THE ROAD WILL BE ROUGH

Three years ago, I had just returned from traveling to Swaziland with Children's HopeChest. It was the first time I had been back to Africa since I left Swaziland in 1990. Going back had broken my heart for what the Swazi people were facing with drought, extreme poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and a quickly growing orphan population. I came back and cried every day for a year. Literally, a day did not go by that I didn't shed tears because my heart had been ripped open by what I had seen and heard there.

I wanted desperately to be back in Swaziland fighting against death and bringing the love and light of Jesus to those I loved so deeply.

Many days I despaired. I didn't know if I would ever get the chance to even visit again. My heart was aching to not just visit again, but to move there. To live there for the rest of my life, loving on God's beloved "least and lost" in that beautiful mountain kingdom.

Over time and after much prayer, God opened the way for my husband to travel to Swaziland with me and he, too, fell in love with the people of Swaziland and heard the call of God on his life to go and serve there.

The road has been rough at times. I'll confess that my faith has not always been big enough. But God is faithful. He has put the desire for the Swazi nation in my heart and now He is calling us to a life that will fulfill that desire. He is calling us to sell our home, say goodbye to America, take our children, and settle in a new land ... a land wracked with death and disease and often despair, but a land that is also so beautiful and so full of amazing people and precious children. He is calling us to go and serve and love and live alongside them.

We don't know all the details of how everything will work out. We don't know which missionary agency we will go with. We don't know where we will live. We don't know who will buy this house. We don't know a lot of things.


But God knows.

And God, who put the call on our lives, will be faithful to lead and provide for us through this journey.

This morning, my sweet friend Stacy introduced me to a song and said that when she heard it, she thought of me and my family.

The song is WOYAYA by Osibisa. "Woyaya" is translated "we are going".

Yes, indeed we are going. And all the muddy holes and rough rutts and even washed out places in the road will be worth it. I can honestly tell you that serving the Lord in Africa as a missionary is not a sacrifice to me. It is an unbelievable and amazing gift. I am so thankful that God has me going.

We are going
Heaven knows where we are going
We will know we're there
We will get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
It will be hard we know
And the road will be muddy and rough
But we'll get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
We are going
Heaven knows where we are going
We will know we're there

And guess what? He'll get you to where He is calling you to go, too.

I COME TO THE GARDEN

gentle lady, mother of nine

widowed too young
no time to grieve, life had to go on
times were hard
in later years,
when you could take some ease
you planted the whole front yard
on clemson street with flowers
a little outpost of eden
you were already white-haired
and worn
when i came to know you
i loved the way you poured coffee
into the saucer for me
laced with sugar and lots of cream
you would pat my hand and say
"come sit near granny"
and i would snuggle up beside you
my head on your bosom
i did not know then
what i know now
how age and
the cares of this world
catch up with us in the end
how i wish i could roll back time
and join you in the garden
once again

Once again, my friend Stacy has blessed me with her beautiful art...both in words and in design. Thank you, Stacy, for sharing your color with the world.

Stacy wrote this poem with her maternal grandmother, Mildred Hall, in mind. To read more of Stacy's poetry and see more of her amazing mandelas, visit her blog at: http://amagicmomandhermandalas.blogspot.com/

TO WEEP FOR JOY

.

how can i explain savannah
her beauty transcends words
still, i search for them
knowing that you, too,
have such places of the heart
that place where
once you pass into her
your first impulse
is to weep for joy
imagine yourself there
and you will know
my city
my home

.

I've truly been missing Swaziland today. The deep yearning to be there...to be loving those precious "least of these" and encouraging and helping their caregivers and the other ministers and missionaries...has been so strong I've been a bit teary. Okay, to be honest, I've been more than a bit teary. This morning in the car, I wept before the Lord. Asking Him to both take me back there one day and give me the trusting patience to wait til that day arrives.

.

So when I read the above poem that my friend Stacy wrote, it immediately touched my heart. When I journeyed back after being gone for 18 years, I remember standing in my room the first night in Africa and asking God, "what am I feeling?" Then I knew --- I was feeling at home. I remember the tears of joy I wept when we first drove into Swaziland and through the city of Mbabane where I had lived in the 1980's. I remember appreciating anew the wonder of the mountains and the beauty of the people who inhabited that place. I remember wanting to grab hold of every minute, every experience. And I remember not wanting to leave.

.

