Re2:

Xander

Check out this sweet face and consider blessing this family and their little boy on the other side of the world who has no idea there is an entire group of strangers rallying for him! Check out his story here....http://liferearranged.com/2011/11/make-christmas-count-for-xander/

Construction Day 1

Yesterday was a pretty easy day. I filled my thoughts with these truths and prayers....

 

"God, give me a desire to be healthy"

"Help me to feel satisfied with healthier choices"

"God, I recognize I am made for more than the vicious cycle of being ruled by gods. I need to eat to live, not live to eat. So I am asking for Your widsom to know what to eat and Your indwelling power to walk away from things that are not beneficial for me."

"Lord, help me to find fullfillment in my relationship with you"

"God has given me power over my food choices. I hold the power - not the food. So, if I'm not supposed to eat it, I won't put it in my mouth."

So basically I had each of these as a "note" on an app called "Bug Me" on my phone and set them up to come up as a notification every hour or so. Choosing to eat healthy wasn't hard at all, I even skipped my afternoon trip to the (free) fountain drink machine at work!

 

Going to the gym was also as easy choice thanks to some new work out shoes I wanted to wear and not having cable at home! I am a sucker for the Bachelor and Bachelorette. I usually watch it on hulu the day after it airs but since last night was the finale and I really wanted to watch it live. Since I don't have cable my best option was to go to the gym when the show starts and do cardio for as long as I could. I made it for 90 minutes. The show is two hours so I missed the end (I got my mom to watch it for me while I was on the phone and she gave me a play by play).

 

I started my cardio on the bike. I knew I was planning on staying for as much of the show as possible so I didn't want to overdo it. I did an hour on the bike then moved to the treadmill (or as my dad called it today, the "walking machine" ha!) where I did week one's 30 minute walk/jog routine from the book "Run for God"....getting ready for Race for the Cure in October! When my legs were sore while I was doing the jogging part I kept repeating these two things in my head, "I'm not in pain, I'm just sore" and "God, give me YOUR strength right now b/c I feel like stopping!"

I tracked the food I ate and the exercise activities I did on "The Daily Plate" website and app. I highly recommend doing this!

 

All in all I'm happy for the way my first day went. All thanks to God!

 

Temple Rebuilding

I know I dropped off the face of the earth again, with Africa, Guatemala and adjusting back and forth to/from the two, well, I've just been busy, but I hope you've kept up with my Africa blog, not sure when I'll get Guatemala posted!

 

Any who, this blog is going to serve as a "temple re-building" blog for awhile. What does that mean? Well, I hate the word "diet" but clearly I need to get in a better eating and exercise routine so I decided if our bodies are the temple of the Lord, this temple needs some construction! I'm embarressed to God at my lack of taking care of His temple. So I'm going to try to do a short blog post daily to track the temple rebuilding progress to help keep me accountable.

 

One thing I've learned from being in other cultures is that a lot of people rely on God for their daily survivial. In America we tend to think we can survive without God because we can "provide for ourselves" but there's something about standing in front of a weeping woman with 3 kids in her dirt floored home hearing her say she prayed that morning that God would provide food and you've come to bring her food that changes you. I want to believe God the way that woman does. I want to trust Him in all areas of my life. I want to turn to Him when I'm weak and vulnerable.

 

It was easy for me to eat well and exercise a few years ago...I had a personal trainer keeping me accountable ALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY (cause he was my boyfriend, too). Seriously, it was on my mind all the time and I worked out sometimes twice a day. I didn't turn to or have a need for God, I put my trust in man to help me reach my goals. Ultimately that got me no where really. So as a way to help me become more intimate in my relationship with Christ I'm going to put my trust in Him and fill my time in prayer and reading His truth to help me on this journey. I want to turn to Him daily... even hourly to help me when I struggle with eating choices and not wanting to exercise the same way that lady trusts Him for food.

 

Two books I've started reading for encouragement are, "Run for God" and "Made to Crave." I love both of these biblical perspectives on weight loss and exercise. As corny as it may sound, I've written truths from these books, scriptures and prayers on stickie notes on my iphone and am setting them as "reminders" throughout the day as encouragement. I don't need a personal trainer to keep me accountable, I've got God! His strength and power are much more powerful than man's! 

 

So I'll mention some of these truths, scriptures and prayers and be talking about my daily walk with God on this journey on days to come.

 

P.S. - Two extra motivations - possible cruise in September and Race for the Cure in October! 

Who wants to join???

Samaritan's Purse

I know I dropped off the blog planet but with tax season, Africa coming up and a tornado just a few miles down the street, well, I've been busy!

 

This past Sunday I was blessed to be able to serve with Franklin Graham's minstry, Samaritan's Purse. I was by some friends to provide them with feedback on my experience serving with them and am sharing that on here, as well....

 

Here is my detailed recap of serving with Samaritan's Purse on 5-1-11. I tried to pay close attention to all the details because I know many of you support this ministry or are considering serving with them so I want to make sure I cover everything. In a nutshell...they are amazing to work with!

 

When we arrived at the headquarters location we completed paperwork and were given Samaritan's Purse tee shirts that had to be worn or we would not have been let into Pleasant Grove. We had a briefing session going over OSHA guidelines, etc and then were split up into teams. My friend Lisa has served with them the day before so she already had a team that I joined. Our team leader was an experienced volunteer from North Carolina.

