Friday, July 29, 2011

Journey to Africa~part 2

The next part of the journey went something like this:

God so much wanted my children to have this experience that He did not even wait for ME to pray for my heart to change, He just let me know that I NEEDED to trust Him!  Maybe because He knew that would even be hard to do at that point!  :)  WOW!  He does know me better than I know myself!

 Now, on to talking to dad!  My daughter presented the possible opportunity of going to Africa to him without knowing much detail.  He said we would discuss it and pray and if it was God, it would work out.  After weeks of my husband praying and us talking about it and him knowing I had given it to God and that I totally surrendered the decision to God and him, he said he really could not let her go alone.  So we decided to tell her probably another time when she was older or when she could go with somebody else.  She handled it very well and I told her that if God wanted her to go, He would find a way and if not this year, He would give her the opportunity sometime!

About 2 days passed and without talking to our oldest son about anything except the possibility of his sister going to Africa, he came to us one evening and said if it be possible, he would like to maybe go with her if we thought that would work. (Remember, we NEVER mentioned to him dad's decision to not let her go because he did not want her to go alone!)

 My husband and I were very excited!  I began to see the possibility that NOW she could go and it could potentially change his decision for her not to go because of our oldest son desiring to go!  My husband continued to pray and we talked some more with the kids.  The decision was made that if they could raise the money, they could go!  Amazing how God works!  My daughter never gave in and kept praying that if it be possible, God would make a way!  She NEVER imagined He would work in her brother's heart to go!  (We never even considered that idea either!) 

*A side note I would like to add is that when my oldest son was 6 years old, after he asked Jesus into his heart, he came to me one afternoon and told me he had a dream.  In his dream, he was delivering bibles in a semi-truck to Africa and handing them out to the African people!

 I can honestly say, that I never DOUBTED he would go there someday, but I DID NOT think it would happen this way!  God also called my daughter to the mission field when she was a small child.  She has always had a heart for missions and has known God was calling her to the mission field for years!  In preparation for that, she taught herself a second language just in case!  I always knew and have prayed that God would give me the ability to let her go when it was necessary.  (I did not know it would be asked of me so soon!)  But He has been so wonderful at providing me with His peace that passes ALL understanding!  To me THAT was this biggest hurdle!  If you know me at all, I tend to worry just a TAD (Okay, BIG tad!) to much!  God reminded me one day when I was seeing all of this come to be, I started to worry and think of things that might happen.  God gently spoke to my heart this, "Remember, they are not YOUR children anyway!  I have just given them to you to raise!  They are mine!  I will take care of them!"  (Oh yeah!  I had forgotten that part!)

In the past 7 weeks, God has done the impossible in some people's eyes, and has helped our children raise over $6000!  His plan is perfect!  With God ALL things are possible!  Even giving a mother of 12, the peace that she needs to send her oldest 2 children a world away to share with others, the gospel of Jesus Christ!  

Onto the rest of the 'Journey to Africa' in Part 3!  Stay tuned!
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Journey to Africa~ Part 1

The past week has been a week of many thoughts and just plain "mind" busyness! I have SO much going on that sometimes I just sit and let them sift through my heart. I have lost many hours of sleep with them all! HOWEVER, it has been a time of prayer and dependency on my Savior like I have never known before! He has drawn closer and closer to me because I have been laying it all at His feet and have actually LEFT it there instead of trying to take it back! WOW, it works!

As you will find after reading this post, our family is going to go down a treck we have never tread before!  Please pray for us in the coming weeks!  Although THRILLED with an opportunity of a lifetime, our minds can overtake us with fear and dread of the unknown!  Now, for the "scattered" thoughts of my mind!

