Rain!!

It came! Rain!

We had some small rain the day we left for Kenya (3/19), but it was dry while we left. The villagers are digging down 6 to 8 feet into the riverbed for their water. The cows need to have food brought to them, since there is so little to graze. The earth is parched. The temperatures are still over 110, and over 90 in the parlor. But…

Yesterday at 4 am, a HUGE wind started to blow. It woke us up with the sound of large deposits of dust hitting the tin roof, and the wind rattling it like a fast moving train. Within about ten minutes, the rain began. We got up to enjoy the awesome power of it, to drink in the lovely smell, and because we couldn't have slept! Actually, if he tried, Devin probably could have, but not me.

I sat on the steps while Devin prepared cups of tea for us which Stephanie Harris gave us from Burundi. We have propane for the stove, but the storm took out the power for the coffee pot. Tea was perfect! The rain slowed to a drizzle after fifteen minutes or so, but it was still spectacular to watch. The night sky directly above was clear and we could see Orion. To our left, there was a wonderful lightning show. It was dancing high in the clouds and there was a constant, but very faint, rumble of thunder very far off. The flashes were constant, just varying in location and brightness. Each time they silhouetted the tall, sparse trees in front of us in a different way, giving it all a moving picture feel.

After a half hour or so, the rain began again with a vengeance. We had pulled out our dining chairs and were really enjoying the scene, and were getting lightly sprayed by the gusts of wind carrying the fountain of rain off the roof. We were in our robes, and drinking tea, and NOT EVEN SWEATING. As the storm moved over us from left to right, the thunder became louder and the streaks of lightning became more and more visible, stretching across huge expanses of sky. The sun started lighting the sky and we could see the familiar line of the eastern hills as the storm rolled over them with its booming thunder.

The boys finally joined us at about 6:30, telling us they woke up at 4 and couldn't sleep since. Their behavior throughout yesterday indicated that was probably true. Something – probably a type of termite or wood ant – bloomed and the air became filled with flying bugs. A few more sprinkles fell off and on until 9. The temperatures probably only reached the mid-90s! We spent a lot more time outside than we have since late January.

This morning there is a 4-foot circle of green grass out our back door.

