Zambia 2013!!!!

     All I could do was cry as my family counted the money God had brought in for my trip. Double the amount I needed! That was to be the first of many lessons God taught me on His sovereignty and might.

    Fast forward to today, I have learned numerous more lessons about His character and His plan for me and am still learning these things. Every day brings a new lesson. I have learned time and time again what it means to step out in faith, leaning not on my own understanding but on His, trusting that He knew what was going to happen and would act accordingly. I have learned and am still learning to surrender my all to Him everyday, trading my will for His and becoming a puppet in His hands. Having received the summons of the Lord to return to Zambia, I am off again. Next Saturday I leave for 5 months to minister to the orphans, widows and staff of EOH.  These past 4 months have kept me busy tutoring, babysitting and cleaning houses with an occasional cakepop order. My fundraising has been like the turtle, slow but steady. God has continually been faithful to provide even when it looked like the funds weren’t coming in.

       I am continually amazed at where God has me in life and what He has me doing. I have always been a quiet, background girl who dislikes crowds and working with strangers, so I am constantly wondering why God would choose me to do this work when He knows it is exactly what I fear doing. The only conclusion I have come to is this: God does not choose us based upon our character or personalities but upon our willingness to surrender to and serve Him.  

 "God asks the question, "Whom shall I send?"
Now what will we answer? Will we go and do as he says?
All that he wants is a heart, ready, willing and waiting" 

-"Here I am," Rebecca St. James

 “For the glory of God!”

A prince worth waiting for

  Every girl dreams of finding her Prince Charming but some girls are so eager for     their happy ever after that they rush into a relationship with “Prince Charming” only to find that he is actually Prince Loser. Instead of happy ever after what they get is  a miserable marriage that leads to a quick divorce.
  

“But if a woman is aspiring to become a princess of purity, 

she must wait patiently for a Christlike knight. And though this kind of man is rare, God is raising up men after His own heart.” 

 -  When God write your love story

      A man with God is a man worth waiting for, no matter how long you have to wait or how desperate you feel before God finally brings him to you. If he is what God wants Him to be, than he was worth the wait. In Debi Pearl’s book Preparing to be his helpmeet, Debi writes that there are two seasons of learning in life. One is your time as a single woman and the other is your time as a married woman. For some the season of learning through singleness is longer then that of most women, for others it is very short. Rather then wallow in our sadness while we’re single, we are to pray for our husbands, praying him into the man God wants him to be. As his wife we have the an influence over the kind of man our husband our husband becomes, even before we ever meet him. If we want a man worth waiting for we need to be pouring our prayers into him.

However long it takes for us to be brought together, that is how long it will take for him to become the husband that God wants him to be. Wait patently and pray. For he will truly be a man worth waiting for. He will be the man we have prayed for. A man of integrity, honor, purity and virtue.  <3 Our prince.<3

 
  
While we are waiting, he is changing.

“He who finds a wife (or husband) finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” 
Proverbs 18:22

"For the glory of God!"

A princess of purity

  Every girl wants to be Cinderella right? But fairy tales don’t exist today. Or do they??? 

     So what makes a modern fairy tale? First we need the princess. But what makes a true princess and how will her prince find her?

  

  The Bible says “the King's daughter is all glorious within” (Psalm 45:13). "All glorious within" refers to not only the attitude of the heart but that of the mind and body as well, for how are we to be "glorious within" if we defile our bodies and minds with the things of this world? One of the most important attributes of the King’s daughter is purity. Sadly this is a word that is nearly forgotten in today’s society. Women throw away their purity as though it was a mere trinket of  little worth forgetting that it is the sacred treasure God bestows on us at birth, His gift to be treasured and protected for our husbands. By purity, I am referring to the purity of the whole being: body, mind and heart.

   "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

     A true princess will be obedient to God by seeking to honor and serve her husband long before she even knows him. She will guard herself against all defilement in her dress, actions and character. If a young lady is known for being flirtatious and unchaste how is she guarding herself for her husband? She is no princess of purity. A princess of purity will serve her husband with her modesty. Modesty says a lot more then words, it sticks out in this world and gives credit to the woman's character. A princess of purity will seek to dress in such a way that draws attention to her personality rather then her body. She will be an honor and delight to her husband.

 "Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.."

1 Timothy 2:9 

      A princess of purity must guard her actions and carry herself with chastity and formality. Being friendly yet never allowing herself to stray into flirtation or dishonorable conversation and behavior. 

"A wife of noble character...is worth more then rubies"  
Proverbs 31:10

    Guard your heart through prayer and commitment to your husband. Pray for him every day, preparing you heart and life for him. Build a legacy that will bless and honor him when he calls you his. Wait patiently for your Christlike knight, reserving your gift for him. He will come sooner then most of us think.

