Day off in Kansas City

Leaving the frigid weather after a week in Iowa was no disappointment! Our host families in Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, and Marshalltown were very welcoming, but it's good to be in a slightly warmer climate.

I've had a rejuvinating weekend off in Kansas City, Kansas. Yesterday it was warm enough to be without a jacket, though I about FROZE today running across the parking lot.

Many thanks to Kendra and Dustin for inviting me over to their home tonight to hang out. I met their family when they hosted Neha, Maria, and me back in September (a few week into the tour!); it was wonderful to see them again. I happened to have a day off in their city today, so Kendra asked me to come over to fellowship with some of their church friends. Thirteen of us adults (six married couples with children...and me! ;) plus about ten little kids spent the evening together in their homey basement. I was amazed how easy it was to strike up conversations with both the wives and the husbands; they were a blast and so welcoming!

I spent the first part of the day getting my hair trimmed at the mall, followed by helping Prava with her shopping needs. It's always enjoyable to spend "girl time" with her when we're not distracted by the kids. Last night, the six of us (Jay, Taylor, Alan, Kory, Prava, me) went to the movie theater to see Slumdog Millionare. Striking movie. I highly recommend it. I loved the Indian music, the talented actors from India, the heart-warming and heart-wrenching scenes...everything about it was just wow.

Taylor wrote out some "quirks" belonging to our kids...so I am borrowing this from her blog. Here are a few of the humorous ones. Never a dull moment!

*When we watch animal movies on the bus, the kids compare each character to someone on the team (i.e. Lincoln is "Baloo" and Suresh is "Mogli" from "Jungle Book").

*Sarah is our roller coaster of emotions, up and down all day long. She has her funny moments though, and has started occasionally referring to us as "Girlfriend," as in "No way, girlfriend!" or "You're crazy, girlfriend!"

*Ezera says "No thanks" probably a hundred times a day, but he pronounces it "No sanks."

*Isaac and Zurufah (our two littlest Ugandans) have some kind of romance going on. Isaac is constantly battling with himself over whether or not he loves her. This usually depends on whether or not the feelings are returned on that particular day.

*If Yeshoda or Neha mess up on any of their solos in the concerts, they immediately sticks their tongues out and roll their eyes (an unattractive reflex that we are trying to overcome!). Must be a Nepali thing!

A God of details!

This isn't what my title refers to, but this is too funny not to mention. Today, four of our girls discovered that our human heart is NOT shaped like this <3 . [That's the best heart-shape I can make, using keyboard keys.] They literally were under the impression that the hearts inside our body looked like the stereotypical heart shape. Zurufah's mouth practically dropped to the floor as she stared at the picture of a REAL heart that I showed them. She insisted that HER heart looked like this: <3 . I think the Valentine's hearts were getting to their heads...

[Speaking of hearts, does it get much cuter than this!? Today, the 4 girls with me in the host family made belated valentines for their aunties...I will treasure these forever.]

This weekend, God showed me once again that He is a God of details. And if He cares this much about the small seamingly unimportant areas of my life, then I know He has my entire future in His hands. I pray daily for my unknown future, and so far so good as I am assured of God's faithfulness--not stressing too terribly much.

So here are the two most recent God-things:

1) I have talked with several women in the past two weeks who have raved about Beth Moore's Bible studies. I was convinced that I was supposed to start one (it was too ironic that multiple people randomly suggested Beth Moore's studies to me the past few weeks.) So I was planning to buy one this weekend in Kansas City on my day off. Well, dear Janine mailed a package to me which arrived this past Friday. It contained random books, chocolate, tea :) , etc....and a Beth Moore Bible study! It's titled "Living Beyond Yourself" and concentrates on the Fruits of the Spirit. I've already started it, and I look forward to digging deeper in Galations. Lord knows I especially need to do the week on "Patience"--just ask the kids about the countless times I say "kids! you need to be quieter!" in the costume room. Needless to say, I smiled a lot when I saw the book; I love God's timing.

2) When our team arrived Friday afternoon at our Iowa church, Taylor needed me to sort through some of the profiles of children who need to be sponsored. As I leafed through the stack of Ugandan kids, I saw a familar face: Ezera! My heart skipped a beat. I knew without a doubt that God had literally put this opportunity in my lap. I could take it or leave it. But I felt for some reason as if I'd be disobeying if I ignored it. I stared at his smiling face in the picture and knew it'd be such a blessing to sponsor a child in the choir! Over the weekend, I told Ezera I had started sponsoring him. His response was: "Eeee! Are you lying?" (a phrase all of our kids say. A lot.) I assured him that I was being truthful, that I loved him, and I was excited to do this. He hugged me as he said, "Thank you....thank you, Auntie." Was it purely coincidence that the Lord gave this opportunity--to show His love to a fatherless child--on Valentine's weekend?

Schedule!

