"You speak Spanish?!"

Tonight Kristen and I went to a park where there was an event being held for some refugees. Funniest quotes from the night came from this 7 year old African boy.

Quote #1: I was talking to this little boy when Kristen came up and introduced herself and informed him we were sisters. He said, "you look alike but you're (Kristen) skinny and she (Lauren) is...well bigger". He has so much to learn about girls!!

Quote #2: He asked Kristen a question to which Kristen responded, "no way, hosea". The boy whipped his around and said, "Whoa!! You speak Spanish!?!" Kristen and I had a good laugh about that as we drove home.

Quote #3: As Kristen continued talking to him he informed her that she "needed to get some of the magical make-up he saw on a commercial on TV to cover up the red on her face." We didn't mention the fact that make-up doesn't really work like that.

Here are some pictures from the evening:

Change of Plans…

Right now I’m sitting in very loud, crowded sports bar killing a couple of hours…okay, that sounds bad let’s try again. I’m sipping a coke, eating a spinach salad and thinking through the days events in a hotel restaurant that happens to be broadcasting the Lakers vs. Spurs game. I’ve recently come from crashing a wedding reception at the same hotel (there’s a first time for everything I guess). This wasn’t my plan. I’m supposed to be camping at Lake Tahoe with friends right now, so how to did I get here? Let’s start from the beginning…

How hard can it be to reach Reno? That was my question as I waited for my first flight this morning to leave the Dallas Love Field airport. Well, let me tell you, it was much more difficult than I anticipated and filled with lots of adventures along the way.

As I was checking my luggage I received my first clue that this trip was going to be more than I expected. I’m standing at the baggage check-in counter waiting for the guy to hand me my luggage claim ticket when he starts talking to me. I didn’t mind the idle chat until it turned into a pick-up line, “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll give you your claim ticket if you give me your number.” I was so thrown off guard that I just started at him blankly for a beat before replying, “how about I make you a deal, you give me my claim ticket now and I won’t report you.” I know that was kinda direct, but oh well. His co-worker was holding back fits of laughter as I walked away (claim ticket in hand) and I could hear the harassing start.

I laughed as I made my way to the security screening thinking, what a way to start this trip. I’m waiting at the back of a long line when another airline worker makes eye contact with me and waves me over to the express passenger check (a line I wasn’t supposed to be in), “you didn’t think I was going to let a pretty thing like you stand in that long line now did you?” I wanted to laugh. There was obviously something in the water at Love Field airport making men go crazy. I did, however, make a mental note of my appearance in case I ever need a self-confidence boost. ☺

I finally make it to my gate, got on the plane and flew to out first stop, El Paso after an hour delay due to weather. Nothing too extreme happened on that leg of the journey. Talked to the guy next to me, but that wasn’t a big deal, it was actually a really good conversation about life.

With no delays in El Paso, we continued onto Phoenix where I encountered another delay, this one lasted 1.5 hours due traffic control in San Francisco not having space for our plane to land. Luckily, they let us get off the plane and walk around the terminal, get food, etc.

Finally everyone gets on the plane and we start to pull out from the gate then the plane suddenly jerks forward and we stop. The captain comes on, “folks we seem to have an engine problem here, we’re going to pull back in the gate and let the mechanics take a look at it.” What passenger wants to be told the plane they’re on has an engine problem?!? Despite the engine troubles, I’m starting to get worried about making my airport transition from San Francisco to Oakland. See, San Francisco doesn’t fly to Reno, but Oakland does. I researched public transport to see if it was possible to get from the San Francisco airport to the Oakland airport. Thanks to the BART it was. The route normally takes 1 hour, 1.5 hours in rush hour. I’m an overly cautious person though, so I decided it would take me a full 2 hours to reach the Oakland airport. Perfect, my plane was scheduled to land at 1:55 pm and my flight from Oakland let at 6:05 pm. So during the planning stage of this adventure I thought that was PLENTY of time, even if my flight got delayed. Boy was I wrong. It took 44 minutes to “check” the engine. People started to get irritated, the AC wasn’t working and the plane was getting HOT. The lady sitting next to me was supposed to catch an international flight to London from San Francisco, but her window was growing very slim. She got off the plane to work something out with the airline, I hope she made it. Looking back, I kinda wish I had done something similar.

So let me update you, I’m now running over 3 hours late, my leisurely time window for traveling from SFO to OAK is getting slimmer by the minute. I could feel my heart rate speed up when I thought about it. I’d never been to San Francisco before! I was thinking it’d been a fun, safe adventure to take public transport, now it was turning into a high stress moment. Another lady next to me, grew up in San Francisco and gave me very clear directions on how to use the BART system. I was feeling a little more confident as I got off the plane and went to collect my luggage. I had 2 hours until my flight left, I was thinking I could dump the liquids that wouldn’t fit in my little plastic sack and just carry my suitcase on so I wouldn’t have to mess with baggage check. I knew I’d be pressed for time, but I also knew if I could just get to a Southwest desk at the Oakland airport, they’d hold the flight for me.

I’m waiting by the conveyer belt to get my suitcase, praying it’s one of the first ones off. Guess what happened? The belt malfunctioned, “something happened to the luggage belt?” I thought…at that point I honestly felt like crying, nothing seemed to be going right, all I could focus on was that it was another delay. Finally I took a deep breath and just decided I wasn’t going to worry about it. The way I decided to look at it was that if God wanted me to make it to Reno Saturday night, then I’d make it onto my flight. If not, then I’d soak up whatever He had in mind for me in the San Francisco area. After waiting for my suitcase to finally come. I made my way to the BART system, knowing full well I wasn’t going to make it, but thinking maybe God could work it all out. I successfully navigated my way around San Francisco using public transport and arrived at the Oakland airport just in time to see what I assume was my flight take-off.

I’ve been talking with my Dad this whole time who tried to contact the airport to let them know I was on my way, to no avail. He continually assured me that I was doing my best and that he and the rest of my family were glad I was the one on the adventure because none of them would have handled it as well. After another deep breath I approach the ticket counter and explain my situation. Thankfully, the man was very understanding and offered to book me on the first flight to Reno and gave me two options: 1, somehow get to the San Jose airport by 8:30 Sunday morning, or 2, stay in Oakland and wait to leave on the next flight to Reno at 1:30 Sunday afternoon.

