Wednesday, July 30, 2014

And the journey begins...again...

It is that time to be headed back to the other side of the world... where lions roar...zebras gallup...hippos wallow...and little brown eyed cuties play!

The last few days have been filled with a lot of good memories.  I have spent time with dear friends.  I have enjoyed lots of beach time.  I turned another year older.  I have gotten rid of more earthly possessions getting me down to one closet.  Details have been worked out and God has provided above and beyond what I could ask or imagine.  Dear friends have blessed me with a little cottage to stay in with an amazing view... other friends let me borrow their tacoma which introduced me to a love for standard pickups!.... I have enjoyed many dinners at friends houses and many hours of fellowship sharing stories of my recent adventures.

So as I sit in the Honolulu airport watching the sun go down with palm trees swaying in the background... I am sipping on a Starbucks mocha cookie crumble (birthday reward!)  Waiting on my flight to the US mainland to board.  This is the 2nd flight of 6 and 2 hours into a 52 hour journey of airplanes and airports.

So stay tuned... more adventures are soon to come!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

My heart will go on...

Yes I know this is the sappy love song from the movie Titanic but as I am thinking of all the things that God has done in my life over the past year... I can't help to think about all of the heart break... the joys... the trails.... the laughable moments... the failures... along with the successes. 

In this journey I am called to be on at the moment... there are lots of things that I struggle to put into words especially for human understanding.  Everytime I get to that point where I just verbally can't explain what my head and heart are going through I reflect back on the passage in the old testament where Mary finds outnshe is going to be the mother of the messiah.  Scripture says... and she pondered all of this in her heart.  How did Mary do this?  Unwed mother... not to mention trying to explain who the father was.... in a culture where she should have been stoned to death for this.

One thing I have learned about God is that He is true to his word... He does not lie.  When it says he will bind up the broken hearted and set the captives free... HE will.  God's grace is sufficiemt for all and even when I can't verbalize what is going on in my heart I know my heart will go on as Jesus  has a plan and purpose in everything he allows to happen.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

When the music fade...

When the music fades and I am coming back to the heart of worship... it is all about Jesus....

Sometimes in the stillness and quietness... when all the distractions have been taken away... it is humbling to be reminded that this life is not about me! 

Please excuse the ramblings for the next few moments ... but there have been some things said recently that have been like a two edge sword... one side cutting in to take out the junk and the other used to heal and restore life.

My dreams... desires ... goals... ambitions... and thoughts should never take precedence  over God's calling on my life.  The sense of entitlement that often creeps in of I deserve... or I want...  or I should... has to take a back seat to what the Lord ultimately wants.  It is a strange place not knowing what the future holds but having complete trust on the One who holds my future.

In one way this is a new concept for me to grasp because I am a planner... I want to know what is coming next... but I am holding onto the fact that God has yet to let me fall.  I am excited to see what He is about to do.

So to the question that has come up recently... what's next?  Besides Africa for the next 3 months... I am unsure.  It is unnerving... exhilarating... scary... and exciting all at the same time.  I am not one that thrives on the unknowns but my God gives me the strength to go through these dark passageways. 

I have my thoughts on what I would like the next step to be but as I was reminded recently... any time we put our priority before God's will we are setting ourselves up for destruction.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Isn't it GRAND

Pictures from the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, and Route 66 from Arizona!










Local beauty: Signs, fruits, and flowers
















Sights in Sweden...




The only person that carries a "legal" weapon!  Had to get a picture.



Singin n the rain

Swedish trolls!









Pictures from the Netherlands...

On the way back from Uganda... I spent 30 days going halfway around the world.  At the time I was unable to post picts on the blog from my camera due to not having a computer.  So as the timing is right and my pictures from the camera are on my computer... and I have a working computer... I am updating  from my travels... so here we goooooooooooooooooo.....

A cool fountain in the neighborhood.
Going over a little world geography


Having fun in town!