A Deep Breath - Part 2

The trip started out a little rough Friday night when the boys realized they had left their Ziploc baggie containing their life’s collection of DS games on the plane. We did all we could, but they are gone, all except for the games they had in their DSs. Saturday Devin even hopped a ride out to the airport to talk with security, but no luck. We walked around the nice, clean streets, where flowers were for sale and also growing on every corner. It was hot, but probably 20 to 30 degrees cooler than Nigeria! We even went to a mall and bought a new book for Jack.
On Sunday, we worshipped with the Reynens and were treated to an American accented sermon ala Mike Reynen. The worship even included “American” songs we knew and they used an overhead projector with handwritten words to let us sing along. This church is in a bit more affluent area, so it was a wonderful drive through plush, green well-maintained roads to get there. Their children’s building had deteriorated and they demolished it, then dug 18 feet to bedrock to begin the new foundation (by hand, of course). The walls were starting to go back up. Their children’s program must have been great, since the boys begged to go there again the next Sunday (we didn’t).
Then on Sunday afternoon we went to the Massai market, where Jack put his negotiating skills to use and talked the price down from 6000 to 2500 for their weapons collection. Next was another example of God’s timing. Jack read all the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books last year, and saw at Christmas that the first would be made into a movie by spring. He was so bummed to have to miss it – but, thank God, it was still showing at a lovely theatre near the Mayfield! The screen and sound were a big improvement on our Wenatchee theatres, and there were only two other people in the theatre, so it was no problem to have Ben and his running commentary. Wonderful! We followed that up with a pizza dinner. Yeah, baby!
Monday morning we left for 5 nights at Sopa Lodge on Lake Niavasha. It was an experience of a lifetime. There were giraffes, zebras, monkeys, hippos, and water buck right out our floor-to-ceiling windows. There were two beds big enough for four! All meals were included and buffet style, with 14 tables of food (we think) and tea twice a day. There was a beautiful swimming pool and it was a gardener’s dream – so many of the abundant plantings were labeled and it even told where they were from. The grounds and staff were incomparable. We’ll have to send pictures. It was just too amazing.
Tuesday we woke up and left by 6:30 am with our huge boxed lunches in hand. Vickie and Sopa had arranged for a safari! We were driven by a wonderful man, Mr. William, to Lake Nakuru National Park, a game reserve about an hour’s drive away. Nairobi is really quite modern and beautiful, with a real metropolis of a downtown. The buildings become more rustic as you climb up and out of town. Everywhere it is as green as the Northwest, but the dirt is red and the trees are a larger, wilder canopy. Before long, the left side of the road drops off to the great Rift Valley. Many, many greenhouse operations and camps full of workers to support them are along the road out to Nakuru. We were surprised to see huge cactus trees similar to the ones we saw down in the Baja. Nakuru is a city of perhaps 400,000, but definitely not as modern as Nairobi. We drove through busy market streets, with many of the buildings painted as art, and on to the park. We got coffees with real milk at the entrance café (we don’t get milk in Nigeria, just the powdered stuff).
We saw a traditionally dressed Massai holding a Rhinocerous beetle right at the entrance. Our advice is to go on a Tuesday, as we only saw 5 or so other vehicles the whole day. I think Jack will have to post the list, but (other than elephants and leopards), we saw about everything you think of when you think Africa. We were just feet away from these amazingly varied creatures. We even saw a Black Rhino, which is very unusual as they are quite shy. Hard to figure being shy with a three foot horn like that, but we believed our driver. We ate our lunch as we watched a pride of 9 lions. Actually, we ate our lunch all day and had plenty to share with our driver. The only mishap was when Ben generously threw his apple core to a big baboon. I was VERY nervous, since the big critter could have easily jumped right into the popped top of the van to eat MY apple, but we have no conflict to report. The boys went for a dip in a waterfall about half way through the drive. We circled the lake, climbed up on a bluff, and returned a different way. It was incredible. We returned to the hotel by 4:30, being drenched by the rain on the drive home, but dry during the safari!
At the hotel, we picked up tea and a biscuit, not because we were hungry but because we could. We sat on the patio and watched monkeys leaping around the building and tree tops. One monkey came and sat under our table, hoping for a treat. The boys were thrilled to see another monkey enter the lodge, and return quickly, looking very guilty but pleased, with a donut in his mouth and one in his hand!
Wonderful, solid sleep with nobody needing anything from us first thing in the morning, a sauna for Mom, and then the other missionaries arrived by noon on Wednesday. We got big hugs from Stephanie Harris and from Alice (Black) Matthewson, from Wenatchee. We had stars in our eyes, I am sure, meeting a bunch of our heroes who have served in Africa for up to 40 years! The boys really got attached to Timmy Trier, who has been in Ethiopia since fall and is a year older than Jack. Unfortunately, Phyllis chose to cancel in order to help the boy Uduak, who will be receiving radical treatment for cancer at the Mayo clinic. Devin really hit it off with Ryan Willson and had just a wonderful time discussing geeky technology things. He needed a fix, certainly. The boys had wonderful childcare in the morning sessions, playing tennis and swimming and generally goofing around.
The conference had a lot of spiritual nourishment, some financial management stuff, contingency planning, and some work toward developing member care. It was fun to have the monkeys running across the roof while we were in session. Every night and every meal, we had a chance to hear about what things FMC is doing in Africa, and to get to know the other missionaries. For us, just sitting down with Stephanie and sort of venting on our experience here was of very high value. It was great to have a bunch of folks who could relate to what we are dealing with on a daily basis. So much has happened that we just can’t write down!
Each afternoon included some free time, and we could stroll the grounds with the zebras and giraffes all around. We took a lot of reading materials, but didn’t read as much as just sit or walk and enjoy the sounds and sights for long periods of time. Each evening after the last session we had entertainment. I’ll need to have the boys tell you about the Auction, as it was definitely a highlight of our time in Africa so far.
After the days at the Sopa, we were spoiled again at the Mayfield. It was such a great feeling being welcomed back by name, especially Ben, who made a lot of friends with the staff there the weekend before. That Sunday we worshipped at the Baptist church right next to the Mayfield. It is a huge church with flat screen TVs and the works. Awesome worship! They also gave sections of palm to all the kids and then had them march up and down the aisles as we sang Hosanna songs (it was Palm Sunday). We went to the Nairobi Museum and it was excellent. Great up and coming artists, an excellent natural history museum with about every bird and their wonderfully diverse nests on display, along with the African animals you imagine. There was a level on one wing dedicated to the tribes of the past and present and their coming of age traditions, garments, ceremonies, etc. It was VERY interesting. There was a snake museum right across the street, but we saved our money to go to the supermarket. We were small town folks, skipping events in Seattle and opting for a Trader Joes fun, now I guess we’re bush folks. We walked through downtown and around the government buildings, but because it was Sunday, many of the shops were closed.
Monday morning we woke up at 2:30 a.m. Nigeria time for our ride to the airport, and arrived home by 7:30 p.m., so happy. As we pulled up, the 25 boarders from the camp were all running toward us. Those Fulani kids really express their love! It was so great. Ben had fallen asleep about 20 minutes earlier, so he missed sharing in those joyful moments, but the kids were loving on him just the same. It’s been a fun week for the boys as they realized they do have friends here that they had missed.
Thanks to our sponsors for supporting this time of refreshment, learning, and fellowship. We feel so blessed to add on the vacation days and have time to really relax, because it was a lot of travel. It was a good time to just step away and get a little perspective. We are certainly getting to know God better. We were faced with a few things that really had us shaking our heads before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, but we could shake it off with a smile :)!

