Taste and See

Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!! –Psalm 34:8

This verse continues to pop into my mind this week as I settle back into life on the island. I have spent the last month and a half tasting and seeing His goodness and I am so thankful for it!

It was absolutely incredible to be home with Ben and my family over the holidays! I was so dry for some community time with people that knew me intimately and could speak into my heart out of a real love for Jesus…and He provided!!

My time at home was a time of fundraising and it is always so humbling and incredible to see how the Lord provides, we went from needing $2,500/month when I got there to just under $800/month as of a few days ago! I am learning that fundraising will always be a part of being in ministry-and at first that really bothered me. Now I count it as an incredible privilege to watch from the front row as the Lord shows up and draws people into our ministry, always surprising me along the way! I’m so thankful to be a part of this body of believers that makes our work in these kids’ lives possible!

Our January Training with Young Life was also a time for me to be reminded of his goodness. I took a class called Systematic Theology with an awesome husband/wife duo who teach at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I take my seminary classes as a part of Young Life! I was a bit hesitant going into this class having heard how much work it was but it was really wonderful! They had such a passion for Jesus and for the Scripture that I couldn’t help but be caught up in that passion myself.

And then it hit me: This is God’s Word. The Word of God…and I get to read it!! Of all the tastes God has given me of His goodness, this has to be one of the most special. Ben and I are finding new delight this year in going through the scripture slowly but surely day-by-day…it’s amazing the things you see when it is no longer a chore to get through!! Oh Lord you are so incredible and we’re thankful you speak to our heart this way!!...Now if I could only get my kids to see it this way J

And finally I reached the island. I’ll confess, I was sort of dreading it. The idea of missing Ben, my family and friends, and trying yet again to find community in different culture almost made we stay on the plane. But once I took the step to get off the best thing happened…and that is the reason for this title:

• I was welcomed by Amy and her family-friends of mine who work with Haitian refugees here.
• I stepped out into the most beautiful weather one could ever imagine (it’s finally cool here)!
• I got eight messages from people asking if I had landed yet and "where was I?"
• I drove into my little settlement, moved back into my sweet little apartment and felt at home and peaceful 
• And I was tackled by screaming girls and boys when they got off the bus and saw I was back!

...And my heart was strangely warmed because I knew I was home. God was here and had brought me here…and that is more “home” than I could ever ask for!

 

Here's to 2013...A year of tasting and seeing the goodness of our God!!

Never too late for Thanks!!

          In the craziness of November I never got the chance to write down all the things I am thankful for, so despite the fact that we are well into the Christmas season, I’m going to rewind for a bit!

          I love the end of the year -and the beginning and middle :) - but I really love the end because it gives me a chance to look around, reflect on the happenings of the past year and spend some time with the Lord-thanking Him for all the provisions and blessings He laid upon me that I would never have given thought to if I didn’t take a moment to stop running.

          2012 has been quite the year. That is an understatement, it has been the best and hardest and most wonderful year of my life. It started with the loss of my special grandmother, included some humbling provision of the Lord through all of you, the birth of a sweet niece, a proposal by the man I love, the realization of an incredible dream of loving kids on Eleuthera, the ups and downs of life as a missionary, storms, parties, struggles, joys and about a million other amazing things that God has blessed me with this year! They are not all the most fun thing, in fact some were horrible…but they all worked together to create the year where I have had to hold close to Jesus in a way I never understood before…and in that, He who works all things to the good of those who love Him, did just that!

          I am thankful for the births and deaths this year because it reminds me of the gift my life is and that when this one ends the next will be even better!! I’m thankful for times when God released an overflow of provision and times when the money wasn’t there because it reminds me that He is all I need and all I need He will provide! I’m thankful for times where I was lonelier than I thought possible and time when I felt more loved than ever because it reminds me that God is both always enough and created us for intimate relationships which He, in His grace, brings us to and blesses! I’m thankful for my new Bahamian friends and the kids I get to share life with here-I have never been more humbled by my inadequacy to love them as they deserve to be loved nor by how far that simple broken love can go when the Lord uses it!!

