Repeating Verse in my Head

Yes, you may think I'm talking about a Bible verse, but I actually keep hearing Tom Petty in my head. You heard me right. Tom Petty. And not just any lyrics, but one where he keeps repeating a sound, so I kinda hear a small whine in it. Which actually fits how we may be feeling, too. There's a bit of a silent whine as we too are in this process of waiting.

I don't know about you, but patience has never been my strong suit. As a matter of fact, when I was a teacher of elementary students, that was my constant prayer, to have patients for certain students. Now, if you are one of my former students reading this, then I'm not talking about you, I promise :)

Really, this is no shock. Western society has spoiled us. Yup, said that too. We're spoiled individuals. Every aspect of our society is immediate self-gratification. If I'm hungry and if I have money (and even if I don't but have a credit card) I can get pretty much whatever I want within minutes. It probably won't be healthy but I can satisfy my sense of hunger. And think of Starbucks. I can have coffee at any time of the day, hot or cold, latte or mocha; some of us have even replaced our old fashioned coffee makers for Starbucks because it just doesn't taste the same. Or even better, we have those fancy coffee makers where I can make one perfect cup of any flavor at any time of the day. Is it obvious I like coffee?

So back to Tom Petty and waiting. Once we started praying about serving in Zambia in the fall of 2012, things seemed to move fast. God was quick to confirm that this was what He wanted us to do and then Peter's trip in January made it even more obvious that we both had a place there to serve. Then the next step, after the holidays and telling family we began to purge our house and prepare it for selling. And except for some little odds and ends, we are ready. We could pack up our tent stakes in less than 3 months. As a whole, it seems that things have moved pretty quickly.

Now has come the last phase before we go and that's fundraising, waiting and Tom Petty. I keep hearing him whine it in my head....

Looking to others to help us now financially was not as easy as we expected it to be. We actually have to talk to people, send out letters, remind them that we are in need of their support once they have verbally agreed to commit. We had no idea how slow this process could be.

We are ready to go, have I already said that? We could actually leave in about a month as quick as the houses are selling in our area, but yet, we now sit and wait. Casting Crowns sings a song called "Somewhere in the Middle" and in the chorus it says, "Just how close can I get Lord to my surrender without losing all control. Fearless warriors in a picket fence; Reckless abandoned wrapped in common sense."

That's where I feel we are now. Ready to break down the picket fence and tired of being stuck in common sense. We have to remind ourselves constantly that to just sell it all and go will only sustain us for a year or maybe two, but as we are looking at a life change, that won't work. We need to accept
that we can't do this on our own means.

In a society where we are taught to be self-sufficient and have complete independence, this can be good but also bad. We are having to breakdown everything we've been taught to follow and remember that we can never be completely independent and self-sufficient. It's a fallacy, with one clean swoop it can be here today and gone tomorrow, but God and His character is constant. We are learning to throw off that self-sufficiency and independence and become completely dependent upon God's provision and the Spirit moving others to joining us in the work that He is doing in Zambia.

Abraham and Sarah tend to come to my mind often as I look at the promises God made to them. I think it was about 25 years in between the promise of Abraham's descendants to number the stars and the actual birth of Isaac. I hope we don't have to wait 25 years, but I then am reminded in Hebrews 11 that everything is by faith.

So even though I can hear Tom Petty in my head whining, "It's the waiting that's the hardest part," I also know that by faith we will wait on God's provision of our daily bread.

What about you? By faith, will you also join us in Zambia and help provide our daily bread? We would love to have you walk alongside us as we prepare for Zambia.

Please visit How Can I Help Part II in our blog to find out more.

This is my favorite time of year for multiple reasons. For some people, they love that the weather warms up and they can go to the pool, or in Frisco, Texas, the Snow Cone Lady opening becomes a constant talk. But for me, it's more than that. There's a buzz of Zambia that permeates our home.

For the last 4 years, it has focused first around Camp Hope and although Peter and I will miss this year's Camp Hope, it is not far from our home. For the last two weeks, our house was filled with 500 craft supplies that will be used to share the gospel to these orphans in the next few weeks. Short-term missionaries will begin arriving in Lusaka, Zambia, and will serve throughout Chongwe Village with this outreach program and it is always fun to see the preparation that takes place here stateside.

Then there are interns that will live in Zambia for the next 60 days. They departed this week and although mine and Peter's role with them this year was limited compared to the last two, it was still a blessing to get to sit with Rebecca and Molly and hear their stories and see the excitement they were experiencing as they prepared to depart for Zambia this past Thursday. That was a little more difficult as I almost took the minimal amount of savings we had and put the girls and I on a plane to go with them to serve as mentors for them. It is a constant reminder that we need to wait on God's timing and not our own.

Even though each of these buzzes are transitioning in and out of our home, there is one that has been dear to my heart for the last 3 summers and it will begin its 4th summer starting Monday. As silly as it may sound, it is our VBS at our home church, Preston Ridge Baptist. Now if you've ever participated at a VBS, you may understand, but others may just see this as a time for crafts and games. Not at ours! Yes, we have the crafts and games but more importantly, our church has partnered beyond their already present commitment to Every Orphan's Hope and they have graciously allowed us to use their VBS as a platform to make known the HIV/AIDS orphan crisis in Zambia.