A Deep Breath - Part 1

God is SO good. Last summer, after we submitted our proposed budget, already approved by WFMC, to the FM World Missions VISA (Volunteers in Service Abroad) department, we were told to add the cost of a missionary retreat in the spring. In fact, it was just written alongside the budget worksheet as an addition and signed off. All the missionaries serving with FMWM in Africa were to attend – and it was to be in Kenya! Now, a safari (not a hunt) was on my personal list of things to do in my life, so I was very, very excited. We decided right away to add some extra days for a family vacation, and set aside our Christmas money! What I didn’t know was that God had the timing of the event structured perfectly for our family.

We are feeling SO good. We had just started to realize how tired we were. We had just made some strong commitments to adjust our “schedule” to try to make family time and down time a greater priority. We left on the 18th at about 2, and drove to near the Abuja airport, and stayed at the same hotel with a 4-person bed where we slept our first night in Africa. It was wonderful to experience being seasoned! I was all set with my computer to write you and do some paperwork on the three hour drive, but an extra person came and suddenly it was too crowded, but “we adjust.” Devin drove. We didn’t have to explain or help with the boys’ bucket showers that night, and sharing two threadbare hand towels as the only towels was no problem. The light in the bathroom didn’t work, the generator (and therefore any power) wouldn’t come on for a few hours. It ran most of the night near our window and the exhaust didn’t make us feel sick-ish. We walked out the entrance and up the road and negotiated for some snacks with confidence. In fact, Jack got a good laugh from all the merchants as he responded in his thick pidgin accent regarding the purchase of a catfish – “I no fit buy it - you gimme for free and you cook it now now, right here?” All no problem. And the road between here and there is much improved!

The next morning we left at 5 a.m., flew to Lagos, took a cab to another airport in Lagos, and flew to Kenya. You know, nobody gets excited when your flight is two hours late. Nobody makes announcements, and they aren’t even around until it’s about time to board. And there are almost no children in this international airport which serves a city of 15 or 18 million.

When we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, Mike, Vickie and Kyle Reynen were waving at us outside the doors! They traveled out to the airport with the airport pickup bus from our hotel. They didn’t have to -arrangements were made - but we were happy for their company and to meet the Africa Area Directors (and their son, born at home in Nigeria while they were serving down south about 17 years ago). They had thought of everything, including sim cards for our cell phone and a list of all the soon-to-arrive missionaries’ numbers, and an envelope of already exchanged currency. We stayed at a wonderful AIM missionary boarding house called Mayfield. There was a full bed AND bunk beds! And four SETS of towel/hand towel/washcloth! It was as if we had NEVER seen a room so clean. The baths were down the hall – in each block there was a nice CLEAN room for the toilet with a sink, a shower with sink and a BATHTUB. The power was uninterrupted and there was free wifi. The staff was fantastic, and we were served 3 wonderful meals a day, all for $20 each per day. Laundry service was about $3.50 per load (yes – a washing machine) with the caveat that an additional charge would be made if the weather did not permit outside drying. There was a playground with a merry-go-round. The grounds were beautiful, with drainage systems we had to photograph which included beautiful flower beds and the biggest avocado tree (loaded with ripe fruit) we have ever seen. There was a kiddie room with every kid VHS tape you can imagine, and downstairs another big room with a TV. Also a stocked library room, crafts for sale, cheap snacks and pop for sale on the honor system, and drivers and a bus for hire at very reasonable prices. We stayed there a total of 5 nights. A large youth group from Grant’s Pass was there, along with others doing interesting things around Africa.

More later… it gets even better!

