2013 in pictures.

beautiful memories

Thank you all for your prayers and support! 

I am safely home and am thankful to be with my family.

I will share stories soon:) 

much love. 

Mozambique Update

Well it has been a couple weeks now and so much is happening that I am struggling to find all the words to express and explain it. Thirty minutes on the Internet is not that much time:) so please bear with me as I try to get it all on here as quickly as possible.
My weeks are SUPER full and they are very beautiful.
Multiple times a day I am filled with joy and thankfulness about being here. It is a wave of joy that comes when I sit in the prayer gazebo, dancing in church, eating dinner next to Carlito, seeing Manuel's smile, or laughing with the iris girls.
I am filled with thanksgiving!!!
So thank you for your prayers and support. I continue to notice God's good gifts that cam through all of you!
There have been hard moments and lots of tears moments- but that is just a part of life on this side of heaven. I'm sure there will be moments where I share about specific stories, kids, or just the ins and outs of my routine here, BUT today I want to just be bold with my words and share what God is doing in my heart.
My prayer as I write is that God would stir up your spirit so that you eagerly set your hope in him and that you would know his great love FOR YOU!

If you journey with me on a regular basis you already know that the past couple years have been a struggling season. Before I left for Pemba I was reading through some old journals and altered books and I came across a page that said “Shake what is shakable in my life.” And God has been answering that prayer in my life. I notice how he has broken me down and left me with only a foundation: Jesus Christ!

I knew that God was inviting me into a season of restoration and being built up IN HIM and FOR HIM.

These past couple weeks I have been noticed how God is re-installing foundational truth in me. I have been asking that God would allow the truths to seep deep into my being so that they become part of me.

You haven’t really learned something until you can walk in it. So that is my prayer that God would continue to teach me and that I would come back to TN and be fleshing it out through my life.

In the beginning of my time here God continued to ask me if I trusted him. He did this in multiple different ways but mostly by brining up subjects in my heart where I had really tried to control on my own. He has continued to bring up these subjects and gently asked me if I would lay them down and trust him more.

All of that sounds simple, but in it is also central to a believer being fully about Jesus and his kingdom. Without trust there is no being in love with God. And without love there is no willing sacrifice.

And that is my desire,

to be a living sacrifice.

I am living in more and more joy while being here. There are hard moments, but I am just pressing into them with Jesus. I know that every moment is a chance to grow and be prepared for the next season of my life.

Last weekend I went on IMMERSION. Emersion is when three mission school students get dropped off at a Mozambican mama’s house.  This was a funny experience and I left with so many stories. We got to Mama Senea’s house around noon. We ate, prayed, and played with lots of children. All of her extended family came by to meet the visitors who were staying with her. As villagers passed here house they all yelled “Akoonya, Akoonya!” (Which means “white person, white person”). Out mama spoke Makua, which none of us did: ) so it was a wonderful cross cultural experience. I learned so much! I learned some small Makua phrases, how to cook over hot coals with no water, how to cook rice in coconut milk, and so much more. We just sat in the red dirt together and became friends. That night, all of us slept in the same little room that was attached to the side of her mud house. I slept on top of a tarp on the ground right next to my mama. The students ended up waking up around one in the morning because we were covered in tiny black ants that were biting us. I just laughed: ) cause what else can you do with something like that. We brushed them off and prayed together and just tried to get some sleep. The whole point of the experience is that you get immersed in Mozambican culture. I wouldn’t say I was immersed but I would say I was stretched and I learned a lot from a Mama Senea.

Thank you all for your continual prayers.

I struggle a little with these updates because there is just so much happening that I do no know what to share or what not to share.

Please pray that Mozambique is covered in peace. There has been some violence concerning that upcoming elections. On Sunday night, Iris starts a 24hour prayer vigil for the country.  I have had no fear about being here! God is so good and I am thankful to be here during this time: )

Please pray that I would continue to notice what God is teaching me and where he is leading me.

And please pray that I would continue to be centered on Jesus and willing to receive whatever he chooses to give me.

Much love! Cannot wait to hug you all!

Pemba: Week One

I am in Pemba:)

OBRIGADO JESUS! 

and I am learning little bits of Portuguese which I am so thankful for:)

I just wanted to update you all a little on how its going to far...\

and it is going wonderfully!

I arrived- everything went smoothly! I got my bag and nothing was stolen out of it, there was lots of joy as I traveled. I was able to sit next to a man named Kevin on my flight to Joburg and I was able to share about what I was going to do in pemba and about my love for Jesus.

