african lesson from today... learn how to drive stick shift...because all of the speed the light vehicles are.
anyone up for teaching me?
just warning you ahead of time..i used to think that driving stick shift meant that the gear was down between the seats instead of on the steering wheel. i just didn't understand what could be so difficult about that...
anyways. yesterday is going in the history books as one of my favorite days of ALL times.
it all started when we met this woman at the kids ministry workshop in saturday. her name is tirza and she runs homes of hope. she is just this beautiful older woman with this lovely curly gray hair. she is always wearing some beautifully, simple outfit, she smells like sunflowers and she has the sweetest most gentle spirit about her.
basically she is what i want to be like when i grow up.
anyways she invited us to come tour her home and talk with her over breakfast.
we had no idea what we were getting into when we agreed :)
i was already super excited considering this woman does basically what i have dreamed of doing for so long. she just loves people...every person and she has made a home for them to be loved in. what an amazing job.
so we woke up pretty early to take the truck for it's check up. which posed a problem right away because it was freezing and it only fit two people. so mark had to taxi us to the restaurant..
i was first to arriva to vooi's restaurant which in afrikanse means "flea's nest" ha ha ha
anyways it was back behind all of these buildings...i finally found it and walked in. everyone thought i was crazy, i looked pretty out of place. so i just sat down and started journaling...it's what i do when i get nervous ha ha. but i kept looking around which probably made them think i was like reviewing them or something...oh well.
finally mark and becky came. we moved to a seat in front of the fire which did nothing because i was still shaking the entire time. we ordered some warm drinks....chocochinos for them and a good old hot chocolate for me. but when it came, it was like miniature...for real with a mini cookie included.
so i took a sip.
at first it tasted like hot water...
and then becky tried...
and then we discovered it was expresso.
so mark stole some to make his coffee stronger, and then i took a few gulps in a desperate attempt to wake myself up and warm myself. and then they brought me the real deal and so i got two mini cookies out of the deal :)
then tirza came with clifford america. that's really his name. his mom works at the home and so he just kind of hangs out with tirza a lot. he's a real cool kid, we like having him around.
anyways. she kissed us on the cheek and sat down to join us.
we talked for hours. we heard her beautiful story of how she ended up owning these three homes that just bring people in and restore them and teach them the love of christ.
the first one started when she had seen a woman walk into their prayer meeting and the lord had told her to speak to her. and she did and the woman just broke and from there she knew that she was to do this.
all of these amazing stories!
how she got the names.
her homes are in walvis bay. this one little boy used to sing about jonah to her all the time. it was his favorite song. and they live in a town called walvis bay which means whale bay...and then God spoke to her one day and said that she would help to bring the city to repentance...just beautiful.
oh and once a woman had just said the words hope house israel to her. long before she even thought of these homes. and when she had been on a trip to israel right before she was to open the first home, they were visiting a home on the coast, and the owner was named hope house! so she carries this woman's photo in her purse to remind her that God always speaks to us.
anyways just an endless amount of amazing stories that come from this one woman. and all she kept saying is that it's nothing i have done except to be faithful to get on my knees and to go when he asks.
wow
so simple but so often missed by so many of us.
and she just spoke into our lives.
it was so encouraging to hear the story of someone with a heart so similar to mine. to know that something so big can happen if we will just follow the gentle leading of the holy spirit.
anyways. then the most amazing thing happened. for me anyways....
she read this verse, zephaniah 3:17 for mark and my heart just stopped.
2 years ago, God gave me a scripture from that same passage.
zephaniah 3:20 "you'll see it with your own eyes, all those painful partings turned into joyful reunions, God's promise"
it was what i needed to hear at that time and it directed me to take certain steps in certain relationships ha ha but i was convinced that the verse promised if i gave it up it would come back to me.
but how often we see thins so differently than God sees them!
so like a year later, when things were not coming together as i had hoped they would according to that scripture promise, i went back to it. i was really struggling with some people and just really being tested and feeling pretty alone at this point.
well, i thought, i had never read anything above it. so i read the verse before it
zephaniah 3:18-19 "the accumulated sorrows of your exile will dissipate. i your God will get rid of them for you, you've carried those burdens long enough. at the same time i'll get rid of all those who've made your life miserable. i'll heal the maimed, bring home the homeless. in the very countries where they were hated they will be venerated. on judgement day i'll bring you home- a great family gathering. you'll be famous and honored all over the world."