 

Samaritan's Purse helps people that request their help. My team of about 30 or so went to Benny and Renee Jackson's home. We had to drive our own cars or carpool to get to their house. Benny was at work. He works at the BJCC. We had to show military our ID's to get into the Pleasant Grove community. Mrs. Jackson shared her story with us when we arrived and we prayed for her. A team of ladies went in her home and packed up stuff from her kitchen, living room and a bedroom that was salvageable. Another group cleaned up debris from her yard, swept her porch, etc, and the men with machinery experience cut trees and put tarp on her roof. She did not want us to pick up the any of the roofing, debris, broken glass, etc in her home because she wanted insurance to see the mess. The smell inside her home reminded me of the Guatemala city dump.

Many of the homes around her were completed leveled. Her home appears to be salvageable, though. Mrs. Jackson plays the piano at her church. She had never heard of Samaritan's Purse but she was greatly appreciative of us and called us her angels. We spent a lot of time talking with her while on site and she and I are now Facebook friends. Our team leader allowed a few of us to walk around the neighborhood for a few minutes to pray with people, as well. On Saturday Kaitlyn, Madison, Jett, Zeke and Elly helped me make packets of supplies (fruit cups, water, soap, wash rag, snacks, etc) on Saturday afternoon and Lisa's 5^th grade Sunday school class made prayer cards for the packets. So we gave the people we met one after we prayed with them. So great that the body of Christ worked together to get these packets ready for delivery!

 

We approached a site and a lady was standing on the pile of what once was a home. We asked if it was her home and she said, "No, it used to be my mothers. She died along with my aunt." We spent a few minutes talking with her. Her father and uncle were at the home and were alive. Her mother was a Christian, but she isn't sure if her aunt ever trusted Christ. We prayed with her. Her name is "Aunt Kay."

 

After we walked around we met back at Mrs. Jackson's house and everyone on the team signed a leather Bible and we presented it to her and prayed with her before we left. We went to one other site for about 30 minutes where we picked up yard debris from a man's home. I did not get to interact with him much because we weren't there for long and were in a hurry because we had to finish at 5.

Serving with Samaritan's Purse was truly an amazing experience. I knew that I wanted to serve individuals victimized by the storm but wanted to make it personal. Serving with this organization certainly allowed for that. I canceled my annual Steeplechase trip to Nashville for next weekend so I can serve again. I'm even considering working just a ½ day on Friday so I can join a team Friday afternoon.

 

Teams meet up at 7:00AM and 1:00PM. For more information visit www.samaritanspurse.com. You can make a financial donation or sign up to volunteer on their site, as well. If anyone from out of town would like to come and serve next weekend you are welcome to stay at my house. Items I think are most needed include: rakes, brooms, trash bags, baby food and supplies, clothing, tarp, medicine etc. I think they most organizations have plenty of water, Gatorade and snacks.

 

Please pray for all the victims, including the Jacksons, and for wisdom and strength for those that are helping.

Coming to America

I am so thankful that the Turners and the Fannings have been so open throughout their whole adoption process. I know I want to adopt one day and the road to adoption to long, painful, stressful, expensive and extremely emotional, but Friday night I was able to witness the most joyful occasion: their arrival home! This was a great reminder that there is joy at the end of the tunnell! 

There were at least 50 people at the airport Friday night for their 10:00PM arrival at the Birmingham airport. The Fannings FIVE kids were there with their grandparents, cousins and friends and tons of  the Turner's friends and family were there. Some of my friends that I went to Guatemala were there along with other friends from church. We were all so anxious for their arrival.

I tried to record their arrival on my iPhone but I wasn't able to zoom well so it wasn't a good video. Thankfully, though, my trying to record kept me occupied so I didn't become an emotional wreck! I'm sure everyone on their flight through they were famous because we totally looked like the paparottzi (can't spell). Elly slept through the whole arrival. Apparently she sleeps a lot. That is both precious and sad all at the same time. For the first two years of her life she probably never got a peaceful night of rest. She probably never slept on a clean bed. She never had Dora the Explorer sheets and monogrammed pillowcases. But she is at peace now! The look on her face while she sleeps in her mother and sister's arms is breathtaking.

Zeke is a ham! He is so full of joy and you can tell that little man LOVES his daddy! He loves to entertain, too. What a joy! I can't wait to watch him grow up!

To me, one of the most beautiful things about Friday night was the vision of people in Birmingham, AL welcoming 3 little Africans with open arms. There are people in this part of the world that won't allow black people in their homes and these two families have spent MONTHS and THOUSANDS of dollars to bring these precious African kids into their families. This is a beautiful picture of God's love for us. We are all sinners and deserve death but God sent His only Son to come into this world and pay the price for OUR sins so that we can live with God for eternity. John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." Praise God for stiring the Fannings and the Turner's hearts to care for orphans and to go to them and bring them home. Praise God there are 3 less orphans! 

For more pictures:

Homecoming....

Coming Home

Beds

Ruth seems to be doing better (malaria). She has been staying at My Father's House and getting some much needed rest. Rebecca notified me yesterday that Ruth and her sisters will be staying there for awhile and possibly even permanently. I don't know the specifics as to why they are staying there but they live in extreme poverty so the possible reasons are endless. Pray for their mother. I can not imagine what it would be like to have 4 daughter that I couldn't provide for.

 

One of the items on her "Faith List" is for more beds. They are $175 each (not sure if this is for a bunk bed or single). Now that these girls are staying with them indefinitely I am sure more beds are needed now more than ever. If you would like to help purchase a bed for Ruth, Faith, Mercy or Joyce you can make a donation at www.myfathershouseintl.org.