So I lied. One of my friends told me she tried to comment on my blog but it wouldn't let her since she doesn't have a blogspot account. I told her I had it set up so that anyone could comment. I just discovered that I was incorrect. But I fixed it so that anyone can comment....I think! So feel free to test it if you're bored. ;)

A friend of mine in Lynchburg noticed that Children of the World is coming to Liberty on February 18. She was under the impression that I would be there. Sadly, I will not, because we (the Central team) will be in Iowa. Lucky us ;) It's the East team that gets to be at Liberty. For all my friends in Lynchburg, try to make it to the concert. You will not regret it. 

Speaking of schedules. Thank you, Taylor, for typing this for your blog. Here's what we're up to in the near future. If any of you happen to be in these random towns, please let me know. :) 

Feb. 1 Spring, Texas 
Feb. 4 Kilgore, Texas
Feb. 6 Conway, Arkansas
Feb. 8 Searcy, Arkansas
Feb. 8 Cave City, Arkansas
Feb. 11 Neosho, Missouri
Feb. 15 Sioux City, Iowa
Feb. 18 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Feb. 19 Marshalltown, Iowa
Feb. 22 Kansas City, Missouri (day off for Prava and me! Woohoo)
Still more cities to come in February...

March 6 Rogers, Arkansas
March 8 Lavaca, Arkansas (who names these cities?)
March 11 Ferguson, Missouri

March 12 Waynesville, Missouri
March 15 Bentonville, Arkansas
March 15 Prairie Grove, Arkansas

March 18 Little Rock, Arkansas
March 22 Owasso, Oklahoma
March 22 Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
March 29 Rio Rancho, New Mexico  (day off, hopefully)
Still more to come in March, as well...

On a random note, I watched the movie One Night With the King last weekend, and I learned more about the Esther story from that movie than I ever did from sunday school. I am ashamed to say it, but after watching that movie I realized how little I knew about Esther. So this past week, I've been reading it each night. It is so fascinating to me.  The girls spent 12 months getting "beauty treatment" before they were brought in to meet King Xerxes. Crazy! Also, I really wish I could ask God some Q's concerning the story of Esther; I think I'm failing to see the "true love" aspect of Esther/Xerxes' relationship. I just don't find anything romantic about the fact that he was attracted to Esther that night in his bed chamber (after he kicked his wife out of the kingdom for not obeying him) and then decided she'd be his new queen. I wonder if Esther loved Xerxes as the Bible instructs a woman to love her husband. These are all thoughts I've been pondering this past week. Yet, God's hand was over everything, and of course Esther saved her people because of her marriage to Xerxes. Don't get me wrong; I'm not belittling the story of Esther, but it's just not your typical "love story." God's ways are mysterious, though, which we all know! 

Sunny Houston...

I just updated about our time in San Antonio (see below post), but here are some photos from our time in Houston last weekend. The downtown aquarium had a ferris wheel outside, so we rode it at sunset. The view of the Houston skyline--as the sun was setting--was stunning! My little camera doesn't do it justice.

Zurufah, Maria, and me with our Houston host family.

Someone tell me why there's a tiger at an aquarium!?

Too cute for her own good! (She was 4 year olds which made me miss my kids from this summer!)

San Antonio, TX

I'd love to experience one big, fluffy snowfall this winter. But the chances of that happening are slim. I can't complain though, because while my friends and family in VA/PA are dealing with ice, I am in Texas where the weather was almost 80 degrees last week! I wish I could share some warm weather with you northerners :)

Yesterday was Neha's 12th birthday. She insists that she is only 11 years old, because she doesn't want to get older. I thought only 30+ year olds did that?! ;)

Beautiful Nepali girls: Neha (on left) and Yeshoda

Last weekend, we were in Houston. Then we drove 5 hours to San Antonio. And now we're back in Houston for tomorrow's concert. Gotta love it ;) The kids usually do well in the bus. Lately we've been playing a lot of Uno; "Auntie, can I sit with you?" I heard that A LOT last week, especially from Gift, Isaac, and Ezera. It's mainly because they like to beat me in Uno and feel good about themselves. You'd think a 21-year-old college graduate would be fairly good at a simple card game. But you've never played Uno with our kids! They play it constantly--in the bus, in the costume room before concerts, and in the host family homes. I think 8-year-old Isaac beat me six games in a row the other day. Yesterday I played with four of our boys, and I actually beat them all. They congratulated me and were excited, because they know it's rare when their Auntie wins :P

How cute are Zurufah and Maria in this photo!? We had a tea party with a host family a few days ago. The girls loved acting like princesses! (As if miss Zurufah doesn't do that enough ;)

Last Wednesday, we were together as a team all day until our evening concert. So we took the kids to downtown San Antonio. We saw the Alamo which was awesome! And then we took a boat ride on the "Riverwalk" which was better than I had pictured. It's more of a canal (not a river) running through San Antonio, and the architecture and trees are beautiful. Who knows if I'll ever return to San Antonio, so I appreciated the sightseeing.