I called my friend Hope and explained the situation. The most upsetting part of this whole adventure was the thought that I was messing up Hope’s weekend plans. She’d been working hard all week and deserved a relaxing camping rather than having to wait on me to arrive. I told her she could go camping and I’d just stay the night in Oakland, she laughed at me, told me there was NO WAY she was letting me in Oakland alone, and with no hesitation informed me she would make the 4 hour drive down the San Francisco to pick me up. Yea, she’s pretty much the world’s greatest friend!!

So, now I have 4 hours to kill in Oakland. What does a single white girl do in Oakland? She calls the nearest airport hotel that offers free shuttles to the airport ☺. That’s how I made my way to the hotel. I explained my situation to the gal behind the counter. She told me I was more than welcome to stay and then, with a wink, informed me there was a wedding reception taking place in the ball room. She pointed me to where I could change. How funny is that? So, that’s what I did. I had brought a dress, so I put it on, let my luggage behind the counter with my new found hotel friend and walked over to the reception. I’d seen movies where people did that, but NEVER did I think I would be the one to crash a wedding reception. I ate some food, danced a little and then left the reception. Wish I had taken pictures.

That brings us to now. Hope’s on her way to get me, it’ll be a late night for us, but the adventure will continue.

"What's Next?"

It's a question I get asked almost everyday, "so Lauren, what are you going to do now?" or "what are your plans now?" Because I hear these questions so often, there are times when I feel like a failure because I don't have it all figured out. I have no idea what's next.I almost feel like people are waiting for my life to continue. Like I've hit the pause button for the moment and they're ready for me to get on with it. I'm waiting for someone to offer a suggestion after I tell them, "I don't know", but that hasn't happened yet. :-)

Questions about my future plans strike a nerve sometimes because I like to have things figured out. Believe me, I wish I knew what the next thing was, but I don't. I do know, however, that I'm not waiting for my life to continue, I know it's happening right now. However, I also know there's something missing. I'm doing things I love, but it's just lacking something I need. I just can't put my finger on what that missing piece is.

So, until that glorious day when God sheds some light on my future plans, I'm sticking to the knowledge that's He's in control:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God. -Micah 6:8

European Adventures

The trip started out with an interesting stop at Fry's Electronics to get a few last minute items. As Valerie and I are walking out of the store, this guy stops by the counter and asks the person who checks your receipt if he could hold onto his item while the shopper ran out to his car to grab his wallet. The store attendant gave him an odd look, said, "sure" as the shopper was quickly walking out of the store. Val and I get our receipt and items checked and started walking out the door as two men outside approached the moneyless shopper. It was one of those surreal moments when you feel as though you're caught in a movie. The forlorn shopper paused and looked around as if he was deciding whether to admit defeat or put up a fight. One of the two guys outside flashed some kind of a badge at the shopper and then other man approached the shopper. The shopper took off and about 2 seconds later was on the ground because of the other guys tackled him. At this moment, Valerie and are frozen trying to figure out what's going on. Should we call 911, say something, or just walk away? Option 3 didn't sit well with either of us, but neither did we want to get involved in whatever was going on. All the while the 3 guys are struggling, shopping carts are crashing, the men are yelling and Nathan (Valerie's husband) is telling us to "get in the car!" We were smart enough to listen to him, walked to the car, climbed in and watched from the window as the guy was dragged away in handcuffs and the Fry's started letting people out of the store again. No idea how that story ended, but it was an adventurous way to start off our trip.

We had fun in Ireland for St Patrick's day. The streets were crowded with hundreds of thousands of people. We met up with the Flannigans, a couple who my dad has supported for 35+ years and only met them once!! They were such a joyful couple. We also met up with JBU friend, Daniel Ostendorff. What would we have done in Ireland without him? It was an incredibly long, wonderful, green day. We found out that St. Patrick's Day was never celebrated in Ireland until the country realized it was a tourist attraction. We made a bigger deal out of the day than anyone in Ireland did. What was sad is that the story of St. Patrick is fascinating, yet no one knows it. For most people in the world, St Patrick's Day is about wearing green and drinking beer rather than about a man who knew he was supposed to spread the gospel in Ireland.

We then made our way to Paris. Here we have the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Valerie (who's goal in life is to have a cool handstand pose of every place in the world she visits) and Val and I at the Louvre trying to mirror the portrait entitled "Twins".

We had a fabulous time in Paris with Cyril and his family!! We learned Nathan can sleep anywhere. Cyril enjoys growing facial hair when he's on holiday from school. Funny story about this place. Kristen, my wonderful sister often has to use the bathroom which is both horrible and great on trips. Horrible because we have to stop, but great because everyone else has to go too, we've just convinced ourselves we can "hold it". So we tour this palace and once we leave the area Kristen announces, "I might need us to find a bathroom". Cyril (not being used to this side of Kristen) responds, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!? We just came from the bathroom, but we can't go back in now! Why? Why?!" Val, Nate and I are all just about dying laughing at Cyril's dramatic response. Nevertheless, he finds Kristen a bathroom then comes back and asks, "does she always do this?" It's not as funny without hearing his accent and tone, but you get the picture.

We met all of Cyril's friends our last night in Paris. Few videos below for some of our crazy times that night. And I apparently fell in love with a statue in Luxembourg gardens!!

Nathan and Valerie (well, more Valerie than Nathan) have this saying whenever it's time for Nathan to wake up from his nap, "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey" It has no significant meaning, but Cyril's family LOVED it!!

We woke up the next morning and drove down to Marseilles where we got on board a ferry and docked in beautiful Corsica Island. Yes all of this is Corsica, beach and mountains with snow! One day we decided to hike in the snowy mountains. After Valerie and I fell through the snow, we decided to turn around. Then Nate fell through the snow up to his hip, CRAZY day!

Our final day in Corsica we drove to Bonafacio and were almost blown away!!



We jumped back on a the ferry to head back to France. That night, there was some mix-up with our room situations. The guys were supposed to have a room and the girls were supposed to have a room, however the ferry put 4 of us in one room and 1 in a different room. The guys room had 3 other French men staying in there. After the Nate and Daniel Ray tried to work it out with the ferry crew, Nate came back to the girls room (French guy behind him), as he opened the door to our room, all 3 of us shrieked a little to which the French man responded, "ooh lala" and kindly offered to switch rooms with Nathan =).


