Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas 2013....and a reminder

Just wanted to share a few photos from our early Christmas morning.  


 Stockings are always the first gifts to open....


The gifts....

and the leftovers.... and yes, all this is still there 5 hours later.....
Getting ready to have a wonderful Christmas meal with just our family.
Missing our families in the USA....

It's not too late to give even a bit more to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  
All we have is because you give...

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Five Minute Friday (on Saturday) - Fly

Wow - well, here goes nothing.  I'm starting to get very disillusioned with the internet lately.  I can't seem to find anything that I really find uplifting.  As a result, I've started to look to some of these girls' blogs that I find through different methods.  Girls (or ladies, really) that are trying to get it right.  Trying to find the wings to soar; to fly.  We have recently made a huge life change.  And it has grounded me.  I can't remember the last time I felt I could fly.  I want to soar with wings like eagles.  I want to be lifted from this new life we have embraced.  So many day, I feel that I cannot even look up; let alone, fly with feet off the ground.  Oh, but I am learning to fly again.  I am learning to do some things that I am not used to do and this post is definitely one of them.  Ministry has changed for us and therefore, I have not posted much on my blog.  I really want to use this blog to soar on the love that the Lord has given me and point others to fly along with me.  May it be so, dear Lord….

This post is part of a Friday link up over at Lisa-Jo Baker.  Go and see more links that are happening over there.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Blue, Green, Purple and Hello Kitty!

Just a few pictures to show Zoe's birthday party yesterday.  We had a fellow missionary family (=friends) over for blue cupcakes, green icing and purple ice cream.  We are so thankful for Zoe!




Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Chamba Valley Baptist Church Kids' Ministry

Every Wednesday, the kids and I drive about 30 minutes to Chamba Valley Baptist Church.  This area is technically still in Lusaka but amazingly, far enough down a dirt road that it very much reminds me of Lukulu.  There is no industrialization out here.  
The kids have one of their summer breaks for the month of August, so this crowd of kids is far less than we have been having.  The kids go to school in shifts because there are more kids than rooms at the school.  So most of these kids were the younger group.  
I love working with these children and am so blessed to have the chance to be a small part of their lives.  Life has changed so much for us since moving to Lusaka - in most every way.  I have a different ministry here in Lusaka but am so grateful that the Lord has given me a bit of Lukulu back in the beautiful faces of these children.  Thank you, Lord!


 Above and below - Games time before the Bible Storying...





 Below - just a few of the kids inside the church after the Bible Story on Abraham and Sarah.


Saturday, July 27, 2013

4,383 Days = ...

...12 years!  Happy Birthday, Hadassah!


Hadassah chose a Caramel Nut Brownie Torte for her birthday cake.

We were so glad to have great friends to celebrate with...

Presents....

As part of her birthday (which by the way is tomorrow, July 28th), she got her hair cut the way that she wanted and blown dry...
Time does fly...

Monday, May 27, 2013

The Biggest Part of a Missionary's Life...




It's not tracking through the jungle in the steaming heat,
It's not eating shish-kabob made of monkey meat,
It's not cutting up python with your pocket knife,
That makes the biggest part of a missionary's life.

But it's hoping that your kids will just take a nap,
While you're trying to find a church with a hand-drawn map.
It's raising your kids from the front seat of your car,
While you're driving down the road trying to figure out just where you are.

It's not cruising down the river in a dug-out log.
It's not being guest of honor where they're serving dog.
It's not shooting the breeze in Swahili with the old Zulu.

But it's getting rid of things that you've had for years,
While you try to pack a barrel through a blur of tears.
It's saying good-bye to Grandma just one more time,
While you're sitting at the airport just pretending you're feeling fine.

It's not wearing funny clothes in a foreign land.
It's not speaking jungle-ease like the natives can.
It's not even baptizing thousands in a single day,
Or always getting what you wanted every single time you pray.

But it's going to other people that you've come to know,
And rejoicing in the Lord as you see them grow.
It's thanking the Lord for all that He has done.
And then it's going home on furlough when you feel like you've just begun.

Yes, it's going to other people that you've come to know,
And rejoicing in the Lord as you see them grow.
It's thanking the Lord for all that He has done.
And then it's going home on furlough when you feel like you've just begun.

Yes, that's the biggest part of a missionary's life.


(Not my original - not sure who wrote this)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Job 1:21



The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; 
blessed be the name of the Lord. 

So true, but sometimes it just hurts....


Psalm 34:18 - From our last few days in Lukulu...


He’s too big to be carried.  Yet - there he was – securely tied in a discordantly colorful sitenge on a male relative’s back.  You know it’s bad when a man is carrying an older child on his back.  The child looked to be about 10 years old with his head held at an odd angle and his eyes rolled back into his head.  He is on the way to the hospital and honestly, he may not come back.  It looks like it could be cerebral malaria. Sickness and death; pain and loss are every day occurrences here but it never gets easier.  My tears fall as I see him loaded into our truck so Jeff can take him and his father to the hospital.  So heartbreaking… All I can do is pray… yet the Lord sees and the Lord knows.

The LORD is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  Psalm 34:18

Happy 6th Birthday, Levi!

Levi had his 6th birthday party last night with a few friends.  
We are so grateful for great friends!









Sunday, March 31, 2013

Annual Meeting at Lake Kariba Inn, Zambia

Last week, we had our Annual Cluster Meeting at Lake Kariba Inn.  All of our personnel from Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique were there for training and fellowship.  The kids got to have loads of fun with a team from South Carolina.  Here are a few pictures from last week....

Zoe's class...

Lily and Zoe - BFF

Fun times at the Kids Program

More friends....

On the Sunset Cruise...

My two favorite guys....

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Sweet Baby Joy


How does the song go?  Jesus loves the little children – red and yellow, black and white – they are precious in his sight.  Here in Zambia, there are literally children everywhere you look.  They are always around whether they are taking care of younger siblings, working, taking care of themselves, walking to school or just playing.  They really are precious – every one of them.  

Another baby was born on Friday afternoon.  Just one of way too many babies born to unwed mothers here in Zambia.  It was so bittersweet to hold baby Joy Chisola in my arms this afternoon.  Incredibly sweet because she is so beautiful and such a treasure; bitter because there is a very high possibility that this baby girl will grow up to also have a baby out of wedlock.  My heart hurts for my friend who had this new baby, her second by the same man who is already married with his own family.  I want to just shake her for what she has done – again.  I want to hold her and help her in any way that I can to navigate life with her two precious daughters.  Heavenly Father, only you know the future and I so earnestly pray that my friend will allow you to make her path straight – straight into your loving arms with total abandon.  Lord, may it be so…

Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6