wow i thought, so maybe it didn't happen the way i had planned, but God was bringing lost friends and things back into my life, and he was dealing with all of those things that were hurting me so deeply. so now the promise meant something totally different in my life.
and then i got to bible college, and i was sitting in chapel one day just so thankful that God has pulled me out of my own path and onto his and that i was so very blessed to be in this beautiful season. and i stumbled on this passage again.
but this time when i read it he was reminding me of my calling. how he would bring in the lame and the sick and make me known among the nations and have this huge family gathering. so once again, the promise was new.
so yesterday when tirza read 3:17 i couldn't believe it,
zephaniah 3:17 "your God is present among you a strong warrior there to save you. happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs"
and it was just so beautiful. here i was in this little african cafe with this wonderful woman and a missionary and a close friend just hearing the birds chirp and watching this fountain run and God was making a promise fresh to me yet again!
it was just lovely the way that he has spoken to me so intimately and so personally.
so finally we rapped it up and moved on to tour the homes. but when we got there, the first thing she wanted to show us was their prayer room. and well, we were there for quite some time.
we had this peaceful time of worship and prayer. they prayed over becky and i who left the room with tears streaming down our faces. it was just so gentle and encouraging and they just spoke so much life into us.
then we met stella, the woman who runs the home for the teenagers. she shared her powerful testimony. she was saved in a night club when the holy spirit spoke to her. she had two sons and no where to go and he eventually led her to tirza...the woman she had met on the steps at their prayer meeting, and then their testimonies colided and well that was just the kind of story that sent chills up an down my spine.
to be honest, i am not sure if i was just cold all day yesterday or if i had constant chills from the amazing stories that just flowed from the mouths of these Godly women.
stella just showed us around and told us how they had been blessed with donations to renovate.
keko the monkey came out...and forced nugat out.
i considered murder the night before...something peaceful, but i just couldn't go through with it. and he had to come out...and well as usual it was awful ha ha. but it's all for the kids...i think we should spare them
then for the best part.
jonah house, the house for the kids!
here is where i have no words, so i am going to just copy my journal entry from last night...which didn't come close to capturing it either, however it's probably the best that i can do.
june 30, 2009
"today was amazing. i have not been that blessed in so long.
those kids just blessed me!
so open and loving and full of jesus.
they came running and crawled right up into our laps full of laughter and life!
so thankful. i just couldn't stop smiling and just loving on them!
and when they prayed for us.
holding their little hands and their little heads bowed, they just prayed the most beautiful, genuine prayers.
prayers to bless us and protect us under the blood of Jesus and thanking you for the beautiful day and for us and that they could have fun and asking that they would not be selfish.
and oh they just wanted you to see them and to love them and where they live and play and to "make photos' they were just so precious and they blessed my heart so much. i won't ever forget them.
i just could not stop sobbing.
they have such big hearts.
and they quoted so much scripture!
and to have the privilege to pray over them.
thank you lord for my call"
well that was just a little of that beautiful place.
when you walked up to the door you could just feel the love and life and joy coming out of that place!
and we walked in and they just swarmed us! so alive!
and there was this one little boy in a dark bedroom. and i looked in and i asked if i could come say hi. and he nodded. so i waled to him and he just put his arms up and never wanted to let go of me!
oh and they just wanted to be near you...as much as they could.
it just made my heart so happy.
and joshua, this little boy with down syndrome, just so full of joy. he even prayed for us! they all did.
and the people there just love those kids so much!
the most beautiful thing for me was getting to see what i have always dreamed of in real life.
i want that for as many kids as i can give it to!
home full of life and love and sunshine and joy and peace and laughter!
wow
i just love my calling.
i just love people. that's all that i can say.
they have so much inside of them and i just love to hear their hearts and really really love them.
anyways. the pictures will speak a lot louder than any of my words.
last night kim made us homemade raviolis. she even rolled the edges with this little decorative thing so they looked real ha ha. they were delicious. real garlic bread and meatballs and she even shredded the mozzarella cheese herself! oh kimpossible at it again.
and then we watched "beat the drum" this amazing movie about aids in africa. and had some good girl time with kim....good times ha ha she is just so funny!
so far today, while most of you back home are still asleep, becky and i have been spoiled with blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes and we are currently planning the kids chior devo.
so i have go to fun
thanks for reading.