After a brief stay in Switzerland, we headed back to Belgium where we boarded our flight back to Dallas filled with lots of memories, tons of stories, and many more adventures ahead.

Giving Everything

This morning the Sunday school lesson for all the children in church was Mark 12:41-44, "The Widows Offering". My mother, being the brilliant teacher that she is, decided make the lesson more real for her 4 and 5 year olds by giving them $.15 to either keep or give back to the church for offering. After telling them the story, she explained that each child could decide to give all of the money, some of the money or none of the money and it was up to them. One little 4-year-old girl immediately jumped up and with a joyful, excited smile gave all of her $.15 without being coerced. That started a chain reaction of several other children giving all their money too. Then a 5-year-old boy put an end to that trend when he decided to give just "some" of his money ($.3). It came down to two little girls who looked at their coins, looked at my mom, looked back at their money and without hesitation clenched their little fists tight around their coins and said, "it's mine". The money was given to them and they weren't giving it up. What's surprising about this is that one of the 2 little girls is what I would call a "spiritual child". She knows so many Bible verses, and Christian songs, but it's all head knowledge, the truths haven't sunk into her heart.

After each child had given what they wanted, my mother pulled out chocolate coins. For the kids who gave everything, they received 2 large chocolate coins, for the kids who gave some, they received 1 large chocolate coin, and for the children who chose to not give anything, they received 1 small chocolate coin. The point of the reward was for the children to learn that when they give everything they have, God will continue to bless them with more. And even if they chose to give nothing, God continues to pour out his love and grace on them.

As my mom relayed this story to me, my mind whirled with spiritual lessons. How often do I do this? How often do I look at the blessings God has bestowed upon me and think, "it's mine. I'm entitled to this!"? Regretfully, I do it often, too often. Rather than looking at what I have and seeing it as gifts from God; blessings bestowed upon me, I fall prey to the American mindset of thinking, "I deserve this!".

I just read a book by Rob Bell called Jesus Wants to Save Christians. In the book, Rob explains how God has always called His people to care for the poor; the widow, the orphan, the refugee. God blesses His people so they can bless others, so they can be His hands and feet to a hurting world. I live in America, a "Christian" nation, yet what do we do with our resources? North America comprises 1/5 of the world's population, yet consumes 86% of the world's gross product. Does that sound like using what God has given us to bless others? There are an estimated 6 billion people in the world, over half (3.5 billion) of whom live on less than $2 a day. What do we do with what God has given us? We use it to make ourselves comfortable.

I recently returned from Kenya and like so many other people returning from third world countries I was amazed at how people could have so little, yet be so joyful. Why is this? I think it's because people in third world countries who have what we would call nothing see what they have as a gift. They don't think they're entitled to more, they're grateful they have anything at all. I once heard a speaker call "entitlement" the seventh deadly sin; the more I live and learn, the more I agree with him.

I’m not entitled to anything. There is nothing I have done in my life that deserves a reward of any kind. So my question is this: what would happen if I start giving EVERYTHING I have? What would happen if I stopped clenching my fists tight around worldly things and thinking, “it’s mine.”? What would happen if I use what little power, influence and possessions I have to bless the poor of this world?

I don’t know what God has next for me in life, but I do know that a 4-year-old girl reminded me an important lesson this morning: there’s joy and freedom in giving everything you have to the Lord. No matter what comes next in life, I don’t want to hold back.

Being Back...

I’ve been back in the states for 12 full days now. 12 days of seeing friends and family. 12 days of eating lots of good food. 12 days of processing. 12 days of reverse culture shock. 12 days of adjustment and transition. Though worthwhile, let’s just say they haven’t been the easiest 12 days of my life.

As I type I’m sitting in Coppell at my Aunt’s home listening to planes fly into DFW and wishing I could get on one and fly away. I hear cars drive by on paved roads. I hear the roar of the motor, the whisk in the wind as the car moves past the house, but I don’t hear the birds singing…I miss that noise, the pleasant chirping of birds outside my bedroom window. I miss the quietness, the way that nature sings in the morning and welcomes you to greet the day. The tranquility that came without hearing man made noises brought peace to my soul. I miss it.

I miss the simplicity of Kenya and how you make do with what you have. I’m amazed by the amount of “things” we have within our reach. And how quickly we’re able to get those things. You never have to go wanting. I walked into a grocery store today for the first time since my return and was completely overwhelmed. There were so many options of the same product, just in case you were unhappy with the cheaper version there’s a more expensive one for you to test as well! I just stood in the store awe struck for a minute or two thinking, “this must be what refugees feel like”. I’m also amazed how everything here is big. This is Texas after all, the bigger the better, right =)? But why does everything have to be so elaborate?

More than anything, I miss my dependence on God. In Kenya, especially my first few months, I needed God to get through everyday. I was continuously dependent on Him for every moment. Without Him, I knew there was no way I would survive. I had a hunger to be in His presence, to be in communication with Him because He was all I had, the Rock I could stand on, the listening ear when no one else could understand. He was the driving force behind my choice to stay. He’s the same God as in Kenya. He doesn’t change, but for some reason, my need for Him did.

Being constantly dependent on God, trusting Him with everything, I don’t know how to do that here. Nor do I know why it’s different here. I don’t understand how my inner need for God can change based on the continent under my feet. Life in America is comfortable for me. I’m encouraged and built up when I’m here. I know my family and friends love me. I know I have countless resources available. I know I can make a call and someone will be there for me. It wasn’t always like that in Kenya. There were times when I felt very alone and isolated and I knew all I had was God. I had to learn to lean on Him in a new way. And right now, I’m already turning back to my old ways.

America has a way of making you independent. For example: transportation. In Kenya, we relied on public transportation to get anywhere. It was that or using our legs for walking (which we did a lot). We were dependent on someone else to drive us where we needed to go, and trusted God that the vehicle was going to get us there safely. But in taking public transportation you have to wait. You have to wait for the vehicle to fill up with passengers. You have to wait at the driver makes countless stops to pick up people more people to put in the already full vehicle. You have to wait while he load or unloads something for someone. You have to wait as people pile in and pile out of the vehicle. You have to wait when they stop for gas. You have to wait at police checks. There’s just a lot of waiting involved. We could probably get places twice as fast if we had our own vehicle. But that independence wasn’t an option, you had to be dependent. It’s part of their lifestyle.