From that moment on I have known that God is asking me to just be faithful in planting the seeds. 

and so that is what I am doing. 

I love my room. I live in House of Peace. There are five girls in my room and 35 girls in our House of Peace area. We are all so different- but have really been enjoying each other:)

Thank you for your prayers. 

I especially have been thankful for my bunk buddy. Her name is Nicola and she is from England. We have lots and lots of laughter- but she is also really bold in speaking truth and reminding me of God's promises- and friends like that are always the best!

Jesus has already been so faithful to meet with me. And he is doing so much in my heart.

I have loved seeing the girls and some of the boys. There is a lot of joy in re-connecting. Please continue to pray that I have wisdom in where to invest time and energy.

Heidi has been teaching quite a bit and some thing she always says is "LOVE LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING."and I like it because then the question always comes, "what does love look like in this moment?" 

There are some sporadic thoughts and processing. 

Love you all. 

Thank you for your prayers.

Internet time is up.

Much love! 

Prayers as i head to Pemba

 This place is so special to me and place matters to God.

Thank you all for your prayers and financial support as I head to Pemba, Mozambique.
I am very excited and expectant about what is to come.
Mostly I feel so thankful that God is letting me return and SO VERY LOVED by his extravagant gift.
Here are some ways that you can pray for me while I am gone>>>

Practical things:

-That travel would go smoothly and there would be no tax put on what I am bringing into Pemba.
-That I would have wisdom and discernment on where to invest, who to love on, how to split my time between my housemates, the kiddos, school, and other ministry opportunities.
-That there would be unity in our house.

Some Names you could be praying for:

-Manuel- I met manuel five years ago. He will be nine or ten now. Please pray that Jesus fills him up and that he knows that he is loved, pursued, and NOTICED.
-Farda- I love this girly:) Her name means pearl, which I think is very fitting. Please pray that she would be rooted in the love of Christ and that his perfect love would free her from all fear!
-Garlito- I am so excited to see this little friend! Garlito is about seven now. Please pray that as he grows he would be a man who seeks after God and is aware of his presence and joy.

Reality things to pray for: 

-Please pray that I would full receive God's identity for me everyday as I wake up. So that I can freely offer up what I am to him and to the people around me. This also frees me from comparison and fear.
-Please pray that God, in his love, would continue the good work in me and make me more and more like Christ.
-Please pray that my heart would be stretched, not inflated.
-Please pray that I would learn even more about clothing myself with the humility of Christ.
-And please pray that I would rejoice in being a laid-down lover of Jesus Christ, My LORD and Savior.

I want to sit at the feet of Mozambican children, women, and men. 

but more importantly

 my desire is to sit at Jesus' feet, to learn from him and dwell in his presence. 

CANNOT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH. 

...AND I AM GONE.

see ya in August!

Dependence

 Lent is about death in the dependence. 

Easter is about the life and victory found in total dependence. 

We are not intended to stay in the cocoon forever.

Release the fear.

Three years on the Mountain top.

I just finished three years on the Mountain. 
It has been long, hard, and really beautiful. 
Every year passes faster than it should. Each contains lots of memories and lessons learned.
This year I thought a lot about who I was when I first visited Covenant- and how God's faithfulness has made me new and brought restoration into my life. 

This was a year of friendships- new ones and broken ones. 
A year full of missing family

 and at the same time loving where I was at.  .      .    . 

It was a year full of studying subjects that I dislike 

but being diligent anyways.

This was the year that God re-awakened my heart to the need for prayer,

his presence,

his love for me, 

and his reminder to receive his good gifts.

This year I was invited back into the church calendar. 

I participated in advent and was filled with joy during Christmas. 

For the first time in my life I fully engaged in lent. 

Maybe LENT was the most significant season of this past school year. 

I use to pride myself in being independent.

an individual- not in need of others.

And for the first time I fully leaned into my Jesus- relying fully on him.

I felt strength and his spirit move in me.

I noticed how freeing and humbling it is to live as a dependent. 

I walked away from my junior year at Covenant being so aware of what God has been doing inside of me. Over the past three years God has ripped down what was shakeable in my life and reminded me that my foundation is CHRIST ALONE. 

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 

but wholly trust in Jesus' name."

I am heading to Seattle and Hope to see my beautiful family.
I am already so thankful for the next three weeks of my life.
After that, I head to Pemba, Mozambique.
This year is not over- and as much as it is important to notice seasons it also important to notice how God moves in one continual story.
We are just part of his story and he can use us as he choses.

God is so faithful

and I want my whole life to be about him.