your turn...

Each time I go through a new phase of life I look for someone to model after.

The slogan Each One Teach One comes to mind. While reading my Bible I came across this verse:

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 1Thess 1:7

Each one of us has a something to offer. Even if we are just one step ahead... we become the model for someone else.

leaning on Him

As I was sitting in church last Sunday looking at this drum I was grateful to see this scripture.  I am leaning heavily on Christ's strength right now.  Getting used to this new country we live in and its culture can be stressful some days. 

I am thankful for the promises that I can look to in God's word... His word never fails!

Point of Grace

 I love Point of Grace... and this song has been on my heart and I feel blessed each time I sing along.


I have no doubt
Sometimes I don't know where I'm going
Where the road this leading me
Life can be full of so many changes
So many uncertainties
But there's one thing that's constant in this heart of mine
It's knowing that You're gonna love me, come rain or shine

(Chorus)
I have no doubt
That you will never leave me
That You'll be there to keep me safe and warm
I have no doubt
No matter where you take me
That nothing can separate me from You, Lord

I don't know what You've planned for tomorrow
Or what lies up ahead for me
Pleasure, pain, worry or sorrow
Today is as far as I can see
You may see fit to take me through the valley, Lord
Or on the mountain
It makes no difference where I go

(Bridge) 1
I wanna run away
From that voice that I hear calling
But I'll be quick to answer and obey

(Chorus)
Nothing could separate me
Nothing could ever separate me

Matthew 7:24-29

Father,
I am so grateful that our marriage, our family and our lives are built on the Rock.  No matter what storms come our way we will stand and continue to stand.

I praise You, O Rock, You are the reason we can handle whatever life has to offer us.

food, feelings and beliefs

I just finished reading the book Women, Food and God. While there were some passages that resonated with me there were also passages that just made me feel like even the author didn't fully get the link between our thoughts and associations with food and our relationship to and beliefs about God.  Maybe it was just a theological difference in how the author sees God and how I see God. 

I wanted to find Christ in the book and not a generic perception of a spiritual wonderment that is encompassed in all of life.

In Russia I used food to console myself when life was hectic, to reward myself when things were good and to make others happy when we were doing ministry.  So many of my emotions and beliefs about myself are tied to food. 

Next week we will be going through our debriefing time at the Missionary Training Institute in Colorado. I am ready to process my feelings about life in Russia, life without my kids in the house and what lies ahead in Belize.
So here I sit... thinking about food, feelings and cultural attitudes about both and wondering what God wants me to do with it all.

joyfully counting my blessings

106.  A warm Texas Welcome!

107. Time with my youngest brother and our parents!

108. Seeing the spunk in my 73 year old mom

109. Time to be silly

110. Gifts from Nathan!

111. Spending time with Nathan for the first time in 2 years.

112.  This time of refreshing and renewal here in America.
113.  Hearing the Word preached in English and attending services with family.
114.  Finding out that Spencer was accepted at University of the Nations in Kona, Hawaii.
115.  Being able to talk on the phone with my oldest brother on his birthday.
116.  Arriving at my in laws house and finding a care package from my dear friend Erin.
117.  New clothes at great prices!
118.  Being able to enjoy the sound of my guys laughing together.
119. Going to see the movie Despicable Me as a family!

grateful

I am so grateful.

Grateful for the five years we were allowed to live in Russia. We made a home there. We had a life there. We have some very dear friends there. Looking back I can say that it was hard. Unbearably so at times. But we did it. I did it.

Being the only black woman in our region meant that I was a spectacle. Everyday I was stared at, photographed and questioned. I was never treated rudely. I was not harassed or harmed. Just annoyed.

Now we are here in America and there are lots of women of color around and I feel normal again. I didn't realize the joy I would feel at being ordinary.

I am indeed grateful.