Kenya is also a much slower paced society. People run on “Kenyan time”, in fact, if you want someone to be at a meeting on time, you have to say, “that’s 9:00am AMERICAN time” or else you’ll have to wait. That’s because Kenyans take their time Rarely is a matter too urgent to walk past someone rather than stop and talk to each other. Community is encouraged through people not being in such a hurry. Contrast that mindset to the American lifestyle. I was at a coffee shop the other day and out of the 17 patrons, I was the only one without a laptop computer. In the coffee shop there were tables designed for 4 people, yet only one person would be sitting at them. I just laughed. Here are several people all quietly typing away at their laptops taking up every available table in the coffee shop (I’m looking for a place to sit at this coffee shop). No sense of community was fostered, everyone was in their own little world sitting at their own table, typing on their own laptop. This would NEVER happen in Kenya. If someone needed a place to sit and there’s an available chair at your table, they’ll sit there. It’s common, they don’t have to ask, it’s just part of the culture. It’s not rude, so no one will get offended. They don’t expect you to talk to them, or engage them in anyway, but you can. It’s part of this sharing mentality that America seems to have lost.

I’m adjusting and learning how to be okay with not being okay. Some parts of the American culture frustrate me and I continually pray for grace in my interactions with people. In 2 weeks I head to Europe with my sisters and brother-in-law for a back-packing adventure. I think it will be good for my soul to take a small vacation from this culture, maybe it will help me gain some perspective.

Currently, I’m living at home and waiting on God to show me what He wants from me next. I have no future plans, no job possibilities as of yet and I’m okay with that. Actually, I’m really enjoying having free time. It allows me to meet with people and tell my story, or re-connect with what God did in their life over the past 6 months.

This will be my last email concerning my Africa Adventure. If you want to stay up dated on my life I’m going to start posting blogs again on my blog site: raikesadventures.blogspot.com. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. It was a life changing experience and I couldn’t have done it without your encouragement and support.

I’d like to leave you with a few verses that meant a lot to me in Kenya and were of constant encouragement.

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete be being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2: 1-11

Performing

"You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:15

In the passage above God is talking to the Pharisees about how they can't love money and God. He just told the parable of the shrewd manager and the Pharisees snickered because they thought they were capable of both- or at the very least they could put on a good show.

I was listening to a lesson on my iPod yesterday and the speaker said something that got me thinking: "If I perform for God, He'll watch me. Buy if I call out to God, He'll answer." For me performing for God is comfortable, it's something I've done off and on my whole life. When I was in college, for example, I was involved in EVERYTHING. I led a college small group, I led a small group for junior high girls, I was in a Bible study, I was on the student ministries leadership team, I helped plan and execute youth events, I taught Sunday school, I volunteered at the children's shelter...to name a few. And I did it all while having a part time job and being a full-time student. In each of those activities, if I could lead it, all the better. Why did I do it? Because I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to make a difference; to impact people's lives, so I got involved. It's not that my motives were awful, there's nothing wrong with wanting to impact people's lives for Jesus, or that my heart wasn't in the right place. The problem was that I was performing.

Now, granted, I learned alot through all those experiences that I value. I can juggle several activities and events at the same time without stressing out, I learned how to manage my time wisely, I read my Bible more during those years than I ever had before. However, I also learned thing from those experiences I wish I hadn't, mainly, I learned how to be a talented performer. I say the right things, have the correct body gestures, smile at the right times, give comfort when needed, etc. Again, none of that's bad and God has used my performance for His glory, but He wants more from me...He deserves more from me.
I'm tired of performing. I want to call out to God; I want to seek first His kingdom; I want the outpouring of His spirit in my life...I want more. I guess this is kind of my way of drawing a line in the sand, of saying I'm going to be different when I get back to Dallas and I wanted you each to know because you're each part of this journey. That's what the body of Christ is about.

So there's my newest lesson from the Lord...always a learner.

Traveling Adventures, Dependence on God, and Art Projects

What does it look like? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. When I think about my life and how I live, I wonder what it looks like to other people. If the turmoil I sometimes feel comes through, or if I wear the “happy Christian” mask all the time. So, let me take this opportunity to be open and vulnerable…

This week has been an amazing time of fellowship with our group. We decided to put James aside for awhile and just come together, share what God has been teaching us, encourage and uplift one another, etc. We have no agenda for these times. We open in prayer and then often times sit in silence for several minutes…just waiting for someone to start the discussion. I don’t mind sitting in silence, but often times this silence is awkward. What makes the silence so awkward at times is because we normally transition from a time of laughter and jokes where everyone has something to say to prayer and then silence as we all prepare ourselves to once again become open and vulnerable with each other. It’s such an interesting transition.

Our group time in the morning is so unique because it’s unplanned. It’s taken me a week to get used to the unknown of our mornings, but what comes out of them is so encouraging and my heart feels overjoyed. This morning we opened with a song by Downhere called Great are You. The words to the chorus say, “Because I’ll never hold a picture of the whole horizon in my view. Because I’ll never rip the night in two, it makes me wonder: Who am I? What am I? Who am I and Great are You!!” The part about the horizon made me think about an adventure I had yesterday…

I accompanied Meredith and our social worker Ann to do two assessments on families yesterday to see if they fit our program. The first assessment was in a town called Kiminini. We walked what felt like a couple of miles to get to the home, because it was more in the village part of the town, and met with the grandmother and the children she had taken into her home, most of them aren’t related to her in any way, just abandoned children that she chose to love. The children were beautiful. Even in their tattered and torn clothing they had a joy about them and smiles that could brighten the room. Once we finished the assessment, we headed back into the town and then off to our second family…

We had never been out to this village before and had heard about the family through a friend of our social worker. The man who informed us about the family met us at a town called Burundi and led us to the home. To get to the village we had to travel across this large expanse of land (to me it felt like I was traveling across the country). It took us 1 ½ hours on boda bodas (bicycle taxis) with lots of walking uphill inbetween riding on the bikes. However, the beauty of the horizon surrounding me took my breath away. All around me were rolling hills that were a rich green because of the rain we’ve recently had, Mt Elgon felt close enough to touch, the hills were sprinkled with the tin roofs of many homes that glistened in the sun, the sky was a brilliant blue with clouds that were crisp and white…and I was sitting on the back of a boda boda arms spread out as I “flew” downhills and across the beautiful countryside of Kenya. I felt so small at that moment, yet so unbelievably special. All I could do was praise God. My boda driver just laughed at me whenever I would sing pieces of songs that came to mind or when I would just laugh for no apparent reason. The countryside and the beauty I saw in it made my heart so grateful that I serve the God who created all of it.