sorry it's not so funny today, but it is my hear which should be equally as entertaining :)
more to come
anyone up for teaching me?
just warning you ahead of time..i used to think that driving stick shift meant that the gear was down between the seats instead of on the steering wheel. i just didn't understand what could be so difficult about that...
anyways. yesterday is going in the history books as one of my favorite days of ALL times.
it all started when we met this woman at the kids ministry workshop in saturday. her name is tirza and she runs homes of hope. she is just this beautiful older woman with this lovely curly gray hair. she is always wearing some beautifully, simple outfit, she smells like sunflowers and she has the sweetest most gentle spirit about her.
basically she is what i want to be like when i grow up.
anyways she invited us to come tour her home and talk with her over breakfast.
we had no idea what we were getting into when we agreed :)
i was already super excited considering this woman does basically what i have dreamed of doing for so long. she just loves people...every person and she has made a home for them to be loved in. what an amazing job.
so we woke up pretty early to take the truck for it's check up. which posed a problem right away because it was freezing and it only fit two people. so mark had to taxi us to the restaurant..
i was first to arriva to vooi's restaurant which in afrikanse means "flea's nest" ha ha ha
anyways it was back behind all of these buildings...i finally found it and walked in. everyone thought i was crazy, i looked pretty out of place. so i just sat down and started journaling...it's what i do when i get nervous ha ha. but i kept looking around which probably made them think i was like reviewing them or something...oh well.
finally mark and becky came. we moved to a seat in front of the fire which did nothing because i was still shaking the entire time. we ordered some warm drinks....chocochinos for them and a good old hot chocolate for me. but when it came, it was like miniature...for real with a mini cookie included.
so i took a sip.
at first it tasted like hot water...
and then becky tried...
and then we discovered it was expresso.
so mark stole some to make his coffee stronger, and then i took a few gulps in a desperate attempt to wake myself up and warm myself. and then they brought me the real deal and so i got two mini cookies out of the deal :)
then tirza came with clifford america. that's really his name. his mom works at the home and so he just kind of hangs out with tirza a lot. he's a real cool kid, we like having him around.
anyways. she kissed us on the cheek and sat down to join us.
we talked for hours. we heard her beautiful story of how she ended up owning these three homes that just bring people in and restore them and teach them the love of christ.
the first one started when she had seen a woman walk into their prayer meeting and the lord had told her to speak to her. and she did and the woman just broke and from there she knew that she was to do this.
all of these amazing stories!
how she got the names.
her homes are in walvis bay. this one little boy used to sing about jonah to her all the time. it was his favorite song. and they live in a town called walvis bay which means whale bay...and then God spoke to her one day and said that she would help to bring the city to repentance...just beautiful.
oh and once a woman had just said the words hope house israel to her. long before she even thought of these homes. and when she had been on a trip to israel right before she was to open the first home, they were visiting a home on the coast, and the owner was named hope house! so she carries this woman's photo in her purse to remind her that God always speaks to us.
anyways just an endless amount of amazing stories that come from this one woman. and all she kept saying is that it's nothing i have done except to be faithful to get on my knees and to go when he asks.
wow
so simple but so often missed by so many of us.
and she just spoke into our lives.
it was so encouraging to hear the story of someone with a heart so similar to mine. to know that something so big can happen if we will just follow the gentle leading of the holy spirit.
anyways. then the most amazing thing happened. for me anyways....
she read this verse, zephaniah 3:17 for mark and my heart just stopped.
2 years ago, God gave me a scripture from that same passage.
zephaniah 3:20 "you'll see it with your own eyes, all those painful partings turned into joyful reunions, God's promise"
it was what i needed to hear at that time and it directed me to take certain steps in certain relationships ha ha but i was convinced that the verse promised if i gave it up it would come back to me.
but how often we see thins so differently than God sees them!
so like a year later, when things were not coming together as i had hoped they would according to that scripture promise, i went back to it. i was really struggling with some people and just really being tested and feeling pretty alone at this point.
well, i thought, i had never read anything above it. so i read the verse before it
zephaniah 3:18-19 "the accumulated sorrows of your exile will dissipate. i your God will get rid of them for you, you've carried those burdens long enough. at the same time i'll get rid of all those who've made your life miserable. i'll heal the maimed, bring home the homeless. in the very countries where they were hated they will be venerated. on judgement day i'll bring you home- a great family gathering. you'll be famous and honored all over the world."
