Enjoying Nairobi

Thank you all so much for your many prayers. I arrived in Nairobi yesterday safely - no problems at all. Praise God! And I met a lot of great people along the way. It was a really nice trip.

So now I'm enjoying my time in Nairobi with Phil. :) We took a couple of walks today, had some great coffee at the Java house, and ate lunch at Amani Ya Juu. For us, it was a little slice of heaven. God is good.

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures yet, but regardless I wanted to let everyone know that I made it in just fine. I'll be leaving Nairobi for Uganda next Sunday. Until then, I'll be busy enjoying Nairobi...

Thankful for you!

Moving

This is my childhood home. The house my father built for us 25 years ago. It's beautiful and perfect in our eyes.

Today the papers were signed to begin handing it over to a new young family. It sold the same day the For Sale sign was put up in the yard. Yes, in this economy, and in this tiny town! Praise God! He is so good to sell my parents' house so quickly.

Today my brother signed a lease for a new home of his own. He moves from the guys' apartment to his own place this week.

Also this week, I move to Africa. Unbelievable timing.

My entire family is moving right now. To new places. New homes. New people. If you have a sec, would you please pray for us. For relationships and church families. That my parents will find a new house in West Virginia quickly and I would find a place in Kampala. Thank you so much!

Home to be: UGANDA!

"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:7

Praise God, He heard my cries and after 4 months of waiting He faithfully responded with an open door and a push through it. I love Him! I will be serving with a wonderful team in Uganda for the next year, managing a household water program. I leave on the 5th of March.

I am excited to meet Uganda! The people. The smell. The taste. The moutains. All the beauty. And all the rest. I'll do my best to bring a little piece of Uganda to you as well through this blog.

I am also excited to serve Uganda! To help bring clean and living water to the sick, hurt and lost. Bringing physical and spiritual hope. Bringing the love of Christ.

Know that I will be thinking of you. Missing you. And praying for you while I'm gone. Please keep in touch. Leave a comment! Shoot an email. Come visit! Trust me - you'll be a blessing!

May the love of Christ be the fingerprints of our lives - wherever we are or wherever we go, may Christ be touching lives through us - with love.

Goodbye Applebuddies!

One thing that kept me sane these past few months was working at Applebee's. It was such a blessing to be hired there! I mean who hires a lady who says, "Well I could be here for 2 weeks or 2 months." But they did hire me (thanks Ed!), and I started waitressing again for the first time in 4 years. Fun times!

So I met a lot of wonderful people at the restaurant and we had some really great times. I always laughed so much when I was there! Some things I'm going to miss are...Karen's great tip stories...Sue Ls crazy comments and great smile...Sue Cs blunt honesty....Kristy singing the Na Na song....and Monday snack runs....I could go on, trust me. I loved the energy in the people and the place! I loved when we would all just sit around and share our funny (or pathetic) stories from the shift while chowing down on Apple food. Honestly, I just liked being with everyone. I really loved you guys! And I'm going to miss you.

Above is that picture of Applebee's in Beirut that I told you about. :) Maybe we can have a little reunion there someday...a little Applebuddy getaway. Until then...know that I'm so glad that God brought you into my life for a little while. I'll be thinking of you and praying for you while I'm gone. Remember that there's someone on the other side of the world that cares about you!

Wow it's been hard saying good-bye to life in Liberia. I came home months ago. It took about 6 weeks until I really felt a true sadness about it all. I've been torn between thankfulness and sadness. Had I left the states before this time I don't think I would have felt it quite so deeply.

I'm still in the States - waiting on God. I wish I could throw patiently into that phrase, but most days I'd be lying. As many of you reading this, I wish I knew what was next. But in God's wisdom and kindess to us, He doesn't and won't reveal that until it's time. I'm glad that he loves me enough to deal with my persistence.

So in the meantime, I am praying - a lot. Yesterday, I heard a pastor say "prayer doesn't always change things, but it does change people." I believe that's true. I know the Lord's after my heart most of all. He's after all of ours. Trust Him. Your heart is best in His hands.

And I know it's been a long time since I've posted - sorry! To encourage myself to post more often, I decided that I'm going to make this a much more general blog - not just Liberia. My mom came up with the new name and I liked it. :) So here it goes....Life to the Fullest....A Dieu soit la Gloire!!

Prayer for Peter

(Peter and I on our way home from our last M&E field visit together)

I learned yesterday that my close Liberian friend, Peter, lost his younger sister while she was giving birth to twins ... he wrote me this note:

"Things were really moving fine until on November 11, 2008 when I lost my younger sister in child birth at the JFK Memorial Hospital in Sinkor. The news came as a complete surprise to us the family members as she was not sick at all.

But we can't ask God why cause He giveth and He taketh. We ask Him for strength and courage to carry through. The Burial is scheduled for saturady, November 22 , 2008."

My heart breaks for Peter. I agree with my friend Marcel, it's all so confusing sometimes. Please feel free to join me in praying for Peter and his family...to cry out to God with Peter today...our Lord promises us that He hears our cries.

"Lord, do not hold back your tender mercies from Peter and his family today. Our hope is in your unfailing love and faithfulness." Psalm 40:11

Dancing with my namesake

I think about Malawo a lot. I think about my namesake, Gdobo Dede. Always smiling when she spoke to me. I remember how she took care of me and the other ladies. Making sure we had hot water for evening bucket baths on the hill. I remember our instant, seemingly unconditional friendship, when she found me and spoke my name. There was something of God in that.

I wonder with hopeful tears, was she one of the 30-some that accepted Jesus Christ?

I remember dancing with her and the other ladies of Malawo. I was so excited when she pulled me over! It was so much fun!! (And this was a dance I could do.) Man, these ladies can dance I tell you.

I think of that day - of that joy. I think of the little bits of love we got to share. There's really something of God in that. God is so good to have given us that time together - that bond - that dance - that love. He really is something amazing.

Praying for Gdobo Dede today. That she would be dancing for joy because of what our Father has done for her. That she would know His love and love Him too. That we would get to dance together in Heaven someday!

"Love Him totally who gave Himself totally for your love. "

Saint Clare of Assisi

**Photos courtesy of the wonderful, talented Joni Byker