Once we finally made it to the home we met the family, did our assessment then began our travel back. On the walk back to the main road we walked by a school and a hundred of kids poured out of their classrooms when they saw Meredith and I because they had NEVER seen a mzungu (ma-zoon-goo: white person) before (that should give you an idea of how far into the country this home was). Meredith and I shook so many kids hands. They touched my face and my hair and we just thrilled to have the opportunity to interact with a mzungu, I felt kind of like a celebrity. I kissed on little girl on the forehead and all the kids irrupted with excited/dismayed “oh’s”.

When Meredith and I finally made it back home with sunburnt arms and faces we both crashed from the long, yet incredibly fulfilling day. I went out to our gazebo area to read for a little bit and started talking with one of our interns, Ina. We were talking about our days and somehow got off on the topic of independence. I had never realized how independent I had become until I got here. Daniel pointed it out to me within the first 2 weeks but it didn’t sink in until recently. Somewhere between my last trip to Kenya and this one I became less and less dependent on God and more dependent on my own abilities and myself. Having such love and wisdom in both my immediate and church family caused me to not lean on people rather than the Lord. I didn’t realize how much I ignored my need to depend on God until Ina pointed out that she has to depend on God because she has no one else; no family members who share her beliefs and no close friends because she’s followed God’s leading moved so much. She pointed out that the rest of us grew up in Christian families and therefore, were provided with other things on which we could lean. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with leaning on people, God created us to be in relationship with one another. But I do think it’s wrong to go to people before going to God and I’ve been guilty of that multiple times in my life.

I had a plan coming to Kenya, a plan I didn’t verbally acknowledge but one that I let my heart believe in. I’ve come to the point where I feel like I’ve finally let go of that plan and can once again fully trust and depend on God’s best for me. Amazing how it took 6 weeks of being here to once again get me to that place in life, but I’m so thankful. I’ve learned the lesson that God’s ways are far better than mine multiple times in my life…well, I guess since I have to continually be taught the lesson again I haven’t actually “learned” it yet, but I’m working on it. When I release my dreams and desires to God, He comes through in ways far better than I could ask or imagine. So, here I am, an open book, waiting to see what story God wants to write.

I’m starting a craft project with some teenage girls in the coming weeks. A lady from the Canadian team that was here always buys some African looking cards and bookmarks from a shop in Kitale when she comes. The cards are unbelievably simple and can be re-created by local girls. I’m going to teach the girls how to makes the cards, Sandy (the woman in Canada) will buy the cards from the girls. The money from each card can go to funding the expenses of a trade school for the girls, thus keeping them off the streets and providing them with a life they can be proud of. In turn, Sandy gets the cards at a cheaper price and can sell them in Canada to help fund future projects she takes part in when she comes to Kenya. I’m a little nervous about the project because I’m not an art teacher. There are moments when I can be creative, but usually only when I’m inspired. However, I think this is something God wants and thus He’ll work through my weaknesses. Plus, I get to invest in the lives of a few teenage girls here, that thought alone brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart. We’ll see what God does with it.

That’s me, incredibly imperfect but wonderfully loved.

Finding My Way

This morning I woke up ridiculously early and decided to go watch the sunrise. It's was such a sweet time with the Lord. The sunrise was gorgeous. It was a cloudy morning, but right where the sun was coming up was a thin break in the clouds. So because the light rays could only break through that small opening, as the sun rose it created this beautiful orange/pink color in a complete circle all around the sky. Then as the sun continued to rise, the orange/pink color faded, but right where the sun was coming up began to glow more and became more radiant. To me that just spoke of God's love for me...it was one of those moments where I felt like the sunrise was a special moment between me and God, like He created it for me and if I focused on God I'll be able to radiate with His love. That might have been alot to get out of a sunrise, but it's true.

God revealed alot to me this morning but the main lesson was the fact that I can find freedom in Him. I had put pressure on myself when I first got here (Kenya) to be something I couldn't because I allowed myself to be trapped by the lies of Satan. But as I read my Bible this morning the word freedom just kept sticking out to me and I found confidence in the fact that not only can I find freedom in being who He created me to be, but that's what I should do. Why had I not remembered that before now? I don't know. But I realized that I don't have to change who I am because I'm in Kenya. If I want to say "hi" to people as I walk down the street, I'm should. If I want to call a cashier by his/her name as I'm being checked out at a store I should. I restricted myself to who I thought I should be in Kenya rather than who God created me to be.

I feel like when I got here, I was stripped of everything I held onto and found completeness in...everything except my relationship with Christ. The kids didn't run to me like they did in Dallas, I didn't have any tasks that I needed to take charge of and lead, I was just as new as everyone else so being hospitible was difficult... I never realized how much confidence I found in those things...I never realized how much I leaned on those things to find my self worth.

So, I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm strenghtening my relationship with God, building my friendship with Meredith, investing time in our interns and loving people. There were moments today when my heart is so full that I think I could have exploded with joy. Finding joy... no choosing decisely to be joyful through all circumstances is what I want.

I don't have to "find my way". God already laid it out for me, I just have to be sensitive to His leading and obey His commands.

My Contact Info

The countdown is 3 days, 17 hours and 3 minutes before my plane leaves Dallas, TX on it's way to London for a short 2 hours layover, then on to Nairobi.

My family isn't quite as excited about my approaching departure as I am, but they're getting there.

God has been so faithful throughout the process of my preparation. He continual reminds me that He's in control and I just need to commit my way to Him and He'll direct my path.

Just in case anyone wants to know how to reach me while I'm in Kenya here's the info:

Email: RaikesL@gmail.com

Address: Transformed International
Attn: Lauren Raikes
P.O. Box 815
Kitale, Kenya

I also have a facebook account and a myspace page, just search for Lauren Raikes on either.

