Zambian Praise

For ANYONE who would love to be blessed by beautiful music!

Do You Know Him?

The Power of One

I just finished The Power of One, one of the better books I have read as of late.

The story revolves around a 5 year old boy growing up in South Africa during apartheid. Through life, love and boxing, Peekay is able to defeat the demons of his past and learns that heart, with a little brains is a deadly combination.

And for all of you Zambia lovers out there, this book will take you deep into the heart of the copperbelt, revealing the relationally centered culture of Africa.

Real Faith

EZEKIEL 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Love of The Savior

Hello Friends!

I am pleased to be writing to you in the midst of this holiday season! Let me take a moment to wish you...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It is fitting that we celebrate Christmas before a new year begins, because as I am reminded of His birth and my initial salvation, I am also reminded of His continued love and hand over my life. Each year, through every joy and every pain I know that my Lord is drawing me closer to Him. This year has been amazing, and I want to share some of the things God has shown me:

1) How and why to love people beyond my own capabilities.
2) The importance of community that is loving, encouraging, seeking
Christ together and sharing Christ together.
3) How to be vulnerable, even when it hurts.
4) That He TRULY is sufficient to meet EVERY need, every day.
5) Temporal things satisfy me less and less, but I have never left
His presence unsatisfied.
6) He has helped me to live more victoriously over sin than in previous seasons of my life.

This year I have been able to clearly see how He enables me to trust Him more and more. I am so privileged to know Jesus, and blessed to be a part of what He is doing here and in the nations (particularly Zambia). I have the honor to live the kind of life that is fully satisfying. I am trying not to take any breath or any day for granted.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I am so blessed to know so many beautiful people in my life. I have learned so much about life and love through my friends. Through everyone I encounter, God shapes me to be more of the person he created me to be! So, thank you, because without each of you I would not be in the place I am today!

Second Place

I took second prize for BEST COSTUME at Michelle and Joe's Annual Halloween Costume Party by dressing up as my boss' husband! It was beautiful.

The Cross

I don't know if anyone continues to read my blog since I returned home. Many times I feel like life here is not as exciting as it is in Zambia. But I would be wrong. The Lord is alive and active in my life here just as much as He is in Zambia, it just looks a little different.

This week, I have wrestled with the Lord. I mean really wrestled...with anger, forgiveness, sadness, anxiety... and I have to tell you that I am constantly amazed by the grace and love that the Lord showers over me. I love that He ALWAYS leads me by His Spirit and His word.

God has been rocking my world for about 6 months now. In preparation for Zambia I felt joy, anticipation and encouragement. In Zambia I felt utter joy, challenge, frustration, a great spirit of encouragement. Upon my arrival home I felt sadness, renewed strength, a new desire for the Lord, but quite disappointed to be home. In relationships I have felt encouraged, loved, broken, hurt, desired, helped and helpless. For the future, I lack understanding and vision at the moment which leaves me feeing confused and sometimes frustrated.

I know that some of you may be thinking that this is discouraging, but through these experiences the Lord continually brings me back to the foot of the cross where He brings me to a place of submission. And in my own stubbornness and obstinance, still chooses to rain down his love and mercy upon me. As I look back on the amazing work the Lord has done in my life, I realize that every lesson I have learned in love and in life comes back to what Christ accomplished on the cross for me.

Nothing I do in life matters, if I don't do it for Christ. No journey I take will be successful without Christ, and praise Him for it! He desires me so much that He will continually remove obstacles in my life to draw me closer to Him, even if it brings me deep hurt. People have always said to me, "God's purposes are higher than our own, and His knowledge is infinite and beyond our understanding." Over the past two years, I have come to understand what that means, although I don't always understand why He works situations the way He does. But my understanding of how and why He works situations is not important, it is that I trust in Him and in His goodness towards me.

My prayer for all who read this is that you would experience Christ working in your life this way. That despite joy, disappointments, and all the other array of emotions or situations you may endure, that you could still look at Christ and wonder at His character. He is higher than your hopes, higher than your dreams, and that is a scary thing sometimes.

The more I realize that He is in control of my life, the more hope I have for the future, because He is the only thing/person worth hoping in. I am so thankful that when I look at my life, I can see how the Lord has prepared me for situations that He would bring me through, gave me healing and hope, has caused me to endure and has made me a better friend, lover, sister, daughter, co-worker, etc. I am looking forward to seeing what He has for me next.

Psalms 3:3-5
"But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow glory upon me and lift up my head.
To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because he Lord sustains me."