What a cute bunch of kids, eh? :) In front of the Alamo.

Two weeks ago was my monthly day off. It was fun to hang out with Prava, Kory, and Alan as we enjoyed our Saturday in Midland, TX. I explored a used bookstore and added three more Nicholas Sparks novels (my guilty pleasure) to my collection. I think I'm only missing "The Wedding." I looked for some classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Wuthering Heights," but I had no luck. :/ Alan treated the four of us to a movie that night; we went to the theater to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's the strangest love story I've ever watched. I absolutely loved it.

I spent one night with a host family in Midland, TX, and they took me to see the home where President G.W. Bush grew up. He spent many years of his life in Midland (in fact, he didn't move away until his two daughters were born). It was neat to walk through his childhood home and even touch the dresser he used as a young boy.

President G.W. Bush's room as a young boy

Holding nothing back...

Surrender.

I'm not good at it.

Surrender.

But Lord, can't I try to do it on my own?

Surrender.

How about I try to handle things for a while, and if it doesn't work out--THEN I'll surrender? 

~~~

I don't purposely have those conversations with God. But it just happens. That's often my attitude, as I offer my struggles to God, only to snatch them back two days later.

I miss the worship times at Liberty; I really do. We sang this song, and it was always moving. I have it on my ipod at least. Lately, I've been reminded about the importance of surrendering our desires and our plans over to our Savior. He knows the desires of our hearts, and it might not always work out the way we WANT it to, but when has He ever failed us? 

 

All I’ve got 
All I am 
All my dreams and 
All my plans 
I’m holding back 
I’m holding nothing back from you 

I surrender it all 
I lay it before you 
For all of my days 
I’ll give you the glory 
You caused me to see 
My heart is divided 
Lord, take all of me 
‘Cause I have decided 
...I'm holding nothing back from you.

-According to John//Nothing Back

Renewed...

The past 2.5 weeks have been a whirlwind. My poor, neglected blog is finally being put to use tonight :)

I have been blessed with many incredible host families since I last updated, and I wish it wasn't 1am right now, or else I'd take time to write more. For now, I want to share a neat "God thing" that occured this week. [Sidenote: I use the term "God thing" to explain an instance which is undeniably God at work. I discovered that terminology at age 13 while reading The Christy Miller series, in which the characters are constantly referring to "God things."]

Earlier this week, our team found out that we were in need of housing for Thursday night. It was incredibly last-minute, but World Help managed to set us up with a church in Wichita Falls which we had visited back in October. On Thursday MORNING, the church called around and found host families to keep us that same day!

The minute I met L'rona and Michael, I could sense their genuine excitement to have us. I soon discovered why: (here's the God-thing!) Michael is going to Africa on a short-term missions trip NEXT WEEK. Because of that, Wednesday night they prayed that God would SOMEHOW give them an opportunity to be around some African children (so that their two little girls could better understand the people whom their Dad will be witnessing to next week.)

Their prayers were literally answered the following morning when they woke up. L'rona received a phone call from a friend. The friend mentioned that two African children needed a house to stay in that night--and asked L'rona if she wanted to house them.

Needless to say, L'rona and Michael jumped at the opportunity and were astounded. "You and the girls were an answer to our prayer," they told me on Thursday afternoon. You can understand why I got goosebumps! Wed night, when they were praying for an opportunity for their daughters to interact with African children, they had never heard about us (Children of the World choir) and had no idea we were in town.

Zurufah, Maria, and I were incredibly blessed to stay in their home. They're an amazing couple, and I wish we had more time with them. Before I tucked the girls into bed, Michael pulled out his guitar, and we all sat in the living room and worshiped the Lord while singing, "Blessed Be the Name," "We Fall Down," and "Shout to the Lord." It uplifted my spirit, that's for sure.

God had us at their house for multiple reasons...It was amazing to see His fingerprints all over it! To top it all off, L'Rona put me on the phone with her older brother who started an orphanage in Kenya. We discussed my passion and desire to spend some time in Africa in the near future. Before hanging up the phone, he offered to pray for me. It was a prayer that completely reminded me that God wants nothing but the BEST for His Children.

Sometimes Africa feels so far away, but I felt renewed after the time we spent with L'Rona and Michael. I know that if I continue to trust the Lord, His timing and purpose will blow my mind. As my friend, Aaron, told me the other night: "It's as if God was telling you: 'You know that dream you have to go to Africa? I haven't forgotten...."

I'll leave you all with lyrics to the song, "Yours," by Steven Curtis Chapman. Christi played this song for me (knowing about my love for Africa) this summer when we were driving in North Carolina. This was before I even knew that I'd be spending nearly a year taking care of orphans from Uganda!

I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
They're waiting for a cure no one can find
And I hear children's voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I'm reminded
That every child in Africa is Yours