One More Typhoid Pill...

My official countdown of time left in the States is 33 days. Just over 4 weeks before I'll be stepping onto an airplane and impatiently waiting the 19.5 hours until I get to set foot in Kenya once again. I'm so excited I can hardly wait!!

As I look at my calendar for August I'm realizing just how quickly that time will fly by. In between now and September 8th I have a girls retreat, church-wide family water park day, family vacation to Indiana and a wedding to attend. That doesn't leave me much time, which causes me to look at my list of "things to do" and wonder how it's all going to get done. But I'm crossing things off one after another (it's a great feeling).

One of the things I'm most excited about crossing off my list is immunization shots. One of the things anyone traveling to a third world country should do is get their immunization shots. Last year, I overlooked this very important detail in my trip to Kenya (I was uninformed of the importance). This year however, I'm prepared. 8 shots, 3 typhoid pills, and two very sore arms later and I'm almost set, just one more typhoid pill and I'll officially be immunized and get to cross that off my list of "things to do". Then I won't have to be a pin cushion for at least another 5 years!!

Working Through Faith and Trust

This week my church suffered a great loss. Brian Geiger was an intricate part of Redeemer. He was not only a husband, father, son and friend but he was also a shining example of faith and grace. Brian was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had been seeking treatment. His battle was one my church family was deeply involved in. Several weeks ago he took a turn for the worst and had to undergo emergency brain surgery to remove the tumor. This surgery not only brought hope to his family, but also to the many who had spent countless hours in prayer. The doctors were hopeful he would recover. Wednesday night Brian got to see our Lord and Savior face to face. He was ushered into glory surrounded by his closely knit family who were reciting Psalm 23 and singing the doxology. To his last breath Brian was polite and gracious. If you asked him how he was (a question he undoubtedly was asked a hundred times a day) he was graciously tell you exactly how he was doing, always with a smile on his face and a trust in God that was remarkable.

My heart goes through a battle at times like this. I want to rejoice that Brian is no longer suffering. I want to be jealous that he's in heaven while I'm still stuck here on earth. However, in my human frailty I question God's plan, "are you sure you know what you're doing Lord?" because it doesn't make sense to me. I wanted a miracle.

While I'm still processing through this loss, I read an article about the rise of teenage prostitution in Kenya:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jULzMcr9yht2kOPb_EEQt56B6f3wD928U1MG0

To read a child's account of her life as a prostitute because it's the only way to feed her parents and siblings...it's almost too much for me to take in. It makes me angry and it makes my heart hurt. Once again I find myself questioning God's plan. To me, my way makes more sense; it seems better. And I'm caught in the lie of thinking my way of doing things would bring God more glory. But it won't.

In times like this I find myself searching for the reassurance that My God is a great big God who is in control. I leave you with sections of Psalms 37 that spoke to my heart and gave me the reassurance I was seeking:

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.

The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

A Foolish Thought

On Wednesday morning at 10:45am, I headed to the office of Dr Crossin to get my wisdom teeth extracted. This simple surgery that normally lasts 20-30 minutes took 2 hours to complete because God decided to make my wisdom teeth very difficult to remove (the fact that I'm 24 just now having them extracted didn't help matters). As I was gently guided to the car by wonderful brother people's comments of, "you'll be better a couple of days" played through my head.

So I parked myself in a recliner at my parent's house and didn't move for 2 days (except to use the bathroom). Some of you may think I'm joking, but I'm not. I quite literally stayed put in that recliner for 2 days while my family (namely my mother) played nurse, I'm spoiled, I know.

It's early Sunday morning and I've progressed from the recliner to the couch =). Those hopeful remarks of, "you'll feel better after 48 hours" have faded as I cross off one more night of sleeping with my head at a 45 degree angle above my heart.

Okay, onto the story. See, my mom had been the one who kept me on track on when to take the pain medication and when to take the antibiotics, including in the middle of the night (I have an INCREDIBLE mom). However, since I had progressed to the couch, I also thought this meant I could wake myself up for my medication. A couple of things you need to know about me for this to be important

1. I don't really like medicine all that much, in fact, if I can avoid taking medicine, I will.
   
2. I think I have this inner need to be independent and often a "I can do it on my own" mentality.
   
3. God likes to remind me that I can't do it all on my own and need others...hopefully the lesson will stick this time.

After deciding my mom should sleep through the night, I got comfortable on the couch (head at a 45 degree angle), set my alarm and went to sleep. However, when my alarm went off this morning indicating the time to take my pain medication I thought, "I'm not in pain yet, I bet I can go another couple of hours." I know, I'm a foolish girl!! As I'm sure you're already guessing, I woke up in pain. In fact, I didn't know my jaw was capable of causing such severe pain.

Here's what I learned:

• I make a very bad patient/nurse combination
• I'm VERY thankful for my family's care, especially my mom's
• Though my body would eventually heal itself without the pain medication, the meds help the process be much more enjoyable
• I can't do it on my own and I need others help.

My alarm's set again for my next dose of pain meds, I don't think I'll be skipping out =)

It's been too long

Well once again I've been living life rather than blogging about it. Here's what's been happening:

At the end of June I led a mission's trip with several youth girls to the West Dallas Community. We spent a week loving on children in this community and leading a 5 day club in the evenings.

The weekend of July 4th my family headed up to Tulsa, OK to visit my twin sister and her hubby. The weekend was full of fun events: a musical production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a frisbee golf tournament, fireworks show and a float trip. My family enjoyed the weekend, unfortunately, I only made it through the musical then got sick =(. Oh well, at least I was with family.

I got back from fourth of July and hit the ground running putting the last minute preparations in place for VBS. I had the privilege of directing Outrigger Island this past week and I got to see God's love in action. As adults and teens gave of themselves day after day. Whether they baked cookies, helped decorate the church, led a Bible study, helped with registration, etc. they showed God's love to children and did it willingly.

After VBS my family took a brief trip down to Galveston, TX to eat at our favorite restaurant: Gaidos, play on the beach, celebrate my parent's 31st wedding anniversary and celebrate Cyril (our French exchange students) 18th birthday. We spent 24 hours on the island, all got a sunburn, had a blast and my brother and I saw a shark while we were swimming in the ocean (SCARY).