The Angel

I think God sent us an angel today.

We were driving along, the four of us, in Big Jim, when suddenly a “machine” with a passenger (a motorcycle used as a taxi) dodged right in front of us and we hit him. It was so quick, the driver and passenger were bouncing off before I finished my hands-to-mouth gasp. Their cat-like reflexes were amazing. They (and the machine) bounced to the right into the traffic “lane” they had come from, and in mid-air they had both turned, mouthed “SORRY,” and made sure they were not going to be immediately plowed over. God is good. We pulled over (a parking spot was available!) and Devin jumped out to see if they were OK. The boys and I remained in the truck and started praying, first “thank you,” and trying to sing. Jack interjected that now he knows he doesn’t want to get in a car accident, and we prayed a bit more.

Wouldn’t you know it, “Yellow Fever,” the Nigerian police department was RIGHT there. Now, this is not generally thought of as a good thing. Three of them may have seen the accident happen, and they were ready to let us just go (to keep the flow of traffic), but in the time it took for Devin to walk from the tailgate to the seat and close the door, at least 20 Nigerians had surrounded us and were shouting. I kept saying to the boys, to calm us all, “do not fear, continue to pray, God is in control.” It seemed as if every machine fare operator in the area was suddenly there – like a union of sorts – and wanted us to pay something. For a minute, someone got in league with Yellow Fever, who told us we needed to pay because the machine is spoiled, but the driver and passenger were continue to say the accident was their fault. It got loud and many fists were pumped in the air. As I was praying, “Lord take over this situation,” He sent and Angel. I saw a huge black man – huge as in taller by head and shoulders over everyone – come and stand right in front of the center of the hood. He didn’t look angry; he looked like he was on a mission. He was so tall and his voice was booming. He didn’t enter into the fray, but led the others to let us go. In less than a minute. I didn’t really even catch his eye, but before we knew it, we were being shooed along!

Just to give detail – they’ll use that machine, but it will need work. Big Jim has a miracle mark along the front grill and bumper, but all the precious cargo is fine.

Tonight I pray for those two young men, and for Nigeria. Can’t we all just get along?? I am living with my head partially in the clouds, knowing everything will change as Jesus continues to penetrate this area, and that it will be a whole lot better around here! I have heard a call to assemble to battle – was this Angel already a General? He was somebody. He was authority. Tonight I thank God for his sending help in time of need!

A snapshot of a blessed day!

Up at 5:30 to say goodbye to Reverend Joel and Reverend Ubak. They were visiting from Akwa Ibom State to officially open the Etiose school on Friday and to provide some teacher training on Saturday.

Hebrews Precepts for me, more sleep for Devin

It was hot!

We went out to the Assembly Hall at 7 a.m. to help arrange desks and chairs for church, and to sweep. Jack made a breakfast of “Frosties,” which are Frosted Flakes, complete with Tony the Tiger, and ice cold powdered milk. Frosties are about seven dollars for a regular size box, so they are a special treat. Topped with bananas, of course, and with a nice cup of coffee. Of course, it was already hot and the coffee made us sweat, but it was OK!

Showers (no water heating necessary), getting dressed, talking to people about this and that detail… I put my ipod on and did my Sunday morning sing walk/stop/prayer time, with an awesome amount of joyful tears. Some kids were playing soccer, several came to listen to my ipod for a minute. The catfish pond had been drained to just a couple inches deep and was being filled. Devin tried to fix the Wii transformer, which, unfortunately, fried. The boys really look forward to a little time on the Wii on the Wiikends, so there was a small tear for that as well.

By a bit after 9 we were out to church, setting up the podium and loudspeakers and such. It’s hot. The boys are just milling about. At 9:30, I teach the children’s Sunday school (I had maybe 20 kids today, in the clinic today, on 4 long benches), while Devin goes to Sunday school. Today was Isaiah 6 – I love teaching that to kids, but it takes longer when you have to explain “imagination” for a good five minutes before they can begin to try to imagine the scene. Then I keep stopping and checking, because “train of a robe” and even just “robe” are unknowns… etc. And, of course, I have to ask how to pronounce Isaiah, which was different, so I am thankful I asked. In the end, we had a wonderful time. Devin went to Sunday school in the Assembly Hall. They discussed the same passage from the perspective of Committed to Change. There were some good questions, he said, including “so you mean if I haven’t seen God like this in all His glory, I might not be saved?” We all join together at 10:15 in the Assembly Hall where we discuss Sunday school until 10:30.

