A RIVER RIDE and a REALLY COOL PARK

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This past Tuesday, Super Dad loaded up our huge van with 5 of our kids & 3 other homeschoolers and rendevouzed with a dozen or so other homeschoolers for a field trip in Vicksburg. They had a wonderfully fun and educational boat outing with Mississippi River Tours on the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Afterwards, they went over to the adjacent ART PARK. The park was cool enough that even the teenagers enjoyed it and are already asking when we can all go to Vicksburg and play.

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Here are just a sampling of the photos from their fabulous outing:

NEEDFUL OF YOUR PRAYERS
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I'd really appreciate your prayers today.

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The first request is for Britney and Hailey Boles, two teenage girls we know through our church youth group. Their mother Dawn passed away unexpectedly yesterday. Please pray for these girls as they deal with the loss of their mom. The funeral will be tomorrow. I just can't imagine the devastation they are going through. Pray that they will know the love and peace and comfort of the Father in a very real and powerful way.

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The second is for today's Swaziland missions trip fundraiser. Daughters A and B are right now waving and holding signs to draw people's attention to the yard sale being given on behalf of A & her friend Megan's AIM missions. Earlier this morning, things were really going slow. I talked to Megan's mom a few minutes ago and business is starting to pick up but please pray that they will sell tons of stuff and that folks will be motivated to donate money for this amazing cause. We think we're pretty close to getting all the money she needs for the trip thanks to some good sized donations she received this week and their fundraising efforts last week. Thanks be to God for His provision!

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The third request is for safety as my husband, our oldest son D, and their scout troop goes canoeing down a local river today. It's gorgeous weather here and really a perfect day for being out in the beautifully created wilds of the South.

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Thanks for all your prayers and please feel free to let me know how I can pray for you.

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Edited to add:

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Please also pray for me. I've got million things going on....trying to work out scout camp issues, the funeral, a solo in church tomorrow, our homeschool group end-of-the-year party, the yard sale, etc. etc. and now I've got sick kiddoes. 5 year old T is throwing up and Baby M seems to be coming down with the tummy virus as well. Pray that I won't stress out, that I'll be able to think clearly and handle all that I've got to do, that I'll enjoy my children and the activities we participate in, that no more kids will get sick, and that through it all, I'll turn to Jesus. He is my rock, my strength, my provider, my fortress, my help in time of need.

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Also, I spoke to Shannon and she said they've sold around $300 so far. They've got about another 3 hours to go so pray that they'll continue to do well. Also, that they'll have a chance to minister to people who come their way.

Thanks again.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

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Just about 21 years ago, I graduated from college and began my first journey to Africa. A passel of my college and church friends threw me a surprise going away party...and let me tell you, it was TRULY a surprise! My roommate Darla was convinced that I had figured it out or at least was highly suspicious but she gave me more credit than I deserved. I was totally oblivious til the very end when I arrived at the party venue, escorted by my then "just friends" pal who would later become my beloved hubby.

What a sendoff...and what a life God had planned for me. I'm so thankful for those sweet, sweet friends from my W years, and I'm so grateful for the amazing adventure He started me on when He sent me to Mbabane, Africa as a 22 year, fresh from college grad. I can only imagine what He's got in store for the future. If the past is any indicator, it's going to be well worth the price of admission.

CATCHING UP ON THE NEWS
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As I mentioned in Tuesday's blog post, I was unable to get on here and blog for about a week. A lot has happened in that week so I thought I'd play catch-up today.

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Last week, hubby and I spent a whole day running errands and eating out at a cool, funky restaurant, Walker's Drive In located in the Fondren District. The tamales were SCRUMPTIOUS!

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While we were turning in our big, 15 passenger van to be worked on, we saw a car much like the one hub's grandparents drove long, long time ago. It was in pristine condition.

We are still in the fundraising mode getting ready for A's trip to Swaziland. She leaves in less than a month and she still needs around $2,000!!! I know it seems HUGE but nothing is too big for God, right? This past Saturday we had a jewelry and bake sale at the local Kroger Grocery Store with another family whose daughter is also going to Swaziland with Anna.

After church on Sunday morning we went to inner-city Jackson for a time of fun and love. A new family joined us for the first time. It was exciting seeing their eyes get opened to what God is doing thru the WE WILL GO ministry and what God wanted to show them about their own lives.

