Find rest, O my soul, in God alone

You know, there are many lessons that can be learned from watching or experiencing rain. I went to Texas A&M for my bachelor’s degree and College Station is famous for crazy weather. There were many times that I would walk in class and not one dark cloud would be in the sky, but an hour and 20 minutes later it would be a downpour. I learned to always have an umbrella whether there was a 20% or a 90% chance of rain, and not to wear flip flops if I thought that it might even sprinkle. The weather in Zambia is interesting because it’s scheduled by weather patterns. For instance, from about November to early April it’s rainy season. In May cold season comes, then windy season, hot season and finally rainy season again. That being said, the rainy season will be coming to an end in the next few weeks. Now, I must say that it doesn’t rain every minute of every day all over Lusaka. It’s as if pieces of Lusaka get rain at some point during the day. Meaning, Kanyama...

On March 5th, I left Zambia on a plane to America so that I could attend a VERY important person's wedding: Jenny Davis-Brower (One of my best and closest friends). After two weeks in the states, I got on another plane to head back to Zambia. It was my first time to fly all the way to Zambia alone--and what an adventure it was. Out of those of you that know me personally, I KNOW you know how quick and short my stories usually are… I mean, I get straight to the point, eliminating ALL unimportant details. :) So, as always, here is my quick, short, brief explanation of a day of miracles… While I was sitting on the plane in Houston, I spoke with Susan Kendall, an amazing colleague and my boss' wife, and had her book me a room at the Yotel (a very small hotel room located in Terminal 4 of the Heathrow airport). After an inter-terminal bus, an hour wait through customs, and a brisk walk to the Yotel, I checked in, and walked to room 22. I'm not so sure you can actually ca...

Lusaka is the capital city in Zambia. There are cars, buses, round-abouts, restaurants, one movie theater, a few coffee shops, stores, supermarkets, etc. It's a city. In the midst of the hubbub of city life, there are compounds where orphans live. They may only see the city life a few times a year if they are lucky. Notice I said, "see" not "experience". They see the buses, the cars, the shops or the market place, but they never get to experience a sit down restaurant, or a movie at the theater, or shopping for groceries. They live on what their guardian can provide for them and most of the time it isn't something the city offers. This is the city of Lusaka. Where the wealthy drive in nice cars and live in nice homes, and where the less fortunate walk for miles and live in the gutters. But this is one city. Not one of many. Most of Zambia is the "real Africa." What people in American call "The Bush" and people in Zambia call...

About two weeks ago, I was able to go up to the hilltop where the Legacy Center will be this coming summer. We have a water tower on the top and I climbed it to see the view. To say the least, it was breathtaking. The trees are full of life and you can see miles and miles of land. I started thinking about the possibilities and exciting things the Lord is planning for the orphans this summer. The word beauty kept playing over and over in my mind. To me, that land is breathtakingly beautiful. It shows the perfect hand of God and I can picture him creating all of creation with a smile on His face because He knows the amount of people that will stand on each hill and be in awe of what they see. Of course, I've been to the Grand Canyon, Colorado, the Swiss Alps, and seen a number of beautiful pictures of creation.... The orphans have seen slums. They've seen drunkards abusing them or their friends, the mud and dirt of the compounds, the unroofed and broken homes and a n...

a conflict c arried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air. g active hostility or contention; conflict; contest a struggle If 10 different people were asked the meaning of the word "war", I guarantee pieces of their answers would be exactly the same, but their own personal thoughts and experiences would be different. For instance, if I walked up to a WW2 or Vietnam Veteran, their experiences would definitely differ from a firefighter, or a teacher, or someone living on the streets. But war is war. It's a battle. It's two or more sides of opposition. It's negative energy. It's the work of enemies. There is war happening in every country, on every continent, in every city, in every household, in every person every day. Seen and unseen war. Battles between a married couple or siblings. Battles with major companies in competition. Internal battles with addi...

I want you to meet two girls that are very dear to my heart. They were both placed in my mom's group when she came during week 8 of Camp LIFE in the summer of 2010. I remember meeting them personally at the end of July, and seeing how much they impacted my mom that week. I want you to get to know them a little bit more. Here are the stories my mom recorded about both girls this past summer: Lillian Banda is 13 years old and does not attend school. She lives in a two room house and sleeps on the floor with a blanket. Both of her parents have died, so she lives with her grandmother. Her younger siblings live elsewhere because her grandmother can not afford all of them. Lillian does not go to school because they can’t afford it. She said that sometimes her grandmother provides foo d and sometimes she doesn't. We are so afraid she is selling herself to have food. When I took her in to the prayer room with Pastor Mutale, he confirmed what we were afraid of and has s...

I realized yesterday that I haven't attached any pictures to my blogs yet. I did post some on facebook, but some of you may not look at those so I hope these paint a picture of my experience here for you. Here is our house- Villa 38- in the Mulungushi Village. It's a very nice and safe area here in Lusaka. It's feeling more and more like home! :) We spent our first Sunday in Africa at the Tree of Life where we house over 100 children permanently. They live in houses that the Lord has graciously given them through giving hearts of people all over America. Each home allows for 14 children, who live in the most dire circumstances, to have a second chance at living the life God intended for them to have. The orphan community is a place where broken souls are restored. The children have house parents who live, cook, and raise the c...