Thursday, February 17, 2011

Little House

So... How many of you are Little House on the Prairie fans?  I am.  I remember as a kid loving watching the show and wishing I could experience life like they did.  Raise our own crops and livestock, getting water from the well, having one of those cool wood ovens in my HOT kitchen...  A romantic vision of primitive living.  Actually, I still wish I could experience life like the Engals did.

For those of you who haven't heard much about the ministry that God is calling us to in Zambia, we will be living like the Engals - Africa style!!  Our family was in Zambia for the month of May, 2010 and we got a foretaste of what life is going to be like.  So, with that little taste of the future we are trying to prepare our kids (and ourselves) as much as possible.  I've been researching how to make the basics from scratch; butter, sour cream, cheese, peanut butter...

This week our project was the home made peanut butter.


The kids helped me shell the peanuts.  Warrick ate more than he contributed.  The girls did an awesome job shelling.  They didn't forget the skills they learned on our short trip to the bush.  They helped me separate the shells from the peanuts (that's how they do it in Zambia... too much to explain), and Warrick figured out it is fun to flick the shells all over the kitchen.  And then we blended the peanuts up.  What we ended up with is the best peanut butter we've ever eaten!!  Sweet Success on the first try.  The kids are really excited to be making our own peanut butter now.  Unless we have a hand grinder or something like that it'll certainly be difficult to make it in Zambia.  No wonder Zambian's don't eat peanut butter.  They grow fields and fields of peanuts, but it's too much work to grind it by hand into peanut butter.

Tomorrow's adventure will be making butter.  I'll have to let you know how it goes.

As we continue on this adventure of preparing for life in the bush we'll keep try to keep everyone updated on what's going on.

Please pray for us this next week while we are at a mission conference in Cincinnati.  We're looking forward to connecting with old friends and sharing with them all God's been doing in our life and ministry.  May He be glorified and lifted up.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day: Celebrating God's Love for Us

We can not thank you enough for all the prayers lifted to our Father for this amazing ministry He's called us to.  We are certainly seeing Him working in wonderful ways!  Seeing Him at work in my life reinforces His love to me.  He takes the time to be involved in and also plan a purpose for my seemingly insignificant life.  His love is always amazing to me!  And here's one reason why...

As of our last calculation we are at...


Are you ready!?...


51%


of our total needed support!!!!!

That's after only eight months of pre-field ministry!  What a blessing and confirmation to us that we are in God's will doing things His way.  We are so blessed and so thankful and so loved!



Throughout our adventures there have also been many sacrifices.  One of those has been the consistent relationships in our home church.  Lorelei has been feeling the disconnectedness more than the rest of us.  I was really burdened for her, so I started praying that God would help give me opportunities for Lorelei to have more social interaction with the friends she has and also opportunities for her to make new friends.  I'm so thankful that God loves us enough to listen and answers us when we pray!


On Thursday Lorelei had her first practice with Victory Twirling here in Parkersburg.  Victory Twirling is a ministry of one of the churchs in the area and a dear friend of mine has her girls involved in it.  They learn to twirl (a baton), have a little bible time, and Lorelei LOVED it!!!  It was so much fun to see her enjoying herself and making new friends.  I really think this is going to be good for her.  It was difficult to find an activity that had social interaction, wasn't on weekends, and wasn't stringent on manditory practices.  God lined Victory Twirling up just for us, I think!  Just because He loves us.


Then, on Saturday we had a Valentine's cookie decorating party for her Sunday school friends.  We had five girls total, counting Lorelei and Jorja, and they had so much fun... and sugar!  The girls got to decorate the cookies, eat the cookies, make candies, play, play, play, eat cake, and just for good measure I sent them home with some fun dip!  Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!  What a blessing it was that the girl's mothers made the time to bring their daughters, and that the girls had fun.  It was a wonderful answer to prayer and it made Lorelei feel the love of her friends.


Never underestimate the power of God's love for us.  Since the begining of time He had the perfect plan to redeem us back to Himself and into a perfect love relationship.  I'm so thankful that His love is completely unconditional.  It is not based on my behavior or emotions, and it's not based on God's emotions either.  He chooses to love me.  I do not deserve it, but I'm thankful for it. I rest in it.  I trust in it.  I depend on it.  God's love makes me who I am.  God's love gives me confidence and hope for the future.  God's love planned my salvation.  And it is God's desire that I be a living example of His love to everyone He brings into my life.  As God loves me He uses me to love others with His perfect love.  Let's turn our world upside down for Christ as we love our world to Him.


1 Corinthians 13:1-8a


1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 8 Love never fails.