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On Monday afternoon, we went over a few towns and down a few country roads to another homeschool family's house to celebrate Memorial Day. They have ELEVEN kids so our family is actually comparatively small...a rarity for us! We had a fun time eating great food (oh my word...the ribs and green bean casserole were so good!), swimming in the pool, getting to know each other better, and playing spoons, XBox, & board games.

On our way home, we made an unexpected stop along the Natchez Trace and took a short hike around an amazingly beautiful cypress swamp.

The last couple of days we've been playing catch-up and gearing up for this weekend's events...another fundraiser for A's trip (a yard sale this time), the homeschool End-of-the-Year party, a boyscout canoe trip. Plus, we've been taking care of all the last minute details related to the Swaziland missions trip. All this paperwork! And to think, we'll have to repeat this whole process over again but doubled next year as BOTH the oldest girls are already counting on going on missions trips the summer of 2010.

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Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it...though excited. Yeah, life can be pretty hectic at times. But mostly, it's good. God good.

TO SEE

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.

Helen Keller

BLOGGING WOES

For the last week, for technical reasons I don't understand, I've not been able to blog here at Graceland. I was beginning to despair that I'd NEVER get to blog again. But alas, my worries were unfounded and it's up and happening again. The last week has been very busy and we've had some fun times. I don't have time to post details and photos tonight, but hopefully tomorrow will allow me some catching up time.

In the meantime, let me share a couple of prayer requests:

*Pray for the Fumias who are still in Ukraine adopting Grisha. Pray that the adoption will be finalized soon with no problems.

*Pray that our 15 year old daughter will raise the rest of her support in less than 3 weeks. She still needs around $2,000!

*Pray for a little Swazi girl who is traveling to the States this week to receive medical treatment for a cobra bite. She's just a little toddler and that's an awfully long way for a hurting baby to travel.

*Pray for my mom as she cares for my grandmother whose health and strength are rapidly failing. It's very hard on my mom and my grandmother. Pray for my mom's emotional strength. Pray for my grandma to strongly feel the peace and comfort of God.

Thanks! And hopefully more tomorrow.

WHEN WE SPEAK
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When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we

speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ.
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--St. Ambrose of Milan

I'VE BEEN SINGING...

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...a certain song off and on for the last day---"They'll know we are Christians by our love".

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You ask why?

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Okay, so maybe you didn't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway.

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But first, let me go back a couple of months ago.

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My husband and 3 of our children were stopped on a country road because the car in front of them was turning and they were hit from behind. The car was totalled and so for the last several weeks, we've been down to one vehicle. We had insurance money and with what we had in savings, we came up with an amount of money that we felt was a wise amount to spend. We didn't feel it was wise to go into debt with a car payment but we also really needed a second vehicle. Living way out in the country and having a family our size makes it very difficult to just have one mode of transportation.

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So we've been praying and reading classifieds and calling numbers on parked "for sale" vehicles and looking online and even going to a government vehicle auction. But nothing panned out. And so we waited and prayed and waited and wondered why we couldn't find something for $3500 or below that would suit our needs and seemed like a reliable, good deal.

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Enter Christian friends and God's provision.

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Yesterday morning I called a friend to see if we could borrow a vehicle from them for a couple of days this week. They'd loaned us their husband's truck before and our one vehicle, a 15 passenger van, was really, really needing to go into the repair shop due to brakes going out and other issues. She didn't answer so I left a voice mail.

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We went on to church and even discussed on the way there the importance of keeping on trusting in God to provide us a vehicle.

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After church, we pulled into our driveway and saw my friend's white van sitting there. We figured they'd just decided to bring a vehicle on over without calling back since they couldn't have called us in church.

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So I called her back to find out where she'd left the key and that's when she informed me that the van wasn't a loan, it was a gift.

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A gift!!!

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For us!!!!

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The white van was for us to keep if we wanted it.

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Well, needless to say I was shocked!

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I thanked her profusely but still was just blown away and the reality hadn't sunk in.

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We'd prayed and waited and God had come through in an amazingly wonderful way.

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And it was then that I was reminded of the old song from the Jesus People era and started singing snips over and over again...."and they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they'll know we are Christians by our love".

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Because see, this is supposed to be the norm. We shouldn't be shocked when Christian brothers and sisters love each other in such practical ways. Because the Bible states very clearly that when we love Him, we'll love each other. And we're called to do for others as we would want done for us.

