Lunch with an Ugly Catfish

As much as I love my kids, at times I really need to take a break from them. Any parent can relate to this I'm sure. Last night we pulled ourselves away from the kids and went out as a staff to the Jazz kitchen here in Indianapolis. Thanks to Portia who recommended the place! It was a perfect night out. You might now appreciate a full description of what I ate for dinner, but after weeks of spaghetti, chicken nuggets, pizza, fried chicken, and other kid friendly foods, I crave good adult food :) the baked brie cheese with crackers and fruit, strawberry walnut salad, and creme brulee hit the spot! My ears were able to take a break from "He is my light" and "Teach me to dance," to listen to some awesome live jazz music as well-a real treat for all of us. Especially those on the team who are musicians and miss their instruments. The lovely night was followed by a lovely day off today. Laura and I enjoyed a picnic on a dock in my backyard, during which we were joined by two giant ugly catfish. Gross! We do have the most interesting experiences some days. Despite knowing the nasty critters were around, we dove into the lake and swam to the other side and back. I've craved a day like this all summer and it was WONDERFUL. I wish it would last a week. Lydia woke me this morning and first thing told me about how they fed the fish and she touched a catfish last night. I assume this evening's activities will include some of the same. Can't wait!

Hayrides, Tornadoes, and Fireflies

Today we find ourselves in Portage, Indiana. The church has graciously allowed us to stay in farmhouse on the church property and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After a rough week, I am feeling more rested and encouraged. Wednesday evening I was able to catch up in person with a former professor and friend from Moody and yesterday I had the joy of going out to breakfast with a family I nannied for in Chicago. What a blessing it is to see familar faces and catch up with old friends. Last night some wonderful members from the church took us all on a hayride around the farm....so fun! What farm stay would be complete without smores too? The children enjoyed roasting marshmallows (aka lighting them on fire and blowing them out), and smashing their charred sugary goodness between graham crackers and chocolate. We ended the night by singing several devotion songs around the campfire. I always so enjoy being able to break away from our usual schedule and do different things with the kids. The chance to swing on the tire swing, rest in the hammock, shoot baskets (from the picnic table) and enjoy the kids all together was a breath of fresh air. Two of our managers are visiting right now as well and it's good to have new people around :) After the kids went to bed last night we sat down as a team to play dutch blitz, only to be interupted by a tornado siren. The children were roused out of bed and we all headed to the basement for 15 minutes where we spent the entire time explaining tornadoes and other natural disasters to the children who had a million questions. Thankfully that was as exciting as things got and we were able to play a rousing game of dutch blitz and catch some fireflies in a jar before bed...

Standing on the Promises of God

It's been a hard week. I am dealing with a lot and tonight after talking with a friend I realized that I have been trying to bear a big burden on my own instead of giving it to the Lord. I have turned my palms upside down and dropped it in God's lap. He's big..he can handle it. :) This friend also reminded me that I need to stand on God's promises. So I have spent this evening looking up many of God's promises. I've claimed them and prayed over them and tomorrow for devotions in the morning I plan to go over each promise with the children. I would like to share just some of those promises with you here. No matter what you are going through right now remember to stand on the promises of God and don't let the troubles of this world get you down!


Standing on God's Promises
God promises that he has already given us the victory-1 Corinthians 15:57-58
God promises that there is power in the blood- Isaiah 53:5
God promises to be with us wherever we go – Joshua 1:9
God promises that all our sins were forgiven at the cross – Psalm 103:2, 3, 12
God promises to guide and direct us – Proverbs 3:5-6
God promises to hear us and answer our prayers -Psalm 55:16-17
God promises to give us everything we need -Philippians 4:19
God promises to be our strength -Psalm 27:1
God promises to bring justice for the oppressed – Psalm 146: 7-9
God promises to give us boldness -Proverbs 3:26
God promises his peace will guard our hearts -Philippians 4:6-7
Jesus promises to make us new and set us free from sinful habits -2 Corinthians 5:17
God promises that when we seek Him we will find Him-Jeremiah 29:13
God promises that his word will endure forever -Isaiah 40:8
God promises to give us wisdom if we ask -James 1:5
God promises that whoever believes in him will not perish
Jesus promises that he is preparing a great place for us and he is coming back for us -John 14:3
God promises that if you humble yourself before him he will lift you up -James 4:10
God promises that if we ask anything according to his will he will give it to us -1 Jn. 5: 14-15
God promises that he will never tempt us beyond what we can bear -1 Corinthians 10:13
God promises that if we love our enemies our reward will be great -Luke 6:35
God promises that nobody can snatch us out of his hand and we can never lose our salvation
-John 10:28

Yodeling on the street???