"For the glory of God!"

Resigning your love story

  Just as every other girl in the world does, I have dreamt of my    wedding day and my special prince for years. Being loved and loving in return like that is one of the greatest desires in my heart and now that I am old enough for marriage my heart aches for that special day to come. I often wish God would hurry thing along in that area of my life but I know a commitment like this is life long and takes years to prepare for so I wait for the Lord’s timing.

    Every girl wants a romantic love story. She wants her husband to come sweeping her off her feet in a whirlwind of mystery and romance. But what many fail to realize is that God is the greatest romantic of all time. He takes delight in making our dreams come, allowing things to happen out of the ordinary and enabling us to live that dream. Our life is like a book. Every season of life is a new chapter with God penning every line. He is even now writing out our love story, every day is a another step towards the alter.

    What we do now as single women will be carried into  our marriage. The baggage we develop, the emotions we give away, the people we date (or court) will all effect our relationship with our husbands. Choose wisely when making big decisions for you never know who your husband is or when he will show up on the scene. Use your life as a single woman to write a love letter to your husband, building a legacy that will honor him when you are married.

     Freely resign your love story to the Author of love and watch as He writes the sweetest story you could have ever dreamed. 

                   “For I know the plans I have for you",” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.”” Jeremiah 29:11

"For the glory of God!"

Every Orphan's Hope

I pray that as you watch this you will have an open and ready heart for whatever God tells you.

 

  "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 

~Psalm 126:2~

  This is why EOH does what they do, to bring the joy of God to those hurting children. Through Every Orphan's Hope God is turning tears into laughter, heartache into peace and sorrow into joy. Daily He is transforming and renewing lives through people like you. Please pray about how God wants you to help and if He so leads, take that small step of faith on behalf of the children.

"For the glory of God!"

When the flesh says no

    My thoughts are distant, I’m struggling to stay focused on the sermon but my mind keeps drifting. As our pastor continues on I strive to bring myself back to the present but my mind is filled with thoughts of my upcoming trip, it is hard to keep myself attentive. Quiet thoughts keep mocking me, telling me I cannot do it, that I shouldn’t even try, impressing upon me the pain of parting from my family, the fear of being alone in that country and away from my family so long, scaring and weighing me down.

    In these quiet times as I sit and contemplate my trip, that’s when Satan attacks me with the afore mentioned thoughts till I feel I cannot do it and just want to give up and stay home, which is exactly what he wants me to do. I strive to overcome such thoughts and focus instead on what God is going to do through this trip and all that follow yet it is hard. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak.  In my heart I eagerly cry “yes Lord, I will go!'” But my flesh says “No! Don’t send me! I can’t do that Lord, I can’t handle being gone that long.”

   In the midst of such thoughts I hear that familiar gentle voice whispering to my heart, “My child, what is this you are saying to yourself? Surely I have been with you in the past from your first breath even until this present moment and will continue to be so even into eternity.You can and you will do this and you will do it for Me. I have chosen you for this special mission in life and I will give you the strength and courage to carry on even when it feels you cannot go any further.”

     Oh me of little faith! When will I yet learn this lesson and rely not on my strength and will power but His!?! Though I cannot see the future, in times like these it enough for me to know that He can and that He will not lead me astray. Truly I can do all things through Christ and in Him I will never find myself falling short of what I need to fulfill His present command.

           “For no word from God will ever fail.”  Luke 1:37

“For the glory of God!”

Angels on duty

   I am convinced that God's angels are always on duty in our lives and are more involved in our day to day busyness than we think. It seems to me that we see and interact with them more than we realize. I believe these angels do not always appear in their angelic form, but quite often take on the appearance of a human to come to our aid in times of need. Most often these “angels” appear during a prayer for just the help they bring.

   Whether in a strange man whose stature nearly exceeds 7 feet suddenly showing up and offering much needed guidance, whose  piercing eyes make you uncomfortable under their gaze and who upon receiving help for you stands a distance off watching over you until you are safe again, than disappears into the airport corridors to not be seen again. Or a white haired elderly man showing up at a time of fear, whose very presence supplies you with peace and reassurance, a man who stills your hearts fears with just a glance at his kind face, who stays near watching over the situation until it is solved, supplying you with a feeling of protection and of God’s immanent presence. It might even be so little as a friendly greeting or a smiling face in a time of insecurity and fear. I firmly believe all such instances were angels appearing on the scene to reassure, encourage, embolden and bring me peace.

     God is true to His promises to never leave us, never forsake us and never ignore us. To always guide, protect, reassure and comfort us, supplying us with such in our times of need. Be careful how you treat those who show up in unexpected and leave just as suddenly, you never know when you are in the presence of an angel.

“For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;  they will lift you up in their hands…” 

Psalm 91:11-12

“For the glory of God!”