Psalm 16:5-11

Lord...

you have assigned me

my portion and my cup;

You have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen

for surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord,

who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand.

I will not be shaken.

Therefore...

my heart is glad

and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me

the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures

at your right hand.

I'm ready to catch His blessings.....

I am blessed to be employed once again - no more sleeping in and lounging around (right - like that has ever been the case).

Within this last year, God has made it very clear that I am not to be comfortable.....but that true growth comes from being challenged. When I took my seasonal job at Operation Christmas Child it was a challenge - a challenge that I had to dress like an adult for work when I was so used to jeans and flip flops, to get paid WAY less than my previous job, to become very office savvy and challenged to submit - because for the first time in well over 4 yrs I was not in charge....and I loved every minute of it - and because I submitted to God's will for me, He used that season to show me true joy in serving Him.

Now I am in another place of total submission. I will be going back to my preschool roots. The idea of this job has been lingering for the past year. When I was first unemployeed and my staff had left the school - all 3 of them went here to work - and I couldn't have been happier. They were finally taken care of - paid what they deserved, got full benefits. I was overjoyed for them - yet when I thought of joining them, God said no. I see what a blessing that decision became, because I was able to experience a great adventure all of last year. I was also able to allow "my girls" the chance to break away from me as their "leader" and submit to their new administration. Fast forward to present day - I return from South Africa once again unemployeed and once again with the knowledge of this school and though what they offer is wonderful, it was a personal struggle to submit.

I know I am called to serve God's Children - it is a clear as day for me, but could that mean ALL God's children? I thought only the poor and broken. Here it is - I hate Orange County!!! I have come to understand that I have issues with my surrounding - though I am not wealthy in OC standards, after visiting some of the broken places I have, I know that I truly am - It just looks different than a fancy house and name brand purse. So the thought of serving "those" type of people seriously was a hard pill to swallow. I struggled with filling out the application....why God can't you just send me back to South Africa, why do you want me here? It is in those moments that I realized that God wanted to do a great work in me. He has taught me so much about compassion this past year - for those who lost it all, yet I had no compassion for those that seem to have everything. It was then I finally got it. How was I to love as Jesus did, yet I couldn't love my neighbors - literally? Was I really able to bloom where I've been planted??

So, here I am........ready to be stretched! I'm not in charge, I don't have my own classroom - and it's ok!!! God wants me here for reason, and slowly He's showing me that. Please pray for me that I keep that frame of mind when I don't agree with things, which certainly I won't. Pray that I put "me" aside and allow the Lord to show me, to use me - to be salt and light. Pray that in this time I am also continuing to serve my kids in South Africa, just because I am not there physically doesn't mean my work is done - far from. I have recently been able to experience the joy of those who support those who go. For so long I had been on the "going" end of things and last week I met a girl who is in that spot - and for once I was able to be on the giving end - and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Jealous at first - naturally, but I know God called me back here for a reason. I see that He has me at home that I may support those who are called to go.

Thank you -as always, for you love, support and prayers. I cannot express just how much it means to me to know I am surrounded by such love!!!

xoxoxo
B

It's not too late.....................

Join my Mocha Club team!

So, one day I was downloading some new music and I came across Matt Wertz. I went to his website to find out about him and there was a graphic of Africa and thus I was introduced to the Mocha Club. Here's a cool incentive he's offering - if you join our team now, you'll also get a FREE download of his entire new album, Everything In Between. Cool, huh? Tell your friends!