I really want to buy some Amish furniture. I realize this sounds random, but the thought has crossed my mind several times this week since we are in Berne, Indiana-Amish country. As I have walked down the quaint streets in town I have enjoyed watching families in their buggies on the way to buy groceries or play at the park. It's not every day you see horses and buggies tied up outside the cafe's and hardware stores in town. One day I walked down the street and heard an old Christian hymn being blasted through the speakers on the main street. The next day it was yodeling coming out of the speakers. I couldn't help but laugh. You know your not in Chicago anymore when...It's been a very pleasant stay and I'm sad to leave today, but I'm sure the next church is excited for our arrival and wouldn't be too happy if we didn't show up. This morning I am laying in bed sick as my boys headed to the lake to have some fun. I'm pretty bummed (I may have even shed some tears in my bed), as I was really looking forward to this morning. I know I needed a quiet morning to myself to rest though. Hopefully I can kick this darn virus quickly. May this weekend be fun and restful for everyone out there!

A Fun Fourth

Fourth of July was a rainy firework-less day here in Indiana, but we ended up having the opportunity to take the kids on a backstage tour through the Indianapolis Children's Museum. I hear it's one of the best in the country after experiencing it myself I would have to agree. I was blown away by the technology and creativity, not to mention the great carousel. In the Star Wars special exhibit we actually got to see the real prop starfighter from the Clone Wars movie. Pretty cool! The children got to experience life in Egypt (including participating in an Egyptian baby blessing contest), as well as a jourassic park style dinosaur exhibit (with real dinosaur bones!).

Screams at Kentucky Kingdom

I'm super tired after an eventful day but wanted to say a few things before signing off for the night. Today was a special treat for the kids. We took them to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville for a day of thrills and screams. I was apprehensive about how brave they would be and who would last without throwing up their lunch. Thankfully nobody lost it and they were all brave enough to try the rollercoasters. It's a good thing I had to be the brave auntie and go with the girls or I probably would have opted out of the rollercoasters. After they tried it once they were hooked. My stomach hurt by the end from laughing at the girls. I'm not sure who screamed louder though, me or Peace. What a place to spend my first day back :)

Right now I am staying with Brittany (my roomate from Moody). What a blessing to see old friends and share our new lives! She and I trained together to be teachers and now we are both teaching and making new memories. I praise God every day for good friends.

A few days with the fam...

The last two weeks found me crossing hundreds of miles from Tremont, IL to Chicago, to Atlanta to Salt Lake City, to Idaho, to Eastern Oregon, to Portland, to Medford, to San Francisco, to Vegas, to Memphis, to (hopefully) Louisville, KY (if this plane ever gets here). I have enjoyed a whirlwind vacation visiting many friends and family. In Tremont I was able to spent two quality days with Maria (a dear college friend), walking in the cornfields and enjoying small town life. In Chicago I wandered from favorite coffee shop to favorite restaurant to favorite hang out places with Rachel and Heather (more friends from college). What a nice treat to just walk around Chicago and enjoy it with friends without worrying about homework or getting back to school. In Boise, Idaho I got to see my great grandmother and grandpa who I haven't seen in several years. My family met me there and we embarked on a long roadtrip. After meeting all my dad's cousins and other random family members and seeing all the places my dad remembers from growing up in Meridian/Boise area we headed to the little town of McCall where I got to have breakfast with Ralene..another dear friend from school. There I had the biggest pancake and cinnamon roll I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to spend some of my vacation sitting on a dock by a lake and I got my wish in McCall (for about 40 min). It was nice while it lasted. We headed from McCall to Joseph, Oregon where we have dreamed of backpacking for years. None of us are really in shape to backpack right now but we went on a short hike to get a magnificent view of Wallowa Lake. There we stayed with friends and got to explore the small town where people still leave their doors unlocked and trust each other. From there we headed to Portland briefly and saw several friends.....you know who you are and it was SO GREAT to see you! On the way home we stopped and I got to see Josh (my big little brother) at Camp Tadmore where he is working for the summer. I can't believe they can get him to wake up at 6 every morning and clean toilets until lunch. Unbelievable! On to Medford for 3 days where I caught up with friends and family and enjoyed sharing stories and pictures with my church and all the people who have been so supportive. My wonderful sister woke up at 3:30 this morning to take me to the airport and I have been on three flights and am waiting for the fourth..to get me to Louisville, KY to meet up with my team who I miss so much! I better wrap this up before the internet times out....Ang

