It has been a while since my last post. There are several reasons for that...the main reason being that I was out of the country for over 2 weeks this summer and when I got home I couldn't remember my password. Being in Africa will do that to you!
Living in Africa, regardless of if it is for a week, 2 weeks or several years, will change you and it will also show you what you are made of and ... if you survive, ;-) it will strengthen you! A lot of your character strengths and flaws will be brought out at some point...especially if you are staying in the village away from dependable electricity, away from running HOT water and away from in door plumbing that doesn't spring a leak on a daily basis and all the other things we take for granted. Everyone will also know if you take long or short showers, if you snore, if you talk in your sleep, if you are a morning person or not, if you have allergies, if you are gullible enough to fall for ALL of the pranksters pranks and jokes, if you are afraid of the dark, if you will be grossed out by a dismembered cow (every part of the cow!) taking up quarters in the freezer in your living room or if you'll open the freezer and take a picture of the inside of the cows head, if you are brave enough to jump on the back of an elephant (a some what tame elephant!!) and ride across the African land trying to spot some African wildlife, if you are a big enough person to apologize when you jump on someones case for the wrong reasons because everyone is tired and getting on one another nerves, if you have the stomach to try some of the local foods, if you laugh at getting a little dirty as you drive down the dirt roads or if you HOPE you will get a shower after getting so dirty......BUT
The cool thing is, NONE of that stuff...whether it is good, bad, fun, boring, irritating or exhilarating...entirely matters because what is most important is that we are one in the body of Christ! We smile, we laugh at...and get laughed at!!...our feeble attempts at the local language, we cry, we share, we form bonds that will last for eternity, we sing, we witness baptisms like they took place in Biblical times--in a local lake or mud hole or whatever is available and we pray. Oh, and one of my favorite moments was Katie teaching a local woman to say..."WAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE...HEY!!" Because we are one in the body, a language barrier (or any barrier) is really non-existant!!
There are times that I really miss Africa! Seeing God seems so much easier when I'm on the mission field...probably because the every day things that are easy for us are so difficult and time consuming for them. They spend hours in line just to fill up their car with gas! They exchange money on the black market, risking arrest as a few in our group experienced. It is easy when you are there to see a need someone has and to do what you can to help...it's easy to see where and how the Cross brings people together regardless of differences in living...it's easy to see a childs tear stained, dirty, snot dried face and to look past the possible germs that are present and love on that child (keeping the GermX close by to soak down your hands when you have a minute by yourself so you don't get sick)...it is easy to see someones shy glance that is shouting for someone to notice them and to see their face light up when you simply smile and wave. I don't know if I will be able to go back to Africa next year or not...that remains to be seen, but I want to try to start living every day like I live while I'm in Africa. I want to start noticing things that matter rather than being blinded by the things that don't really matter!! I want to have the eyes of Jesus...
Monday, September 10, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The weekend before last I drove over to Opelika to visit with some friends and I spent the night at Crystal & David's house. Calista and her 4 year old daughter, Emma, drove down from Cartersville, GA and also spent the night at Crystal & David's. Marian also joined us Friday evening. We packed up a picnic dinner and walked over to the park. Emma immediately headed for the play ground. The rest of us sat down to eat our sandwiches and grapes and to chat while Emma played. Well, next thing we know, there is a group of boys between 8 and 10 years old that came stampeding towards the picnic area. It was like the Tasmanian devil had just swept by...they caught us all by surprise. Once the dust had cleared we saw that Emma had wandered over and had been standing right where the boys had just stampeded through and she had been knocked to the ground and her knees were scraped and bleeding. We all sat there for a second stunned at what had just happened. Emma had a look on her face that said "What just happened???". Calista picked Emma up off of the ground and checked out her wounds. She cleaned her up and Emma went back to playing.