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And that's what my friend's family did yesterday. They're not financially rich. They are a family with a lot of little children living on a very limited, one-income budget. But they saw a need, they had the means, and they stepped out and became the way that God provided richly for His children.

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God is good.

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And so are His people when they reflect the sacrificial, abundant and extravagant love of the Father.

GLORIFY THE LORD!

LOVE IS DOING

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“Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all we can, at whatever cost to ourselves, to help people be enthralled with the glory of God. When they are, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving people and glorifying God are one.” John Piper

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Photo taken at an Ethiopian orphanage by Tom Davis of Children's Hope Chest.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY...HOW SWEET IT IS



My man for life is on his way home from San Francisco. In honor of his homecoming, here's a song from the past. We've been slow dancing to James Taylor's HOW SWEET IT IS for nearly two decades now. And yeah, marriage to this man is awfully dang sweet.

Can I just stop and thank you, Baby?

TAKE A LITTLE TRIP WITH ME...

...okay, a virtual one, but still.

I'm reading Tom Davis' new book SCARED this week. It is SO good! It's set primarily in Swaziland and though it's fictional, the story is true one! Tom follows the life of one girl and accurately portrays for you what life is like for orphans in the nation with the highest HIV/AIDs rate in the world. Besides keeping the story very real as far as what struggles and dangers they face, he's also keeping it real with background elements. For instance, one character in the book is Pastor Walter. I've actually mentioned Pastor Walter here on this blog before and when I visited Swaziland last year, was able to spend time with him and even heard him preach. Tom references that sermon, in fact, in SCARED.

Another true life element mentioned is THE MOUNTAIN INN. When I lived in Swaziland, I spent a good bit of time there. One year our Baptist mission family held a retreat there. I still remember the subject. I also remember the monkey gland sauce served. Yum! During another period of time I was a regular babysitter for a Campus Crusade family. The Oakes were actually living for a few months in a two-room suite at the inn with their children (3 or 4 of them) while waiting for permanent housing problems to be worked out. Trying to feed a baby who did NOT want to eat while in a public hotel restaurant is a memory I'll never forget! Gracious waiters and nice surroundings don't help one bit to get a spoon past the tight-pressed lips of a reluctant eater, I can tell you that!

Anyway, after seeing The Mountain Inn mentioned in Tom's book, I got curious and did a google search. I found a link to a virtual tour on YouTube....is there anything NOT on YouTube? I digress. Anyway, there is a nice part on the video with traditional Swazi singing and dancing plus some lovely shots of the hotel and the view from the back of the inn.

So take a little trip with me, via YouTube, and enjoy some of the beautiful side of Swaziland:

THE CHURCH LOVING OTHERS MORE THAN ITSELF
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Growing up in church, I have heard all my life that the greatest command is to love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength and my neighbor as myself. And I accepted that and lived it to the point that it didn't really cause me to change too radically. In all honesty, I loved only to the extent that it didn't require too much sacrifice or pain on my behalf.
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Then, as most of you know, I went to Swaziland last year and my world was abruptly turned upside down. God had started working on my heart the year before. He'd already told me that it was time to get out of my comfort zone and start fighting to free those oppressed by sin and poverty and abuse and disease and addiction. But seeing the stark reality of Swaziland...a nation literally dying from AIDS and starvation...well, it really made that command real for me. And then God used people and books to cement for me what He was calling me to do. Francis Chan's book CRAZY LOVE was a big nail in the coffin of my selfish living. He squarely hit me with the questions of "can I accept Jesus as Savior but not have him as LORD? And if He's my LORD then that means I'm following Him...doing the things He does? Am I living a life of sacrifice?"
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The answer was a big fat NO! And I'm still not. I'm still so selfish in many, many ways. But I want to change. I want my life to be lived as an offering to Him as I love others in practical and powerful ways. I've still got such a frightfully long way to go. But He's steadily working on me and though it hurts at times, it is also amazingly glorious.
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I found this at Shaun Groves blog. It's good.
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08.07.07 Chan and Change
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Francis Chan is just a guy who pastors a large church in California. He’s not the smartest, most famous, most respected, most anything...I’m guessing. He’s just a guy. But the direction he lead his church in, or so the legend goes, is remarkable and unheard of. Or perhaps it wasn’t lead as much as allowed. Anybody know?
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The story is - correct me if I’m wrong - that his church was on track to spend 20 million dollars to build a new building. What happened, and I don’t know how, was that the decision was made to build an outdoor meeting place instead. Much cheaper. Much much cheaper. And the money that was saved would then go to the truly poor around the world. And, the story goes, meeting outside on rainy days or hot days would serve to remind folks in the church of the discomfort others live in every day.
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Spend less. Create empathy. Mobilize to show mercy. Sounds like church to me.
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I’ve never met Francis Chan. I saw him in the hotel lobby in Austin a couple weeks ago and didn’t want to interrupt to say hey. But this weekend I’m looking forward to interrupting him just long enough to say thanks for the story and to get more details. Even if it’s not entirely true - what do I know? - it’s inspiring. What could church become? How does it become it? What is the pastor’s role in that becoming? Can it happen without him?
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Here’s the video reportedly created by Chan’s church to explain why such a radical financial decision was made:
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To read more of Shaun's writing and to learn about his work with Compassion, visit his blog at: http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/