Each day since my return I've missed Swaziland. Each day I pray for it. I pray for provision and protection. I pray for light to penetrate and overwhelm the dark places. And I pray that God will let me go there and live the rest of my life in that land.

.

The land that makes me weep for joy.

.

To read more of Stacy Wills' poetry and view her art, visit: http://amagicmomandhermandalas.blogspot.com/

HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE YOU?

I was reading my artist friend Stacy's blog and came across something I wanted to share with you:

the top question i get asked when people see my mandalas is, "how long did that take you?" and the most common comment after that is..."you must have a lot of patience."

the question can be answered in one of two ways. in reality, it has taken me about 40 years! i try not to "go there" because most folks really don't want to know all that stuff...it's kind of like when we southerners ask, "how are you?" all we usually really want to hear is "fine! and you?"

so i generally just tell them what they want to know - depending on the size and medium, a mandala can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to create.

as for the comment, "you must have a lot of patience to do that." - it took me awhile to figure out what bothered me about hearing that. because i don't think i have more patience than anybody else, and patience isn't what i'm thinking about as i'm drawing or painting. what i'm usually thinking is...i love what i do!

the answer hit me one day in sunday school when someone was reading aloud the passage from I corinthians 13 (the love chapter). "love is patient..." love is patient! that was it! i love what i do...so of course i have patience.

this flash of insight has given me new eyes to see, not only what i do, in a different light, but also what others do. i realized how often i have said the same thing to others - "boy, you must have a lot of patience." now i know, no, they have a lot of love.

Stacy's blog: http://amagicmomandhermandalas.blogspot.com/

ANOTHER GIFT TO YOU ON THIS BLESSED EASTER SUNDAY

My long-time friend Stacy Wills didn't know she was an artist. She didn't realize all the colors and designs and amazing visual expressions that were lying await within her. But then, at the tail end of a very dark season, God gave her a gift...He brought color back into her life . He opened her eyes and soul to the healing power of reveling in the color of life and the richness of His spirit through the creativity He would stir up in her. Since then, Stacy has developed a unique artistic style. She creates mandelas no others. Usually she does not write descriptions concerning them though she will frequently write accompanying poems. For this special Resurrection mandela, she has written out the symbolism because so many people have asked her about it. Enjoy and be blessed:

Starting at the center..."in the beginning"....

"Let there be light..." Genesis 1: 3
"The light shines in the darkness..." John 1: 5

The radiating rings of red, orange, green and blue symbolize creation.

The jagged purple and yellow rings are symbolic of "the fall." "Cursed is the ground because of you...it will produce thorns and thistles..." Genesis 3:17-18

They also are representative of the crown of thorns placed on Jesus prior to the crucifixion. "Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus...they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head..." Matthew 27: 27-29

The intertwining cords of scarlet and lavender are reminiscent of the robes the soldiers dressed him in. "They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail King of the Jews!"....When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

On top of and overshadowing all of this the cross. In each quadrant there is a larger cross flanked by two smaller ones. "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left..." Luke 23: 32-33 "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me..." Galatians 2: 20

The black backdrop speaks of the darkness that fell over creation at the time of the crucifixion. "It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining..." Luke 23: 44-45

The egg shape represents both the tomb and new life. As you can see it is breaking open, and the colors of creation are coming forth - death doesn't have the final word. "Death has been swallowed up in victory." I Corinthians 15:54

The whole of creation has been reborn - made new - in the resurrection of Christ. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." I Peter 1: 3

To the right of the egg is a circle which symbolizes the stone that was rolled away from in front of Jesus' tomb. The women coming to the tomb that morning to anoint Jesus' body did not know how they were going to remove it. "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices...they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll away the stone..." But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away." Mark 16:1-3

The design on the circle is evocative of a few things: the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit, the beginnings of the early church, as well as the irrepressible nature of Life...with a capital "L." "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people." Acts 2: 17

In between the egg and the circle is a flame which represents the Holy Spirit, who hovers "over the waters" (depicted in the mandala by the color aqua) of creation and of baptism. (Genesis 1: 2, Matthew 3:16)

If you will notice, the pink and purple (colors used during both Advent and Lent) of the cross are repeated on the egg, as well as on the foundation pedestal undergirding the circle. This speaks of how far reaching the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus is. His life affects not only all of humanity, but all of creation as well.

The inspiration to create this mandala came to me as I was reflecting on my own spiritual journey, so it has a great deal of personal significance for me. My name, Stacy, comes from the Greek word Anastasia, which means "of the resurrection."