wow i thought, so maybe it didn't happen the way i had planned, but God was bringing lost friends and things back into my life, and he was dealing with all of those things that were hurting me so deeply. so now the promise meant something totally different in my life.
and then i got to bible college, and i was sitting in chapel one day just so thankful that God has pulled me out of my own path and onto his and that i was so very blessed to be in this beautiful season. and i stumbled on this passage again.
but this time when i read it he was reminding me of my calling. how he would bring in the lame and the sick and make me known among the nations and have this huge family gathering. so once again, the promise was new.
so yesterday when tirza read 3:17 i couldn't believe it,
zephaniah 3:17 "your God is present among you a strong warrior there to save you. happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs"
and it was just so beautiful. here i was in this little african cafe with this wonderful woman and a missionary and a close friend just hearing the birds chirp and watching this fountain run and God was making a promise fresh to me yet again!
it was just lovely the way that he has spoken to me so intimately and so personally.
so finally we rapped it up and moved on to tour the homes. but when we got there, the first thing she wanted to show us was their prayer room. and well, we were there for quite some time.
we had this peaceful time of worship and prayer. they prayed over becky and i who left the room with tears streaming down our faces. it was just so gentle and encouraging and they just spoke so much life into us.
then we met stella, the woman who runs the home for the teenagers. she shared her powerful testimony. she was saved in a night club when the holy spirit spoke to her. she had two sons and no where to go and he eventually led her to tirza...the woman she had met on the steps at their prayer meeting, and then their testimonies colided and well that was just the kind of story that sent chills up an down my spine.
to be honest, i am not sure if i was just cold all day yesterday or if i had constant chills from the amazing stories that just flowed from the mouths of these Godly women.
stella just showed us around and told us how they had been blessed with donations to renovate.
keko the monkey came out...and forced nugat out.
i considered murder the night before...something peaceful, but i just couldn't go through with it. and he had to come out...and well as usual it was awful ha ha. but it's all for the kids...i think we should spare them
then for the best part.
jonah house, the house for the kids!
here is where i have no words, so i am going to just copy my journal entry from last night...which didn't come close to capturing it either, however it's probably the best that i can do.
june 30, 2009
"today was amazing. i have not been that blessed in so long.
those kids just blessed me!
so open and loving and full of jesus.
they came running and crawled right up into our laps full of laughter and life!
so thankful. i just couldn't stop smiling and just loving on them!
and when they prayed for us.
holding their little hands and their little heads bowed, they just prayed the most beautiful, genuine prayers.
prayers to bless us and protect us under the blood of Jesus and thanking you for the beautiful day and for us and that they could have fun and asking that they would not be selfish.
and oh they just wanted you to see them and to love them and where they live and play and to "make photos' they were just so precious and they blessed my heart so much. i won't ever forget them.
i just could not stop sobbing.
they have such big hearts.
and they quoted so much scripture!
and to have the privilege to pray over them.
thank you lord for my call"
well that was just a little of that beautiful place.
when you walked up to the door you could just feel the love and life and joy coming out of that place!
and we walked in and they just swarmed us! so alive!
and there was this one little boy in a dark bedroom. and i looked in and i asked if i could come say hi. and he nodded. so i waled to him and he just put his arms up and never wanted to let go of me!
oh and they just wanted to be near you...as much as they could.
it just made my heart so happy.
and joshua, this little boy with down syndrome, just so full of joy. he even prayed for us! they all did.
and the people there just love those kids so much!
the most beautiful thing for me was getting to see what i have always dreamed of in real life.
i want that for as many kids as i can give it to!
home full of life and love and sunshine and joy and peace and laughter!
wow
i just love my calling.
i just love people. that's all that i can say.
they have so much inside of them and i just love to hear their hearts and really really love them.
anyways. the pictures will speak a lot louder than any of my words.
last night kim made us homemade raviolis. she even rolled the edges with this little decorative thing so they looked real ha ha. they were delicious. real garlic bread and meatballs and she even shredded the mozzarella cheese herself! oh kimpossible at it again.
and then we watched "beat the drum" this amazing movie about aids in africa. and had some good girl time with kim....good times ha ha she is just so funny!
so far today, while most of you back home are still asleep, becky and i have been spoiled with blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes and we are currently planning the kids chior devo.
so i have go to fun
thanks for reading.
sorry it's not so funny today, but it is my hear which should be equally as entertaining :)
more to come
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