hope and peace and joy and freedom. If others decide that my loving Him and living for him in return isn't "cool"...well then, "cool" is for the birds. Because of Jesus I can endure the ridicule and count it as joy and a privilege to be suffering for His sake. If taking up my cross and following Jesus with every part of my life and wearing my "spiritual armor" looks hilarious, or even stupid to some, I'm so not sorry. You can laugh.

I'm renewing my mind with my Master's words and teachings. I'm taking captive every thought and making it obedient unto Christ. I'm going to keep running and hoping in My King. He's already won and through Him, I can win as well. Funny looking and all.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. " James 1:1-5

Sisters, sisters, sisters.

2010-04-18T18:05:00.002-04:00

Changes, changes, everywhere.

2010-04-13T21:55:00.005-04:00

Well. If you know me, you probably know that I can sleep anywhere. Literally. You probably know that I am the hardest sleeper ever. You probably know that story about the time I {apparently} punched my camp counselor in the face in my sleep as she was attempting to wake me up in the morning.

{You may not have known that actually...}

Anyways. I have realized that I have way more things to do than I have time for so I am going to be a morning person now. I've decided... and so far it's working pretty well. My alarm only went off for an hour today before I heard it.

I have also decided to start cooking. I LOVE cooking and I just found out! I have been making some super deliciously healthy meals and everyone has been eating them! { which is always a good sign.}

I have decided to become a health nut. I like it. I've cut out processed food and all junk and I haven't had any headaches in 2 weeks.

I have decided to start training for a 5k. Which is also working out pretty nicely so far! I'm hoping to start running some Running Hope races in the future!

So, there you have it. I've told the world about my new years resolutions {in April} so it's officially official. I have to get up early.

We should be hearing about Solomon's TOEFL exam any day now! Then we wait for an embassy appointment where Lord willing, he will be getting his student visa to come to America! Please keep praying for him. Pray that the embassy would find favor with him and grant him his visa. {Or "Sol-mun's Beesah" in the words of Kerennie.}

2010-04-09T13:22:00.003-04:00

Before the winds that blow do cease, teach me to dwell within Thy calm. Before the pain has passed in peace, give me, My God, to sing a Psalm. Let me not lose the chance to prove, the fullness of enabling love. Love of God, do this for me, maintain a constant victory. -Amy Carmichael www.tesoro-photo.com

I dare you not to laugh.

2010-03-16T12:32:00.004-04:00

Found this old video and the giggles are the best ever. Had a fun picnic of banana bread and chocolate milk out at our creek yesterday. I love Springish weather. Decided to be beavers for a few minutes. Minus chewing it down. Had a super time at the Connected Child Conference this weekend and met some amazing people! So excited about working with Ekissa! THE Wendy Cosby. :) Love her to bits. Aunts, Uncles and Cousins popped in this weekend from Florida! Happy 1st Birthday Cheyanne! :)

Uganda and warm sunshine at last.

2010-03-08T21:42:00.005-05:00

Etaala's first trip is coming up oh-so very fast! I am so much more excited than your average excited person. We're partnering with the awesome folks at Safewater Nexus and will spending two weeks (end of May- beginning of June) serving at a children's village for orphans, a baby home and several other amazing projects.

God has hand picked each team member and I'm so excited to be working with them to serve precious people in Uganda. I'm so excited to hear all that God did to enable each person to come on the trip. I can't wait to see what God is going to do during this trip. I can't wait to see what God is going to do through this trip in our lives and the lives of those we come in contact with in Uganda. I pray that we will be forever changed and that we will truly impact lives for Christ! (I wish i had a cool Ugandan-y picture to put here that i actually took. You and I shall just have to wait for that though. Pretty soon.)

On an American note...the weather has been simply delightful here this weekend and we had a lovely day at the park yesterday. and today. :)

On an awkward note. Apparently Joyner's Park thinks little boys don't need to pee in the winter time.

The Baby Girls are 3!

2010-02-25T22:45:00.003-05:00

February 15th our little girls turned 3. They are getting so big so fast. They're hilarious and reallllly talking non-stop. Here is a conversation from today:

Kezzie: "You RUUUDE!!"

Keren: "I not ruuude! I MAD!"

They're sassy. They're loud. They're huh-larious. They talk with one hand on their hip and the other pointin' a finger. They never stop dancing. They sing constantly. They're little African Women. I like them a lot.

Go to my sister's blog here to see pictures from their Birthday. My mom made them an extravagant cake. It was pretty darn cool.

James- "Ellie, this is you."

2010-02-17T18:40:00.002-05:00

This is me as a paper plate. I think it looks just like me. {especially the hair.}

True Love?

2010-02-14T23:06:00.001-05:00

Today is the day when everyone is supposed to be in love ...but... a lot of people just aren't. I think most people wish they were just so they could say so today. Today those people are made out to be losers. For them today is just "Singleness Awareness Day".