In the last 3 years, we have raised money for our chicken farms in Chongwe Village, sent children to Camp Hope and helped build a My Father's House home. I have always been amazed at how our children have donated change, gone out and sold lemonade or just requested donations from family and friends and made them aware of the work Every Orphan's Hope is doing. My numbers are an estimate but based on my memory over the last 3 years, these children have raised somewhere between $5,000-$6000 for the various facets of the ministry. Amazing!

I can't wait for this week. Our new project is always something close to my heart which is the sponsorship of the children in My Father's House homes. We will be raising money to help provide the support that these children only receive from sponsors who are everyday people like you and I. They will focus on a specific house in Chongwe Village of Hope and learn about each of the 8 children in this house. God has given me such a great opportunity to teach these lessons to these children and I just love this one. Knowing that young children will be able to connect with kids their same age and do something that will directly impact their lives. They inspire me each year.

I always walk away from this week saying how AWESOME God is! He can speak to the heart of children and inspire them to move in a way that we never expect. As adults, we are always looking at our bottom line. What do I benefit from this? How will this really make a difference? Not the kids, they know it will make a difference. Helping provide a home, food, clothing, education and love from a family creates an eternal impact on a child's life. They see it! On top of that, these children live in a home that has Jesus Christ as the foundation. What better investment is there than that, and eternal investment into the heart of a child that is raised to know who Jesus is and have the opportunity to accept them as their Savior. That's the difference.

This week will help fulfill that eternal impact and I am just overjoyed by our home church that will host such an opportunity to allow children locally to hear the gospel and also they are helping orphans all the way in Zambia to be raised in a home filled with the love of Christ. All I can say is God is AWESOME!

His Plans becoming Our Plans

For the last two years, Pine Cove Christian Camp has been an integral part of our growth with the Lord. Yesterday, we arrived at family camp and it has already proven to be just as uplifting as it has been in the past.

One of the things we have always loved about Pine Cove is that we get to sit with young adults and share not only our walks with the Lord, but also hear about theirs. Each year, I find that we learn something from the young adults here that have given up their summer to serve families.

Last night, our first night here, I had the opportunity to visit with a young woman whose camp name is "Wigs." As I was sitting on the porch watching the girls swing with a few other friends, she just sat down beside me and said, "So tell me about you." Wow! Where in the world would I start. I tried to do the basics, family, ages, what we do, but that's not really who we are. It was impossible to not share what God has been doing in our family for the last 4 years, so of course I did my best to condense it in as short of a version as possible. She had lots of questions, but eventually a moment came where I could ask about her.

What an amazing story she had! As she shared how all her life she was pursing her plans to be able to financially sustain herself, God laid on her heart that she was to pursue music instead. It wasn't her plans as she always felt that accounting was her route and that music was just an interest she had. Then she said something that I will never forget.

I asked her, "So, after you graduate, what do you plan on doing? Will you teach?"

Her response was so simple. "Well," she said. "Since this wasn't my dream it really doesn't matter. It was His plan for me so I will just follow that plan and see where it leads. If it leads to teaching, great. If not, it doesn't matter as long as I'm following."

Whoa! She essentially said the same thing that our family is working through right now. Here this young lady in her 20s is following the Lord in a way that we are just embarking upon in our 40s. Who knows what she could accomplish for His kingdom with this perspective.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Well, she's in her 20s, her parents probably support her, doesn't have a family, etc... I can see that way of thinking. But wouldn't it be amazing if we all just took a moment and didn't look at our lives through the perspective of what "I" can accomplish but changed it to what "He" can accomplish. She's not someone who is saying I'm not going to work, what she is saying is that whatever she does, it will be for His Glory and not her own.

Since last week, many of you have read our blog or seen our Facebook announcement and I'm sure there have been mixed reviews. The spectrum ranges from "God is amazing in what He can accomplish!" to the other end of "Have they lost their minds?" In all honesty, we've been on both ends of that spectrum too and anywhere in between.

But what Wigs said spoke the same truth that Peter and I are feeling. Right now, this is where He is leading us and our deepest desire is to follow wherever He leads, wherever or whenever that may be. None of us know tomorrow, but we do have this moment to live each day, wherever we are to further the kingdom through our words, actions and love for others.

What do we know today? We know that God has developed in both of us a servant heart and that heart has been led to serve orphans and widows in Zambia. It would be much easier for us to do this at home, but this isn't what He has led us to. He is growing us, in our marriage, our family and in our faith. He has asked us to meet Him in Zambia to be His instruments and serve Him daily. Wherever that leads, we want to follow. Since it was never our plan, as Wigs said, "It really doesn't matter, we'll just follow His."

If you would like to walk alongside us in prayer or even financial support, please visit our other pages on this blog. We also encourage you to visit the Every Orphan's Hope website to learn more about the ministry we are preparing to join as full-time orphan care missionaries.

Above all, may each of you use this day to reflect the light of Christ in all you do. May God continue to grow each of us for His ultimate glory.

"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - I Corinthians 10:31