Tucking Wesley into Bed

Last night when we had finished praying, his eyes popped open and he exclaimed,

"Sisssy, we have like TEN THOUSAND things to thank God for!"

Man I love that kid. 

Raw Praise

Dear God,

Thank you for being every quality that has ever been considered good.
Your heart is kind.
You are gentle Father,
faithful Friend.
You came in passion, full and abundant,
to seek and to save that which was lost. (ME!)
Anything and anyone in this world who is good or great has roots deep down in YOU.

I love you for who you are.
I love that you are justice, wrath, mercy, forgiveness
all in a perfect, righteous balance.

I want the world to see you, in your glory and majesty.
I want them to realize the peace you can give them.

There are many things I long to write tonight.
There are many moments in my life recently that have led to my posting this.
But now that I'm on here, this is really the most important thing I can possibly say.

My soul cries out, "Bless the Lord!" For you are good.
And your mercy and truth endure.

Thanks for that. Thanks for letting me be a part of your world.
And for choosing me to serve you with what little bit
that you have given me to offer.

Amen.

Be Ye Doers of the Word....

I've been reading this book recently:

Now, when I first picked it up I was skeptical. I thought, she's barely 20 years old, I'm not sure if she is being wise to live somewhere like Uganda and adopt the family of little girls that she has....
But it's a huge lesson to me NOT to judge a book by its cover!

Every word spoken in this book is dripping with authenticity.
It's screaming out in behalf of the needs of this world. Saying, "Let's meet those needs!"
And the best part is that it's not JUST the need to see African children fed and clothed and living a comfortable life. Katie Douglas is all about doing what she does for Jesus Christ. She wants nothing more than to proclaim HIS Truth. (That is what the link is that is now on the side of my blog. The word Amazima means "truth" in the Ugandan language.)

A paragraph by her that I highlighted sums it up so well... "In Uganda, I strive to teach my children and all children in our program and in our villages "the truth" of Christ. I know I cannot walk into a village and tell a child that Jesus loves her. She cannot comprehend that because, chances are, she has never been loved. (wow!) I have to feed her, clothe her, care for her, and love  her unconditionally as I tell her that I love her. Once she can understand and see my love, I can begin to tell her about a Savior who loves her even more. (In many ways, this is how I can tell any person, in the States or Africa, about Jesus' love for them - first by loving them unconditionally with Christ's love.) That is the TRUTH for these children - that they are loved, that they are valuable, that they will not be left as orphans but that they have a plan and a hope for the future. What a beautiful truth." 

Katie is a Doer.

She reads the Word.
She sees the Need.
And she asks, "What can I do to help?"
She's never content to stop at one good deed. At the end of the day, she is grateful, joyous, and not content to stop there....

Things my heart has felt compelled to do, she has actually gone out and DONE. I love that! It's an amazing tribute to the fact that living out God's will is not hard. But it does require action. And no matter what corner of the world I find myself, I am always capable of DOING in order to please God and to make a difference for His kingdom.
I pray for the opportunity to do that even tonight at work.

You'll probably hear more about her in future blog posts. :-)

Senior Class Moment

Singing "Bind us together"... just because it seemed like the best thing to do before we walked across that stage! :-)

It's official!

As of May 4, 2012 I'm a college graduate. I could not have asked for a more satisfying graduation day. God aligned all the pieces into place.

 - family drove up early for the awards ceremony and surprised me
 - got every picture I had wanted to get while I was in my graduation "attire"
 - goofy senior class started singing children's Sunday school songs while we were waiting in line to march (that was such a great moment!)
 - I didn't trip when I walked across the stage in my high heels (!!)
 - Pastor was in town around the time of graduation, so he stopped by to watch it
 - went out to eat afterwards with family and sweet friends (even though we got a little lost initially :-)
 - 3 hour talk with my brother in the car on the way back home. I have sure been missing him

Now to take the next step.... 

"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 

You guide me with your counsel, 

and afterward you will receive me to glory. 

Whom have I in heaven but you? 

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart 

and my portion forever." 

              Psalm 73:23-26

The Colors of a Summer Storm

Lush green pushes up on either side of the road. Leaves rustling as they tremble with the coming power. 
Gray clouds suspended low in the stormy sky. 
Blue is nowhere to be found.
Red taillights dancing on a rain-covered road. 
Green hue of the sky casts an eerie golden glow on everything I see. 
White lightning jetting across the sky like an instant, short-lived spider web. 


Blackness envelops. Wrapping my world in a thick blanket of moisture. It also brings the noise. Rain, hail, thunder. 
Beautiful blackness. 
And with a smile, I sleep. 


(I just have to point out first of all, how happy I have missed the Missouri storms so much! Also, in writing this poem, I realized that the verb tenses are all out of whack, jumping around from present tense, and back to perfect tense, then to past, and then back.

When I tried to change them all to align with each other, it didn't sound as fitting. This is because the sporadic tenses communicate the chaos of the storm and the varying elements that are all part of it. Finally, it settles back onto the present tense once more in order to convey the peace of the sleeper in a much more impacting way.

K, that one was for free. ;-)