I have felt like Emma this week! I feel like I've been caught in the middle of a stampede of one thing after another being thrown at me and I was left thinking "what just happened???". After a while those things add up and after some hard blows, I had reached my breaking point. I couldn't take any more. The breaking point came at about 3:45 this afternoon. When I left work at 4:00, I had a choice. I could go to a friends house and complain and cry and whine about every thing that has happened this week. OR I could go home and let my Father pick me up and let him clean me up so that I can go back out there and face what comes next. The choice was easy! Going to my friends house and complaining, crying and whining would accomplish nothing except make me feel even worse! I emailed a few friends and simply asked them to say a prayer for me, I left work and I came home. I dumped my stuff on the couch and went straight to the chair and sat. No TV, no lights, no one at home...just me and God. He checked out my wounds and He cleaned me up. Now I'm ready to go back out and "play"!
I very easily could have taken the other path of complaining and crying and whining to a friend but that did not look appealing to me at all. I don't say that to say "Look at me! Look at the choice I made." I say that to encourage any one who may read this that the next time you feel like you've been run over, go straight to God. He is THE Healer! He is THE Provider! He will, without a doubt, heal your wounds and clean you up and provide you with the strength to keep going. Then, when you finally do talk to your friends, you'll have a much better story to tell about what all has happened and how God fixed it and made every thing better.
Now go play...
I have felt like Emma this week! I feel like I've been caught in the middle of a stampede of one thing after another being thrown at me and I was left thinking "what just happened???". After a while those things add up and after some hard blows, I had reached my breaking point. I couldn't take any more. The breaking point came at about 3:45 this afternoon. When I left work at 4:00, I had a choice. I could go to a friends house and complain and cry and whine about every thing that has happened this week. OR I could go home and let my Father pick me up and let him clean me up so that I can go back out there and face what comes next. The choice was easy! Going to my friends house and complaining, crying and whining would accomplish nothing except make me feel even worse! I emailed a few friends and simply asked them to say a prayer for me, I left work and I came home. I dumped my stuff on the couch and went straight to the chair and sat. No TV, no lights, no one at home...just me and God. He checked out my wounds and He cleaned me up. Now I'm ready to go back out and "play"!
I very easily could have taken the other path of complaining and crying and whining to a friend but that did not look appealing to me at all. I don't say that to say "Look at me! Look at the choice I made." I say that to encourage any one who may read this that the next time you feel like you've been run over, go straight to God. He is THE Healer! He is THE Provider! He will, without a doubt, heal your wounds and clean you up and provide you with the strength to keep going. Then, when you finally do talk to your friends, you'll have a much better story to tell about what all has happened and how God fixed it and made every thing better.
Now go play...
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Six years ago today, I stood in the delivery room as my sister gave birth to her son. Since that day, my nephew has been one of the most important people in my life. I love that little guy so much!
I’m a numbers and date person. I remember family and friend’s phone numbers and birthdays very easily. I don’t know where I store all of the information away because when it comes to remembering some other things, my memory stinks. I am thankful, though, that I am able to remember birthdays. Birthdays are special. Birthdays are the day when God brought someone special and unique in to the world for a specific reason and purpose. I believe it is important to remember and celebrate a person’s special uniqueness. I believe it is important to encourage and recognize people on their birthday...whether it’s with a simple “Happy Birthday!” or with some big extravagant party.
Jesus’ birthday was one of the most important days in the history of the world! Everyone knows what Jesus’ specific reason and purpose was and everyone celebrates his birthday in one way or another. His birthday and life is the perfect example of how important a birthday is. Yes, Jesus’ birthday and life are very significant and although none of us will ever come close to having the impact on the world that Jesus had, we are still God’s children and our life here is important to Him. So, I try to remember to say “Happy Birthday!”...
___________________________________
HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY SEBASTIEN!! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!
God blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined when He brought you in to our lives! You are a very special person with great potential! Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your life’s possibilities are limitless!