Then church, which was hot. Lots of singing with clapping. A drum kit, but no other instruments. One of the moms has a stick she whacks kids on the head with. I had to leave to spank Ben in the middle of the service (but he escaped her stick!). Just about the entire Fulani boarding camp sat at the back and listened to every word today, so that was wonderful. They kept each other still and quiet. Church was short today, over by just after 12. There were less than 50 people if you leave out the 20+ Fulani kids.

Chicken hot dogs on wheat bread with Heinz catsup for lunch, with sliced cucumbers and carrots, Pringles, and drinkable yogurt. The ingredients for yogurt here are “powder milk, sugar, vanilla,” but it has a great tangy, coconutty flavor. Shortbread cookies for dessert. The highly processed food thing is so we can give our caterer Sunday off.

We planned to go with Phyllis at 2 to see our security guard’s baby boy, born on Tuesday. At about 2, we learned he wasn’t around, so we switched our plan around.

It was so hot, so Phyllis suggested we go to the river. So, 25 kids and 4 adults loaded into Big Jim and drove maybe a mile up the road and tops two miles down a dirt road to the Niger River. It was so wonderful. I was in my one piece swim suit and some capris (the whole swim). The muck was sick if you thought about it. The water was very warm with less warm streaks, and you couldn’t see your hand two inches in. It was awesome. We could go out very far and it was still pretty shallow, so no swimming skills were necessary (only a couple had any). We returned to the house and sprayed all the boarders off with a hose. We showered.

Devin popped over to Emi-woro because Phyllis wanted to splurge on “minerals” for the boarders (Fanta, Coke, Sprite). She payed an extra 50% for the convenience of location, so 48 bottles was $17. They were HOT, so we didn’t drink them, but put them in the freezer. I prepped dinner and then we drove over to Umar’s house, which is a very cool hut of mud and a cement floor with a beautiful thatch roof. Wow, newborns are so amazing. When asked if this is the first baby, we learned that it is the fifth, and this one makes 3 living. They will name him in a ceremony in a few weeks. The mother is experiencing pain, so we called the nurse and asked her to make a visit.

Came back, I finished dinner (spiral noodles, in a mushroom sauce (canned mushrooms, of course) and a yummy fruit salad of pineapple, papaya, and bananas and ice water to drink) while Devin got set up outside for a movie in the Assembly Hall. He put a slideshow of pictures from this week on, with WOW worship music, came in and ate with us and Phyllis and even Bassey at 6:45. Chronicles of Narnia at 7. I stayed in with Ben, who was “grounded” from the movie as a consequence for bad behavior. He was in bed at 8, after talking at least three hours’ worth. I came and wrote and got organized a bit for homeschool.

It’s almost 10 – Winter Olympic highlights (we have satellite for this month so we can see them!). And probably another quick shower, and bed – with air conditioner running.

Life is very, very good!

God bless you!

I Testify to His Faithfulness

Every Sunday in church, there is a time where two or three people can do a testimony and/or “special number,” which is when the person either performs or leads a song. Today I shared a testimony, so I’ll share it with you! The Bible says the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, so when we tell of the great things Jesus has done, they carry spiritual weight into the future, and can happen for others. So let me give a testimony of the faithfulness of my Lord!

This is actually in a few steps…

First, my friend Meegan sent some coffee for our private stash. This was such a blessing, as the only thing available locally is Nescafe instant. Yuck. But, we wanted to share! Who better to share good coffee with than our team from Wenatchee, northwest connoisseurs?! We were talked out of it for a couple of days, but we made the decision to put the coffee in the community coffers. The next day I got an email that our friends are shipping some in a care package! Paul Frazier, as he was leaving this week, left his stash of coffee and a big tin half full of CoffeeMate. Not something I’d usually buy (I’m cheap), but a treat for us above and beyond. Now, I didn’t include that part in the testimony today, but many of you can relate, and it was significant to us, as a lesson that we may not always have everything we want, but we’ll always be blessed enough to share what we do have.

When the Wenatchee team was here, we needed sunscreen for a long day in the sun. The enemy says to me “your family will need the sunscreen you brought. You are here two years, and you can’t replace it. Take care of your own.” Ridiculous! I’ll share! Well, guess what, the team left behind sunscreen, so we have more than we had before!

