Shoe the Shoeless

  Shoe the Shoeless was such a beautiful day spent with New Life Academy! Esther (founder) and Mr. Ashton (head master) had everything so organized and put together that when we showed up that early morning all we really had to do was help decorate and wait for the festivities to begin.

All the children sat in one room waiting eagerly as the workers arrived. To stay distracted and occupied they led each other in worship filling the school with a joyful noise unto Jesus.

As the kids were singing songs and playing different areas were set up to host different activities that would be taking place during the day. One area of was set up for braiding, one room was set up for shaving, and another room was for shoes.

Braiding!

Shaving!

Shoes!

And then we ATE!

During all these events we couldn't help but notices all the little faces watching, and peering through the windows outside and our hearts broke for them.

So simply we just asked Jesus to multiply the food and HE DID! What was to have only fed near 200 people fed near 400!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to every one who donated, who sowed into to these precious babies lifes. This day would not have have been the same with out YOU!

Joy in the Turmoil

It has been a long while since I've written one of these things, and I barely know where to start.

To be honest, I really, really wanted to make this blog bright eyed and bushy tailed… Don’t get me wrong, God is SO faithful; he is still on the throne, he loves us STILL. I am just in the midst of one “those” seasons.  The training season…. Oh the seasons of growing pains and jumping into the deep end! There has been NO shortage of tears, heart ache, and just simple loneliness these past 6 months.

I could sit here and tell you all about the heart ache, and the trials, and how hard my season was.  BUT, that is not who I WANT to be. Sure, the dramatic diva in me wants to throw all my turmoil on the table and tell you all about every bump, and bruise, and stolen moment. BUT, BUT, BUT GOD! 

Nope, this season God has physically showed up in my sobbing on the floor I can’t see tomorrow moments. This season, Daddy God has pushed me into a deeper revelation of his love, a deeper understanding of what kingdom justice looks like. This season I have learned how to trust him with everything inside of me for strength tomorrow. This season I have learned how important it is to CHOOSE to come in the opposite spirit when everything else around you screams just to sit down and not fight the good fight. In this season I learned that even on my worst days God continued to whisper truth that shook my core back to his beautiful gaze.  

The turmoil in my “rough” season will NEVER add up the “rough” day Jesus took for me on that cross. My “roughest” day will never compare to the little girl locked in the room that I pass every day, or the precious child in Syria who is fleeing from chemical weapons….  My “roughest” season is never an easy way out to toss up the white flag and walk away… 

Every season of joy, loneliness, or uncharted waters is a season that was pre destined before for the foundations of the earth! God never wonders away, he never lets his gaze leave us for a second…  Even in the midst of my rough season, God never, ever left me side. God brought me to this season for the plans that he has placed deep in my heart, he just needs to reveal a little more of himself through turmoil, through the pain, through the unknown…. 

The girl I WANT to be is a girl who wakes up to find the glory in EACH day. The girl I want to be is the girl who will continue to fight and learn even in the rough season. The girl I want to be is thankful that the God of the universe is constantly reminding me of who He is, and how He reaches down to me, this little soul that so easily finds turmoil in the seemingly "tough" times.  The girl I want to be, the girl I AM, will rejoice and be glad in every day, every season, and will fight for justice and freedom, always!

 So, here is to closing the chapter of this season and leaving Africa sooner than expected. As much as I hate good buys and puffy red faces, God is calling me home for a season of rest and healing…  I will be heading home September 13, and YES this was not the plan, BUT it’s HIS will, HIS plans, HIS kingdom… There are plans in the work to hit the ground running again mid December/January!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

^16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever

Can't Be Bought - I am Unique

Can't Be Bought 

3 schools.

Grades 4-6.

1000 girls.

14 lessons.

6 days a week. 

4 team members.

1 God. 

Having 250 precious big brown eyes looking at you  hearing that they are special for the first time ever, is a moment engraved on my heart forever. It was a moment of joy and sorrow. I wanted to cry as I was holding her and never let her go. 

My heart was heavy on my way home, for this was only week 1... This lesson was filled with get to know you questions, games, and doing their fingerprints to see that they are so unique that God even wanted their tiny little fingerprints to be special. It wasn't even a "hard" lesson, and already the reality of her life, of all the girls life; is they have NO idea that they are special, they have no idea what their worth is,  or that someone bigger than them loves them.... 

They don't know. 

Do your babies know that they are a 

unique? Do you tell them no matter how old they are, that you love them, and how important they are to you? Do you remind them even when you don't want to that they are a precious child of God?

Today, right now, don't let another minute go by, and make sure the kids in your life know with out any doubt that they are valuable, that are SO loved! 

For, we can not have any more generations walking around not knowing that they have worth and value. Its not okay. We must raise up Kings and Queens knowing their identity!  

Can't Be Bought... I thought I was coming to teach girls worth, and prevent them from selling their precious bodies... Only to come and watch them teach ME and love on me... 

Week 1 was beautiful. Its just the start of it all. Jesus is about to invade these precious girls and teach them what it means to be a valuable daughter of the Kings of Kings.. 

God Can. I can't.

As I was walking through the village I hear "BREEEE" "Mama BREEEE"... I couldn't see any little bodies, just houses and trees... Again I here "Mama BREEEEE", all the sudden the palm try a couple feet away started to giggle... 

My balloon babies.

As they all were clinging onto every inch of me we walked to the closet mango tree and we sat in the dirt and ate mangos... I just sat there and cried and ate my mango with these precious children...  My babies are dirty, their clothes are in rags, and their little feet have worms in them, and they are hungry. 

The tiniest ballon baby, Nixon has white hair, that is a sign of melnutrution...  He is 3, but he is a tiny little guy. His little bones stick out with his belly weighing more than him.  He is snuggled up right under my neck. I can feel him breathing on me and with every breath another tear falls.  I just needed to help him, but when I opened my eyes I realized its not just Nixon, its ALL the balloon babies. Its every girl trapped in a brothel right now, its every hungry child I pass by everyday. The need is everywhere.

My balloon babies, just sat with me and wiped away my tears. 

I don't have the answer. I can't feed everyone in Kenya. I can't run into every brothel and rescue the hundreds of baby girls. I can't do it all. I can't help every need. I can't.. 

God can. 

I didn't want to be super spiritual at that moment. I was mad at God. How, how can this be life for millions of people all over the world? It hurts my heart to know that every night when I lay my head down, right down the street a child goes to bed hungry every single night... 

God CAN. 

It's not my own strength.  It will never  will be my own strength. It will never be my job to feed everyone back to health. 

God can.

My job is to love God. My job is to stop for one, and feed them. My job is to stop for my balloon babies and feed them. My job is to stop when God says stop. 

God can.

I may never be able to feed thousands and thousands of kids, and thats okay, because God can.  

For now, I will feed Nixon and my balloon babies. I will start where God says start, and thats perfectly okay. 

God CAN and he WILL.  

He loves Nixon, and my balloon babies, and US more than I could ever know. I may never know the answer to end world hunger, but God sure does. And I know that his words never fail. 

GOD CAN. 

                     

 Please pray with me for my babies. That their tummies would be full. That their families would continue to welcome me in with love..  That I could continue to feed them and love them, and that their families would walk into the Kingdom with us!