Love,
Aunt Nahna
I’m a numbers and date person. I remember family and friend’s phone numbers and birthdays very easily. I don’t know where I store all of the information away because when it comes to remembering some other things, my memory stinks. I am thankful, though, that I am able to remember birthdays. Birthdays are special. Birthdays are the day when God brought someone special and unique in to the world for a specific reason and purpose. I believe it is important to remember and celebrate a person’s special uniqueness. I believe it is important to encourage and recognize people on their birthday...whether it’s with a simple “Happy Birthday!” or with some big extravagant party.
Jesus’ birthday was one of the most important days in the history of the world! Everyone knows what Jesus’ specific reason and purpose was and everyone celebrates his birthday in one way or another. His birthday and life is the perfect example of how important a birthday is. Yes, Jesus’ birthday and life are very significant and although none of us will ever come close to having the impact on the world that Jesus had, we are still God’s children and our life here is important to Him. So, I try to remember to say “Happy Birthday!”...
___________________________________
HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY SEBASTIEN!! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!
God blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined when He brought you in to our lives! You are a very special person with great potential! Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your life’s possibilities are limitless!
Love,
Aunt Nahna
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The group that I am going to Africa with in June went on a retreat this weekend. One of the things we did was take a Keirsey Temperament Sorter test so that we could get to know one another a little better and find out our personality types. To find out that my personality type is that of a Healer Idealists helped me to understand who I am...who God made me to be. My personality type is only found in 1 percent of the general population...woohoo, I'm unique--which is probably a good thing!
It was very interesing to find out what personality type everyone has! We had a good weekend getting to know one another and I look forward to our trip together! I pray that God will use our diverse group to accomplish great things...things that only He can take the glory for!
For my future reference, and for any one who is interested, my personality type (INFP) is described as...
Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and investigative and attentive in their interpersonal relations. Healer present a seemingly tranquil, and noticiably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.
Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.
Healers seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, Healers come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the Healers. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, Healers can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Healers are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when Healers believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the Healer, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public.
Full descriptions of the Healer and Idealists are in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II
Princess Diana is an example of a Healer Idealist.
© 1996-2007, Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.
It was very interesing to find out what personality type everyone has! We had a good weekend getting to know one another and I look forward to our trip together! I pray that God will use our diverse group to accomplish great things...things that only He can take the glory for!
For my future reference, and for any one who is interested, my personality type (INFP) is described as...
Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and investigative and attentive in their interpersonal relations. Healer present a seemingly tranquil, and noticiably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.
Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.
Healers seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, Healers come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the Healers. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, Healers can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Healers are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when Healers believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the Healer, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public.
Full descriptions of the Healer and Idealists are in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II
Princess Diana is an example of a Healer Idealist.
© 1996-2007, Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
My sister and I were driving along Pensacola Beach last Saturday and we passed a white cross that sits a top a hill of sand. With storm damage evident along the beaches, my sister said "The cross is still standing!". Since she has seen this cross numerous times on her trips to Fort Pickens, I asked her is she knew who put it there and why it's there...I noticed there was a sign posted but we didn't stop to read it. She said "I don't know. I just know the cross has always been there."
THE CROSS will always be there! What the cross represents will never fade or be destroyed! Jesus stands strong! Jesus is Lord! Jesus will always be...!
He is risen indeed!!
THE CROSS will always be there! What the cross represents will never fade or be destroyed! Jesus stands strong! Jesus is Lord! Jesus will always be...!
He is risen indeed!!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
It has been a while since I've had time to sit down and write any thing. Things have been crazy busy! This week doesn't look like it will provide any time either. I plan on being at the beach with my sister the second half of the week and I will not have access to a computer. The beach has always been a place of great reflection...maybe I'll write when I get home on Saturday...or Sunday if we decide to stay an extra day.
I was so excited to hear that 7 people were baptized in Zimbabwe today!! Praise God!! The mission team from church is there for the week and I know they are having an experience of a lifetime! They will not be the same people when they return home!
