a walk to beautiful

i wanted to share with you, this documentary about the fistula hospital we will be going to while we are in ethiopia...it is 52 minutes long... but i know, if you take the time, you won't regret it one bit once you hear the stories...see the faces...feel a new sense of what reality is for so many...these girls... they are so young... so beautiful... i wish they could see it... know it... believe it... my prayer is that we may be able to, for just one day, encourage them and speak these truths to them... that they matter, that they have value, they have purpose, they are loved with an unfailing and never-ending love... and that they are, so very very beautiful.

t -14 days

it seems pretty unbelievable that in just 14 days from right now, Haley and I will be hours into the first leg of our trip....our adventure... our mission to follow God into a new place that He has brought us to... a new experience... a new work that He has created for us..."which He prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them." Eph.2:10     we will leave this frozen, beautiful, blanketed with snow wilderness...home...comfort... safety...a place where I continually hear Him speaking of His loving kindness and faithfulness into my life and reminding me from where He, by His grace, has brought me...that declares of His provision and blessing on us daily... a place where I can hear Him whisper His plan for our life and believe the promises that He has lain out for me, that I only need to reach out and take hold of... we will be on our way to ethiopia... to poverty...to brokenness ...to true need and desperateness...to the mother and fatherless and abused...to the unknown.

there have been so many things I feel like God has been teaching me, showing me and shining a light on... to prepare us for this trip and for the work He has for us upon our return...like...we live in and with excess and that we really need to examine our reasons and motives for what and how much we have... that there is ministry right here that God has given and placed us in as well as in front of, that we need to stay excited about...and not let that passion that He originally placed within us wane like a fire that starts to burn out and that turns into  quickly smoldering coals... that we are to love with abandon all those that God crosses our paths with and enter into their suffering and love them right there in it...or enter into their joy, with thanksgiving and praise... that like Peter, we should seek out direction from Jesus,  before we just jump out of the boat into a raging sea and storm because of our impatience or impulses or selfish ambition...but when He gives an answer,  be quick...  be bold and step out and obey and follow so that we can get right next to the Savior... even if that means walking through some hard stuff... I want to be beside Him... walking down the path less traveled and chosen...it struck me that in that boat, 11 other Christ followers sat and watched and weren't compelled to move and ask to go to the Savior as well... i kinda don't want to be  in the perceived "safety" of the boat...the safety of what's comfortable, the safety of what's expected, the safety of the norm... cause that's not where walking with Jesus usually is...the Savior never once chose the easy button...so whatever walking with Jesus looks like...wherever that takes me...whatever He has previously planned for me... that's where I want to remain.

God's also been teaching me what entrusting Him with one of the most precious gifts and blessings of my life looks like.

this girl. this joy of my life. Haley Joy.

i have so many hopes and dreams and prayers for her and her life. Phil.4:8, Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 3:3-4, Proverbs 31 are some of the scriptures i'm claiming for her... here is a poem i came across by an unknown author...how i want her to be set apart and to not just fit in...

"when everyone is stomping and marching and going to the right. "this way!" they are shouting with all of their might. and you feel like you could, you would, you should, even if it means you are misunderstood...

i hope you don't fit in.

i hope you dance in circles around and around, twirling and jumping with your feet off the ground. i hope you sing a song that's different than theirs, and break out a game of musical chairs...

i'm glad you don't fit in.

when everyone is yellow from head to toes..neon yellow, mustard yellow and on and on it goes. they want you to be yellow and look all the same, but you are blue and red and you feel  shame.

i hope you don't fit in.

i hope you take your blue and your red and add purple too and green and orange and every other hue. i hope you paint your world with colors every which way, putting hearts and rainbows and love on display.

i'm glad you don't fit in.

when everyone jumps in without thinking twice, they turn to you and say, "here's some advice. do what we are doing because it's the in thing to do. what's there to think about? you know you want to."

i hope you don't fit in.

i hope you go on your own way blazing your own trail. not afraid to move on and let your dreams set sail. lead with your heart and keep your eyes open wide. let love and compassion and joy be your guide.

i'm glad you don't fit in

when everyone uses words that should have remained unsaid and you feel the negativity start to spread. when ignorances and prejudices come out to play and the feeling of hate begins to give way.

i hope you don't fit in.

i hope you shine like the light that i see in your eyes and know that you don't have to compromise. integrity and character are things to hold dear. as well as a pure heart and a conscience that's clear.

i'm glad you don't fit in.

when everyone feels entitled and demands  become great. and gratitude is lost and nothing's worth the wait. when others are stepping stones to get to the top. and they turn around hoping they'll see you flop.

i hope you don't fit in.

i hope you treat others with kindness and respect and know how your actions directly affect. lift others up and up and you will soar too. and to yourself and family, always be true.

i'm glad you don't fit in.

yes, this world will tell you which way to go. who to be, what to think and what you should know. it will want you to take the easy route, but then you wouldn't know what life's really all about.

i hope you don't fit in.

as you fly through the sky on your very own cloud, know that it's ok not to follow the crowd. different is good; different is allowed; you really should know, your mama already is so proud.

i'm so glad you don't fit in.

so as Haley and I leave our wonderful winter wonderland and step out into this unknown, divine assignment in just 2 weeks, will you pray for us and with us?

for health, safety, boldness, great trust and faith, provision, eyes to see, hands that help, a heart that feels and for these 2 lives to never be the same.