Help Stop the Sex Slave Trade

Dear Friends,

Perhaps you are aware of the horrendous business of the sex slave trade in countries such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Thousand of young girls are being forced into prostitution and sold for their bodies. I have long had a burden for these girs and lifted them up in prayer, but have not had a way to directly be involved. This week I was talking to my dear friend Maria and found out her friend's cousin is doing something about this. She has written beautiful songs and made a cd to help raise money to stop this sex trade. I have purchased this cd and am very moved. I would like to encourage you to check out the website (http://www.canyouhearus.org/), read the stories behind the songs, buy the cd, and most importantly spread the word to your friends, families, and co-workers. This is something we can do to help. 100% of the proceeds from sales of the cd go to organizations like Shared Hope International and International Justice Mission. Please spread the word...we can do something to stop this.

A brief update from Tennessee...

The internet has been sparce lately. My apologies for the lack of posts. So much has happened that I would love to share too! The past few weeks have been a blast. I have fallen even more in love with Tennessee than I was before. We spent three days in Franklin right around the corner from New Hope Academy, where I taught last year. I so enjoyed being able to show the kids were I taught and walking around downtown made me so happy.

We recently took the kids to the Memphis Zoo, which they LOVED...and so did I :) I've been to a lot of zoos in my life, but I really really enjoyed this one. My favorite quote was when Gilbert asked the lady that was working in the reptile are how they feed the giant python. She replied, "We just open the door and throw in the pig." PIG?!! I wish you could have seen Gilbert's face. I was pretty shocked too.

This week my friend Mark, who is teaching up in Canada, did a fundraiser with his class. After hearing about the African Children's Choir all year, one of his 4th graders decided to put together a fundraiser. The kids did a drive in movie and sold snacks at the school. The whole class called me during the fundraiser to say hello and they passed the phone around and talked to 5 of my girls. I haven't heard the final number, but when they called they had raised almost $500 and the principal had said he would match what they raised. All the money is going toward helping to build a school for my kids to go to when they go back home to Uganda. I am so excited to see how far reaching the impact of these kids and this program is. It truly blesses my heart to know that a group of kids in rural Canada loves my kids and is raising money so they can go to school.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support that allow this ministry to go on and change lives, one child at a time. We wouldn't be here without you!

A day in the Life

I made a few notes in my journal the other day about my daily activities and I find them quite humerous actually. I thought I would share with you what a somewhat "typical" Saturday looks for me:

8:30am: wake up, get the boys up, work out on the eliptical machine in my host's basement while the boys get ready

9:00 -breakfast, shower, play with the boys

11:00-arrive at church and leave for next destination

11:15- riding on the bus listening to Gilbert sing 'Walkin on Sunshine' on one ear, while Jackson sings 'Old MacDonald' in the other ear. Lydia is writing a letter and asking me how to spell things like pot roast and violet. Hanny is sitting next to me asing how to spell his siblings names. How should I know?! Mo has his face plaster to the window, looking over my left shoulder for FedEx trucks.

11:30-nap on the bus

12:30-Starbucks pit stop for aunties and uncles (where we get our happy juice as the kids say)

12:45-Listen to TobyMac and send up a prayer thanking God for where I'm at and the amazing life He has given me.

1pm-Bathroom stop for the kids (and me!). 10 minutes of sunshine while the kids do flips in the grass and throw paper airplanes.

1:45pm-The children spontaneously break into song-singing Worthy is the Lamb.

2:15-Arrive at church in Nolansville, TN-children play outside, chaperones set up concert, church people volunteer to wash the bus-whistling while they work!

5:30pm-bird poops on my head-luckily I was wearing Patrick's ballcap!

5:45-Pizza with host families

6:30-Dippin Dots and dance party :)

7:30-showers at host home

8:00pm-sing Bless Yaweh and How Great Thou Art and pray with girls before bed.

8:15-chat with hosts

9:00-Watch Slumdog Millionaire

11:30-Bed. zzzz.......

Of course every day is different, but this was a good day :)