In less that 2 weeks, my oldest son and daughter will be leaving their predictable, comfortable home in America.  They are going on a journey that we NEVER thought possible!  They will be headed to Malawi, Africa!  Not with mom and dad, grandparents or ANYONE else that we "know" per-say!  My home-educated, "sheltered" teenagers, will be going this alone!  Neither of them have ever been in an airport, and only traveled to the south (In america that is!)!  We are being stretched and the rubberband will only continue to stretch further until they return home 6 weeks later! 

How did this all start and come to be?  Well, it started with mom (that would be me) saying in a VERY firm, matter of fact sort of way to my 15 year old daughter, "NO WAY ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO THINK OF GOING TO AFRICA NEXT YEAR!  YOU WILL ONLY BE 16 YEARS OLD!  IF YOU THINK I WOULD ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT, YOU ARE WRONG!  I WOULD NEVER LET YOU DO THAT!  MAYBE WHEN YOU ARE 18 OR 19 (OR 30) YOU CAN COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT IT AGAIN, BUT FOR NOW, NO WAY!" 

Well, needless to say, my daughter is 16 and the plane tickets are bought and she is going to be headed to Africa on August 9th.  It's not that I gave into begging from her or anything of the sort!  In fact she never said another word about it after I layed my foot down.  HOWEVER, God got a hold of my heart.  I was folding clothes about 2 hours later chatting to myself about how she even THOUGHT I would consider sending my child away, and then He gently spoke to me in that "daddy" sort of way... "Do you really want to stop MY plan just because of your fears or will you listen to MY ways and rest in Me!"  And that is when everything changed!  I asked my daughter to come with me to talk to dad about it and the journey of God's perfect provision began...

Stay tuned to part 2!
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Keeping my word...



Okay, so yesterday I put up a picture of my BEAUTIFUL baby,
 (because I'm nice like that)...
... in hopes that you would come back for more pictures of
our wonderful day at the lake! 
SO because I am a woman of my word, here they are!  Just sit back and pretend you are there! 
I will warn you, don't relax to much because the heat index was 105! 
Think of a nice cool breeze and pretend your feet are dangeling in the water!  That should help keep you cool while you enjoy a day at the beach with us...

 Waiting anxiously (NOT) for the boat...
 The boat arrives
 The pitter patter of feet running to catch a ride
 looking for the "okay" from dad to go
 just plain sweetness enjoying her day in at the lake
 Keeping cool the ONLY way
 Scooping...
 hanging...
 dumping...
 filling...
 floating...
 being boys!
 Dad watching
 looking for the boat to return

 Waiting for the boat to come back and pick up the tuber!
 Safely back!
 Just enjoying the ride with daddy!
 Doesn't he just make you smile!
 Big brother and little brother
 Getting sleepy!
 Getting ready for the ride!
 And they're off!
 A last dip in the lake...
 Oh what a day at the lake!
Now for some down time!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

More to come!

We went to the lake today and I have some GREAT pics to show you
However...
I had to entice you a touch by this picture of our little one enjoying her first day out on the beach!

Stay tuned for more...




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Saturday, July 23, 2011

What we have been up to...

I have given up some things and blogging has been one of them, if you have not noticed!  Really I have not GIVEN it up, just put it on the "back burner" for the summer!  But I thought I would share some things we have been up to lately:

 Holding rabbits...
 Holding baby sister...
 Holding head up now...
 Even tried, for a couple days, holding food down!
 Poking eyes out...(not intentionally)
 Going out to a 'Bright Lights' conference with many girls...
 Girls playing games in a hotel room...
 Listening to other girls play music and living pure lives for Christ...
 Watching and listening to God's plan on how to give your young life to Christ and live in purity...
 And looking and this little example of purity...
 Babies holding baby bunnies...
 Daddy pushing his 3 yr old down a waterslide...
 Keeping cool...(not real easy right now!)
 But enjoying it at the water park...
 Even stopping for mom so she can get a picture...

And last but not least...
Celebrating MANY summer Birthday's! 

Hope you are enjoying the summer and staying cool!
Yes, if you know anything about me,
I am ready for winter! :)

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