I have got to change how much time I spend thinking about myself and my insecurities! I've gotten a lot better in the past year, but I'm still not completely past obsessing over my insecurities...satan still hits me with them every once in a while. It's such a complete waste of time...and as Buddy said this morning, I'm miserable when I'm thinking about myself. I'm alot happier when I'm focusing on God and serving Him. Perhaps that's why my time in Zimbabwe last year had such an impact on me and one reason why I'm going back this year. I love seeing Him work in peoples lives! :-)
Beach reflections and thoughts coming soon...until then, have a BLESSED WEEK!
I was so excited to hear that 7 people were baptized in Zimbabwe today!! Praise God!! The mission team from church is there for the week and I know they are having an experience of a lifetime! They will not be the same people when they return home!
I have got to change how much time I spend thinking about myself and my insecurities! I've gotten a lot better in the past year, but I'm still not completely past obsessing over my insecurities...satan still hits me with them every once in a while. It's such a complete waste of time...and as Buddy said this morning, I'm miserable when I'm thinking about myself. I'm alot happier when I'm focusing on God and serving Him. Perhaps that's why my time in Zimbabwe last year had such an impact on me and one reason why I'm going back this year. I love seeing Him work in peoples lives! :-)
Beach reflections and thoughts coming soon...until then, have a BLESSED WEEK!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Last night in our Discipleship Groups, I talked about how I am looking for consistency in my Bible study/prayer/quiet time. It has been lacking and Satan has been taking advantage...big time! Which is why I am so excited about these Discipleship Groups that started last night and this Beth Moore study that I started tonight. Wouldn't you know that one of the things she says in week one is
"Satan never wastes a fiery dart by aiming at a spot covered by armor. The bull's-eye is located dead center in our inconsistency. That's where the enemy plans to bring us down. Satan may bide his time until the opportune moment, but make no mistake--he will RSVP with an acceptence. We'll be the ones left with the regret."
We are going to be talking about being daughters of God. We are going to be talking about how we can join Daniel as a person who can live in an extravagant, excessive culture without being poisoned by it. I know it is no mistake that God brought me to this study!! I am so thankful for a friends invitation to join this Bible study! I am so grateful that He gave me the courage to walk in to a room of ladies none of which, with the exception of one, did I know before tonight. I'm ecstatic about maybe having something to say on this blog again......
"Satan never wastes a fiery dart by aiming at a spot covered by armor. The bull's-eye is located dead center in our inconsistency. That's where the enemy plans to bring us down. Satan may bide his time until the opportune moment, but make no mistake--he will RSVP with an acceptence. We'll be the ones left with the regret."
We are going to be talking about being daughters of God. We are going to be talking about how we can join Daniel as a person who can live in an extravagant, excessive culture without being poisoned by it. I know it is no mistake that God brought me to this study!! I am so thankful for a friends invitation to join this Bible study! I am so grateful that He gave me the courage to walk in to a room of ladies none of which, with the exception of one, did I know before tonight. I'm ecstatic about maybe having something to say on this blog again......
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Ever get a feeling that someone is praying for you by name?...only to find out later that someone was praying for you at the very moment you had that feeling.
Ever get a feeling that God is working on something big for your life?
I had both of those feelings tonight. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling, but I've had it in the past and I had it tonight.
Not sure who was praying or what God is working on...but it's a good feeling when He's up to some thing......
:-)
Waiting on God...
Ever get a feeling that God is working on something big for your life?
I had both of those feelings tonight. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling, but I've had it in the past and I had it tonight.
Not sure who was praying or what God is working on...but it's a good feeling when He's up to some thing......
:-)
Waiting on God...
Friday, February 2, 2007
My friend, Jessica, and her husband recently moved from a house in to an apartment. I was over at the apartment Thursday evening helping her sift through things, put things in the storage room and cleaning. We accomplished a lot in a short amount of time!! By the time we were done, the apartment was spotless and looked so good! We were very pleased with the results! She said her husband was dumbfounded when he walked in the door from work last night...he couldn't believe his eyes! It felt really good to know that we had accomplished a task that we thought was impossible in one night.
I've been thinking a lot over the past couple of days about life, death, family, friends, dreams and accomplishments. I've thought about things I have accomplished and things I have let fall by the way side unfinished. There are several things I want to accomplish in the future...