We all have a desire to love and to be loved and sometimes that void in our hearts beckons to us, begging us to fill it with things that we know won't fit properly. It's like a puzzle, one of the difficult ones that have 5,000,000 pieces. You try putting the same pieces into the spots again and again even though you know that they don't go there. You keep putting them in again though..just in case. You try it upside down, and right side up but no matter how you turn it...it's just not going to fill that spot and your puzzle ends up a crooked mess.

We try filling the hole within our hearts with all sorts of superficial things, most of which leave us feeling more empty then when we started.

Our lives are a search for love. We're looking for a real love. "True Love". Like Cinderella had. (Hers was obviously true, right? I mean, they danced, she lost her shoe, he found her shoe, they got married. It must have been true love.)

We think we'll find love when we fit in in all the right crowds. When we date the cute boy on the football team or the tall, blond cheerleader. That's where we're supposed to find it, right?

Acceptance? maybe. Love? probably not.

We think we'll find it when we marry the right person or when we have a great family and a good home life.

Love IS found there but those kinds of love can only fill our hearts to a certain point. Our love can only go so far before we start to feel selfish and don't really feel like serving other people or loving them more than we love ourselves. We still feel a longing for something more. We all want something deeper, we want someone to love us when we feel ugly or grumpy or worn out or just plain unlovable. We want unconditional love without limits or boundaries as to how far it will go.

The number one cause of broken hearts that are searching for love has to be people flinging their hearts at someone that they hope will catch it and nurture and love it. More often then not, the person who's suddenly got a heart in their lap doesn't know what to do with it or doesn't even know you've given it to them...resulting in hearts crashing down and breaking.

We can't blame them for allowing our hearts to break. They didn't ask for our hearts (most of the time.)

We can only live this Humpty-Dumpty lifestyle for so long before we begin to feel the effects of being glued back together constantly. You'll find yourself wondering whether you ARE lovable. Whether you actually matter. {Major Fact: You do.}

These aims at love are like tofu or hot dogs or imitation crab. They may have the consistency of the real deal and may even smell and taste like it. However, sooner or later you are going to discover you've been deceived. It was not real crab or real chicken at all. It was a lame excuse for the real thing...the thing you may have initially thought you were eating. It may still be delicious, but overall you can not expect the same things out of crab when it's made of whale innards. It just doesn't compare.

Our feeble attempts at love cannot compare to real love unless we are modeling our love after real love. What love is real love you ask?

Real Love is the love of an Almighty Creator who made you in His image. You are so beautiful to Him.

Real Love is the love of a Holy God who cannot stand our wickedness and instead of smiting us because of our shortcomings, he sent His son to be a perfect sacrifice in our place. (Romans 8) He sent His one and only Son to come and take our place and punishment for our crimes. He sent His son so that we could be cleansed. So that we could come before Him in His holiness as His children! Not a slave or a measly peasant but His child.

Real love is the love of a Father, who loves us with a relentless love despite the fact that we ignore His amazing love over and over and over again.

Real love is the love of a Savior who loved us enough to take on our filth and our wickedness and bear our shame so we wouldn't have to. So that we, prostitutes in this world, who give ourselves away constantly to everything but our One True Love, could be found clean in the eyes of God. He died in our place and rose again, conquering death forever. He lives and He makes my life worth living.

Real love is the love of Jesus! He calls us out of our darkness and shame into His marvelous light where true love and true life are found. In Him we find true joy. In Him we find meaning for life. In Him there is nothing to hide because He has made us a new creation in Himself with our past faults completely wiped clean. He throws our sin into the deepest ocean and puts up a no fishing sign. We have redemption and forgiveness in Him. We have freedom in Him! Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Ever. He will never drop our hearts and break them. Ever. He will never disappoint us. He. is. good. He rescued me and He loved me, because of Him I have found True Love. In the words of Phil Wickham..."When blood and water hit the ground, walls we couldn't move came crashing down. We were freed and made alive the day that True Love died..." But it didn't end there because Jesus is alive!

He never stops loving us. His love is higher than the heavens and deeper than the deepest ocean. There is nowhere we can go where His loving arms cannot reach. All we need to do is accept Him and His forgiveness, believe that we have failed and believe that He has the power to completely wash us clean from our failures. We have done nothing to deserve His love, we can never do anything to deserve His love and yet He LOVES us. That's where the beauty is. We cannot save ourselves... but He can save us and He will. He has already payed our ransom! We just need to admit that we need saving and give our hearts and lives completely to Him. We can thank Him for His love by loving Him back.

On this Valentine's Day of 2010, give your heart to the only One who can truly fill it's love shaped void. Not only can He fill it, He can fill it to overflowing. Let Him heal the broken bits of your heart and show you true joy.