Last weekend one of the boarder students hurt his knee pretty bad and I cleaned him up and bandaged him out of our personal first aid kit. I hear in the back of my mind, “your boys are dangerous! You might need this stuff, and you can’t get this quality here, or find it when you really need it.” But I had it, and was blessed to be a blessing to the boy, and dressed it again the next day. I said to Devin when he returned – “if anyone asks what they can send in a care package, we’ll need bandaids.” The day after I mentioned it, Paul gave us his Ziploc of bandaids without being asked.

At breakfast the next day, I was telling this story of how the Lord provides to Carol and Paul on their last morning with us. As we were preparing to leave the U.S., several missionaries told us that we will be amazed at the Lord’s provision on the mission field. We are still in shock that we are funded for this mission, but as their stories went, it would be the little things that are just as amazing – like you need red balloons and they suddenly and “impossibly” show up. So Jack said – “So let’s say I really pray for like a bunch of glow sticks to come – they’ll just fall from the sky??” I hope his doubtful tone translates…

HA! The night before, Carol had given me SEVERAL TUBES OF GLOW STICKS. Now – you can say it is a coincidence that of all things Jack picked THAT, but I won’t believe you. Sometimes God just blesses us in an unusual way to show that He is able, and just because He loves to give good gifts to His children. It was a faith builder for us all! We got a good laugh and said a good prayer.

So, leaving out many of these details, I tried at church today to give God glory for how He provides, and tried to express how thankful I am that He is teaching me generosity even now when we are unable to work for more and provide it for ourselves. With Jesus there is always enough. I am trying to let Him teach me this well. I know we will continue to be surprised by His blessings – and it’s exciting!!

OOOPS and AHHHHHH

How I want to learn first time obedience.

All afternoon, the Lord was speaking to me, wooing me, saying “come away and praise me and look at all I’ve done.” We were having an ongoing chat and I was making notes on whatever was in front of me, looking forward to evening when I could drop everything else. It was lovely and a longing at the same time.

Because school gets out early on Fridays, by about 3 it was very quiet around here – much quieter than ever! I was singing to the Lord as I made dinner, and let the boys play some video games while I stole away to my darkened room to pray for a few minutes. Devin was out of town, so I knew by evening I would have some soaking time with the Lord. I have an iPod shuffle (thanks Kelley) loaded up with WOW Hymns and some other worship songs, with some of my favorites being from the California Baptist choir. I knew our time was coming. I kept making little notes and was so irritated that my pen wasn’t working, because I didn’t have time to make a big list or wait for ink…

But Friday night is our prayer meeting.

I love prayer meeting! It is much smaller than church, with somewhere around 10 adults and 10 children fidgeting and finally sleeping on benches. There is no set schedule, but it seems to include about a half hour of getting your heart right through confession, listening, and speaking to the enemy to flee and the Holy Spirit to take over. Of course, much of this speaking is through song. Then there is about a half hour of teaching. Then there is a solid hour of prayer where our Pastor gives us a guide and we all pray out loud at the same time, then we move on to the next topic together. There is always opportunity for a song to drive the prayer home. Sometimes it includes walking out over the school grounds, sometimes laying of hands for healing but ALWAYS prayers for healing and protection. Sometimes it is more passive than others, but it quite often gets violent, or should I say authoritative.

Anyway, at 7:30 I was enjoying the boys, anticipating the prayer meeting and then special time in prayer alone after. We walked over at 8. As the flow began, I was just “trying.” In Nigeria this is a compliment, showing that you are really giving it your best effort, but in this case I know God was seeing it as STRIVING. I wanted to be there to support my Pastor, my church, and also I just love it. About 8:45, Pastor John was looking for an “amen” from the congregation to back up a good scripture he was using. He shouted “Wake up, church!” Now, a pastor shouting is NO PROBLEM around here. Things tend to get loud. But this time it was like a ton of bricks on me from the Holy Spirit – OOOPS.

“Wake up! Don’t tell ME ‘I’m coming,’ – COME!” So, I left the prayer meeting, and walked across the courtyard home. We got ready for bed, and I was blessed to have the boys sleep with me since Devin is gone. I plugged in my iPod to listen to WOW Hymns and various other favorites.

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! For hours, I prayed and sang and prayed over the boys, but mostly just praised my sweet Lord. He is so incredibly faithful. Now THAT is where I am supposed to be! I don’t know about the men reading this – can you have the feeling of stealing away with a lover? The intensity of the love is enough to carry me forward for days and weeks!

We train our kids that obedience is right away, all the way, without complaining – or it is disobedience. I know I am forgiven. Now, I pray I can rise to this level of obedience. Not my will, Lord, but Thine! And Thy timing!!