          Everyday, the rest of our lives, Ben and I will be thankful for the fact that God has allowed us, along with many of you, to be a part of His very special plan for the people of Eleuthera! That He gave us the chance to depend on each other and Him in a way we’ve never had to do before…and that above all else He came at Christmas time because He loves us desperately and was willing to give His life away so that we (a broken people) could have the privilege of an intimate relationship with our Lord. Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it!

          If you are like me and haven’t taken a real timeout to reflect and thank God for his hand in your life this year…take some time today or tomorrow to do it! You may just find the Christmas season a little sweeter because of it!

Messy, Crazy, Beautiful Life!

The Lord is good!...and faithful, and merciful and loving and about a million other truly wonderful things! I am so thankful for the prayers ya’ll have been lifting up on our island’s account – He has heard them and honored them…let me tell you how!!

Last week we began leader training at Windemere High School (insert loud cheers here!) with two teachers that are going to be leading Campaigners next semester for their high school! I am sooooo excited to watch the Lord’s faithfulness in this. Pray that we have awesome training time and that this couple falls more in love with the Lord through their own involvement with Young Life- that they will then have more to share with kids!

Last week we also had our first club time at the school! Because of the distance between the settlements and the fact that the kids don’t have much mobility outside of the school bus, we have decided to do Campaigners (small groups) by settlement (so 6 different Campaigner’s groups for Central High School) and club during lunchtime at the school! The club situation has been one we have been praying for and studying and trying to figure out the best way to arrange it so the maximum number of kids would have the option to come. Then two Mondays ago at my girls’ choir performance I met a teacher, Shalini, who is very passionate about these kids and loves the Lord. She offered to let us meet in her room (Room 11) on Fridays to have club! I think she would make an incredible leader, pray that she gets a great introduction to Young Life and that as we get to know each other better, I would know that she’s a good fit and she would see the Lord in what we’re doing and be open to being even more involved with it!

I also got to brave my first hurricane on the island the week before last-my kids say I’ve got my “Storm-cred” now, haha! It was just Allie and I in the back room of my house and, while it was not an experience I really want to repeat again, there is something beautiful about knowing that the only thing there was to do was snuggle up with Allie in the dark and pray my heart out. There in an intimacy with the Father that only comes when you feel a desperate, tangible need for Him and His power and comfort-what a blessing for me to be allowed to see my need for Him this way! In the midst of the storm (literally) I found peace the only place it really exists, with Him! Pray with me this week for that same peace to make the way into the hearts of our brothers and sisters up north that are still dealing with the aftermath of that same storm!

Also hurricanes have an effect on the bonding of people, when there’s no power, people don’t go to school or work, everyone sits outside and visits. I met more new people after the hurricane than in the past four months combined!!! You guys had been praying for real friends for me and that is one of the ways I see the Lord answering prayers distinctly right now! I have a family that I am real true friends with on Spanish Wells! Amy and Michael have four adorable kids, and are here working with the Haitian Refugee camps. They get it. It is such a blessing to be with them, their sweet love and trust in the Lord shines in their life and their familiar culture makes their home a restful place when I get to make it over there. Also I have gotten to spend some time with Pam and Gregory’s daughter, Amy. She and her husband Paul are just a couple years older than Ben and I and are Bahamian, but feel very familiar from their extensive time in American culture. Amy is funny, funny, funny and I am so excited to get to know them better!!

God is good to me beyond all I could ask or imagine. We still have struggles, I have a lot of fundraising to do this December before I can come back and continue the work we have begun here, it’s still hard to be away from my fiancé at this point in our lives, and I am still being humbled everyday by how much I still have yet to learn about life here…but it’s not overwhelming. When God is in the center of all of it, the struggles mix in with the blessings and what comes out is a messy, crazy, beautiful life that we are learning to love more and more everyday. Thank you for praying with us, for loving us, for loving this island and walking with us as we continually build this ministry and attempt to create a “life-well lived” among the people we’re here to serve!