Don't run from God's tremendous love any longer, let Him wash you in His love...bask in the beauty of it. The Maker of the universe made you and loves you. He has payed your ransom with the blood of His own son. He has gone to such lengths to redeem you and He will never, ever let you down.

Give your life to the One worth living for.

Jesus loves you and I love you too. He loves us with a relentless love. Give up your search and give in to Jesus. You won't be disappointed.

" Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.... Love never fails...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and 13

This is the kind of love that God has for us and pours out on us constantly. This is how we should love other people.

(Please if you have any questions at all or want to talk about anything mentioned above, please email me. I'd love to talk to you. ellie@etaala.org)

Oh, Saint Valentine.

2010-02-14T22:33:00.007-05:00

My beautiful rose and tulip leaf from my lovely big brother. The leaf basically had a bite taken out of it and he says to me "Can't be too picky in the jungle". I bet I'm the only girl in Wake Forest with a rose from the jungle. So lucky. Hahaha.

I LOVE Jesus, I LOVE my family and I LOVE my friends! My heart is exploding with love on this Valentines Day.

Here are {for your enjoyment} some of our photo booth session photos. I love my brothers.

Prepare yourself for this next one....James: "Everyone act like your blind!"

He's the one that didn't act like he was blind. stinker.

On a side note...Today we went to church and got to meet our dearest friends, The Havens', new twin baby boys that just came home from Russia yesterday! They are SO precious and we are so excited to have them join our extended family! :) We love you Connor and Colton!

a bit of Mestas...

2010-02-09T23:38:00.001-05:00

Her lips give her an unfair advantage with this cool trick.

A new look?

Love.

2010-02-04T02:06:00.000-05:00

10 (or maybe 11) facts about this snowy week :

2010-02-02T22:10:00.013-05:00

1. This week has flown by like a really fast little bird.

2. We have been {basically} snowed in since Friday and it is now Wednesday. It's been glorious. 7 inches of glorious snow that is still not melted. {and we could get more snow this weekend!}

3. Snow brings people out of their homes. I didn't know that all of the houses in my neighborhood actually had people living in them until this week. People were laughing and playing and sledding and shoveling for hours upon hours. I LOVE it. Me: "Kerennie what do you have?" Keren:" Ummm...a twee"

4. When the snow has turned icy, your sled will go freakishly fast down the hill. Also, when the snow has turned icy, snow ball fights can turn into "to the death" quite quickly. Not my favorite brand of snow ball fight.

5. If you sled down hills with boulders at the bottom, the chances are...you will hit them eventually with your body. and the little children will hit the smaller ones with their sleds and probably go flying off into the woods. it's ok though, snow is pretty soft. 6. Warm blankets, slippers, fire places, tea, cookies, little bundled up marshmallow looking children that can barely move, good books, and snow are among my favorite winter things.

7. Keziah is substantially heavier when she has a snow bib and a coat on and you have to carry her up a hill. Substantially heavier. (thanks mom for the flattering picture.)

8. The boys are fascinated with the Star Wars movies right now. My dad rented most of them for this week that we knew we'd be shut in. I LOVE sitting with them and watching movies...but has anyone ever died of over exposure to Star Wars? I'm thinking it's very possible.

(A Star Wars pose?)

9. We made an igloo. A North Carolina Igloo that is. Maybe it looks not-so-much like an igloo but it served us well. Ok, maybe it looks like a redneck igloo. (inside view...^)

10. Snow has got to be one of the most beautiful creations of Jesus. It is so like Him to cover up all of the dead earth and skinny, leafless, lifeless, trees with beautiful snow. He pours out His life and mercy over our dead ugliness day after day, washing us clean and giving us new life. This peaceful, pure whiteness all around is just another glimpse of His overwhelming grace, washing over my barren life. I love it.

11. Our dog likes to sled. Yes, indeed. She's one of a kind. P.S. Snow Cream is weird. We ate lots of plain snow though. (the spoiled ones had it hand fed to them by their brothers.)

Fact of Jeremiah's Day:

Snow is cold.

"Everybody's got a water buffalo."

2010-01-28T20:18:00.004-05:00

Sometimes we like to play random games like "what noise does this animal make?" with the girls. We start out with regular animals and work our way up to Ring Tailed Lemurs and Kangaroos and such. They are always completely confident with their answers. My personal favorite is this one:

"Keren, what does a water buffalo say?"

"Swim, swim, swim." (as she walks around swimming through the air.)

Keren: Water Buffalo:

Etaala has a blog!

2010-01-28T00:40:00.001-05:00

Check it out here. Some exciting news is coming soon!

It's 11:53. still wednesday.

2010-01-27T23:52:00.003-05:00

Ok so here is my 10 random things of this week:

1. I have a feeling i did something this week but at the moment, absolutely nothing is coming to mind. (does this count as one of the ten? yes. i make the rules here.)