So, that's been my life. Now, what have I learned from all this? i found this quote the other day and really thought it summarized my thoughts:

"What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things
instead of using people and loving things." ~Unknown

One of the things I want to do with my life is to live a life of love. I don't know about you, but I know I've been used before so people could love "things" and it doesn't feel good. In fact I still carry wounds from the past. However, recently my life has been filled with people loving on people and not caring about things, or what they get in return. It's so refreshing. I witnessed youth serve in West Dallas and do it because they truly love that community and want to serve. I've spent quality time with my family and I always leave feeling the unconditional love present there.

I know it's a simple lesson, but it's one I love to be reminded of.

What Happened to Knights in Shining Armor??

So, I'm walking out the door of my apartment to head to work. My hands are full because I'm carrying a water bottle, my keys and a trash bag. I'm backing out the door, when this little girl runs behind me screaming. I thought, "where is this child's parent?". I turn around from locking my door and that's when I see it. The reason the child was screaming was because a snake was slithering down the hallway. Now, I'm not a fan of snakes, there's something about them that just creeps me out, but I'm not terrified of them either. I expected the little girl to keep running and the snake to make it's way through my hall. So I was getting ready to head back inside and call the apartment offices to alert them a snake was crawling around. However, rather than continuing to run away, the little girl suddenly stopped, blocking the only open path the snake had and just stood there, frozen and starting to cry. I'm on the opposite side of the snake and there are walls all around it, so the snake feels trapped. That's when the situation got worse...

The snake coiled up and that's when it's tail started to rattle. I didn't even know rattle snakes lived around my apartment!! So now, I'm in a bit of a predicament because I have nothing to pin the snake down with, only my trash bag. I quickly formulated the plan that if I threw my trash bag between the snake and the girl, maybe the little girls would run away and the snake would turn the opposite direction. So, I get as close as I dare to the snake and pray my plan works. Rather than the trash bag landing between the snake and the girl, it landed on the snake, only it's head was sticking out. I figured the trash bag was heavy enough to keep the snake stuck for a couple of minutes. So I grabbed the little girl, took her inside my apartment, and called the offices. A minute or so later, two guys showed up with all the tools needed to catch a snake. "Praise the Lord!! This is finally going to be over" was my thought. I left the girl in my apartment with some crayons and walked into the hallway to watch them catch the snake.

However, the guys who were sent to save the day were terrified of snakes. Trapping a snake doesn't get much easier than what was in front of them, but they were freaking out. All the while, the snake was wiggling it's way free. So I grabbed the tools, pinned the snake's head and picked it up with the snake clamp the guys had brought. Turned towards them and asked what they did now. They looked at me like I was crazy, and one of them looked ready to faint. "We don't know what to do, we could just let it go". That idea didn't fly with me. If this rattle snake was gutsy enough to slither into the apartment complex, I didn't like the idea of just "letting him go". So we decided he needed to die. I made the guys show me where they kept the gardening equipment and we pulled out a hoe. It took some convincing to talk one of the guys into chopping off the head. They wanted me to do it, but I couldn't hold the snake and chop it's head off at the same time. My selling line was "Either you kill the snake while I'm holding it, or I'm going to make you hold it", they quickly grabbed the hoe after that.

I threw the snake's head and body into the creek that runs behind my apartment and informed the guys that since they had now witnessed how to trap a snake they were on their own when the next one showed up. I picked up my trash bag, jumped in my car and headed for work. Quite the fun way to start your morning huh?? And I thought my life wouldn't be adventurous until I got to Kenya =)!!

The more I pondered the situation, the more I thought, "Why did I have to do that, I'm the GIRL!!" What happened to rescuing the damsel in distress?? Or participating in the adventure of capturing a snake?? What did the girl have to step up?? It's a picture of the world today, and the church isn't it? Women having to step up because men either don't want to or don't care? I enjoy being the girl. I would have much rather told the guys how much I appreciated them stepping up to the challenge of capturing the snake, rather than doing it myself. I miss knights in shining armor! I know they still exist and I'm so appreciative of the ones I know, they make me feel like a princess and what girl doesn't want to feel like a princess? I just wish there were more of them.

Did I mean to say that??

This past week my sister and I were talking about the meaning of words and why we say certain things. It was an interesting conversation because I'd never given much thought to why I say certain things. Often times, words just come tumbling out of my mouth without me ever really thinking about what I'm trying to say.

For example, if something great happens in life, one of my phrases is "Praise the Lord!" But what do I really mean when I say that? Another common phrase I use, "bless the hands that prepared this food". But again, what am I actually trying to communicate? It's been an interesting thought process for me this week. I catch myself using all kinds of key "Christian" phrases throughout my daily life. Is that a bad thing? Not in theory, but if I'm not thinking about what I'm saying then yes, I do think it's a bad thing.

I don't want to say things because I know it's the right thing to say, or the accepted thing to say. I want to be specific and direct, I want to process why I say certain things and think about what I really mean instead.

A "Clean" Perspective

You know those car commercials for some insurance company that say "life comes at you fast"? That's how I felt this weekend because it was CRAZY!! Random side note: I catered an event for the President of Mexico on Saturday night. Yep, how cool is that?!? I met him, served him dinner, and spoke the very little Spanish I knew...CRAZY!!

Okay, onto the point of this blog: So sometimes when my life feels like it's out of control it unfolds in a way that stresses me out. That happens because I let things build up inside of me. Rather than making time to sort through my thoughts and emotions, when "life comes at me fast" I just stuff thoughts and feelings away and keep running. Eventually, I explode. Thankfully that didn't happen this weekend, but I came close.

Sunday I cleaned my apartment, it was in a very sorry state. One of the things I discovered about myself in college is that my living area gets messy when life feels messy or out of control. I can only stand the mess for so long, then it has to get cleaned. So, I cleaned my apartment, and as is tradition now, while cleaning, I sorted through why life felt out of control. It's such a good, deep cleanse of my thoughts and emotions. Because as I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing that mark off my floor, I'm also talking to God and letting Him scrub away the stain I've ignored in my life. As God and I talked and worked through things, I often found myself taking a short break to write thoughts down. Very quickly, however, I would get back to work, knowing there was still more to do. I took my time cleaning. I was in no hurry and I knew I needed to process what was going on. There were some "not-so-fun" times when God revealed some "gunk" in my life and I just cringed. Wondering why I hadn't seen that before, a little ashamed of my neglect.