PLEASE PRAY as THEY BRING GRISHA HOME!!!

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My pal Ashley and her family have been on a 3 year journey to adopt. Tomorrow, they leave for Ukraine to bring their son Grisha home. They are excited beyond belief but are still short the $4,000 needed to fulfill all their adoption related financial obligations including paying for his airline ticket home. Would you please pray for this situation? Pray for God's provision. So many have been so generous already.
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If you'd like to know more about their story or even give to this worthy cause, you can visit the Fumia's website at: http://fumia.blogspot.com/

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice." Proverbs 31:8,9

OLD STUFF = LIFE!
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I am so excited!!!!!! In less than just a couple of weeks, thanks to the donations of clothes, jewelry, shoes, accessories, etc. we have raised nearly $50 through "Consigning for a Cause". This translates to a lot of food for a lot of children in Swaziland. When we donate through Children's HopeChest, they can feed a child for just a nickel a meal. Much of the time, the consignment money will be funneled thru that amazingly, effective organization. This time I'm actually sending it to a missionary couple who recently started their ministry in Swaziland.

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Inge and Dudley Donaldson are ministering primarily to members of the Zionist churches in Swaziland as Dudley teaches at their Bible college. But on top of that, they've gotten involved with other areas of service including helping feed children at a rural school and carepoint. This particular carepoint feeds over 100 children. It is not a sponsored one, such as the ones involved with Children's HopeChest. A secular charity often donates food but it is inconsistent so many times the food runs out and the kids are left hungry til more food is donated. Dudley and Inge have bought some food for them, but living on the typical limited income associated with missionaries who must raise their own support, they can't provide all the food that the carepoint needs straight from their own funds.

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This is where we get the blessing! Thanks to the generosity of folks who have donated their items to be sold at local consignment stores, we get to help feed these precious children! Here's what Donald said about the food needs:

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"...the [big bag of] mealie meal costs the equivalent of about $20 and the beans are around $50. With over 100 kids to feed, a bag of mealie meal lasts 2-3 days, depending on how soupy they make it. A bag of beans might last 4 days."

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I'm hoping by the end of the month, we've raised through our sales, enough money to feed these children for a whole week. And I pray that God will move on hearts and people will provide a way for them to eat every day in the future.

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Below are some photos taken at the carepoint:

Preschoolers and their teacher in front of the school building where they spend half their day. Below is the inside of their classroom.These are the elementary aged children in front of their school built by the Methodist Church. The structure itself is very nice and sturdy but you can see by the photos that the furnishings are very sparse. Dudley and the children tote the bags of mealie meal and beans. Swazi children know how to work!The children are all lined up to eat the thick, corn meal mush made from the mealie meal. Many days a bowl of mealie meal pap is the only meal they get. Some days they get nothing. Dudley said that when they first arrived, these two sisters started crying they were so hungry.

Eating the traditional Swazi way is using no utensils.Afterwards they wash up their own dishes. The teachers asked the Donaldsons to bring them some dishwashing detergent. They had run out and because so many of the children are HIV/AIDs positive, they were afraid of passing disease without the soap.

Afterwards, full bellies mean happy, content faces!31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

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Thanks to all of you who have been a part of loving our Jesus and these precious least of these through "Consigning for a Cause". It has blessed me tremendously and I hope has been pleasing to our Lord.