2. We went to a Mexican restaurant after church Sunday and Josiah was being a goober. To keep him busy i told him( i know, i know) that the reason why the waiter didn't take his plate was because he was too busy messing with the sugar packets to tell the waiter he was done. it went down hill from there and suddenly...sugar packets had magical powers that make you invisible to waiters. Then he wanted to eat it, so i let him. he lost his lunch. on me. and him. and the corner. Valuable life lessons here: 1. Josiah gags easy... 2.Ellie shouldn't try this method of entertaining ever again. ever. 3. The Post office is to be alerted of such things. :"Ellie, I'm gonna tell the post office that you made Josiah eat that... " -Jeremiah

3. Keren doesn't like her hair to be in a fro. at all.

4. Today we got to welcome home another little boy from Ethiopia! He is from the same foster house as Kezzie and Rennie and our good friends, The Kicks, brought him HOME today!

5. The littles get special privileges and get to go behind the counter with their airport friends to get "bracelets"(also known as luggage tags.) because of how often we are there.

5. I know just about every word to every Fresh Beat Band song. ( i realize this is weird.) The Littles are fresh-beat-band-a-holics.

6. My family is so nosy that telling anyone anything is like a game of telephone. You tell someone in the kitchen something and someone comes running from the play room repeating what they clearly heard from the playroom which was definitely not what you said, and then somebody else heard the playroom dweller say something else, and then it's a major story before you even reach the living room. (*inhale*)

7. ( hmm..seven, seven, seven...) Well. Let me just say that I am extremely glad to be out of the dark ages time period in History/Literature. it was just so stinkin dark. Who needs it? Canterbury Tales? What did you even say? Were you written in Dutch?

8. A "T-rella Drella" is actually not a creature you would learn about in Biology. It is in fact, a Cinderella Umbrella.

9. This week, James informed me that Michael Jackson can sing better than me. I was eating some breakfast, and he just had to tell me. (Michael Jackson is his favorite singer thanks to Free Willy. I think the boys all secretly wish to be the whale riding boy. I think i secretly wish to be the whale riding boy.)

10. This evening I discovered that I was missing an earring all day. I was a pirate today. a pirate with bangs. (random fact number 11. I am an impulsive hair cutter. I'll vow to grow my hair until i'm seventy three and then decide i like short hair five minutes later.)

P.S. Some exciting Etaala news coming soon.

Manners. ..in Taekwondo.

2010-01-26T23:27:00.001-05:00

Just a little discovery today. Manners in Taekwondo can only be used in Taekwondo and not in the real world.

For example:

"Do you want me to punch you first, or do you want punch me first?"

Hmm.

2010-01-24T21:36:00.002-05:00

"Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is." -Amy Carmichael.

It's sooo easy to be hurried and pressed and not quite so easy to refuse to let it get to you. Life is busy. Most days looks a little more like this...

than this...

But I'm so thankful that I can have stillness in my heart when all the earth could be spinning around me. (isn't it, anyway? like literally? umm, hello world. welcome to life.) There are decisions to be made and questions to be answered, when the desire to know God's will for something NOW and not wait is banging on my mind's door.

There is a beautiful stillness that comes only with Jesus' perfect peace that surpasses all logic and reason. Though we may have earthquakes and aftershocks daily in our lives, we can rest in Him if we only trust Him and fix our hearts on Him alone. The one who carries our burdens for us and loves us as His children.

It's a great day.

My little elves. that stuff envelopes.

2010-01-21T16:34:00.004-05:00

I'm raising support for Uganda! I'm so thankful for those of you who have already told me that you will be praying for me and those who have given financially. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. Anddd, if anyone needs a babysitter...you know where to find me.

Jeremiah, James and Josiah were eager to help me with my support letters. It would've taken me years if they hadn't helped. literally.

Mom and Dad are out this morning/day so the Littles and I have had a busy morning full of cowboy/ pirate/ princess/transformer duals (complete with cap guns) and episodes of Bindi the Jungle Girl. I want to be her.

I have two and half down for naps and the other two are going to endure watching Wives and Daughters with me....(like pride and prejudice but different. you should watch it.) it's for school. definitely. of course. So that's our Saturday afternoon today. Our first quiet-ish one in about 7 years i'd say. Maybe more like a couple weeks actually.

A little note to myself on a thursday.

2010-01-21T15:51:00.004-05:00

Dear Ellie,

Do not dance on the stairs. You will surely fall. I repeat myself. Do not dance on the stairs.

(sometimes we pretend to be homeschooled. oh wait... we are homeschooled.)

P.S. Kolfe Mamas, please pray that Solomon's computer will start working again so that we can continue to talk to the boys! The new battery did not fix it but Jesus can fix it for sure!