Free music and a chance to help children in Africa for the cost of 2 mochas.........how much easier could it be??? Remember that YOU are the voice Africa, and each invite you send puts something in front of friends that is most often forgotten...or ignored.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." -Bishop Desmond TuTu

Mocha Club

I wanted to share something really cool I'm doing to help Africa and I wanted you to check it out too. I'm a part of this website called Mocha Club, where you can give up the cost of 2 mochas a month, or $7, to help orphans, refugees, and those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Did you know that 6300 people die every day from AIDS? Here is what blew my mind - in All of Africa, $7 gives clean water to 7 Africans for a year. In Kibera Kenya, $7 gives 3 meals in a day for 9 orphans. In Bulawayo Zimbabwe, $7 would put two kids in school for a term. It's those kind of things that made me realize this is something I can do.
So I've felt convicted to move from the 'talking' to 'doing' category. You can join my online team (http://mochaclub.org/join/3021) and we can keep inviting friends so the team continues to grow at $7 per person. I'm doing it. They also update us online all the time as to exactly where that money is going.
Let me know what you think! Please pass along the website to anyone you might think would be interested in helping!!!

xoxoxox

B

Christmas in South Africa

Christmas In South Africa

I love to journal..........to get down on paper all the thoughts floating around in my head, to be able to look back later and remember just where I was at the exact moment in time; to see how far I've come, how much I learned. Within the past year I have been able to send out a cliff note of my crazy life to the masses, but have yet to really explore in depth where my life has taken me. I think one reason is the depth to my recent experiences. It is emotional overload to take an experience like Katrina Relief and put to words how that impacted my life. The same is said for my recent adventures in South Africa. How can one possibly relay the life transformation brought on by flying halfway around the world and encountering little lives that have seen more devastation and heartbreak than I could ever fathom, yet still find the courage to laugh, play..........just be kids!!!

I haven't been able to transfer my thoughts into a well formed sentence for my first trip - yet I'm going to try and do so for this past adventure. I want to do this before the stories fade into the next - before it becomes a distant memory.

Why did I go? For me, the thought of "Christmas" brings little joy. Yes, it is an important holiday which should bring me all the joy in the world, but when you are surrounded by the world's commercial approach to the holiday, it loses alot. I miss being a child - the anticipation of Christmas morning - stirring in my bed because I am so overwhelmed by excitement that I can't lay still. There are no small children in my family to live vicariously through, so the magic is all but gone. I am like the little boy in The Polar Express - I shake the bell just as hard as I can and yet I hear nothing.

When I came home from my first trip to SA, immediately I thought of Christmas. I knew how difficult it was to ship items there and wondered what kind of Christmas these kids had. Many of the House Parents had families of their own that they spent the holidays with. If shipping was so difficult, were they able to get presents there? Did they have a Christmas morning?? What was interesting was that at the same time these thoughts were passing through my mind, 3 of my girlfriends were also thinking about the same thing....guess God wanted us to do something about this.

After a few months of planning and sharing about our Christmas vision - I was on a plane (2 of them) packed to the brim with boxes of presents and goodies. One thing I did learn on this trip was to "go with the flow" and let the will of God be done - HIS WAY! Of course I had a romanticized version of how our plans would unfold, and of course they looked nothing like I had envisioned....and that's ok, because they looked exactly how the Lord planned. I've learned that this wasn't MY plan at all, but God was using me to execute HIS plan. Though it wasn't perfect in my eyes, it was in his.........and that's all that matters.

This trip allowed me to really see the hard work and dedication of all involved with Acres of Love - from the office staff to those who take on the role of house parent to 8 children. It is hard work, sometimes thankless - but then you look into the eyes of one of the children and you see Jesus' love for us, you are reminded of how blessed we are to be called to such work. I was woken up at 5am one morning to find out that I was going to play house parent to 7 kids, and to top it off...I didn't feel good at all. I knew out of the 4 girls, I was the only one even close to feeling ok.........so I went. I spent the first 4hrs alone with 7 kids, two of which had some "wonderful" diaper issues. I was miserable - tired and achy.

Then I looked at Anna Alicia

I saw that smile and I thanked God that I could be a part of something bigger than myself - that he would find something in me, through my complaining, that He could use to care for such a precious being.

My entire trip was spent in awe of my Lord and His love for me, for these kids. I came home with a renewed desire to serve him with all I have to offer and to challenge those around me to step outside their boxes and allow God to do big things in their lives. If this trip was any indication of what 2007 will hold for me; I feel like that child on Christmas Eve.......eager to see what's beneath the tree.