1) I want to build an even closer relationship with my parents, sisters and nephew. We are a close family, but some times I feel that we let too many things fall by the way side. We have opportunities to let one another know how much we love and appreciate one another, but we assume "they already know". We have opportunities to exercise some tough love on one another, but we assume they'll get mad and hate us or assume "they don't want to hear it". You know, there is no perfect family. There is something dysfunctional about every family...of course some are more serious than others. I've always wanted our family to be more open with one another. Sharing our thoughts, opinions, feelings and affections. I plan on trying to move our family towards this by trying to be an example of this!
2) My nephew is an absolute cherished treasure of mine! From the very moment he was born (I was in the delivery room), we've had a special bond! He's smart and hilariously funny! He reminds me all the time of how fun life can be. Oh, to see life through the eyes of a 5 year old! I want to be a good Aunt Nahna. I want to help him realize just how far he can go in life!
3) I have been dreaming of completeing a travel program at a travel school. With the knowledge gained from this program about the world and the places in it, I want to work in missions in some form or fashion. I have a heart for people and I want to use what God has given me. I took a step in the right direction several months ago by signing up and receiving the materials to start a course. For different reasons, starting that course has been on the back burner. I'm going to stop putting this off and accomplish completeing this course!
4) I, at this moment in time, am at the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life! I talk seriously about this at times with friends and at other times I joke about it...sometimes it helps to laugh about the things that hurt the most. Losing weight is very difficult for me! I've lost a good bit in the past but it all came back and then some. This is a serious burden on my shoulders that I need and want lifted off of me. With God, with prayer and with determination this will be accomplished!
5) I want to be a better friend! (A friend loves at all times...Proverbs 17:17) I am blessed with some great friends!
Thanks, Jess, for the reminder of how good it feels to see results when working on a task and accomplishing something! It came on a day when I needed it most of all!
I've been thinking a lot over the past couple of days about life, death, family, friends, dreams and accomplishments. I've thought about things I have accomplished and things I have let fall by the way side unfinished. There are several things I want to accomplish in the future...
1) I want to build an even closer relationship with my parents, sisters and nephew. We are a close family, but some times I feel that we let too many things fall by the way side. We have opportunities to let one another know how much we love and appreciate one another, but we assume "they already know". We have opportunities to exercise some tough love on one another, but we assume they'll get mad and hate us or assume "they don't want to hear it". You know, there is no perfect family. There is something dysfunctional about every family...of course some are more serious than others. I've always wanted our family to be more open with one another. Sharing our thoughts, opinions, feelings and affections. I plan on trying to move our family towards this by trying to be an example of this!
2) My nephew is an absolute cherished treasure of mine! From the very moment he was born (I was in the delivery room), we've had a special bond! He's smart and hilariously funny! He reminds me all the time of how fun life can be. Oh, to see life through the eyes of a 5 year old! I want to be a good Aunt Nahna. I want to help him realize just how far he can go in life!
3) I have been dreaming of completeing a travel program at a travel school. With the knowledge gained from this program about the world and the places in it, I want to work in missions in some form or fashion. I have a heart for people and I want to use what God has given me. I took a step in the right direction several months ago by signing up and receiving the materials to start a course. For different reasons, starting that course has been on the back burner. I'm going to stop putting this off and accomplish completeing this course!
4) I, at this moment in time, am at the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life! I talk seriously about this at times with friends and at other times I joke about it...sometimes it helps to laugh about the things that hurt the most. Losing weight is very difficult for me! I've lost a good bit in the past but it all came back and then some. This is a serious burden on my shoulders that I need and want lifted off of me. With God, with prayer and with determination this will be accomplished!
5) I want to be a better friend! (A friend loves at all times...Proverbs 17:17) I am blessed with some great friends!
Thanks, Jess, for the reminder of how good it feels to see results when working on a task and accomplishing something! It came on a day when I needed it most of all!
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