The cleaner my apartment became, the less complicated and messy life seemed. Amazing the change that occurred when I took the time to work through the "gunk" rather than continually walk around it. As I got ready to go to my parent's home I took one last look around my apartment, to see if I missed anything. While at the same time, taking another look inside myself to make sure nothing else needed to be addressed. As I glanced around an amazing peace just settled in me and I was so thankful for the new perspective.

Sometimes, it just takes time to work through the gunk in life. Though at times the cleaning process can be time consuming and painful, it's always worth it in the end.

Beauty from Ashes

Yesterday I had a "blah" day. It was one of those days when I just didn't feel like myself and was just a little down hearted. The weirdest part of the entire experience was that I didn't have a bad day, it was actually a very productive day. I set a goal for what I wanted to accomplish and I got it all done and organized. But my joy was gone. For awhile I wanted to blame it on the weather. Dallas has now had 3 days of cloudy, misty, dreary days and I alway drag a little more when there's no sunshine. But it wasn't the weather's fault. Despite how easy that answer would have been, I knew better.

I got home, still in my gloomy mood and just didn't feel like doing anything. I tried working out, but lacked the motivation. I tried reading, but couldn't concentrate. I tried going on a walk, but it started raining and I had left my rain jacket at home. Nothing seemed to be going the way I wanted it to. So, what did I resort to? The TV. I mindlessly watched TV for 2 hours last night and though that distracted me, it didn't solve the problem.

Finally I sat down to write an email to a friend and just talk through what was going on. I felt a little better after admitting my struggles. Then I just stared at my computer screen and talked with God for awhile. Randomly, I felt the need to look through my inbox. Thinking "this is pointless" I followed the impulse and came across a YouTube link from a friend. It was a video of Louie Giglio talking about Laminin and it was a powerful message. During his talk the weight I'd been carrying around all day started to lift. As I listened to Louie describe Laminin, and how it's the molecule in our body that holds everything together I was intrigued. Then I saw a picture of Laminin:

In case it's not painfully obvious, Laminin, this molecule that holds us together is in the unmistakable shape of a cross.
The colorful image is the molecular structure of Laminin.
The black and white photos are actual pictures of the Laminin molecule.

It was a message I need to hear. I was feeling down because I'd taken my eyes off the cross. And just like Laminin, the cross is what holds me together, it's what keeps me going, it's the only thing that can turn my "blah" days into days of joy and thanksgiving. God's blessings continued to pour down that night as I strummed my guitar and sang praises to God.

I went to bed with a heart that was light as a feather because I cast my burdens at the foot of the cross. The weight was lifted because I once again came to the point of saying "I need you Lord". And I do, with every ounce of my being, I need Him to hold me together.

Awhile ago, I wrote a blog about Isaiah 61:1-2 which says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn," Today, I re-read those verses and continued on to Isaiah 61:3, "and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." God is good!! I'm so thankful He puts up with me and continues to love me, despite my imperfections.

Where I've been and what's been going on...

The past two months have been some of the most incredible, crazy, amazing months of my life. I've continued to learn so much about faith and trust in God as well been unbelievably blessed and amazed by His timing.

Right now I'm in the middle of planning the summer for my kids at Redeemer. Between leading a group of teens to work with kids in the West Dallas community, directing a VBS-Outrigger Island, and a heading up a week of camp I've got my hands full. Add to that the culture study my sister and I are doing with my kids on Sunday mornings and well....I'm just busy. But I'm excited about the challenge. This summer is going to fly by!!

After the summer ends another adventure in my life begins...one that I hope will turn into a lifetime. We'll see what God has planned. I'm continually learning to trust in His timing and plan for my life. So far, I haven't been disappointed =).

In more recent news, this past weekend I was part of a wedding for a home school friend. Friday night, in place of a rehearsal dinner the couple threw a barn dance. Here are a couple of pics from the night.

Well, that's the quick update. I'll try to be more consistent with my blogging habits in the future!

incredibly imperfect, but wonderfully loved...

I realized it's been 3 1/2 weeks since my last blog, which isn't terrible, but isn't good either. So, here's an update on my life:

March has been a CRAZY...AMAZING month!! Lots has happened in my life and God has been teaching me about trusting in His perfect timing.

I had a friend from Kenya come to visit me and my family during the first week of March. 11 days after he left, I went up to Reno, NV to visit him and meet his family. Without divulging lots of details, let's just say I'm excited to see how God continues to work in our lives. He's been in control the whole time and it's exciting to let Him continue to guide us.

I got back from Reno Friday night at 9:00pm. Then, on Saturday I had a huge Easter event planned at my parent's house. The event was a success because my family is INCREDIBLE and just somehow knows what to do without me telling them step by step instructions. They're such a blessing. While the older kids were hiding the Easter eggs, I told the Easter story to the youngsters and several parents, many of which had never heard the Gospel before. During the egg hunt, a few kids and adults came up to me with questions about what I had said. THEY WANTED TO KNOW MORE!! Does it get more exciting than that?!?

Yes is does...to top it off, I ordered an inflatable for the kids to play on that day (which was a huge success). I went over and was talking to the guys who delivered it and set it up for me. They wanted to know what was going on. I told them it was an Easter celebration. They said they didn't see many eggs =), so I got to explain that for my family and several families present, Easter is more than eggs filled with candy and a bunny, it's about the resurrection of Jesus, and that's why we celebrate it. The next day, I received an email from one the guys telling me that my family made an impact on him and he saw that Christ can be a part of normal day to day life. He said he's been burned by Christians in the past, but was thinking about re-newing his relationship with Christ. Is God good or what?!?!

The trusting in God's perfect timing comes into play in several areas of my life. One of which was the fact that I didn't want to leave Reno. Honestly (and selfishly) when I got up Saturday morning to get my parent's house ready for the event I was feeling a little sorry for myself. But God had a bigger and better plan. Why oh why do I forget that so often? I seem to have to learn this lesson over and over again. I think I know what's best for me. But thankfully, before getting frustrated with me God always extends His hand of mercy to remind me that He knows me better than I know myself. Sometimes I wonder why He puts up with me. =)

Well, that's me...incredibly imperfect, but wonderfully loved me. Have a blessed day!